DIVERGENT THINKING
Collective

What is autism?

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, which means it's a neurological condition (brain/neurons) that occur during brain development.
Although it can very well be disabling in a neurotypical society, it is not technically a disorder, in the way that there is nothing wrong with the brain.
In broad terms, autism is a difference in senses and emotions processing and well as a different approach to communication and social connection.
With this onlyl, you can see how being autistic touches pretty much everything in a person's everyday life.

The word "autism" is created from greek "autòs" (meaning self) and "ism" (meaning "a state of being").
Autism thus means "a state of being one self". Which is beautiful and express a lot what being autistic means.

Autistic traits spheres, in short


The autistic traits are so numerous, precise and complex that we cannot explain it all in a website (this is the reason why we're writing a book about it).
Instead, we are going to present you with the mains spheres that are touched by autism. You can easily extrapolate how much it impacts autistic people's everyday lives.

(To know more about the traits and what they mean precisely, stay tuned for our classes on the subject!)

Information processing
Information processing is a series of complex processes carried out by the brain that allow us to perceive, sort, organize and interpret information from the environment in order to react to it with one or more behaviors.
This includes excutive functions (see our ADHD page for more information).

Sensory and motor processing
Sensory functions
The sensory aspect includes seven distinct systems whose function is to provide different information to the brain so that it can perceive what is going on in the body and the environment and adapt reactions accordingly. These sensory systems are tactile, auditory, olfactory, visual, gustatory, proprioceptive, vestibular and interoceptive.
Each of these systems is independent and sometimes the information is either too much for the brain and has an overwhelming effect, or it is weakly detected and brings about a weak reaction, if any, or the information is simply processed differently by the brain (not more or less intensely, just differently).

Motor functions
It is the set of functions ensuring a movement. There are two types of motor skills :
Global motor skills involve muscle mass (running, walking, catching an object, etc.);
Fine motor skills involve small muscles (writing, drawing, buttoning a garment, etc.).

Communication
Communication refers both to the ability to hear and understand a message and to the ability to formulate and convey a message or response correctly. The informal and non-verbal levels (attitude, tone of voice, body language, facial expressions, etc.) remain very important in decoding (understanding) the meaning of a conversation.

Social Relations
A social interaction occurs between two or more individuals. The behaviors of one are influenced by the behaviors of the other and vice versa. It is therefore an interaction that is said to be reciprocal.
A social interaction can take different forms. It can be asking a question, playing a game with another person, giving a hug, etc. Asking a grocery store clerk for information is a social interaction as is telling a friend a secret. However, social interactions are different depending on the relationship you have with the other person.
Social interactions usually involve verbal (speech) and non-verbal (facial expressions) components as well as socially expected behaviours (greeting, physical contact).
In general, social relationships are central to the lives of neurotypical individuals, whereas for a majority of individuals with autism, they are important but not necessarily central and are managed in a different way.

Anxiety
Whereas a fear is related to something imminent (the presence of a spider, being late for work), anxiety is a state of alertness (being on the alert) or discomfort, in relation to an apprehended situation of danger or discomfort (which one expects to experience).
A large proportion of the anxiety experienced by autistic individuals is related to the social sphere. Because the individual does not understand or master all facets of the social codes created by and for allistics, they are prone to experience anxiety in these situations, in large part because of the reactions of allistics.

Areas of interest
Each individual has their own interests. People often choose their job or hobbies based on these interests. Also, it is possible to identify another person's interests by the frequency with which this topic comes up in their speech or by the way they become animated (talk with enthusiasm, motor agitation, louder tone of voice, be enthusiastic, what) when they talk about it.

Motivation
Motivation is what allows the initiation of an action in order to achieve a specific goal, an objective.
There are two types of motivation:
  • Intrinsic motivation is generated by internal factors and characteristics of the person. For example, hunger triggers the motivation to prepare a meal or to go to a restaurant. Fatigue triggers the motivation to go to bed.
    Intrinsic motivation can also include the pleasure derived from an activity.
    For example, the pleasure of reading a book can make us want to read another one.
  • Extrinsic motivation is generated by factors that are external to the person, such as receiving a gift, a salary or a word of congratulations. These are often sources of motivation that are tangible or social in nature.
Sleep
Sleep is important to promote physical recovery and to manage information received by the brain. Sleep is often impaired or disrupted in people with autism. When left unaddressed, sleep problems have a major impact on the person's overall functioning, as in all humans.

Emotion Management
The emotions experienced in relation to an event greatly determine the reactions. It is therefore important to recognize the physical reactions (how the body reacts) in order to decode or understand the type of emotion felt and its intensity so as to know how to react and adapt to it.

Nutrition
This is the process that includes hunger cues, the choice of foods to respond to those cues, and the body's ability to process foods properly to provide energy.
What to remember
There is nothing wrong with the brain of autistic people.
The brain is simply different, the connections are made differently, which impact absolutely everything in the autistic person's life.
It is NOT about "making more efforts".
The same way you would not ask a colorblind person to make more effort to see red.
DIVERGENT THINKING
Collective

What is autism?

