12-15-2010, 05:12 PM
will apologise in advance for grammar/spelling [am affected in these areas by learning disabilities and post brain injury] but here is the guide had mentioned,its written from both own experience,as well as using own detailed knowledge of autism and what its like for others that personaly know-not textbook style with stereotypes and diagnostic criteria,as hope people can learn something new about classic autism.
-will attempt to write a basic guide for aspergers at another date,dont have as much understanding of the rest of the spectrum,as we dont use the PDDNOS label over here and the others are very rare.
Ps.hope this section is ok and sorry it got so long.
a guide to,and the reality of classic autism
-severity
-functioning
-inteligence
-medication
-extrovertism VS introvertism?
-independant living
-communication
-sensory perception difficulties
-routine and change
-information and sensory overload
-self injury/self harming
-social stuff
-humour
-obsessions
-sexuality and gender awareness
-work/jobs
-benefits
-classic autistics worthy of note
-further information
many people think extreme stereotypes when they think of classic autism [the current formal diagnostic name for it being autistic disorder],they think of kids sitting in corners all day,drueling,having no contact with the world outside themselves, unable to go to the toilet without physical help,intelectualy disabled, fully non verbal,unable to hug people,unable to learn,no sense of humour,no emotions etc,read on to discover what classic autism is really about.
section-severity
what people do not realise is classic autism is a huge label covering many of us,in terms of severity, it can be mild,moderate,severe and profound and within each severity they are all responsible for spectrums,to put it another way-it doesnt matter if get several people of the same severity together,they will be vastly different.
most people do not even realise am diagnosed severely autistic because of having more abilities and maturity than others they know with the label,but thats because am being compared to fully low functioning severe autistics.
section-functioning
next comes functioning-a term which is a burden to many-a autistic.
autistic functioning refers to basic living skills and necesseties like communication,learning,inteligence,behavior,independance,level of understanding,language ability [use of,and understanding] etc.
medicaly speaking,they still only use the outdated meaning of high functioning and low functioning,with no moderate functioning,most have come to realise there is a moderate scale but many of us are actualy of mixed functioning,and dont fit perfectly into one or the other either.
section-inteligence
people only ever associate intelectual disability with classic autism and assume those of us who dont have it are not classic autistic,and more ignorantly,people say that autistics with any inteligence have aspergers.
classic autism has a completely unlimited IQ allowance from the lowest to the highest as part of criteria,however we do have some issues with this that 'aspergans' usualy not to have.
we do not test very well in IQ testing for various reasons related to our autism,and are wrongly categorised as being intelectualy impaired when we are not,luckily IQ testing isnt relied on anymore like it used to be.
-as a side note,one of the most famous inteligent people was thought to be classic autistic; einstein, which is clear from the interviews his family have had with experts like temple grandin,though people mistakenly label him as aspergan because of his inteligence.
section-medication
many of us are on medication for our autism symptoms and behavior,
medications can help improve anything from the social and communicative side to,the sensory,anxiety,challenging behavior etc.
am on multiple meds for the autism as well as epilepsy,and these help with various issues from autism though dont completely control them.
some autistics am aware of are dosed up to high or on so much anti pyschotics that they barely function at all.
some people are given them when they dont need them,purely because of their label,its not the most reliable market.
section-extrovertism VS introvertism?
classic autistics can be extroverts,or a mixture of extro and intro vertism,commonly the belief is that its only pure introvertism within classic autism which isnt true,am familiar with quite a few who are extroverted and love touch and attention.
section-independant living
as classic autistics,we do tend to struggle the most out of people on the autism spectrum with independant living [living away from the family] and basic living skills,as well as having complex and challenging needs/behaviors,so many of us do live in some form of supported care,in own case have been living in institutional and residential care since just before twentith birthday and am now coming up to twenty seventh.
but some live in their own place with minimal to no support.
section-communication
as for communication,we all differ with this.
some people are fully non verbal all the time,but this is rare.
some are fully verbal,but dont have free speech-in the sense that are not able to choose language to speak freely,instead will use prescripted sentances in head or repeat what others are saying;this is called echolalia.
some are fully verbal and have normal language,but are echolalic because it helps them cope with anxiety.
am between both extremes,for a large part of the day am fully non verbal unable to make any sounds or mouth movements,and when verbal am strongly echolalic though have more language available than others so it isnt always as noticible.
it tends not to come out through typing because its also scripted language.
