Executive dysfunction and autism are common bedfellows, yet it’s one of the lesser-known traits expressed by those on the spectrum, a fact I suspect does much to reinforce some of the more unhelpful stereotypes (and, in particular, make it difficult for many autistics to maintain gainful employment).What is Executive Dysfunction?The term “executive function” describes functions […]
Like many Aspies, I love solitude and isolation. Even though I’m happily married (and assume Mrs EBG would say the same), I spend most of my time alone.But unlike many — Aspie or otherwise — I’m never lonely. In fact, loneliness is one of those emotions — like offence, guilt, and shame — I can’t […]
Never ask an Aspie a question to which you don’t want a brutally honest answer.Bear with me. It’s something of a cliché, but people frequently ask each other their opinions and add, “… and be honest”. But honesty isn’t what they want. What they want you to say is what they want to hear; and when […]
Alexithymia must seem a bleak and miserable affliction to anyone not wired up that way. I’ve spoken to people at length about it over the years, and the common reaction I get is a mixture of horror and pity.Well, your pity is misplaced. I neither want it nor need it. But it’s a free country and […]
The unfeeling autistic is Yet Another Myth about autistic people we’d do well to murder quietly and then bury in a shallow grave out in the woods.Autistics are not, in the main, devoid of feeling or empathy. We vary from individual to individual, and your simplistic view of our makeup is a fault of your perception […]
Autistic savants are rare. According to Wikipedia, Among those with autism, 1 in 10 to 1 in 200 have savant syndrome to some degree. It is estimated that there are fewer than a hundred savants with extraordinary skills currently living.Most of us? It depends. There’s a common myth all autistic people are intellectually gifted in some way, but […]
Stimming and autism are another example of two things we often see together, to the point they’re something of a cliché.Question is, what is stimming and why do autistics do it? The first thing to understand is it’s not confined to autistics, although most autistics engage in it. Stimming and autism are closely correlated but while autistics […]
How autistics process information differently is, I suspect, at the root of most of the difficulties we face as we wend our way through a perplexing neurotypical world.It can give rise to both amusement and frustration (even at the same time), but it can also be dangerous for us because we don’t understand things as […]
Is it “autistic” or “has autism”? How should people refer to people who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder?There is no right and wrong way. There is only personal preference. And in polls, autistics have consistently indicated they prefer the first form. We. Are. Autistic. This is identity first language. The remaining 10% prefer to say they “have autism”, and I fully support […]
Aspie. I love the epithet. It’s short, sharp, and to me and others even endearing (and the title of this post is a mangling of something frequently said by Dr. Bruce Banner, the original Hulk, back in the 1970s.In case you don’t know, the word Aspie refers to someone who has Asperger’s Syndrome. In practical terms […]
