Today there is so much more awareness about autism , but as someone who is autistic I feel there is still so much that is misunderstood. The reason for this misunderstanding likely comes from the fact the term autism wasn't even used until around 1911 and at that time it wasn't classified as its own developmental or neurological disorder. It was classified as a form of schizophrenia, autism wasn't classified as its own developmental disorder until the 1940’s. Lastly it was 2013 when the American Psychiatric Association changed the name to Autism Spectrum Disorder. So all in all , the scientific understanding of it is new.

To begin , I’d like to start by talking about the term spectrum in regards to autism. In general the concept of spectrum in relation to the varying levels of autism is understood. It's the relation to how a person's autism affects them differently day to day, hour to hour, and even minute to minute that, in my opinion, isn't understood. Before I go on to describe examples please be mindful that, as stated above, there are many different levels of autism and these are just my experiences, opinions, and how I feel my autism affects me.

Now going back to describing how a person's autism can affect them differently based on many different factors such as: how they feel that day, their comfort level with you, and the environment. A personal example of this is if I am tired I will stim ( wave hands , make random noises) more and have increased sensitivity to sensory input ( sights, sounds, textures etc.). If I am comfortable with you I will stim more because I am not as self conscious and will be more excitable and reactive. The opposite is true at work or around someone I don’t know, I will not be as reactive or “mask" and hold it together. However, masking has its own effect on autism.

When a person with autism masks, it can sometimes cause tension between that person and their loved one if the loved one is neurotypical. This is because when the neuro typical person sees the person with autism act differently they don’t understand why the individual with autism can't continue to mask. The answer is simple , because it is just that , a mask; An act that a person puts on for a period of time. Masking is exhausting and when a person is somewhere where they can be themselves they won't do it.

The next thing I feel the need to explain is the way individuals with autism learn and retain information. I feel that neurotypical individuals don’t have a very high tolerance for repetition, when it is how a lot of individuals with autism learn best. Patience is needed with task completion, if you give up on the person and just complete the task for them they will never learn to do it themselves. As far as retaining information, the individual with autism will not retain it if they are in any kind of distress when it's received. The best thing to do is write it down to present to the person when they are calm.

Finally, helping an individual with autism calm down really is a matter of just being patient and letting them process the emotion they are dealing with. Asking questions like if they'd like something to drink, eat, a hug, etc. is important. Sometimes when in stress the individual may not be able communicate what they need, and questions may help them process what they need.

I hope this has given readers a little insight into how others might function and how to support them. As always, if you have any questions I would love to hear from you!