Lack of information about AS?

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This is quite a problem I think. I mean, I can list and point out many of the symptoms and stuff as AS to my mother, but she's always like why?

Lack of information about AS?

I'm not so certain that the problem (if one actually exists) is a "lack" of information. A simple Google search will yield a pluthora of hits and information.
What is lacking is objective and accurate information. Even among people on the spectrum debates rage on as to the the causation, symptomologie and what should be done (if anything) about it.

Even then, I would hesitate to say that. There's plenty of information, but it's all from a third-person perspective. What we REALLY need is a first-person perspective accurately explaining 'why' we do things the way we do them.

If anyone knows a couple well-spoken Aspies who can take care of this, I'd love to see a cooperative book project.

I thought about this last night actually. Just a thought but how about we start some threads about such things, Aspie behaviours and the reasons for it and let people tell their hows and whys, and have someone collect different experiences so that a plethora of memories and experiences can be gathered and published. Since we’re so different and present so different it will be helpful if more people contribute.
I do not volunteer, my English is too poor and I live in a small country.
To make it fair, make it clear in the OP that the thread will be used as an asset for such a book, and let the surplus go to WP.

I think that's a very good idea.

Whenever I've got upset or acted out, it's always been because:

-There was too much going on all at once

-I was socially confused

-There was too much crowding/no personal space

-Things had to be done in a rush/time pressure

-People were telling me to do things that I didn't agree with or didn't like

-There were too many bright lights, loud noises or strong smells


Remove all of these things and I become much calmer.
When I work at my own pace, on my own, with occasional (but not obligatory) social contact, I'm much happier. When people let me do my own thing and praise me for it, I'm also happier.

As to why I become calmer, I have no idea.
I've found that I tend to function much better if there are fewer people around and these few people are friendly. Also lots of time outside in open spaces seems to help a lot.


Also, I've found that I fiddle about with/investigate objects/plants a lot. I don't know if that's really 'stimming'. Is 'stimming' actually socially unacceptable fiddling about, that isn't directed towards a goal directed activity or is it something else?

I say this because I've fiddled about with equipment/specimens (in the required way) during goal directed science experiments/investigations in the past and no-one seemed to mind that. That kind of tinkering around came naturally to me.

I have difficulty explaining why I like examining the bark of a tree or looking at a beetle. That seems to be instinctive.

I think that it must be some kind of pre-wired behaviour: using the hands to manipulate and the eyes to investigate objects.


Ask a popular, outgoing person why they socialise with so many other people, and this person will just say:
"It just comes naturally and I enjoy it."

Ask me why I fiddle about with objects and investigate them by myself and I'd say:
"It just comes naturally and I enjoy it."


That's the problem with asking why. Sometimes I find myself doing things and I try to rationalise my behaviour. But, that still doesn't really answer why I do those things, while other people might not.

It's a very deep question.
Can things like temperaments and instincts really be explained casually?

If I have stims they are mostly related to grooming behaviors (monkey style). I also have weird habits like scraping off flaking paint or varnish. I love the tiny sounds . If I cook a burger and the left over grease has hardened bubbles I can hear it pop when I touch them. If I'm extremely stressed on the other hand, taking a handful of silverware and throwing it in the sink makes a most satisfying noise. I don't rock or flap my hands. I tried flapping my hands out of curiosity and I found it very satisfying though. I think rocking would calm anyone. I wonder why it never occurs to some of us and some of us do it automatically.

Rocking causes a 'loss of balance' and can calm people so much that it sends them to sleep. See:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/hypnosis5.htm

Hence we have 'Rock-a-bye baby' (rocking cradles), rocking-chairs, swing benches and hammocks.

I've also noticed that this kind of rocking motion is used in fairground swing boats, swings and rocking horses. So it can be enjoyed in a more extreme way too. When it's fast rocking it doesn't send you to sleep, it leaves your stomach behind. Whenever I go to the fair I see machinery that's specifically designed to spin and rock the riders, to disorientate them in extreme ways. There's something thrilling or relaxing about being disorientated, depending on the speed. I can't help but wonder.

Everyone rocks. Also NTs. Keep a group of NT and torture them for 2 years, they will have rocking/space-out and everything else. Rocking/Stimming, etc. are not typical of autism, they are typical of human (and animals) under pressure. We are simply ALWAYS under pressure.

Nightsun wrote:

good point.

Brilliant point. That would seem true. Could it also be isolation/not having social contact much and thus having to sooth oneself?

For me it's the opposite. Human contact is the reason why I need it.

Although it might hold true for NTs. Just look at those Romanian orphans who rocked or were catatonic. They weren't all autistic, but the situation they were in made them act quite autistic.

Ah I didn't make my point clearly. Even when you or I are in a room full of NTs, we're still isolated in a sense because we're not gaining positive feelings from social interaction. It's stressing us out, draining us rather than recharging us, so we turn to self soothing through other strategies.

So it makes sense that a socially isolated NT would also self sooth in this way, no? As in the above example of torture victims (drained through other means).

Yes.

I've seen stressed out animals rock and pace up and down in small cages at the zoo.
They were given a bigger enclosure, so when I went the next time, they were much happier.

I think that it's important to make the distinction between stress induced behaviours/pacing/rocking and the natural curiosity of fiddling about.

When humans and apes aren't under pressure and are relaxed, they still fiddle with and manipulate objects with their hands.

Does the word 'stimming' actually distinguish between these two types of behaviours?
Stress induced vs Natural curiosity?

The 'stim toys': worry beads, stress balls, executive toys etc seem to be to do with fiddling about. I just wonder at what point natural curiosity becomes soothing? I just wonder what sort of instinct is driving the 'fiddling about' and why people seem to fiddle about with objects such as car keys, etc when they're stressed.

Does the natural behaviour just become more intense with the stress?

I agree 100%.

It's ironic that stim is short for stimulate when the problem is actually too much stimulation. I do think that picking and fiddling can be a stress reliever though.