Need advice, 23 years old and never knew why I was different

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I have some questions I haven't been able to find answers to anywhere. Things that probably only those who know autsitic people or are autistic themselves could answer.

Autism is defined as not being able to properly communicate or associate with others. But there has to be a reason behind that people who are diagnosed autistic share. Just not being able to communicate doesnt make a disorder. There would have to be a mental factor that's making this happen.

I guess my question is what are autistic people thinking that makes them so different? I actually came across Temple Grandin's web site by accident (www.templegrandin.com) after reading her description of her own thoughts I realized that they are exactly like my own. I thought this was how everyone thought! I haven't found much more information about how the mind of an autistic person thinks.

Do all autistic people think in pictures? If that is the case then maybe our brains are set up differently and just need to be educated differently from other people.

Is the difference in severity between different autistics based on what education and enviroment they've been raised in that nurtured to their way of thinking. OR is the difference in severity due to each person's brain being developed with more "problems"

What the real question I have is. Is autism a mental disorder or a brain disorder. If it's just mental then maybe there are certain steps that each person with autsim would have to go through and learn before they could learn to think and idenifty with other people. If it is a brain disorder, like a form of brain damage, then the difference in severity of the people with autsim would be the amount of brain damaged and where..

What are your oppinions?

How do you think? In pictures? In only pictures?

I was dissapointed that I didn't know more about this disorder and after reading about it even more surprised to find that I've always had all the symptoms but never realized what was actually wrong. I'm pretty sure I have autism and my other question is what is the best way to be diagnosed. I feel I would have a very unique perspective since I never even knew why I was so different until now. If I do have autism it would be fascinating to find out what got me and kept me "functioning" I think there were very specific and important steps that i've had to take to get where i am and i believe they would be invaluable to those growing up with autism.

I think the secret of autism is within how we think differently. It makes sense that if we could only think in pictures there would be a huge hurdle to overcome that no one else had. This also means that once we do we would be at a level of understanding that normal people simply couldn't comprehend. We just need to find the link that people with autism share and then develop a way to teach their different way of thinking. First we have to know what that is so maybe this is the start of something unique..

?

Most do think in pictures which makes communication difficult at first because you have to develop this whole intricate and mentally intensive system to translate your thoughts into something another human being can understand.

As for the condition itself its physical not mental there is a real and tangible difference in brain structure.

Thats not to say you cant learn to overcome some of the symptoms for the most part and adapt but that will only go so far (still you should try some peoples brain wiring is more flexible than others).

All of the above, but I'm special.

im a pretty visual thinker although i do incorporate words...

i mainly use my auditory ques for social interactions because I never seem to look at people and always just listen. so i can remember whole shpeels that people say to me and process it in a lagging manner... or just so i can visualize whatever i think the person is talking about (this is hard to do while looking right at them and nodding ect...) this kind of talent really helps me in learning foreign languages cause i can remember all the words they say and actually look them up in my little mental dictionary and translate...

also, in a lot of my college classes i would doodle pictures during lecture instead of taking specific notes (granted, if there was a big scarey-lookin word, i would write it/definition down) and i could just remember the entire lecture by looking at my doodles.

i have alot of troubles picturing things ive nevr done before. like, i work in a molecular lab, where everything occurs in little testtubes with clear liquid... and when i am learning something new... it's really hard for me to take pre-existing knowledge and procedures and apply them to a new procedure/situation. i generally have to have someone walk me through the procedure so i can have a visual memory of me actually doing it before i can actually analyze or gleen information out of any one step. otherwise, i just tend to stare blankly at someone while they talk about this procedure or that... if all they're gonna do is talk to me about something, im far better off just finding a book with the protocol and F****** it up a few times.

There are reasons, but no magic bullet has been found.
See Causes of autism



See Autism

It's a neurodevelopmental disorder. It's part of a spectrum of pervasive development disorders.

The fact that have posted a message on a forum indicates that you already have a lot more in common with people than you think.

I'm not saying that you don't have autism, or that you do; it really doesn't matter. You interested in becoming more social.

You can learn alot about yourself by learning about Autism Spectrum Disorders. Just don't get obsessed with trying to fit yourself into a label.

It's very easy to focus on traits you recognize in yourself, and at the same time not see how you're different. It's the same reason why horoscopes are always right.



Everyone thinks differently, because everyone's brain is wired a little or a lot differently. That is why everyone is unique. A lot of people on the spectrum tend to be more visual though. Note, men in general are more visual than women.

See Learning Styles
Specifically, section and link on Visual, Aural, Reading/Writing, Kinesthetic
If you really want to learn something, learn it by all 4 ways



Don't put all of your eggs into the disorder basket. Do you know how to do something that not everyone else can? Would you consider the people who can't do it as having something 'wrong' with them?

For the most part, social skills are, well, skills that ARE learned. No one is born with them. If you have the patience and desire, I think you already have everything else you need to learn.

Here's the big question. Why did you start asking why you are the way you are?



Easy there GOD

On your poll: I hear myslef say the words, but I also sometimes think the words, and I see pictures too.

I definitely think in words, and I can see a picture of the written words in my head. I excel in language. But that seems weird to me, because I am a very visual and artistic person. I guess the difference is that I learn better visually when someone is showing me how to do something, but verbally when learning academic/abstract/non-immediate knowledge, because when being given instructions, I always have to see a demonstration, telling me to do more than 3 things doesn't suffice, I always forget one of the four. But I excel in verbal skills and discussing abstract ideas.

