Autism is not a processing delay even though it can look like one

I think what most people are missing when talking about autistic people being bottom-up thinkers, is that it's not a processing delay even though it looks like one. 

Which is a big problem, because this "processing delay" misunderstanding leads people to taking the wrong approaches when trying to help people who have brains that work like this. 

And it causes major issues in academic and work environments. (More on this is a second.)

For those who missed it, in my last post I explained that autistic people often need more details than top-down thinkers when taking in new information.

And that we need to understand how those details fit into the bigger picture before our brains know what to do with the information.

Which, in a nutshell, is bottom-up processing. 

But there's something I didn't get into in that post, which I think more people need to understand.

That many people mistake this thinking difference for a processing delay, when it isn't one.

And it's understandable why. 

Because it looks like the person is stuck in processing mode. Kind of like a computer buffering.

But that's not actually what's going on in the brain at all. 

And, as I mentioned earlier, people thinking it's a processing delay is an issue because it often leads to the wrong strategies for helping people with this brain wiring.

Particularly in early childhood education (more on this in a future post!) and work environments, where a person is thought to be "slow" and therefore incapable, when in reality, they just need more information and context to take action. 

So, let's talk about what's really happening in the brain when it comes to bottom-up processing. 

When a bottom-up processor seems to be stuck in processing mode, the brain is _not_ still trying to process the new information.

It has already taken it in and assessed it... 

What's happening at this point is that the brain just doesn't know what to DO with the information.

And therefore, the brain can't take any sort of action on it.

Not because it hasn't processed it, but because the information is incomplete.

But give this type of brain enough information and context... and watch how quickly it can act on it.

And when people talk about top-down thinkers using mental shortcuts when processing new information... and contrasting that with how bottom-up thinkers process new information... I think they're misunderstanding what's actually happening in the bottom-up processing brain.

Because bottom-up processors ALSO use mental shortcuts.

In fact, we use the exact same ones as top-down thinkers.

Past experiences, known context, prior knowledge... expectations based on all of that...

We are just less comfortable making quick decisions with incomplete information than top-down thinkers.

That's the difference.

It's not mental shortcuts vs no mental shortcuts.

It's what the brain deems _acceptable_ as a mental shortcut.

Top-down processing brains will accept partial information and be willing to act on it.

Bottom-up processing brains often won't (or will, with EXTREME discomfort).

Let me give you an example from my own life so this makes a bit more sense.

I am not an impulsive person. At all. I am cautious, meticulous, calculated when making decisions.

But after over a decade of dating... learning what I wanted in a life partner and what I absolutely was not willing to accept or tolerate... mapping patterns... good ones... bad ones... insidious/dangerous ones... learning what words I could trust... what behaviors meant...

By the time I met my (now) husband, I didn't need time to assess whether or not he was the "one" for me.

It took me literally two weeks to decide that he was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

That decision was not impulsive (even though it absolutely looked like it from the outside).

It was pattern recognition. 

It was bottom-up processing. 

It was my brain having collected enough information where it was able to make a light speed decision. 

(For context, we just celebrated our 14 year anniversary  )

Bottom-up processing is not a processing delay.

It is a lower tolerance to incomplete information or lack of context.

It can slow down decision making... but that's just what you see on the surface.

What you're not seeing is the why behind it. Why decision making is slower. (More on this in my next post!)

And, interestingly, according to research, bottom-up processors often make better decisions in the end, even though they are often slower.

So, we're not just being cautious. 

We're being smart.