-many of us use different forms of sign languages; makaton,BSL/ASL, PECS,AAC aids,text to speech software etc,and some are able to communicate through singing-but not speaking!
section-sensory perception difficulties.
those of us with classic autism tend to have stronger issues with sensory perception,meaning we hear sound a lot louder and we feel more pain as a result,we feel materials/textures/tactile items a lot more accutely, so we often have severe eating difficulties,many of us have a distorted view of what we see [vision] and so forth,we often have to use various aids to try and help cope with these severe sensory sensitivities ranging from ear defenders and sound proofing the home,to medication to numb the senses and sensory integration therapy.
-many of us have accute sensory issues with the clothes we wear,and are very limited in materials.
section-routine and change.
we have more issues with these than people with aspergers.
with routine,many of us use what are called timelines or charts,with PECS pictures to show us the plan of the day,for some people they do even longer-week long charts,for some people they can only manage now/next/and later.
we have accute need for routine,not through fear of something bad happening like with OCD but because we need a lot of planning and predictibility, this is why change is very hard for us,for some of us this includes clothing.
section-information and sensory overload
information and sensory overload are both caused by to much sensory input [the level differs for everyone] and to much data/information input,in own case-have to have PECS charts going through each step for even basic things as its to overloading,and with sensory overload- will feel electric shock type pain ripple throughout hole body,drop to the floor,usualy unconcious or partly out of it but unable to see or move, and when eventualy come around-if it was very severe will be temperarily paralysed from the waist down,sometimes will have epileptic seizures from to much sensory overload,probably through the stress or neurological impact.
just general sensory overload which builds up throughout the day is very painful,so have to have codeine based painkillers to help with it.
section-self injury/self harming
many of us self harm-with the most common form being head banging/self punching/attacking/self eye gouging.
it is regulary used as a form of communication,and expression of being confused about what are feeling,but for some people its part of their challenging behavior.
for many of us,its a sensory seeking habit-seeking pressure or pain because another common aspect of classic autism is a strongly reduced sense of pain,though this isnt correct for everyone.
in own case,have been head banging every day throughout the day
since a toddler and is the reason why am affected by brain injury.
have scratched life long also,and cut with ring pulls off cans since a teen,but got into using the real sharp stuff as a twenty year old, both for communicating,sensory seeking and for numbing mind.
section-social stuff
we are more affected in social awareness and ability than aspergans,
however it isnt usualy noted as a point in classic autism like it is with aspergers because we are the least likely out of both to interact and want friends so it,in this sense is not as noticeable.
of those of us who use forums,our communication and interaction difficulties often cross over to online,in own case one of the greatest struggles have got is with carrying on back-forth communication [as in,chatting],so tend to end up being hated or thought to be ignoring people when its a severe struggle to gather up enough interaction and communicative energy to do so.
the other issue have got is a difficulty with pronouns [the 'self' words,words that describe self-so will use 'am' instead of the others,as the rest are the ones that get completely head-screwed and overloaded on]-this is a common side effect of classic autism but have been bullied by many ignorants online for it,will verbally speak using third person talk [this means own name,another alternative that many classic autistic people use] as it sounds the same anyway [real name is em,prefer it to full].
so,as a result,tend to avoid using forums and using only places like yahoo answers instead,where am able to help people out without the social side being involved as back-forth chat is banned there.
section-humour
the old humour stereotype.
yes,we have a sense of humour,other people may not understand it, or even recognise we have it as we do not use it in the same way non autistics do.
its one way humour for many of us,but that doesnt make it non existant.
have got a great sense of humour without even realising or trying,as it is just part of personality which others say they find hilarious.
section-obsessions
yep,we have them-most people seem to relate obsessions in autism to aspergers only,but dont realise its just as common within classic autism.
the common trend with obsessions within classic autism [though by all means not all] is to be focussed on obsessions for obsessions sake, not for the sake of knowledge which is more common to aspergers.
am personaly obsessed with cats,horses,computers and now back into
obsessing over RC cars having paid for a bashed up thunder tiger to be finaly repaired.
but also know other classic autists that have lived with or live with now,who are obsessed in disney videos and DVDs,thomas the tank engine,cars,toilets [dont ask! must have been the shape and sensory side to it that he liked],cats,music,youtube/the internet, collecting certain things etc.
