Time perception or lack thereof!

I’m currently sat reflecting on my autism and how it all looks different now that I accept it. All the things I used to hate and fight against, I now love and embrace and I can see the benefits of them. 

I was thinking of time perception and my lack of it and how it’s truly a gift and how I once thought it a curse. I decided to look it up, read some information about it as I’ve never read anything about it before. 

I googled it and this article came up. It was written (I think) in 2014, (https://autism.lovetoknow.com/Time_Perception_in_Autism_Spectrum_Disorder) so hopefully things have improved since then but I was horrified to read what I read. 

The article starts off well (in my opinion of course) but goes on to make some huge underlying assumptions, in my humble opinion.

It says, many people with autism experience fragmented or delayed time perception which can present challenges to social interaction and learning. 

Apart from others, this assumes that their perception of time is the correct one and the only one and that autistic people must therefore be compared against them because they are the epitome of the perfect human being. And when they compare autistic people to them, because we don’t share the same perception of time, they are assuming that we are somehow defective and that we cause problems. What they really mean is that we cause ‘them’ problems. We don’t fit with their way of teaching and communicating so they must find ways to make us communicate like them and learn like them and that’s a bit of a problem to them, they would rather we were like everybody else and behaved and learned like everybody else. In their pursuit to ‘help’ us, they are also assuming that we want the same things as them. That what makes them happy will make us happy. Even though they clearly admit that we’re different, they still assume that we want the same kind of life that they have. Tied, like a ball and change, to their beloved perception of time, how to communicate and how to learn. 

It goes on to explain what time perception is. It says ~ ‘Time perception is an essential part of the way people make sense of the world around them’ ~ this is simply not true. It is not an essential part of the way that ‘I’ make sense of the world around me and I’m a person, so why am I not included in this statement? Even if it were to say, this is true for ‘some’ people .....

It goes immediately on to say, ‘in autism, effected people have trouble processing the passage of time and may experience a delayed reaction to certain stimuli’. They are clearly assuming here that their perception of time, is the ‘correct’ and only valid perception and they are assuming that they are the ‘correct’ people, and furthermore, they’re comparing autistic people to non autistic people for the purpose of trying to make us like them or at least find ways to be able to communicate with us, based on ‘their’ version of what is correct. They’re assuming there’s a fixed and correct passage of time that one should stick to when responding to certain stimuli. I could write a similar article stating that nt’s are defective, that they have difficulty understanding the concept of now. That they’re so tied in with the idea of time that they live their lives according to the time on a clock. I could say their perception is faulty. But how would I know. I’m not an nt. 

They go on to say that time perception is the way the human brain interprets the passage of time and that a ‘healthy’ brain can check incoming information and measure the passage of time. In autism, however, they say the concept of time is somehow ‘distorted’, although they say they don’t know why this is. But clearly they’re certain that our way of thinking is distorted and not healthy and that their way is the right way. 

It goes on to give ‘four’ ways in which teachers and parents can ‘deal with’ autism time perception. Not one of the four ways mentions anything about the child other than to give it clear, short and concise instructions so they can follow along with everybody else. 

What baffles me about this, is the assumptions that it makes. That autistic people are somehow defective and they’re (nt’s) are the perfect model of a human being. Their lives are ruled by time. Time is a constant threat to me but I don’t see it (my perception of it) as a ‘problem’ but rather a gift. They assume that it’s a problem. It’s only a problem when I try to fit into their world. But I no longer do that. I’m creating my own world, in my own ‘time’ and in my own way. So it’s not a problem. 

I don’t have any answers. I’m not judging the advice given in this article, just the assumptions it makes. Is a lot of the information out there written from the assumption that autistic people are defective and that we don’t have a healthy brain? 

Parents
  • This is something that has always caused me great trauma, time! Why does it have to exist? Really why? Every reason I can think of is to ultimately control in some way, 

    I have very simplistic ideas on most things but living to a clock is by far the hardest for me, 

    Before time was a construct people woke at dawn or when the cockerel sang, They worked together to provide food and shelter to each other, when the light faded and the sun went down each retired to sleep, a basic community all striving to eat and be healthy.working together for all not just one boss.

    Thier was a programme recently about revisiting the jungle, a journalist come explorer had visited a tribe in a jungle previously left alone by western Society many years ago and decided to go back and see how it was doing,,,short story was that it had all but collapsed! He unwittingly had introduced technologies previously unheard of by them, shown them how life could be easier for them, most had left the tribe for an easier life in settlements provided by the state, only a handful still visited the old camps,,, he sent the whole film crew away and stayed on his own with them, it rained for days, so they slept and went hungry until it stopped raining, he kept reporting to his camera diary how long it had been since eating, how many hours and days since the rain started, the villagers just accepted it as when it rains you can’t hunt, so go hungry, just sit it out, no clock watching, just life as it presented, one tribesman he had befriended refused to let him see where his family were living now, he hated it and was embarrassed that they had abandoned the life they had always had, 

    I survive purely to work,,,I work to live,,,but work is and always has been controlling others allowing each individual just enough so that they must return constantly, not enough to have aspirations of a better life without having to watch the clock. Only lottery winners get that option, even millionaires don’t as they must keep time to make sure the workers keep working to allow thier business to keep going. 

    Thank you BlueRay for understanding my mind, once again you completely see what I see, you voice your thoughts, I choose not to as my words are seen by others and I am told I lie, They refuse to accept the inner me, the hidden me not daring to put my thoughts out in fear of denial,

    I have not posted for a very long time as I am monitored closely, My words used against me, I now exist, Not the real me, the me they tell me I must be.

