Autism is a diverse condition that can present itself in a variety of different ways. Why is such a broad group of people pigeon-holed with one specific term? Is there something that all autistic people have in common?
Autism is a diverse condition that can present itself in a variety of different ways. Why is such a broad group of people pigeon-holed with one specific term? Is there something that all autistic people have in common?
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Yes. They have Autism.
There are 8 billion humans on the planet and billions more have been alive already. They are vastly diverse physically, mentally, socially, and culturally.
And they are are pigeon-holed with the one specific term “human”.
That’s how it works. You have very broad terms and very specific terms.
It would be very weird if in order to talk about humans you had to say “Group x and group y and group z…” for millions of diverse groups.
“Is there something that all autistic people have in common” yeah, the autism.
But seriously, I think it’s hard to say why the specific traits linked to autism are what they are, given that there is so much variation. Is there maybe something similar in the brain that causes autism that just gets expressed in different ways? That’s my main guess.
There are several core features of all flavors of autism: impaired theory of mind, cognitive rigidity, and restricted behavior, namely. How each of those features presents in an individual autistic person is highly variable, but the core features are across the population.
It’s actually commonly referred to as autism spectrum disorder for this very reason (as opposed to just autism).
Wait until you find out about depression
we’re pretty diverse, but we have similar experiences. i’m what people call high functioning (i kind of don’t function outside of work, or even at work though) and i have an easier time relating to someone with higher support than a neurotypical. i think the differences lie with how well we’re able to cope with certain challenges, and how.
people really don’t understand that we all need different things, and sometimes that means you have to work to feel ok, and sometimes that means you can’t hold down a job. i try to explain this to parents but they don’t really get it lol. i have to work to feel ok about myself, but i hate working. i think i’ve hated every job i’ve ever had.
Well, it is kind of a variety, but they share the same general trend. They did have 5 different types, but then they collapsed them into a singular “Autism Spectrum Disorder” and classify them 1-3 depending on how much support the person needs to function. One being the least affected, they require support but are able to essentially function in society. You have, more than likely, worked with or went to school with someone we would now consider autism type 1. Type 2 is ‘requires substantial support’, Autism type two means you have very limited verbal skills and need daily assistance to function. Autism type 3 is severe, no verbal communication, significant adjustment issues with new environments, and struggle significantly with daily tasks.
The big thing that links autistic people together is a difficulty in verbal communication and a struggle doing things without a routine. Transitions between different environments and norms are very challenging to someone with autism.
It isn’t really a pigeon hole, really, I have never met an autistic person who I was surprised had an autism diagnosis. For a neuro-typical person, someone with autism is almost as easy to identify as someone suffering an acute case of psychosis. Type 1’s can be a little harder to notice, but you can tell because some of the techniques they are taught to help them integrate are easy to see. For example, if you say something, like an idiom or you use sarcasm, someone with Autism type 1 may just bluntly ask you if you meant it literally or figuratively because they can’t tell. People who are average will either understand you or simply keep quiet because it is (generally)socially acceptable to simply ignore it if it isn’t critical to the overall picture.
The poetic definition of autism is ‘ lost in self.’ Interestingly I also think schizophrenia is lost in Self. But lost in universally self. Interesting right?
There’s a reason it’s called the “autistic spectrum”.
It is a spectrum but autistic people do have things and traits in common. That’s how a criteria and diagnosis work. The things we have in common don’t define our entire personalities though, that’s why it’s a spectrum. People are different but still have similar behaviors and experiences.
The two core symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder are:
How they manifest and to what degree is part of an incredibly broad spectrum
Because we don’t understand it.
Despite the research so far. It’s a relatively new classification. Started to be more well known in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and then more broadly known by the public some time after that. That’s not a long time for a condition to be known , relatively speaking.
This is extremely simplified but generally 3 areas are affected:
Basically it’s a difference in how the brain works, but it affects people in different ways, but affects these 3 areas. It’s a huge umbrella term, but has diagnostic criteria which ‘pigeon holes’ people together. The saying is once you’ve met one autistic person you’ve met one autistic person. What works for one doesn’t necessarily work for someone else. Autistic people are individuals and should be treated as such.
No stupid questions… Is this not the same for every mental disorder? Looking up neurodevelopment disorders which autism is one along with adhd and others. There is some research about genetics being able to diagnose it, but fundamentally the diagnosis is based on symptoms. My thoughts are we group things up into broad categories cause we don’t really understand what is going on. Once we have a better understanding it will become clearer and more specific definitions will result. One of the main barriers for any condition to understand it in my opinion is working out what causes it rather than the symptoms that present.
Like viruses are much clearer it seems and we understand them better. You have coronovirus, we can test for it, we can make vaccines for it. Mental health has a lot more challenges.
Not just mental health though. We don’t really understand things like chronic fatigue and such either imho.
TRAINS!