section-sexuality and gender awareness
a huge number of us [including aspergans] are actualy asexual,many of us are fully asexual which is when we have nothing to do with sexuality whatsoever,we were born this way and didnt develop it, some people seem asexual but it is more a developed issue through lack of access to having girlfriends/boyfriends etc.
this is especialy true for those wanting partners in residential care where staff are on shifts and girlfriends/boyfriends are not possible unless they live with them.
many of us with classic autism grow up unaware of gender differences,
and cannot see the differences or boundaries between both, thus we may dress how we want and not how people or society tell us to.
eg,am female but lack the awareness and understanding between both to seperate them,have been taught and still get taught now but it doesnt make sense to self because of how see humans [as one object/whole] and no different.
section-work/jobs
its possible for people of any severity and functioning to be able to work given the right environment,support and type of work-more so if its based around the persons favourite things and abilities to give them encouragement,but will often find that places are unwilling to take us on even just for helping out because they see us as a risk under their insurance.
the most profoundly autistic guy am living with,is expected to have some sort of PT work within a few years like the rest of us are expected [well hoped for] so if it can be achieved with profound autism,people need to realise it isnt the very poor life sentance that they think.
section-benefits
speaking purely from a UK view here,as do not know enough about SSI/SSDI,many of us with classic autism claim,or can claim both high rate mobility and high rate care of DLA [disability living allowance].
most people assume high rate mobility is only for people who are severely affected in physical disability but there is also a 'severe behavioral difficulties+severe mental impairment' criteria which we often qualify for,if are awarded HRM,are able to exchange the HRM for a car of own choice under the motability scheme [which is what had done in own case with a citroen nemo MS],and are automaticaly entitled to a blue badge disabled parking permit because we are classed as having very high needs under HRM.
classic autistics worthy of note
-einstein [not diagnosed,but strongly suspected by his surviving family who are mostly on the spectrum and experts].
-temple grandin [diagnosed,a high functioning classic autistic,she has done alot for progressing the understanding of autism as well as animal wellfare and how animals think].
-stephen wiltshire [a classic autistic savant in art and an impressive photographic memory].
-Tito Mukhopadhyay [a fully low functioning autistic,who has been in documentaries and written books despite his level of autism and functioning.
further information
national autistic society,much information about autism and ASD in general and services available:
http://www.autism.org.uk/
wikipedia article on classic autism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism
best pre assessment test for autism [as with all online tests this isnt for self diagnosis]:
http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html
-will attempt to write a basic guide for aspergers at another date,dont have as much understanding of the rest of the spectrum,as we dont use the PDDNOS label over here and the others are very rare.
Ps.hope this section is ok and sorry it got so long.
a guide to,and the reality of classic autism
CONTENTS/SECTIONS
-classic autism-severity
-functioning
-inteligence
-medication
-extrovertism VS introvertism?
-independant living
-communication
-sensory perception difficulties
-routine and change
-information and sensory overload
-self injury/self harming
-social stuff
-humour
-obsessions
-sexuality and gender awareness
-work/jobs
-benefits
-classic autistics worthy of note
-further information
classic autism
many people think extreme stereotypes when they think of classic autism [the current formal diagnostic name for it being autistic disorder],they think of kids sitting in corners all day,drueling,having no contact with the world outside themselves, unable to go to the toilet without physical help,intelectualy disabled, fully non verbal,unable to hug people,unable to learn,no sense of humour,no emotions etc,read on to discover what classic autism is really about.
section-severity
what people do not realise is classic autism is a huge label covering many of us,in terms of severity, it can be mild,moderate,severe and profound and within each severity they are all responsible for spectrums,to put it another way-it doesnt matter if get several people of the same severity together,they will be vastly different.
most people do not even realise am diagnosed severely autistic because of having more abilities and maturity than others they know with the label,but thats because am being compared to fully low functioning severe autistics.
section-functioning
next comes functioning-a term which is a burden to many-a autistic.
autistic functioning refers to basic living skills and necesseties like communication,learning,inteligence,behavior,independance,level of understanding,language ability [use of,and understanding] etc.
medicaly speaking,they still only use the outdated meaning of high functioning and low functioning,with no moderate functioning,most have come to realise there is a moderate scale but many of us are actualy of mixed functioning,and dont fit perfectly into one or the other either.
section-inteligence
people only ever associate intelectual disability with classic autism and assume those of us who dont have it are not classic autistic,and more ignorantly,people say that autistics with any inteligence have aspergers.
classic autism has a completely unlimited IQ allowance from the lowest to the highest as part of criteria,however we do have some issues with this that 'aspergans' usualy not to have.
we do not test very well in IQ testing for various reasons related to our autism,and are wrongly categorised as being intelectualy impaired when we are not,luckily IQ testing isnt relied on anymore like it used to be.