I also spend all my time doodling in class. I at first thought it was a problem with add, but then I realized that I spend all my time doodling and feeling restless and that class is torture not because I can't concentrate, but because I already know and understand half the material, and the other half I don't find interesting or relevant to talk about in class--I would rather read it all.

Do you think that there was a point in your life that you turned visualizations of words into verbalizing them? As in, you used to have to see them as images but eventually that lead to being able to consider them verbal words instead of images?

I was the same way in school but I would never read the books. When you're discussing abstract ideas are you visualizing them as well? Are you describing the images in your mind or actually thinking in words?

When you write, do you have to think about what you're going to say? Visualize it first? or does it just come out?

Thanks for all your responces they are very appreciated!

in your life that you turned visualizations of words into verbalizing them? As in, you used to have to see them as images but eventually that lead to being able to consider them verbal words instead of images?

----Well at first I thought I just thought in words, but now that I think about it, I always used to have a visual image when I heard certain words. I think that has changed. But I used to have a specific picture when I heard a word, but more so in physical things. Some of the images are unrelated to the actual word, but I guess thats because I heard words when I was younger which I didnt know the meaning to and converted them to whatever the phonetics reminded me of. But it was concrete image. Now that I am older and deal with complexity more, I don't have as specific of a picture, and I think in words now. But, perhaps the visual reference has turned into physical letters in my head because I have been reading and writing for longer. I am an excellent speller also.


"I was the same way in school but I would never read the books. When you're discussing abstract ideas are you visualizing them as well? Are you describing the images in your mind or actually thinking in words?"

---I'm thinking in words, but I am able often times to come up with images that help me grasp concepts. Interestingly, when I read political cartoons, I sometimes I don't understand them until I describe the literal meaning with words. But for me, visual analogies are helpful. Then agian, I suppose they are for most poeple.

"When you write, do you have to think about what you're going to say? Visualize it first? or does it just come out?"

----It just comes out. I think through it just to sort my brain out, but ususally I just let it out. How much effort does it take for you to convert the images in your head into the written or spoken word?

I am able to write as I think. I have a feeling that it took a LOT of practice at first and it's hard for me to remember how I used to think.. I'm sure there was a point where your brain can turn images into words and once that happens the process happens so fast it isn't noticable. I'm not a good speller at ALL though. I'll always spell the same words wrong time and time again even if I've written them hundreds of times. I think it's because I learned them wrong in the first place and it's hard for me to correct it.

I've kept journals that are thousands of pages each year and I think that helped me to develop how I think. My mom says I write how I talk and I think when i write it's me describing the images and movies i make in my head to understand things. I don't think this is something that was easy for me to do at first but after writing thousands of pages it started to become even easier for me than talking. It wasn't until very recently that I was able to have the courage to speak what I thought, but now I can't shut up! But thinking back in my life I don't think i've ever, not even once started a coversation with anyone.. I thought it was because I was shy but after reading about autism it's a much better explanation especially since i have all the other symptoms and such.

What do you think makes one person with autism more highly functioning than someone who isn't? Nature or nurture? If autism is ONLY being able to think in pictures, it makes sense that you would have to be exposed to a lot of pictures and their meaning before you could move on and undertstand more complex thing. Things like science and math might be no problem. But there are no classes for emotions and things like that, that non-autistic people take for granted. I distinctly remember never being able to understand anyone else, as if they were foreign and extremely strange. I couldn't understand how they thought - that anyone could think a different way than myself! What about you?

I think in concepts--whole sets of related ideas that get pulled out of my mental network, and in turn trigger all sorts of other related ideas. Sooner or later, when I start out thinking about point A, I'll be thinking about point B, and then I'll know the connection between them. That's how I solve problems.

I translate into language when I need to communicate ideas; but language is slower than conceptual thought, so I don't use it unless I either need to communicate or need to think about something very precisely. Language helps to crystallize a thought, isolate it from its neighboring ideas in my mind; to make it mean just one thing, rather than all the things it's associated with.

But then, I'm an Aspie, not an Autie; I learned language early and easily. My problem isn't language--which I use precisely and formally--but nonverbal communication, which is still mostly a mystery to me.

That's very interesting to me. I've always been able to communicate pretty well, but only with my mom. No one in school and def not any other children.

They say that 70% or something of communication is non verbal so it would be fascinating to understand why and what you dont' understand about non verbal communication. What do you mean when you say "nonverbal communication" hand gestures, eye movement, stance, expressions, facial expressions?

Do you think you would be able to learn these if someone were to teach you with great detail? Maybe if someone explained why people in movies were doing the things they are. Do you watch a lot of movies? Tv? Do you understand why people are doing the things they are doing or does it have to be communicated verbally?

What don't you understand about non verbal communication?

I'm kind of like Callista is. Words generally aren't a problem for me (or much of a problem). I am perfectly coherent in writing (unless I'm not functioning very well), but I have a hard time talking either on the telephone or face-to-face with someone else.

As for solving a problem (or problems), I have been known to use approaches that no one else would even think of. I would be doing a chemistry problem (or math, in my earlier days) and I would complete it in the way it makes most sense to me. My chem teacher would hand back our graded homework and ask me "How did you come up with this solution?" The answer would be correct (unless my math was wrong) and the logic would make sense, but he just couldn't fathom how I managed to solve the problem in such a different way than everyone else in the class did.