Modern life harder for auties?

Post Reply New Topic

So I've been thinking (sorry, it's a bad habit)

Since I've graduated high school some 35 years ago this world has undergone a RADICAL transformation from a relatively simple one to one completely saturated with media, choices, multitasking, sensory stimuli, etc etc.

I'm thinking that with each generation of devices and gadgets that this overload is just getting worse and worse for auties and aspies.

Somewhat ironic that there are aspies that excel at the technical fields but the end result is a world harder to live in.

I find people overload me more than technology.

But then again, some video games can be a bit much.

That might explain why I refuse to participate in the whole gadget craze.

Either that or it's just my resistance to change.

Videogames these days are unfair. They are too bright, loud, circular and zip and zoom the camera and I end up with a headache.

I agree that this more technological society adds to the chaos. This society is just too fast paced. It's like that going in for jobs. If you haven't got what they need they just quickly toss you out and go to the next person. Everything must keep zip and zooming along.
It's good for Blackmores because they can sell all their stress pills to people. Those pills don't work by the way.

The people also bother me. But the technology and people go in hand to hand.

I prefer to be oblivious to most of the technology available today, not to mention the modern forms of English. I prefer to behave in a manner that is typical of one who lived a century ago.

But then we wouldn't have a forum like WP...

I personally don't have an overload of technology since I don't have a cell phone and everything that comes with it. A few years ago I would have said that technology has made some things easier, by being able to converse by IM rather than in person or on the phone, but the friendships I had on IM ended badly, and perhaps they wouldn't have if they had been in person -- or more likely, I wouldn't have been friends with people so unlike me in the first place.

I have a computer and have been obsessed with them since I discovered their existence. Same thing happened with the internet. However, my equipment is all so outdated that I'm getting to the point where the problems are starting to outweigh the resistance to upgrading. I have a cell phone for emergencies which does only one thing: makes calls. (Being stranded on the side of the highway without it is much worse; I've done that. I sat in the car wondering what to do until someone pulled over behind me and asked if I needed help.) I have an off-brand mp3 player which is also many years old. That's it. I don't even have a television. I've always thought it was odd that I could be so fascinated with computers and yet so resistant to all other gadgets. It probably is due to overstimulation and/or the inability to multi-task. I can't even stand to IM.

I graduated from high school nearly 40 years ago too, but I am not sure about things being worse now.

I like computers and tablets and the Internet and buying things online and mp3 players (mostly) - they are a definite plus. My current job didn't even exist when I was high school: web developer. I also look forward to electric cars and more solar power. All good.

On the other hand, I don't like phones, so mobile phones are pretty much a dead loss to me. I particularly dislike people talking on mobile phones while commuting on trains.

It is hard to tell the difference between aging and the world changing. But most of my sensory problems are caused by people, and that is not a technology issue in the main. People's manners are a bit different, and that can be a problem (I am particularly sensitive to noisy eating, which is probably more common now than back then).

I am so glad that the work of Hans Asperger was finally discovered in the English-speaking world, so that people now know what was/is wrong or different about me. Back when I finished high school, I had no idea what was going on inside me, I just knew I was struggling. No AS diagnosis back then. Definite plus for modern times.

And I think the current research into genetics is exciting.

All in all, I prefer the current world. Or maybe the future - can I come back in a hundred years time, and be an invisible observer?

I don't really care much for a lot of the modern gadgets. The only modern gadget that I really need, is a laptop and maybe an iPad. MP3 players are too small for my hands, or shovels to manuver. (I have larger hands than all of the women and half of the men I know). I don't really like talking on the phone, so I doubt that I will have a mobile phone in my lifetime. Why would I want a Blackberry, when it's so much easier for me to type on something that has a standard keyboard. Something like a netbook, laptop or a PC? I do most of my posting on my Wii, because those things can be a bit tight for me. I like the big screen TVs, though.

Interesting replies.

FWIW, I work in I.T.

I'm not anti technology. It just seems that it is being used in ways that are maddening to me. The news cycle is measured in MINUTES. I heard a news story about Wikipedia the other day and before anyone actually knew anything for sure, thw entry for the congresswomen shot in Arizona was update to say she had died. That misinformation was circulating across the internet from multiple sources.

There is currently more data on the internet than anyone can possibly get a handle on.

The stock market has bizarre gyrations because of computerized trading.

I just want it all to SLOW DOWN.

I'd rather have the computers than tons of paper everywhere

For the most part I seem to be compatible with modern life as long as I stay clear of multitasking and work at doing one thing at a time; and as long as I don't treat the one thing that I'm doing as some kind of emergency that has to be done instantly.

Technology is Exciting!!

The problem is humans weren't designed to be excited all of the time.

Particularly people on the Autism Spectrum.

I craved it when I was young: faster, brighter, louder. Beyond tactile sensitivity I was hypo sensitive to light and sound until I reached about age 45. Computers changed the way my brain worked. I went from not being able to focus on a page in a book to being able to read much faster and finish a book in a sitting. Soon after that I lost any desire to listen to the radio or watch TV. Soon after that light and sound became painful.

The adrenaline from technology helped me focus and I needed more and more to keep up with a faster moving world. TV was an under representation of reality most of my life. I noticed as it became more realistic I became more stimulated and excited by it. Now HDTV presents a reality that is far more stimulating than the real world. I can't handle it anymore but still miss the pleasure it once gave me.

I saw a study that some video game players at age 20 have the respiratory function of a 60 year old smoker. Sitting in one spot under the influence of adrenaline with no actual physical fight or flight can be be taxing on the cardio-respiratory system even if the experience seems exciting in a positive way. The same kind of thing can apply to a person sitting in front of a computer at work who is constantly overwhelmed with stress.

I noticed when I was young, I felt like I had a grasp on the culture. I knew the popular songs from all genres, watched all of the popular TV shows from 3 channels, saw all of the popular movies, understood the news around the world from 30 minute news programs, and newspapers, and knew what was going on in the local community. I doubt anyone can wrap their mind around it anymore.

The number of people, places, events, we are able to experience through just the medium of TV, are beyond what any human could imagine before TV came along. Music, and TV is repeated over and over in our lifetime giving us the ability to relive the past and associated emotions in a way no one could have imagined before.

Modern technology charges us with adrenaline and can eventually physically wear us down physically and mentally. It also provides us with instant gratification. The problem is the adrenaline can wear us down as we need more and more of the instant gratification to be content. It is no wonder so many people are anxious and depressed.

Some people handle it quite well. The fittest go into combat not suffering the combat fatigue that is suffered by those that are not as resilient. I think some of us are the canaries in the coalmine.