Your top 3 difficulties caused by autism

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I’ve just joined a research team which hopes to produce some form of technology that helps adults with autism/AS. We have just started and which aspect of autism this technology will assist with is still completely open. My role is to advise on autism and currently I’m to produce a list of the main difficulties that autism can cause. I’ve thought of my own top 5 problems caused by autism in my own life but input from others would be really useful to see how representative my own difficulties are.

If you could share your top 3 or top 5 problems it would be really helpful. Don’t mind if they are in order or not and this is just for me, won't end up in the research project!

Last edited by oppositedirection on 19 Oct 2012, 6:57 am, edited 2 times in total.

What makes you think my Aspie traits are difficulties or problems anyhow? And what makes you think that I need or want help?

Well, Aspergers is a disorder...The point being that it causes impairments. The OP has Aspergers themselves, by the way.

To be fair I wrote" autism can cause" problems. Some people find autism causes them no problems and some people finds that it does. Certainly being autistic has impacted upon my own life. It's people in the latter category who might benefit.

Last edited by oppositedirection on 19 Oct 2012, 6:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

Aspergers may be a disorder, but I can't understanding why Aspies need therapy, unless they are creatures of socialization and human relationships. I for one have accepted my disorder and wouldn't have it any othe way. And this is what sets me apart from NTs. My disorder never kept me from living on my own since I was 19, working and driving my own car. I've been hired by a lot of people to do artwork for them as well. True, I've had a lot of hard knocks over the years, but as someone with Aspergers I overcame and accepted for what I have. Just because it may be an impairment to you it may be a blessing for someone else such as in my case.

Yes, I check out his profile and seen that he has been diagnosed for Aspergers. I hope he and others look at Aspergers as more of a blessing than a curse.

I noticed you have Aspergers-diagnosed.

Yes, Autism can cause problems when it is Low Functioning. But, since Aspergers is part of the Autism Spectrum, I've heard this before but with Aspergers Syndrome. Even High Functioning Autism cause problems for some where they need some sort of therapy IF they want it. But, Aspergers seems to be a bit different with different traits that don't seem to cause the problems that being with High Functioning Autism does. But, once again, even with HFA, if a person is a creature of socialization and into human relationship, I can't understand why they need ( or even want therapy for that matter).

Hmm... anxiety, social interaction/communication, and multitasking for me. The basics.

Social interaction, Sensory issues (especially loud noise and touch) and anxiety.

Perhaps we may try to answer the man's question. He seems to have people's best interests in mind.

This should be the one place on earth where it's understood that a person's choice of words is infinitely forgivable if the intentions are good. This is in fact an aspie forum, yea?

1. Ineffectiveness (uselessness, really) at day to day tasks. Going to the grocery store, mailing a letter, etc. An overwhelming curiosity usually causes me to talk to strangers for hours. Also, I have no real sense of time. If I wake up at noon, I'd be lucky to make it to the bank before five.

2. Totally logical thought process (which should be a good thing) makes conversation with people near-torture. A combination of the average person's nonsensical thoughts combined with a extreme desire to help/empathize with/understand/console people makes life frustrating. I still have no idea what "just be yourself" means or why this phrase is even said or how to be someone else. Also the phrase "it just is what it is". I hear this said everyday, but I'm not allowed to say "yes, I know that thing is the thing which it is. WHY is it that way and name one thing that isn't what it is." There are a thousand more everyday phrases like this that make me want to die.

3. Knowing, not guessing but knowing the amount of my life being wasted. Not having a "time to sink in" type brain and therefore understanding full well that death is coming and everyday is wasted with conversations that make no sense. Sometimes I know how to help people but can't because of their arbitrary refusal to think/know that problems have solutions. I see stupid superstitions ruin people's lives and it destroys me. I know I'm smart enough to accomplish some f*****g thing in life. That is, of course, unless there is a letter that needs to be sent. In that case I'll be spending the next two days trying to get it to the goddamned mailbox. Not knowing why I can't.

No matter where, I am smarter than everyone and the worlds stupidest person. At the same time. I am William Shatner in that old twilight zone episode. The one where he is trying to tell everyone that there is something on the wing of the plane. Now wait, don't tell me...I'm guessing the piece of advice to make me feel better about all of this will be something like "no use worrying so much, it just is what it is, people will be people, can't always be logical, just take care of yourself."

...."thanks, I never thought to just turn off the worrying and remind myself that this thing is indeed the thing that it is."

If any of this makes no sense, tell me and I can explain further. Just let me know if I can help in any small way.

Good luck.

I suggest changing the research goal to inventing some technology which helps adult NTs communicate effectively and logically. This is something which will have immediate benefits for people with Autism. I believe this would be called a win-win situation.

Not the first time this has come up, but I can't think of any way technology could help sensory perception issues. If I'm having a conversation and draw a blank, or words come out of my mouth that I wasn't intending to say, or I can't guess someone's reaction to what I'm saying - this is approaching neurobiology or hard AI problems that if you could solve them you'd have a lot more applications than just AS. Societal expectations about dress, participation, and so on are largely outside the realm of what can be done with technology. There may be ways to help with executive function deficits, but each person is an individual with a unique working style. One size won't fit all. I do mobile application development myself, but have never come up with any software ideas that would help with AS symptoms.

I will share my top 3.

1. Being socially awkward
2. Being awkwardly anxious
3. Low self-esteem/confidence

My top 3:

- Auditory and temperature sensitivity. This is huge. It's so difficult for me. to ever be comfortable, and every noise grates on my nerves. It's so hard on me that it's caused a lot of my depression and made me withdraw from the world a lot. The fact that a lot of people with autism have synesthesia is ignored too. Not only am I sensitive to sound, but I have motion>sound synesthesia, so everything that moves has a sound and overwhelms me.

- Group conversations. I find it impossible to fit in with a group. I can never interact, get a word in edgewise, or understand what's really going on. I can't even follow the track of the conversation. Whenever I try to interject, I'm so slow that I get ran over. I might have something valuable to say, but it's not going to get out there. And no one cares.

- Understanding where I stand with other people. I never know if they like me, or what they're feeling, or how to act around them, or if I've upset them. It's like throwing dice and not being able to see the dots ON the dice. That's what social interaction is for me. And people tell me that I should socialize because it would help my depression! Ha!

And I don't understand why people would jump all over the OP who is trying to find ways to make life with the wonderful gift that is autism (and I'm NOT sarcastic) better for all of us. It's not a cure, they aren't trying to eradicate us, guys. It's research. Chill out.

1) social interaction and social awkwardness
2) sensory issues and my coping mechanisms which annoy ppl-making noise to cover noise up
3) multitasking and prioritizing

1) Social
2) Social
3) Social

Nobody needs therapy, but most people can benefit from therapy nt's or not. Just as every sport star has a coach, every cognitive being could benefit from coaching to either improve or perfect.


Anyhow to be on point.

The biggest problems I think most have.

1) being organized, either with personal belonging's, time, different social relations etc. I'd think we all benefit if we had diagrams displaying, things about our co workers etc.

2) Social awarness of my own actions. I have severe trouble knowing what my facial expressions and body language is saying most of the time. Having some type of motion tracking that displays facial and body expressions at all times would be super helpful.

3) Knowing how to express emotions in my language, how to show emphasis, distain, and other complex emotional states.
Simply having a play book, or some sort of thesaurus for what to say, when trying to convey emotions and knowledge in the same stroke.

Last edited by Stoek on 19 Oct 2012, 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.