-as a side note,one of the most famous inteligent people was thought to be classic autistic; einstein, which is clear from the interviews his family have had with experts like temple grandin,though people mistakenly label him as aspergan because of his inteligence.
section-medication
many of us are on medication for our autism symptoms and behavior,
medications can help improve anything from the social and communicative side to,the sensory,anxiety,challenging behavior etc.
am on multiple meds for the autism as well as epilepsy,and these help with various issues from autism though dont completely control them.
some autistics am aware of are dosed up to high or on so much anti pyschotics that they barely function at all.
some people are given them when they dont need them,purely because of their label,its not the most reliable market.
section-extrovertism VS introvertism?
classic autistics can be extroverts,or a mixture of extro and intro vertism,commonly the belief is that its only pure introvertism within classic autism which isnt true,am familiar with quite a few who are extroverted and love touch and attention.
section-independant living
as classic autistics,we do tend to struggle the most out of people on the autism spectrum with independant living [living away from the family] and basic living skills,as well as having complex and challenging needs/behaviors,so many of us do live in some form of supported care,in own case have been living in institutional and residential care since just before twentith birthday and am now coming up to twenty seventh.
but some live in their own place with minimal to no support.
section-communication
as for communication,we all differ with this.
some people are fully non verbal all the time,but this is rare.
some are fully verbal,but dont have free speech-in the sense that are not able to choose language to speak freely,instead will use prescripted sentances in head or repeat what others are saying;this is called echolalia.
some are fully verbal and have normal language,but are echolalic because it helps them cope with anxiety.
am between both extremes,for a large part of the day am fully non verbal unable to make any sounds or mouth movements,and when verbal am strongly echolalic though have more language available than others so it isnt always as noticible.
it tends not to come out through typing because its also scripted language.
-many of us use different forms of sign languages; makaton,BSL/ASL, PECS,AAC aids,text to speech software etc,and some are able to communicate through singing-but not speaking!
section-sensory perception difficulties.
those of us with classic autism tend to have stronger issues with sensory perception,meaning we hear sound a lot louder and we feel more pain as a result,we feel materials/textures/tactile items a lot more accutely, so we often have severe eating difficulties,many of us have a distorted view of what we see [vision] and so forth,we often have to use various aids to try and help cope with these severe sensory sensitivities ranging from ear defenders and sound proofing the home,to medication to numb the senses and sensory integration therapy.
-many of us have accute sensory issues with the clothes we wear,and are very limited in materials.
section-routine and change.
we have more issues with these than people with aspergers.
with routine,many of us use what are called timelines or charts,with PECS pictures to show us the plan of the day,for some people they do even longer-week long charts,for some people they can only manage now/next/and later.
we have accute need for routine,not through fear of something bad happening like with OCD but because we need a lot of planning and predictibility, this is why change is very hard for us,for some of us this includes clothing.
section-information and sensory overload
information and sensory overload are both caused by to much sensory input [the level differs for everyone] and to much data/information input,in own case-have to have PECS charts going through each step for even basic things as its to overloading,and with sensory overload- will feel electric shock type pain ripple throughout hole body,drop to the floor,usualy unconcious or partly out of it but unable to see or move, and when eventualy come around-if it was very severe will be temperarily paralysed from the waist down,sometimes will have epileptic seizures from to much sensory overload,probably through the stress or neurological impact.
just general sensory overload which builds up throughout the day is very painful,so have to have codeine based painkillers to help with it.
section-self injury/self harming
many of us self harm-with the most common form being head banging/self punching/attacking/self eye gouging.
it is regulary used as a form of communication,and expression of being confused about what are feeling,but for some people its part of their challenging behavior.
for many of us,its a sensory seeking habit-seeking pressure or pain because another common aspect of classic autism is a strongly reduced sense of pain,though this isnt correct for everyone.
in own case,have been head banging every day throughout the day
since a toddler and is the reason why am affected by brain injury.
have scratched life long also,and cut with ring pulls off cans since a teen,but got into using the real sharp stuff as a twenty year old, both for communicating,sensory seeking and for numbing mind.
