A Guide About Autism

~ made by Autism-101.com ~

What Is Autism?

• Autism is a neurological and developmental difference
• It is naturally occuring
• It is not a disease 😷
• It can’t be cured
• It has always existed

Autistic People Differ

“If you have met one autistic person
you have met one autistic person.” ^[1]

— Dr. Stephen Shore (autism advocate)

Sensory Differences

“Processing everyday sensory information can be difficult for autistic people. Any of their senses may be over- or under-sensitive, or both, at different times.” ^[2]

— NAS

Sensory Profiles

• Unique to individual
• Hyposensitive, hypersensitive, or both
• Can change day to day
• Are well outside the normal ranges
• Impacts what we like to do

Social Communication

• We Might Need Extra Processing Time
• We Might Take Things Literally
• We May Repeat What Others Say (echolalia)

Social Interactions

• We Might Appear To Be Insensitive
• Find It Hard To Form Friendships
• Have Little Facial Expression (flat affect)
• Seek Out Alone Time - When Overloaded
• Not Know How We Feel - Alexithymia

May Be Nonspeaking

• Jordan Zimmerman Interview
  
  

Have Selective Mutism

• Ros Discusses Her Experience with Purple Ella
  
  

May Have Unique Abilities

• Art & Music
• Math & Science
• Other

Will Have Struggles

• Executive Function
• Insomnia
• Anxiety
• Other

Co-occuring Conditions

• Will likely have other issues
• Ex. ADHD may occur in 40% to 70% of autistic people ^[3]

When Were You Diagnosed?

• I was diagnosed as Autistic in late 2021
• I was 57 years old
• It was quite a shock 😮

What Did You Feel?

• I always knew I was different
• I just thought I was broken
• And maybe from a different planet 👽

References