Autism and Social Interaction Challenging Assumptions About Behavior Patterns

[Wally]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190723123723.htm

Scholars weigh in on new ideas about autism

Authors of provocative paper about social engagement reply to commentaries

Date:​

July 23, 2019​

Source:​

University of California - Santa Cruz​

Summary:​

A new paper that challenges widely held ideas about autism has attracted comments from more than 30 scholars across the disciplines of psychology, anthropology, education, and neuroscience.​

The authors maintain that many of the behaviors common to autism -- including low eye contact, repetitive movements, and the verbatim repetition of words and phrases -- are misinterpreted as a lack of interest in social engagement. On the contrary, they say, many people with autism express a deep longing for social connection. . . .

"This work began with questions about the widespread assumptions people make about how much -- or how little -- autistic people want to interact with others," said Akhtar. "We explored those questions by turning to what people with autism say about themselves."

According to some autistic people, low eye contact can help them focus their attention, thereby actually enhancing social engagement, said Akhtar. Similarly, repeating phrases -- even though the meaning may not be immediately obvious to others -- may also be a behavior designed to connect with others. Repetitive movements may simply be comforting, she noted.

"When you ask autistic people about these behaviors, their answers shed new light on the range of desire autistics have for social connection, and they express frustration that their behavior is misinterpreted," said Akhtar. "The familiar stereotypes about social aversion do autistic people a great injustice."

• "I can't believe that anyone born as a human being really wants to be left all on their own... The truth is, we'd love to be with other people. But because things never, ever go right, we end up getting used to being alone ... Whenever I overhear someone remark how much I prefer being on my own, it makes me feel desperately lonely." -- from The Reason I Jump

• See, Being versus appearing socially uninterested: Challenging assumptions about social motivation in autism. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2018; 42 DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X18001826

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[Sarah94]

I'm autistic. The paper has been welcomed by the autistic community. We are not impressed that it's being described as "provocative"; these ideas shouldn't be controversial, we've been saying these things for many years!

 

[andyguitar]

Thanks for putting that up @Wally it helps to lay to rest some of the popular but wrong ideas about autism.

 

[PatJ]

We are not impressed that it's being described as "provocative"; these ideas shouldn't be controversial, we've been saying these things for many years!

So called 'experts' are very good at ignoring everything except their own, or their field's opinions. Input from patients or others often falls on intentionally deaf ears.

I thought this was a positive article from the New York Times: How to Meet Autistic People Halfway

 

[Hip]

According to some autistic people, low eye contact can help them focus their attention, thereby actually enhancing social engagement, said Akhtar.

I would not classify myself as autistic, but I can relate to certain symptoms of autism, and the tendency of avoidance of eye and facial contact during face-to-face conversations is one of them.

For me, this avoidance comes down to sensory overload: if you are engaged in talking about something, then the monitoring of the changing facial expressions of the other person during the conversation tends to overload the brain with information. That overload means you may find it harder to concentrate on the subject matter.

So I find I tend to glance at people every now and then during conversation, but often avert my gaze when I am listening to what they have to say, so that I can better concentrate on their words.

This aversion of gaze has only increased since I developed ME/CFS, a disease which we all know involves sensitivity to information overload.


This may also relate to where a person lies on the introvert — ambivert — extravert scale. Nothing directly to do with autism, but those who are introverts are much more easily overloaded by sensory information, which is why they perform best mentally in quiet environments such as a library for example. In that quiet, their brains reach optimum performance levels.

Whereas extraverts need a lot of sensory input before their brain reaches optimum performance. Put an extravert in a library, and he becomes bored and functions under par. But put him in a dynamic, fast-changing or chaotic environment, and he thrives.

 

[Sidny]

For me, this avoidance comes down to sensory overload: if you are engaged in talking about something, then the monitoring of the changing facial expressions of the other person during the conversation tends to overload the brain with information. That overload means you may find it harder to concentrate on the subject matter.

So it find I tend to glance at people every now and then during conversation, but often avert my gaze when I am listening to what they have to say, so that I can better concentrate on their words.

This aversion of gaze has only increased since I developed ME/CFS, a disease which we all know involves sensitivity to information overload.

This is interesting and your explanation helped me understand what is likely happening since my illness began. I feel like my cognitive reserves are significantly diminished since becoming ill and it’s become increasingly difficult to maintain any sort of eye contact when trying to speak to someone.

I think I’ve had to contend with this tendency to a degree when I was a bit younger and in my teenage years although I had largely overcome it during my 20s. Now since being sick Its like I just don’t feel sufficiently oxygenated and or have the mental energy to think, and speak while also looking at someone’s face. The sensory overload explanation sums things up everything pretty well.