New Colors

Autism . . . Asperger's Syndrome . . . these two words are being flung around more and more frequently as time goes on. There are many theories for the increased prevalence of these two concepts. Take Asperger's Syndrome for instance. It's only been in DSM since 1994. That was a mere 14 years ago. Before that time, the whole concept of early identification in children was unheard of. Before that time, Asperger's Syndrome as we know it today, did not exist.

I like metaphors. So I'm gonna toss one of those out. *kicks to the curb*

*Uses the other one*

Say the whole world only knows and sees and uses two colors: black and white. It's how things have always been done and have always been seen (at least since the 1940s-ish). Well one day, a new color is invented. Gray. Woah. So suddenly you see gray everywhere. It's on everything! Everyone's wearing it. It's the new THING.

It's similar to what was, but it's also its own item. It looks somewhat familiar, yet it's not.

Now here's your question: Is it everywhere simply because everyone is using it? Or is it everywhere because as a new thing, your eye is instantly drawn to it?

Say that neurotypical (the PC word for "normal"--since they've recognized that normal is relative and therefore never exists in any real sense) is black, and autism is white. Gray of course would then be Asperger's Syndrome. It's a shade reminiscent of white, but it doesn't classify as black either. It's somewhere in-between.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs - clever aren't they) cover the entire range from low-functioning people with autism all the way through Asperger's Syndrome, HFA (High Functioning Autism - and they say we're boring???), PDD-NOS . . . and according to some, ADD/ADHD. The word "spectrum" implies a broad range of skills. Here's the fun part though. Say you have three sets of skills: social, motor and communication (for example). Technically you might be classified as "high-functioning," but only two of these three categories are there with you (your motor skills are in the gutter somewhere playing b-ball---and losing---against its shadow). Yet, you're still high-functioning.

It's a spectrum because not all skills are at the same level of ability (did I mention that I hate that word?). This is within a group of people and this is within individual people. Note that I didn't say "children." Not everyone on the spectrum is a child. While some of us may be "child-like" or even "childish," we eventually do get older. Really. Personally I think there is a sect of people out there who just assume autism stops at 21. Well, it's either that or we fall over dead. God, according to Autism Speaks, if you can do anything at all indicating anything, then you're too high-functioning to be considered autistic and therefore don't exist (but that's better left for another angry rant). (Not that is angry, mind you).

In 1989, the rate of autism was 1 in 10,000. In 2008, the rate of autism is now 1 in 150.

Increased prevalence?

or

Increased awareness?

Or, if you want to behave like a sensible adult is supposedly supposed to be able to behave, could it somehow just be due to some kind of combination of both?

I Hate Incomplete Pictures

You have to give me the complete picture in order for me to see part of it.

I think of math, in this case. If you don't give me the why and the how, then I can't do the problem. It's not stubbornness or belligerence on my part, but rather simply just a different point of view.

I don't see the same stuff that you see when you look at something. See, when you only tell me part of something and expect me to do the problem anyways, then you're setting me up for failure. You want me to explain heaven to you after only describing the world to me.

Plato, if I'm remembering correctly, was the founder of the theory of what we see of reality being no more than a shadow world of images on a cave wall, projected there by shifting flame and dust.

Put it another way, and what he's saying is that the world is a copy of the ultimate original. And if you've had any dealings with copiers whatsoever, you should know that some of the original picture clarity is always lost in the copy.

You see what you see and I see what I see. You expect that since what you see is what the majority sees, then it is "real." So then, you pass this "copy" off to me and expect me to exist via a shoddy reconstruction of what you understand the world to be.

I explained to my mother the other day like this: Some people can't see the forest for the trees. Aspies can't see the tree for a leaf.

Here's another incomplete picture: http://psychcentral.com/lib/2007/treatment-for-aspergers-disorder/

Treatment for Asperger's Syndrome is much more than that. Yeah, pump your kid full of drugs and just leave it at that. Yeah that's a good idea.

*headdesk*

Yeah, just take downers to sleep and uppers to work. Don't even work at it.

I know it's more complicated than that.

Hell, I take meds. But I just recently got off one of them because I did my research. I put it my time at the library, so to speak. I researched Asperger's Syndrome. Not just AS. I researched what it was composed of.

Three big dxes that are often associated with AS in various ways (another day, another rant) are GAD, OCD and ADD/ADHD. In other words, General Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Attention Deficit Disorder with optional Hyperactivity. Yeah, we choose to be hyperactive. Right.

