What autism looks like vs what autism actually is
What people think autism is:
- What it looks like in movies
What autism actually is:
- Sensory sensitivities including extreme sensory anxiety when overstimulated
- Social and communication differences
- Social interactions are often challenging and draining
- Anxiety when routines are disrupted
- Struggles with transitions
- Repetitive movements (also known as stimming or self-stimulatory behavior) & Repetitive behaviors (like eating the same foods and wearing the same clothes every day)
- Uncomfortable giving eye contact, but not necessarily unable to give it
- Intense and often restricted interests, sometimes referred to as "special interests"
- Difficulty consuming & retaining information that is NOT of interest
- Rigid thinking (for example, can have strong feelings about how to interpret and follow rules)
- Taking things literally and having a hard time with subtext and unwritten rules
- For some... difficulty understanding and expressing emotions (which is called alexithymia) for others, extremely capable of expressing emotions. (And some autistic people express emotions so well that they're criticized for being "overly emotional" 😒)
- Meltdowns as a result of unmet needs... some are visible, but many aren't
- Hyper-empathetic for some, difficulty with empathy for others
- Exceptionally good attention to detail and high accuracy when completing assignments or work tasks
- Often analytical and extremely good at understanding complex concepts
- Able to maintain deep focus and concentration when the topic is of interest
- Excellent long-term memory and recall capabilities
- Creative problem-solving abilities due to unique thought processes and perspectives
- Honest to a fault and extremely trustworthy
- A loyal and extremely generous friend
- Has a beautiful mind and a beautiful heart
- Deserving of love and support ❤️
In many cases, there are no obvious signs of autism in adults as many of us have learned (through years and years of extreme difficulty and even trauma) to adjust to fit in.
So, on the outside, we often appear "normal" when most of us are struggling on a daily basis just to exist.
Also, no single autistic trait applies to all autistic people. What I shared are all examples of common autistic experiences, and each autistic person will likely have a unique combination of the examples I shared, plus other things I didn't mention.