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Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction

Amerantin (former member)
8 months ago

DSM-5 says that to meet the diagnostic criteria for ASD there must be persistent deficits in all three of the areas below.

  1. Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.
  2. Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.
  3. Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.

So why is it some of us are completely alone and isolated while others seem to have friends, partners and active social lives?

How do people who meet the above criteria achieve this?

Parents
  • 8 months ago

    Try replacing the word "deficit" with "differece".

    Damien Milton's double empathy problem is relevant here. Autistic people relate and communicate differently. It's just that we don't always get others and they don't always get us.

    I have friends I've had for decades. Some of them are other autistic people or are AD(H)D ( who generally atune to me), or are wonderful neurotypical people who like being around someone who thinks differently.

    I was married, have a magnificent son (who communicates in much the same way I do), and a boy-friend on the same wave length (pretty sure he's ADHD). 

    I'm not deficient at all, I don't think. Just very different, which makes some relationships with some neurotypicals difficult or just exhausting, and other relationships easy, profound and fun.

    A lot of autistic people who are lonely or who become social phobe, just have not been lucky enough to meet with acceptance of themselves with all they have to offer and may have met with rejection a time or two too many.

  • 8 months ago in reply to Dawn

    Very nicely put.  I do agree.

Reply Children
  • 8 months ago in reply to Number
    Number said:
    I take each individual comment on its merits, as I see them, and respond accordingly.

    Yes absolutely! That’s really important to do.

    Number said:
    but struggle to accommodate myself within any particular brigade....I much prefer the one-to-one connections when they occur....and hang with a platoon of misfits and renegades who seem to be the same way. 

    I prefer one to one connections, it’s great you have found people who are similar to you. Just because we are autistic doesn’t mean we will necessarily feel like we belong in the wider autistic community, we are a very diverse group of humans! That’s why we still need to find our own ‘pocket’ within the community.

     I certainly have and I am so glad you have too! I intend explore other autistic communities in the future too, particularly in person.

  • 8 months ago in reply to Ausomely Autistic

    I take each individual comment on its merits, as I see them, and respond accordingly.

    I'm delighted to have found my overall tribe, but struggle to accommodate myself within any particular brigade....I much prefer the one-to-one connections when they occur....and hang with a platoon of misfits and renegades who seem to be the same way. 

    I often find myself seeing eye-to-eye with Dawn ("so not" an autistic thing to do, apparently!)

  • 8 months ago in reply to Number

    So glad you agree too!

    It sometimes feels as though people like me and Dawn whose views align with the neurodiversity paradigm are in a minority within our own community.