Autism is often described as a developemental disorder that affects social and communication skills. A clinical or scientific description is much longer, of couse, and the spectrum is wide.

But if you were to ask a person with autism how autism makes him or her different, what would that person say? In the abstract of a study (read the abstract here), researchers found that people with Asperger’s and high functioning autism described “unusual perceptions and information processing, as well as impairments in emotional regulation, were the core symptoms of autism.”

They don’t mention social impairments, though perhaps a person with autism doesn’t realize he has social impairments until someone tells him.

I have witnessed evidence of unusual perceptions and information processing. My son, David, notices details that most people don’t see. These are details that are part of the background “noise” for most people. I think we automatically filter these things out to protect ourselves from sensory overload.

David has his own sensory filter. He may be trying to talk to me about something that isn’t completely familiar to him and will be unable to use the reference points that make me know what he’s talking about. For example, if we were to go to a new store we’d never seen before and only spend a few minutes there, David might remember the manager’s name from a small sign near the register, but he won’t remember the name of the store from that short exposure. He’ll want to go to Rick Smith’s store and I won’t know what that is.

David isn’t really articulate enough to tell me what he thinks of his autism. He often has difficulty with speech. He doesn’t stutter, but he gets stuck and ends up slapping his thigh several times until he gets his word out. David thinks this is autism, and it’s certainly part of it.

I asked him once if he understood he had autism and what it meant. He said “I have trouble talking.” He doesn’t seem to understand that his social interactions that may appear rude to other people are part of autism. If he did, he’d think a lot more people have autism, because he thinks lots of people are rude.

If someone asks him, David will simply say, “I have autism. I was born this way.” Then he’ll probably ask the person if he has ever flown on an airplane. That’s much more important to him than autism.