-Not understanding social cues/ sarcasm (eg. Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory)
-Uncomfortable with human contact (eg. Temple Grandin)
-Difficulty reading facial expressions (eg. Christopher Boone from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime)
-Lack of empathy (eg. Sherlock Holmes)
-Difficulty distinguishing background and foreground noises and nervousness in louder and extremely colourful places (referred to as "sensory overload. eg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcS2VUoe12M)
Every Autistic person is different. Some people might have Autism so severe that they cannot speak. A clear sign of Autism is if a child does not speak at an age where they should be able to. (eg. Temple Grandin didn't speak until she was 4.) Others may develop incredible skills at a very young age, and still struggle with many things that come to others naturally.
I have Asperger's, which is a form of Autism that is a little less severe. I still experience the above listed symptoms, plus a few more, however I have a less difficult time understanding things and controlling myself because of the education I have on the topic and my ability to self experiment and avoid things that will set me off. I find it difficult understanding sarcasm and expressions, but after a while and a little more context, I'll understand. Whereas someone with Autism more severe might think that when you say "It's raining cats and dogs outside," that there are legitimate cats and dogs falling from the sky.
Social cues such as shaking hands or eye contact don't come as naturally to people with ASD as they would to someone without. In fact, making direct eye contact when talking to someone and especially shaking hands make me quite uncomfortable. Many people with Autism repel from physical contact with other people. This is one of the main symptoms. Because of this being a symptom, way back before modern medicine informed us it was a psychological disorder, psychiatrists assumed Autism was a result of a lack of motherly love or attention from a young age. Of course this wasn't true, but it caused quite a bit of havoc among mothers of autistic children.
I'm not entirely uncomfortable with physical contact. I have this thing called The Scale of Physical Contact. It goes from 1-10, and each level represents the amount of physical contact I am comfortable with sharing with you. If you're a 1, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't touch me, ever. If you're a 10, you could surprise hug me for 20 minutes and I wouldn't care. People can advance on my scale as a relationship grows, but there is nothing at all that influences where you stand, truly. I could be a 10 with a stranger, where I'm at about a 3 with one of my favourite aunts.
Most Autistic people have a significant amount of trouble understanding what someone's facial expression indicates. The basics are easy to learn, but they still normally have to be taught. I wasn't taught, however I observed what peoples faces looked like when they expressed certain emotions. Kindergarten made it much easier. The following images are from a book called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, By Mark Haddon.
The inability to read facial expression could actually be a result of a lack of empathy. Now, this doesn't make autistic people complete sociopaths. The lack of understanding felt towards someone who's grandfather just died normally comes from thoughts along the lines of "I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to do right now." Sherlock Holmes, from the BBC series Sherlock, as well as Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, are wonderful examples of autistic people who lack empathy. TV shows are not actually allowed to broadcast the fact that these two characters have Autism, because they both play comedic roles and you can't exactly laugh at psychological disorders without feeling like a bad person. On Sherlock, Sherlock often describes himself as a "high functioning sociopath," which is a little bit exaggerated, but a fairly accurate representation of what it appears as.
For me, I don't lack empathy entirely. If I have experienced the same, or similar, experiences as someone, I can recall my experience and am able to understand how they must feel. However, things such as the death of a loved one, that one might grieve over, I do not fully understand. I am the last person you want to come to when you're grieving, because I'll say something stupid and make you feel horrible and myself look like, as Sherlock would say, a 'sociopath.'
My experiences with sensory overload usually result from colours and sounds. My way of calming myself down is normally flapping my arms, balling myself up and rocking back and forth.
This incredibly long post was written in honour of Mental Health Day, which was on Sunday, Oct 11th. I hope this gave you a bit of perspective on how difficult life is like for the thousands of people who have Autism Spectrum Disorder and deal with it everyday.
Yours truly,
Kat.N