A must read if you care for or teach anyone with Autism or Ausbergers.

I’ve never had someone describe my eidetic memory in the same terms. I wanted to cry in joy.

Worth reading

The most fascinating book I've ever read about Autism (and I think I've read them all).

I'm very much appreciating perspectives from a neurodiverse person. Although I've only read books about autism mostly by the same person as of now, I plan to read more from others' perspectives as well. There are different ways of thinking and they have their own benefits, along with the diagnosed "drawbacks" which are definitely shared here as well. I have a greater respect for the diversity of how people experience the world through their minds and bodies and how something "normal" or "regular" can be very challenging for some people. I think having the awareness that not everyone experiences even simple things in the same way helps with empathy and having greater understanding of the human experience.

“It wasn’t until I went to college that I realized some people are completely verbal and think only in words. I first suspected this when I read an article in a science magazine about the development of tool use in prehistoric humans. Some renowned scientist speculated that humans had to develop language before they could develop tools. I thought this was ridiculous, and this article gave me the first inkling that my thought processes were truly different from those of many other people. When I invent things, I do not use language. Some other people think in vividly detailed pictures, but most think in a combination of words and vague, generalized pictures.” pg. 11

“When I read, I translate written words into color movies or I simply store a photo of the written page to be read later. When I retrieve the material, I see a photocopy of the page in my imagination. I can then read it like a TelePrompTer. It is likely that Raymond, the autistic savant depicted in the movie Rain Man, used a similar strategy to memorize telephone books, maps, and other information. He simply photocopied each page of the phone book into his memory. When he wanted to find a certain number, he just scanned pages of the phone book that were in his mind. To pull information out of my memory, I have to replay the video. Pulling facts up quickly is sometimes difficult, because I have to play bits of different videos until I find the right tape. This takes time.” pg. 15

“Recent research by Dr. Pascual-Leone at the National Institutes of Health indicates that exercising a visual skill can make the brain’s motor map expand. Research with musicians indicates that real practice on the piano and imagining playing the piano have the same effect on motor maps, as measured by brain scans. The motor maps expand during both real piano playing and mental imagery; random pushing of the keys has no effect. Athletes have also found that both mental practice and real practice can improve a motor skill. Research with patients with damage to the hippocampus has indicated that conscious memory of events and motor learning are separate neurological systems. A patient with hippocampus damage can learn a motor task and get better with practice, but each time he practices he will have no conscious memory of doing the task. The motor circuits become trained, but damage to the hippocampus prevents the formation of new conscious memories. Therefore, the motor circuits learn a new task, such as solving a simple mechanical puzzle, but the person does not remember seeing or doing the puzzle. With repeated practice, the person gets better and better at it, but each time the puzzle is presented, he says he has never seen it before.” pg. 23

“The world of the nonverbal person with autism is chaotic and confusing. A low-functioning adult who is still not toilet-trained may be living in a completely disordered sensory world. It is likely that he has no idea of his body boundaries and that sights, sounds, and touches are all mixed together. It must be like seeing the world through a kaleidoscope and trying to listen to a radio station that is jammed with static at the same time. Add to that a broken volume control, which causes the volume to jump erratically from a loud boom to inaudible. Such a person’s problems are further compounded by a nervous system that is often in a greater state of fear and panic than the nervous system of a Kanner-type autistic. Imagine a state of hyperarousal where you were being pursued by a dangerous attacker in a world of total chaos. Not surprisingly, new environments make low-functioning autistics fearful.” pg. 48

“Since puberty I had experienced constant fear and anxiety coupled with severe panic attacks, which occurred at intervals of anywhere from a few weeks to several months. My life was based on avoiding situations that might trigger an attack.” pg. 59

“Many individuals with high-functioning autism or Asperger’s feel that autism is a normal part of human diversity. Roy, a high-functioning autistic, was quoted in New Scientist, ‘I feel stabbed when it comes to curing or treating autism. It’s like society does not need me.’ There are numerous interest groups run by people on the autism/Asperger spectrum and many of them are upset about attempts to eliminate autism. A little bit of the autism trait provides advantages but too much creates a low-functioning individual who can not live independently. The paradox is that milder forms of autism and Asperger’s are part of human diversity but severe autism is a great disability. There is no black-and-white dividing line between an eccentric brilliant scientist and Asperger’s.” pg. 122

“My body was no longer in a state of hyperarousal. Before taking the drug, I had been in a constant state of physiological alertness, as if ready to flee from nonexistent predators. Many nonautistic people who are depressed and anxious also have a nervous system that is biologically prepared for flight. Small stresses of daily life that are insignificant to most people trigger anxiety attacks. Research is showing that antidepressant drugs such a Tofranil are helpful because they mimic adaptation to stress. After I had been on Tofranil for three years, I switched to desipramine (Norpramin), a chemical cousin of Tofranil, which was slightly more effective and had fewer side effects.” pg. 126-127