section-social stuff
we are more affected in social awareness and ability than aspergans,
however it isnt usualy noted as a point in classic autism like it is with aspergers because we are the least likely out of both to interact and want friends so it,in this sense is not as noticeable.
of those of us who use forums,our communication and interaction difficulties often cross over to online,in own case one of the greatest struggles have got is with carrying on back-forth communication [as in,chatting],so tend to end up being hated or thought to be ignoring people when its a severe struggle to gather up enough interaction and communicative energy to do so.
the other issue have got is a difficulty with pronouns [the 'self' words,words that describe self-so will use 'am' instead of the others,as the rest are the ones that get completely head-screwed and overloaded on]-this is a common side effect of classic autism but have been bullied by many ignorants online for it,will verbally speak using third person talk [this means own name,another alternative that many classic autistic people use] as it sounds the same anyway [real name is em,prefer it to full].
so,as a result,tend to avoid using forums and using only places like yahoo answers instead,where am able to help people out without the social side being involved as back-forth chat is banned there.
section-humour
the old humour stereotype.
yes,we have a sense of humour,other people may not understand it, or even recognise we have it as we do not use it in the same way non autistics do.
its one way humour for many of us,but that doesnt make it non existant.
have got a great sense of humour without even realising or trying,as it is just part of personality which others say they find hilarious.
section-obsessions
yep,we have them-most people seem to relate obsessions in autism to aspergers only,but dont realise its just as common within classic autism.
the common trend with obsessions within classic autism [though by all means not all] is to be focussed on obsessions for obsessions sake, not for the sake of knowledge which is more common to aspergers.
am personaly obsessed with cats,horses,computers and now back into
obsessing over RC cars having paid for a bashed up thunder tiger to be finaly repaired.
but also know other classic autists that have lived with or live with now,who are obsessed in disney videos and DVDs,thomas the tank engine,cars,toilets [dont ask! must have been the shape and sensory side to it that he liked],cats,music,youtube/the internet, collecting certain things etc.
section-sexuality and gender awareness
a huge number of us [including aspergans] are actualy asexual,many of us are fully asexual which is when we have nothing to do with sexuality whatsoever,we were born this way and didnt develop it, some people seem asexual but it is more a developed issue through lack of access to having girlfriends/boyfriends etc.
this is especialy true for those wanting partners in residential care where staff are on shifts and girlfriends/boyfriends are not possible unless they live with them.
many of us with classic autism grow up unaware of gender differences,
and cannot see the differences or boundaries between both, thus we may dress how we want and not how people or society tell us to.
eg,am female but lack the awareness and understanding between both to seperate them,have been taught and still get taught now but it doesnt make sense to self because of how see humans [as one object/whole] and no different.
section-work/jobs
its possible for people of any severity and functioning to be able to work given the right environment,support and type of work-more so if its based around the persons favourite things and abilities to give them encouragement,but will often find that places are unwilling to take us on even just for helping out because they see us as a risk under their insurance.
the most profoundly autistic guy am living with,is expected to have some sort of PT work within a few years like the rest of us are expected [well hoped for] so if it can be achieved with profound autism,people need to realise it isnt the very poor life sentance that they think.
section-benefits
speaking purely from a UK view here,as do not know enough about SSI/SSDI,many of us with classic autism claim,or can claim both high rate mobility and high rate care of DLA [disability living allowance].
most people assume high rate mobility is only for people who are severely affected in physical disability but there is also a 'severe behavioral difficulties+severe mental impairment' criteria which we often qualify for,if are awarded HRM,are able to exchange the HRM for a car of own choice under the motability scheme [which is what had done in own case with a citroen nemo MS],and are automaticaly entitled to a blue badge disabled parking permit because we are classed as having very high needs under HRM.
classic autistics worthy of note
-einstein [not diagnosed,but strongly suspected by his surviving family who are mostly on the spectrum and experts].
-temple grandin [diagnosed,a high functioning classic autistic,she has done alot for progressing the understanding of autism as well as animal wellfare and how animals think].
-stephen wiltshire [a classic autistic savant in art and an impressive photographic memory].
-Tito Mukhopadhyay [a fully low functioning autistic,who has been in documentaries and written books despite his level of autism and functioning.
further information
national autistic society,much information about autism and ASD in general and services available:
http://www.autism.org.uk/
wikipedia article on classic autism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism
best pre assessment test for autism [as with all online tests this isnt for self diagnosis]:
http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html