Why autistic people are seen as self-involved (according to research)

Did you know that autistic brains generate ~42% more information at rest than nonautistic brains, according to research? (Which I’ll link below)

This explains SO. MUCH. Of the autistic experience…

Our brains are constantly in motion.

Think about that. Even when we’re not doing anything, our brains are hyperactively thinking about things.

We don’t get a break.

I think this has something to do with why we are often seen as self-involved.

All humans are hard-wired to think about things that are important to them. Things that are going on in their lives… things they care about… things they have to do… things they’re worried about.

It’s an automatic human experience.

But… non-autistic people get a break from those thoughts sometimes. And during that break, there’s room for other things. Like information about others… what’s going on with them, what they care about…

But not autistic people.

Our brains are always on. 

And having no choice in the matter, our automatic thoughts revolve around what’s going on in our lives… what’s important to us.

So in order to take in other information, we have to focus on suppressing our automatic thoughts… 

But not only is this EXTREMELY difficult for us to do… it’s something we need to KNOW to do in order to do it.

Except most of us have no idea this is even happening. So, we don’t know to initiate this intentional shift in our minds.

We CAN do it.

We just need to actively think about how much we’re talking about ourselves and our stuff as compared to the other person.

In every single conversation.

And then adjust what we are sharing based on what we HOPE will create an equal balance.

Which is HARD.

And EXHAUSTING. 

But possible. 🙂

Now… whenever I post things like this, I get lots of comments telling me that the explanation doesn’t remove the impact we are having on others. So, I’ll address that before the comments start pouring in 😆

This post is not meant to indicate that autistic people shouldn’t make the effort. 

It’s meant to explain that…

1. It IS a HUGE effort, so please… cut us a little slack, and 

2. We are no more self-involved than anyone else. We just don’t get a break from our own thoughts.

If you’re autistic, I’m curious if this resonates with you.

And if you like this type of content… follow for more.

The research study for reference…

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140131130630.htm