“Drug interactions must be looked up. Prescription drugs have many interactions with over-the-counter and herbal remedies. For example, sinus or allergy medicine may reduce the effectiveness of antidepressants. One drug may either block or speed up the metabolism of another drug. When this occurs, doses will have to be lowered or raised. Some interactions are very dangerous. St. John’s Wort may make HIV/AIDS drugs less effective. Taking St. John’s Wort and antidepressants at the same time may cause mania. Other drug interactions can cause risky increases in blood pressure. Grapefruit juice interacts badly with many drugs. Dr. Joe Huggins, an autism specialist in Canada, explains that it can have an unpredictable enhancement effect on many drugs. Orange juice does not have this same effect. Some nutritional supplements are blood thinners. Taking too many blood thinning supplements or combining them with aspirin may be hazardous. I made this mistake and had severe nosebleeds.” pg.

“Recently I attended a lecture where a social scientist said that humans do not think like computers. That night at a dinner party I told this scientist and her friends that my thought patterns resemble computing and that I am able to explain my thought processes step by step. I was kind of shocked when she told me that she is unable to describe how her thoughts and emotions are joined. She said that when she thinks about something, the factual information and the emotions are combined into a seamless whole. I finally understood why so many people allow emotions to distort the facts. My mind can always separate the two. Even when I am very upset, I keep reviewing the facts over and over until I can come to a logical conclusion.” pg. 160 [sort of like what the Model tells us! Certainly that circumstances are facts, and that what we think about circumstances is what creates our feelings. The facts do not create/affect our feelings.]

“As a person with autism, I do not feel offended when I compare myself to an animal. In some ways animals such as cattle or dogs have traits that are to be greatly admired. They do not get into horrible wars where large numbers of their species are killed or tortured. I have observed that the animals with the most complex brains, such as chimps and dolphins, engage in some of the nastiest behavior toward each other. . . . As brains become more complex, the possibilities of wiring errors may increase. I speculate that wiring errors may create great genius but they may also create individuals who are capable of horrific acts unless they are brought up in a caring environment where they are taught right from wrong.” pg. 203

“Other common traits in the family histories of autistics are anxiety disorder, depression, and panic attacks. Narayan found that the parents of autistic children, especially the fathers, had a tendency to pursue a special interest single-mindedly, and they were likely to have poor social skills. Parents who were not autistic themselves had some of the traits of their autistic children.” pg. 206

“It is likely that genius is an abnormality. If the genes that cause autism and other disorders such as manic-depression were eliminated, the world might be left to boring conformists with few creative ideas. The interacting cluster of genes that cause autism, manic-depression, and schizophrenia probably has a beneficial effect in small doses. In her book Touched with Fire, Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison reviewed studies that showed a link between manic-depression and creativity. Manic-depressives experience a continuum of emotions, from moody to full-blown mania and deep, dark depression. When writers experience a mild form of the condition, they often produce some of their best work. When the disorder becomes full-blown, they are no longer able to function. There is a tendency for the mood swings to worsen with age, and this may explain why famous writers such as Ernest Hemingway committed suicide relatively late in life. Studies have shown that artists, poets, and creative writers have higher rates of manic-depression or depressive disorder than the general population.” pg. 208

“Like Einstein, I am motivated by the search for intellectual truth. For me, searching for the meaning of life has always been an intellectual activity driven by anxiety and fear. Deep emotional relationships are secondary. I am happiest when I see tangible results, such as giving a mother information on the latest educational programs that will enable her autistic child to achieve in school. I value positive, measurable results more than emotion. My concept of what constitutes a good person is based on what I do rather than what I feel.” pg. 212

“Many of my heroes, including Einstein, did not believe in a personal God. In 1941, Einstein wrote that the scientist’s ‘religious feeling takes the form of rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that compared with it, all systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.’” pg. 224

Book: borrowed from SSF Main Library.

I liked this book because it gives clearer insights into how the mind of someone with autism might work. I probably should have read this years ago, but it seems less groundbreaking given what I have learned about autism in the past few years.

Maybe the audiobook wasn't the best choice for this one, because I wanted to skim it after the first half -- and I got to a point where the reader saying "squeeze machine" so many times was starting to make me feel a little skeezed, squeamish, and other slant rhymes with "squeeze machine." But wonderful insights and advice for working with children with ASD, especially, as well as insight into Grandin's childhood.