I have decided to write a blog or two about being on the "Spectrum"!
There is much debate about this, with many older people in particular, saying that it is all nonsense, and we are what we are, being influenced mainly by our upbringing and DNA which is passed down through the generations.
Some people will be confident, articulate and outgoing, whilst others are shy, socially awkward and have difficulty making friendships and social interactions, and that is just the way it is.
NOT FITTING IN:
The general marker for people who turn out to be somewhere on the Spectrum, is the fact that they have always felt "different".
They feel they don`t fit in to society. It is as if everyone else has a rule book giving directions on how to navigate through life, but for some reason they have been missed out and struggle to keep up.
In order to try to be the same as everyone else, several coping mechanisms are developed, the most common is "masking", where the behaviour of others is copied, in order to be the same as everyone else.
It is particularly relevant for girls, who become very adept at this.
The Spectrum, or ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), covers a great many levels.
There is the high functioning extremely intelligent person who appears on the surface to be the same as everyone else, but in reality, finds it difficult to make friends and read social cues.
At the other end of the scale is the person who may have physical or severe behavioural disabilities, and simply cannot function in a world of "normality", what ever that is.
In between these two scale points are many levels, which until now, have been ignored and put down to personality traits.
CREATIVITY:
Individuals on the Spectrum are often particularly gifted in the creative arts.
Many are noted musicians and artists.
They often have heightened senses and awareness that others don`t have.
Why are so many young people being diagnosed as on the Spectrum?
Is it because there is more being written about it, parents are noticing tell tale signs, school and friendships are a challenge, or children are more vocal about their feelings?
Since the availability of assessment tools and questionnaires, the number of individuals with a positive diagnosis has risen enormously, but the interesting thing has been that parents and grand parents will answer a questionnaire and decide that they too are on the spectrum, having perhaps endured a lifetime of suffering themselves.
Older readers will cast their minds back to their own school days, when a strict code of conduct and expectation was how the classroom worked.
EDUCATION IN THE OLD DAYS:
Children fell into different groups.
The listeners and workers who produced good results and moved along the educational system to some sort of meaningful outcome.
The middle of the road ones, who weren`t keen on education, but did enough to get through the system, and generally flourished in later years.
Then there were the problem ones.
Firstly there would be one or two who were left handed.
They may have been intelligent, but the habit had to be broken, as only right handed writing and numbers were acceptable. Many ways were tried in order to break this habit, which didn`t always have the desired effect, as often unpleasant issues became apparent as the wiring of the brain had been disrupted.
Then there were the ones who fidgeted all the time and were day dreamers.
They clearly weren`t interested, so tended to be left out of any meaningful expectation, and allowed to drift into a life of not amounting to much. Today ADHD may have been identified as the reason
The real problem children, were the ones who could not produce any acceptable work at all.
They could not spell, write or add up properly, so their future of hopelessness was confirmed in the classroom and passed on to any other relevant parties including sources of employment.
Today we would recognize this as dyslexia.
Often these same children had a hidden talent such as art work, which was probably never discovered at school or just ignored.
UNDISCOVERED ARTWORK:
There was also usually at least one child who studied constantly and didn`t mix with others.
Seen as a model pupil, and having a guaranteed academic future, this child may have been so lacking in social skills and inability to fit in, that the easy way out was to study constantly. Unfortunately this would be completely misread by the teacher.
It is difficult to comprehend how many famous people managed to overcome many of these so called disadvantages, and excelled in various fields, without any support.
However, it is becoming clear that what is seen as a non conforming pattern of behaviour, can be a huge strength.
Being on the Spectrum is often referred to as being wired differently.
That means that some wires will be set at a different frequency to others, and for the person on the Spectrum, some abilities may be challenging while others will be highly developed.
There is plenty of evidence to support the amazing brilliance of computer hacks and inventors who may prefer to be lost in a sea of technology, rather than relate to the so called "real" world.
The inventors of several huge internet platforms have been identified as being somewhere on the Spectrum.
These individuals can think "out of the box" and often go where angels fear to tread, by creating extremely ambitious projects which would be much too intimidating for someone not on the Spectrum.
Far from it being a disadvantage, it is now being seen as a huge advantage, once the individual realizes that they are "different" for a very good reason, and that their abilities surpass those on the non Spectrum.
There are so many discoveries being made which were unimaginable a few years ago, and this is one of them.
Another is the close relationship between the gut and the brain. Think of the outcomes which will develop from there?
We still tend to have a very "closed shop" approach to medical matters, having gone along with certain theories for decades.
It is time we realized that there are huge unexplained and unexplored parts to the human mind and body which we must get to grips with in order to understand our physical and mental health
Indian and Chinese medicine, have had a different approach to western medicine for centuries, and discuss chakras and meridian lines as being important carriers of energy and life forces.
Western medicine has tended to put it down to rather woo woo practices, but is slowly changing its mind.
In my next blog, I shall look at further types and examples of Spectrum behaviours and traits.
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