    All I want is happiness for all beings, way to simple an idea that, I must fit, wether it be dress code, time keeping, ability to work,saying the right things, doing the right things,

    Take care all, I wish you all well and hope one day I will be me, until that time I will just read your words and nod knowingly for you are my tribe,

     

Reply
  • This is something that has always caused me great trauma, time! Why does it have to exist? Really why? Every reason I can think of is to ultimately control in some way, 

    I have very simplistic ideas on most things but living to a clock is by far the hardest for me, 

    Before time was a construct people woke at dawn or when the cockerel sang, They worked together to provide food and shelter to each other, when the light faded and the sun went down each retired to sleep, a basic community all striving to eat and be healthy.working together for all not just one boss.

    Thier was a programme recently about revisiting the jungle, a journalist come explorer had visited a tribe in a jungle previously left alone by western Society many years ago and decided to go back and see how it was doing,,,short story was that it had all but collapsed! He unwittingly had introduced technologies previously unheard of by them, shown them how life could be easier for them, most had left the tribe for an easier life in settlements provided by the state, only a handful still visited the old camps,,, he sent the whole film crew away and stayed on his own with them, it rained for days, so they slept and went hungry until it stopped raining, he kept reporting to his camera diary how long it had been since eating, how many hours and days since the rain started, the villagers just accepted it as when it rains you can’t hunt, so go hungry, just sit it out, no clock watching, just life as it presented, one tribesman he had befriended refused to let him see where his family were living now, he hated it and was embarrassed that they had abandoned the life they had always had, 

    I survive purely to work,,,I work to live,,,but work is and always has been controlling others allowing each individual just enough so that they must return constantly, not enough to have aspirations of a better life without having to watch the clock. Only lottery winners get that option, even millionaires don’t as they must keep time to make sure the workers keep working to allow thier business to keep going. 

    Thank you BlueRay for understanding my mind, once again you completely see what I see, you voice your thoughts, I choose not to as my words are seen by others and I am told I lie, They refuse to accept the inner me, the hidden me not daring to put my thoughts out in fear of denial,

    I have not posted for a very long time as I am monitored closely, My words used against me, I now exist, Not the real me, the me they tell me I must be.

    All I want is happiness for all beings, way to simple an idea that, I must fit, wether it be dress code, time keeping, ability to work,saying the right things, doing the right things,

    Take care all, I wish you all well and hope one day I will be me, until that time I will just read your words and nod knowingly for you are my tribe,

     

Children
  • Same here LoneWarrior, time is probably my greatest cause of stress, anxiety and confusion. By the way, I think you need to change your name to warrior or something else warrior instead of ‘lone’ warrior, because you’re not a lone warrior now ~  you have a tribe now, you have a family, you’re no longer a lone warrior. I used to think I was a lone warrior and I was, until I got my diagnosis and now we’re one, never to be alone again. 

    My new approach to life, is not to learn how to ‘manage’ situations that I find difficult, such as sticking to times or standing in queues, but rather to create my life in a way that doesn’t include them. I’ve noticed that the more relaxed I am, the less tolerant I am of situations I had got good at ‘managing’. This made me realise that I wasn’t managing these situations at all. Instead I was simply forcing myself to learn to ‘fit in’ with the general gist of society while internalising all the stress and trauma of what these situations can do to me and this is no longer acceptable to me, on any level. 

    I nearly caused a lock down in the job centre the other day. There was a queue and I didn’t want to stand in it and I began to kick off ~ when this happens in the job centre, they lock all the doors, nobody can come in and nobody can leave until the police get there - they call it a lock down. Although I don’t want to be going around swearing and shouting at people, I was super pleased it happened because it is showing me that my ‘autism’ didn’t go away, I had simply got very good at toeing the  line and now I am learning to relax, I’m not as ultra vigilant in these situations and meltdowns come more easily. I was seeing my autism worker that day at the job centre and although she could see my point that I was pleased that I’m no longer internalising stuff and trying to fit in, she helped me to look at the situation again and we devised a plan to help me not melt down in that situation without me feeling like I’m simply ‘fitting in’. So it’s all a work in progress just now but for me but exactly as you described, I want as little ‘time’ in my life as possible. My work may involve me working with clients and it most likely will involve that so I will have to have some level of time structure in my life on some of my days, but I am designing my days around my natural innate habits, which I’m currently in the process of discovering. 

    We get ‘there’ by taking baby steps and you’re doing that, you’re dressing more like yourself and soon you will begin to express yourself more confidently. That’s a process but don’t ever think you’re alone in this, because you’re not and there’s no time frame for this, other than the one that you set, it you set one at all. 

    That story you told reminds me of me. As I’m living off social security benefits, I often don’t have money for food and when that happens, I simply say to myself, oh, so I’m fasting today!!! I’ve been doing a lot of fasting recently, including dry fasts. It’s not true that we need food and water to thrive and I’m on the path to becoming a breatharian as I feel much better without food in me as I’m ultra sensitive to what goes in my body. 

    And truly lone’notlone’warrior, we can create our lives to suit us. We don’t have to fit in with the ‘norm’ and we’re not going to and we will win, because as you said, our intent is for happiness for ‘all’ beings and that comes from the greatest power of all, so we can’t not win. 

    I’m going to Whitby again next month, with my new autism group ~ I’ll take you guys along with me again and maybe one day we’ll all meet up for a trip out there or somewhere else :-)