Pizza with extra spectrum
Oct. 26th, 2022 07:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smokingbootThis turned up on a fb page: https://attwoodandgarnettevents.com/understanding-empathy-and-autism/?fbclid=IwAR1yQcTQy2X_JFil4vBhwbUTMTfT6Sfels32uNEZ_REZNuvMZT2nkg6JaJc
It's helpful to me and I should keep hold of it.
Heightened exteroception was the phenomemon if not the phrase a specialist tried to explain to me years ago. While I do not usually suffer the interoception difficulties associated with the Spectrum, it does sometimes happen. Listening to this stuff, I kind of dismissed it, because the world around me was becoming infatuated with labels. My brother and I have had similar issues and perhaps faced them with similar macho BS. He would just laugh and say 'If I'm an arsehole, I'm an arsehole, I don't need a special name for it.' For me it was more like, 'Don't try to tell me I'm broken just cos I don't fit your spec.'
Years later, without a need for special treatment or a badge of Wounded Tribe-Seeking, I can accept exteroception as a major trait, something without which I wouldn't be me. It is often very pleasant, sometimes horrifying, it has a strong physical element. I just don't want to feel like a fraud, as there are aspects of Autism often considered defining which I do not possess in any way - and I actually do not think I am autistic, though ADHD is a real possibility. The Spectrum's not a line, it's a pizza.Some of my slices have the expected toppings, others are bare, others are slathered in stuff. It's only a problem if someone demands exactly the right amout of cheese and anchovy on every slice, or gets antsy faced with the inevitable pineapple. (that's enough pizza analogy - Ed)
Anyway I get what they were trying to say years back, and can use it. That's a positive thing.
It's helpful to me and I should keep hold of it.
Heightened exteroception was the phenomemon if not the phrase a specialist tried to explain to me years ago. While I do not usually suffer the interoception difficulties associated with the Spectrum, it does sometimes happen. Listening to this stuff, I kind of dismissed it, because the world around me was becoming infatuated with labels. My brother and I have had similar issues and perhaps faced them with similar macho BS. He would just laugh and say 'If I'm an arsehole, I'm an arsehole, I don't need a special name for it.' For me it was more like, 'Don't try to tell me I'm broken just cos I don't fit your spec.'
Years later, without a need for special treatment or a badge of Wounded Tribe-Seeking, I can accept exteroception as a major trait, something without which I wouldn't be me. It is often very pleasant, sometimes horrifying, it has a strong physical element. I just don't want to feel like a fraud, as there are aspects of Autism often considered defining which I do not possess in any way - and I actually do not think I am autistic, though ADHD is a real possibility. The Spectrum's not a line, it's a pizza.Some of my slices have the expected toppings, others are bare, others are slathered in stuff. It's only a problem if someone demands exactly the right amout of cheese and anchovy on every slice, or gets antsy faced with the inevitable pineapple. (that's enough pizza analogy - Ed)
Anyway I get what they were trying to say years back, and can use it. That's a positive thing.
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