Well, those are the three big ones. So what about the smaller ones? Hmm?

Acronyms. Let's start off with a few more of those, shall we?

APD, SPD, IBS . . . to name a few.

1. APD - Auditory Processing Disorder

2. SPD - Sensory Processing Disorder

3. IBS - Irritable Bowel Syndrome

1. Ever hear the word hyperacusis? What if I were to whisper it really softly?

Don't worry. It wouldn't matter. The annoying high pitched whine from the florescent lights in the room would drown out the sound of anything I would whisper to a person with hyperacusis. Or, if it wasn't the lights, it might be heating and air system of the building. Maybe it's an older building and it creaks ever so slightly when you walk down its halls. Most people wouldn't notice. Once again, we're not most people.

Auditory Processing Disorder, meanwhile, if you do a Google search on APD and look at the first page of 11 links, 4 of those 11 refer to children/kids. It's not because its appearance is limited only to children, but rather that people think that APD, like Autism, apparently only exists in children (and of course then stops at 21 with all of the other bad vices of childhood). True, there is a lot of emphasis put on "catching" these things when we are young, in order to do the most good at "fixing" them. I just hope that as more people are diagnosed, and as more children reach adulthood, this extreme focus on ASD being just a childhood disorder will somehow come to its senses and drop the silly charade.

APD, on the other hand, is much more interesting than I could ever be, ranting about the social inequities of the "system." Andrea, another autistic blogger that I "know" wrote an excellent piece on it here: http://qw88nb88.wordpress.com/living-with-auditory-processing-disorder/ (I really wish I could figure out how to work the HTML on this site. I think they've turned it off to prevent any unfortunate mishaps).

Simply put, you know how when someone says something to you and for whatever reason, you don't catch it the first time? It sounds like they said: "My car has a loose horse." But in reality, they actually said: "My door has a loose screw." For me, I'll get the rhythm right, but miss the consonants in-between. Or vowels. Or nouns altogether, whatever.

And as anyone with a hearing impairment knows, the more often you ask someone to repeat something, the faster your supposed IQ drops (at least to that person). Either that, or they think you're being purposely obtuse. As though I enjoy acting like an ass--you know, just to really piss them off. That's my goal in life. Pissing you off. Right. Listen, I have many many better things to do with my time than pissing you off. If I wanted to piss you off, you would know it for sure. I have done that before. It worked. They knew I was pissed off. No doubt.

But I digress.

2. Sensory Processing Disorder

God, where to start. Listen, if you want to do the research, by all means, feel free. SPD is also referred as Sensory Integration Disorder. Here's a good site.

Basically what this means for me is a lack of awareness for where my limbs are in space. I run into doorways a lot. I fall over a lot. Standing still. Upright. I'll just pitch over to the side. Certain frequencies, certain sounds make me jump. But it's not like jump like startle (well, it is, but the sounds that I startle at, you probably don't). I had a lot of trouble this past semester in a percussion class I was taking (I'm a music therapy grad student btw), because of a certain sound that we had to make on the frame drum with our fingernails. It was a scraping sound, and everytime I heard it, it felt like someone was running a cheese grater down my spine.

3. Irritable Bowel Syndrome

IBS is worsened, or possibly caused, by heightened stress. Or fear. Or both. Cortisol is one of the hormones involved with fear and adrenaline. It also irritates your intestinal system.

Quoting one particular source (http://www.okanaganhealth.ca/ovscc/news_articles/Irritable_Bowel_Syndrome.htm) - "[T]he nerve endings in the bowel of people with IBS are abnormally sensitive, and adrenaline, a hormone released in times of stress, fear, and excitement, can trigger abnormal contractions of the intestine."

Cortisol is the hormone that really does the damage.

People with Asperger's Syndrome are, by nature and diagnoses, more sensitive to stimuli than the typical person. External and internal.

Cortisol is one of the major chemicals in stress that hurts you after long exposure to it.

Aspies, by nature and by experiences due to negative events in our lives--be they sensory, social or whatever--live in a higher level of fear than most "typical" individuals. Ever hear the phrase "hyperawareness"? We pick up on the details that no one else notices. We notice the things that could go wrong. We're more anxiety-ridden for many reasons (one of which I have a theory about that I'm eventually going to write a chapter on). All this leads to higher tension, higher stress levels; which in turn, contributes greatly to IBS.