Asperger Syndrome Support Group
Asperger syndrome - also referred to as Asperger's syndrome, Asperger's, Aspergers or just AS - is one of five neurobiological pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), and is characterized by deficiencies in social and communication skills, normal to above normal intelligence, and standard language development.
I go along with the model of Autism (including Aspergers) as more of a starfish than a linear spectrum. The spectrum part, I see as more of an intelligence thing which neurotypical people have in common with ASD sufferers, but that the higher the intelligence the easier it is to cope with ASD and Aspies have the highest intelligence of the Auties.
The starfish model is the way I describe the variations in Autism based on the way we process sensory information. Autism is a communication disorder not an intellectual disorder. Communication is based on the ways information transfers from the outside world to the inner world of the brain, namely the five senses: Sight, Hearing, Taste, Touch, and Smell. One author, a specialist in the field of brain damage, described the quirks of autistic children to be based on whether they were Hyper or Hypo sensing in one or more of the five senses. This is where the "Starfish model" comes in.
Each point of the star could represent one of the senses: Some are Hyper sensitive to sound where common noises are extremely bothersome. Others have different reactions to sights, touch, taste and smell.
My senses of taste and smell are particularly strong. I hardly notice if the car makes unusual sounds, but if it smells of gas, oil, or some other chemical I want it diagnosed right away. I tend to avoid any foods that are spicy and simply savor the delicate flavors of bland foods with only a small amount of salt, and rarely pepper.
I believe I am neurotypical where my sense of touch is concerned, but touch sometimes helps complete my overall comprehension of the outside world when I lack sufficient understanding from what I see or hear, and when tasting and smelling don't cover the circumstance.
I am Hypo sensitive to sound such that normal sounds rarely get my attention and it takes an uncommonly long time for me to process mentally anything that I merely hear, especially the first time I have heard such a thing. The same is true for Sight. I am Hypo sensitive to sight. I have a tendency to stare at one thing for a long time, kind of memorizing it.
The starfish model is the way I describe the variations in Autism based on the way we process sensory information. Autism is a communication disorder not an intellectual disorder. Communication is based on the ways information transfers from the outside world to the inner world of the brain, namely the five senses: Sight, Hearing, Taste, Touch, and Smell. One author, a specialist in the field of brain damage, described the quirks of autistic children to be based on whether they were Hyper or Hypo sensing in one or more of the five senses. This is where the "Starfish model" comes in.
Each point of the star could represent one of the senses: Some are Hyper sensitive to sound where common noises are extremely bothersome. Others have different reactions to sights, touch, taste and smell.
My senses of taste and smell are particularly strong. I hardly notice if the car makes unusual sounds, but if it smells of gas, oil, or some other chemical I want it diagnosed right away. I tend to avoid any foods that are spicy and simply savor the delicate flavors of bland foods with only a small amount of salt, and rarely pepper.
I believe I am neurotypical where my sense of touch is concerned, but touch sometimes helps complete my overall comprehension of the outside world when I lack sufficient understanding from what I see or hear, and when tasting and smelling don't cover the circumstance.
I am Hypo sensitive to sound such that normal sounds rarely get my attention and it takes an uncommonly long time for me to process mentally anything that I merely hear, especially the first time I have heard such a thing. The same is true for Sight. I am Hypo sensitive to sight. I have a tendency to stare at one thing for a long time, kind of memorizing it.
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I find myself going places in the car and not wanting to get out of the car. I come back home and I don't want to get out of the car. I think it's the only time I spend reflecting. Chronic tiredness from Long Covid plus the immunosupressing meds for my Crohn's is slowing me down but everything just seems a massive effort. I am dealing with the paperwork following my father's death but it's not...
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Wow, it's the middle of the week already!Today is our 11 year anniversary, so we're going out to a nice dinner. I'm losing a lot of sleep these days, hence a wonky schedule and uncomfortable feelings. But I know it will pass, eventually.I hope all of you have a peaceful day, and may good things come your way!
Having lived with people with differing diagnoses, seen people here I'm convinced that a simple one dimensional model misses probably more than it hits. People don't show all the diagnostics. If you carefully read the proper medical texts you will find that aspies can differ markedly from the accepted generalisations - for example I undertook on reading faces and my results were actually better than an NT - it just happens to be that is one of my talents.
And we also forget that while there may be differences with NTs - there is much more in common than is different.
So, I like the idea of a more multi dimensional model.