There are many ‘what is autism?’ type posts but many are too focused on it being a deficiency, and on the signs that neurotypical people can look out for rather than the autistic person’s experience.
Autism is a basic and fundamental brain difference. Autistic people develop differently to non-autistic people, and they think, move, interact, sense and process differently to how people might expect.
The differences between autistic people and non-autistic people, and their way of socialising, communicating and thinking, are not good or bad. Autistic people are not lacking, they just experience the world in a different way, an autistic way. Autistic people do not lack communication, thinking or processing skills: they may lack non-autistic communication, thinking or processing skills, and may display organic, autistic skills instead. They are just autistic ways of being in the world, and interacting with it and other people.
Some autistic children and adults will not show these differences because many of them have learnt to mask, hide or suppress parts of their autistic identity / behaviour to fit in with others. Masking is a way to increase the chances of autistic people feeling safe and included by non-autistic people. Masking is exhausting and can cause significant mental health damage to autistic people.
Each autistic person is different, but generally autism affects the way people:
- Socialise and communicate, including the way they connect, make and understand friendships and relationships, and use speech and body language
- Think and process, including the way they see patterns and connections, imagine and play, experience and express their senses, emotions and executive functioning.
Socialising and communicating
This can look different for adults and children. Often for children one of the first signs that a child might be autistic is that their language and social skills develop differently to typically developing children. Autistic adults are likely to be non-traditional communicators, both in expressing themselves and in receiving and interpreting communication.
An autistic child may:
- Enjoy playing alone more than playing with others;
- Play in ways that may appear unusual, like lining up toys or sorting toys into categories or types;
- Be drawn to friends with similar interests, even if they are much older or younger;
- Prefer highly structured social interactions, like gaming;
- Need accommodations when using speech to communicate, or they may not use speech as frequently or fluently as other children to communicate;
- Need extra time when processing speech;
- Not show social interest in the way that is usually expected, e.g. they may not use eye contact;
- Use stimming behaviours like flapping, jumping, or spinning to express emotions and communicate.
- Use frequent echolalia. Echolalia means the repetition, or “echoing”, of a phrase or words.
An autistic adult may:
- Prefer honest, literal, and straightforward language and messages, and to focus on deep subjects rather than superficial “small talk”;
- Enjoy “infodumping”, or sharing detailed information on an area of passion or expertise;
- Use unexpected body language, like unusual eye contact or no eye contact at all, body positioning and gestures;
- Use echolalia, which means repeating, or “echoing”, of a phrase or words. This might include quoting TV shows, song lyrics, or memes;
- Rely heavily on pre-prepared scripts or messages, both to “fit in” with what is expected of them and to limit the potential for misunderstanding;
- Utilise other methods of communication to express themselves, including gestures, sign language, or alternative communication methods. This could be high-tech, like an iPad app, or low-tech, like a picture board;
- Gravitate to friends with similar interests, values, and communication styles, even if they are much older or younger;
- Feel more comfortable around other autistic or other neurodivergent people;
- Prefer highly structured social interactions, like online gaming;
- Form quality friendships online, often more than “in person”.
Thinking and processing
The way that autistic children’s brains develop is different to their same-age, typically developing peers. Some differences include how autistic children engage in their interests and how they interpret sensory input. Autistic adults are likely to have a different way of processing information, which can impact the way they understand and communicate information about themselves and the world.
An autistic child might:
- Have a single interest, around which all play, enjoyment and learning revolves;
- Have many, many deep interests, which can be all-consuming, even if they don’t last a long time;
- Display significant differences in the way they process information including sensory stimuli. For most autistic children, sensory processing differences are complex and unusual responses to sensory input across the five main senses, but also including the vestibular/movement, proprioceptive/body awareness, and interoceptive/internal bodily signals systems;
- Are sensory seeking (seeking specific sensory input), sensory avoiding (also called sensory defensive, or avoiding specific sensory input), or a combination of both;
- Display different sensory preferences in the way they experience or respond to food.
An autistic adult might:
- Be an non-linear thinker, meaning they draw on unrelated elements to inspire new perceptions and ideas;
- Show great attention to detail, or a desire to focus on the details, and it means wanting to understand details clearly first to define the big picture, rather than the other way around;
- Process and understand information very literally;
- Have defined, specific and very focused interests (called special interests in the autistic community);
- Be able to hyperfocus on a task or process;
- Experience differences in the way they transition. Autistic adults can find it difficult to begin something but equally difficult to stop that thing once they begin, especially if the task or process is not finished;
- Structure their life into specific, predictable routines or patterns of activities;
- Quickly and easily notice patterns in the world around them;
- Have unusual responses to sensory stimuli compared to their non-autistic peers. These responses might include both seeking sensory input or avoiding sensory input;
- Experience differences in their ability to self-regulate and process information, depending on their changing environment or sensory needs (e.g. if their environment is too bright or too loud).