Posted September 26, 2018
FlockeSchnee: I'm not autistic (as far as I know) and I don't know all that much about it. If I recall correctly, it has something to do with having trouble grasping "social norms"/"personal boundaries" because they are very abstract and are often very different depending on whom you are interacting with and such things.
I don't know (to my knowledge) anyone who is in/on that spectrum either. As long as I'm treated right, I do the same. From what I understand, someone with autism may do/say something "inappropiate" that might come off as offending, but I'm imagening, it would lack the "proper tone" for that (= be delivered in a neutral matter of fact way instead of malicious/sarcastic/whatever) which would tell me, it wasn't intended as such so it shouldn't pose a problem for me. I might frown and wonder, but then again, I myself don't always get why (seemingly) non-autistic people do the things they do and say the things they say, so I probably would just let it go or ask for clarification or mention that I dind't like where that conversation/action went. But then again, that is how I would treat everyone else too. Hm... Unless I'm missing something important about being autistic, it probably wouldn't make a difference to me after all anyway (if the person was autistic or not).
(Well, I seem to remember, that some autists, can't quiet articulate their thoughts and feelings because of to much input/sensory overload? And this can cause them to be treated badly, because they can't quiet voice themselves and get help/get it to stop. People who treat other badly (while they know very well, what they are doing) are the kind of people that worry me and that I would prefer didn't exist.)
Let's see if I can break this down. I don't know (to my knowledge) anyone who is in/on that spectrum either. As long as I'm treated right, I do the same. From what I understand, someone with autism may do/say something "inappropiate" that might come off as offending, but I'm imagening, it would lack the "proper tone" for that (= be delivered in a neutral matter of fact way instead of malicious/sarcastic/whatever) which would tell me, it wasn't intended as such so it shouldn't pose a problem for me. I might frown and wonder, but then again, I myself don't always get why (seemingly) non-autistic people do the things they do and say the things they say, so I probably would just let it go or ask for clarification or mention that I dind't like where that conversation/action went. But then again, that is how I would treat everyone else too. Hm... Unless I'm missing something important about being autistic, it probably wouldn't make a difference to me after all anyway (if the person was autistic or not).
(Well, I seem to remember, that some autists, can't quiet articulate their thoughts and feelings because of to much input/sensory overload? And this can cause them to be treated badly, because they can't quiet voice themselves and get help/get it to stop. People who treat other badly (while they know very well, what they are doing) are the kind of people that worry me and that I would prefer didn't exist.)
It's generally harder for autists to pick up social ques and understand them (gestures, facial expressions, diffrent tone of voice and such).
What other people pick up intuatively, autists understand better via rational explonations.
E.g. Someone might no know if you're being sarcastic and will take it too seriously because they will hear what you said, but will miss the how.
Delivery may suffer in some cases (some people may even be non-verbal as in they can't speak at all).
E.g. I can be animated with my friends, but otherwise people might describe me as somewhat inexpressive and my tone as somewaht flat.
Ah, sensory overload.
One of the most demanding things we deal with.
Basically every autist is more sensitive to some kind of stimuli (light and sound are common) than the average person and that can lead into overload.
Usually a person will "shut down" and try to somehow block whatever's causing the overload.
If it doesn't stop or if there's no escape option it can go to the point of a meltdown (a charged, sometimes violent reaction or outburst when the person just can't take it anymore).
If you want to help someone in overload, decrese the stimulation or get them out of there.
I've haven't experianced a meltdown, so I can't talk from personal experiance.
These videos could be a good "simulation" of what it's like. Plus they're short.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzaBmwhTv6M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr4_dOorquQ
If you want a proper explonation, I'd suggest this video by "The Aspie World".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zakwb8YpWg
His videos are great to learn about autism.