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, which means it's a neurological condition (brain/neurons) that occur during brain development.
Although it can very well be disabling in a neurotypical society, it is not technically a disorder, in the way that there is nothing wrong with the brain.
In broad terms, autism is a difference in senses and emotions processing and well as a different approach to communication and social connection.
With this onlyl, you can see how being autistic touches pretty much everything in a person's everyday life.

The word "autism" is created from greek "autòs" (meaning self) and "ism" (meaning "a state of being").
Autism thus means "a state of being one self". Which is beautiful and express a lot what being autistic means.

Autistic traits spheres, in short


The autistic traits are so numerous, precise and complex that we cannot explain it all in a website (this is the reason why we're writing a book about it).
Instead, we are going to present you with the mains spheres that are touched by autism. You can easily extrapolate how much it impacts autistic people's everyday lives.

(To know more about the traits and what they mean precisely, stay tuned for our classes on the subject!)

Information processing
Information processing is a series of complex processes carried out by the brain that allow us to perceive, sort, organize and interpret information from the environment in order to react to it with one or more behaviors.
This includes excutive functions (see our ADHD page for more information).

Sensory and motor processing
Sensory functions
The sensory aspect includes seven distinct systems whose function is to provide different information to the brain so that it can perceive what is going on in the body and the environment and adapt reactions accordingly. These sensory systems are tactile, auditory, olfactory, visual, gustatory, proprioceptive, vestibular and interoceptive.
Each of these systems is independent and sometimes the information is either too much for the brain and has an overwhelming effect, or it is weakly detected and brings about a weak reaction, if any, or the information is simply processed differently by the brain (not more or less intensely, just differently).

Motor functions
It is the set of functions ensuring a movement. There are two types of motor skills :
Global motor skills involve muscle mass (running, walking, catching an object, etc.);
Fine motor skills involve small muscles (writing, drawing, buttoning a garment, etc.).

Communication
Communication refers both to the ability to hear and understand a message and to the ability to formulate and convey a message or response correctly. The informal and non-verbal levels (attitude, tone of voice, body language, facial expressions, etc.) remain very important in decoding (understanding) the meaning of a conversation.

Social Relations
A social interaction occurs between two or more individuals. The behaviors of one are influenced by the behaviors of the other and vice versa. It is therefore an interaction that is said to be reciprocal.
A social interaction can take different forms. It can be asking a question, playing a game with another person, giving a hug, etc. Asking a grocery store clerk for information is a social interaction as is telling a friend a secret. However, social interactions are different depending on the relationship you have with the other person.
Social interactions usually involve verbal (speech) and non-verbal (facial expressions) components as well as socially expected behaviours (greeting, physical contact).
In general, social relationships are central to the lives of neurotypical individuals, whereas for a majority of individuals with autism, they are important but not necessarily central and are managed in a different way.

Anxiety
Whereas a fear is related to something imminent (the presence of a spider, being late for work), anxiety is a state of alertness (being on the alert) or discomfort, in relation to an apprehended situation of danger or discomfort (which one expects to experience).
A large proportion of the anxiety experienced by autistic individuals is related to the social sphere. Because the individual does not understand or master all facets of the social codes created by and for allistics, they are prone to experience anxiety in these situations, in large part because of the reactions of allistics.

Areas of interest
Each individual has their own interests. People often choose their job or hobbies based on these interests. Also, it is possible to identify another person's interests by the frequency with which this topic comes up in their speech or by the way they become animated (talk with enthusiasm, motor agitation, louder tone of voice, be enthusiastic, what) when they talk about it.

Motivation
Motivation is what allows the initiation of an action in order to achieve a specific goal, an objective.
There are two types of motivation:
  • Intrinsic motivation is generated by internal factors and characteristics of the person. For example, hunger triggers the motivation to prepare a meal or to go to a restaurant. Fatigue triggers the motivation to go to bed.
    Intrinsic motivation can also include the pleasure derived from an activity.
    For example, the pleasure of reading a book can make us want to read another one.
  • Extrinsic motivation is generated by factors that are external to the person, such as receiving a gift, a salary or a word of congratulations. These are often sources of motivation that are tangible or social in nature.
Sleep
Sleep is important to promote physical recovery and to manage information received by the brain. Sleep is often impaired or disrupted in people with autism. When left unaddressed, sleep problems have a major impact on the person's overall functioning, as in all humans.

Emotion Management
The emotions experienced in relation to an event greatly determine the reactions. It is therefore important to recognize the physical reactions (how the body reacts) in order to decode or understand the type of emotion felt and its intensity so as to know how to react and adapt to it.

Nutrition
This is the process that includes hunger cues, the choice of foods to respond to those cues, and the body's ability to process foods properly to provide energy.
What to remember
There is nothing wrong with the brain of autistic people.
The brain is simply different, the connections are made differently, which impact absolutely everything in the autistic person's life.
It is NOT about "making more efforts".
The same way you would not ask a colorblind person to make more effort to see red.