1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,500 Welcome to From the Spectrum Podcast. This is a podcast about autism. It is my goal to 2 00:00:11,500 --> 00:00:22,880 explain what is autism. I intend to use a mixture of scientific literature, personal experience, 3 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:32,440 and opinion. With opinion, I will explain why I feel the way I do and give examples. 4 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:40,280 I will provide links to various references for each episode. For each episode, we will 5 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:49,440 discuss various aspects of autism. The From the Spectrum Podcast will mostly avoid causes 6 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:57,920 of autism, and I will try avoiding the increase of diagnoses of late. This is like playing 7 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:05,960 tug of war with barbed wire, and I don't think I want to travel down that path. 8 00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:15,480 For today's episode, we will cover more symptoms or traits of criteria B. Remember, criteria 9 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:27,800 B is restricted and repetitive behavior. It is my opinion autism is criteria B. It is 10 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:39,480 my opinion criteria A, the social communication and interaction deficits, or a cause, or downstream 11 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:49,120 of criteria B. What gives us criteria B? Manifest into criteria A. 12 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:56,960 Now the podcast is covered three episodes on these traits, and three episodes on the 13 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:08,720 biological explanations of what autism is. Even though neither episode, either the traits 14 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:16,000 or the biological aspects are exhaustive, but we've outlined some critical components 15 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:27,240 of what makes us, or what makes people, autistic. Remember, these symptoms or traits are crude 16 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:38,040 and intends to capture the spectrum. Criteria B, restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, 17 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:47,760 interest, or activities. In other words, if different than you, how is society going to 18 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:59,040 handle that? Will society, or will you, no matter who you are, a parent, a teacher, a 19 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:11,880 clinician, friend, or stranger, how will you handle autistic people? Will you work to change 20 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:20,840 someone with autism because you think they need help? Is it for the autistic, or is it 21 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:32,360 for you? Does someone different from you cause you conflict? Conflict, meaning even the 22 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:44,000 slightest, that quick and brief moment that catches your attention, and maybe, or likely, 23 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:56,360 causes a reaction, a reflexive reaction. That is an example of something offending your beliefs. 24 00:03:56,360 --> 00:04:06,960 If you say this is not you, look again. That's a stimulus response, and all humans have stimulus 25 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:17,120 responses. A human's nervous system loves to return to comfort, whatever that comfort 26 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:25,720 is for each of us. I'm going to start by saying, I am not in agreement with the language 27 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:38,040 used in the DSM-5, or any DSM. Guess what? And this means little, through nothing to me. 28 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:49,360 Many disagree with the language used in the DSM. Routines, routines and plans. We have 29 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:59,960 discussed they are safe and predictable. It's more than that. Examples how I do laundry, 30 00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:11,480 dishes, or routes of travel. It's the planning, consisting of every exact move. Physical movements, 31 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:21,960 time. What we should expect, and what might happen, and the chances of those things happening. 32 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:31,720 The plan, and execution, is it. Here we are talking about time. The plan versus actual 33 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:44,860 time. Matching that is thrilling. Matching that in closeness or exact is thrilling. 34 00:05:44,860 --> 00:05:56,040 Matching reality to the movie playing in our head during planning. Here this includes plans, 35 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:06,520 others, how we interact and integrate, and different objects. I know that is a vast spectrum, 36 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:18,200 but apparently spectrum is popular with autism discussions. I don't love it, but so be it. 37 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:27,160 The spectrum of items, the plans, the others, the objects, need to do what they intend to 38 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:38,300 do. What, where, when, why, and how they are supposed to. 39 00:06:38,300 --> 00:06:49,920 That plan versus actual, thrill. If no control, this can be frustrating. If or when, things 40 00:06:49,920 --> 00:07:01,880 are off plan, it does not mean it is automatic frustration. However, this tolerance is tight. 41 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:10,100 Relatives exist, and physiological responses follow. Remember the thrill attached to this. 42 00:07:10,100 --> 00:07:21,480 This exists on a seesaw. The amount of thrill or pleasure you receive in life will predict 43 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:32,960 the amount of pain you experience. Pain, not limited to somatic or physical pain, but pain, 44 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:43,000 meaning disappointment, frustration, and craving aspects. This is a good source of, this does 45 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:53,000 not make sense, or why would they do that, discussed in the previous episode. And connect 46 00:07:53,000 --> 00:08:05,640 this to relationships and criteria A. My morning routines were tough during a previous relationship. 47 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:14,600 They were obsessive. Remember the first two episodes too. Remember in the first episode 48 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:22,720 while discussing B2 and B3, I made comments that I have these two symptoms or traits bad. 49 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:32,640 And I am comfortable saying now that those really implicated previous relationships. 50 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:41,120 Some things to me, but I just could not see. I just couldn't understand it at the time. 51 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:50,240 It was all about my routines, whatever my routine was. And I had to have certain fixated interest, 52 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:57,320 whatever they were at that time. And it would just, everything else was secondary. Everything 53 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:07,640 else. Typically, I am punctual, but we just discuss the complications and the background 54 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:18,600 of what is going on in the parts you cannot see. I think punctual is not a source of courtesy. 55 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:31,760 So what we are supposed to do? It is how we treat others and ourselves. It allows society 56 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:40,880 to flow properly, flow efficiently. I enjoy being slightly early. And I certainly bias 57 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:54,160 myself towards action. Perhaps an EI superpower if properly utilized. Here, maybe you can 58 00:09:54,160 --> 00:10:04,240 connect the propensity for breaks. There will be a need for breaks. That is a certain. To 59 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:13,680 recharge and replenish that metabolic bank account previously discussed. And so we can 60 00:10:13,680 --> 00:10:23,880 attend to our fixated interest. Remember, these are not entirely abnormal in quotations. 61 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:34,000 Abnormal in interest or focus. I hate that language. It is code for others 62 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:42,680 are uncomfortable about that ability and don't want to understand it. So they label it. How 63 00:10:42,680 --> 00:10:53,040 about you not be offended a reflex with a negative connection? How about we utilize 64 00:10:53,040 --> 00:11:01,760 it and bias the person towards strengths and superpowers? If someone has the ability 65 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:13,640 to learn and be attached to a subject or a topic, let them be. But that offends other 66 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:24,200 people in society. Okay, rant over for now. Remember the aromatic amino acids. I have 67 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:32,880 a cheat sheet or an answer key for the listener. These special proteins activate for UVB wavelength 68 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:43,280 light. Leptin, even smaller wavelength. Leptin wasn't discovered until 1994. I believe by 69 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:53,960 Jeffrey Friedman. This recharge, this reset, needing to restore our metabolic bank account. 70 00:11:53,960 --> 00:12:01,400 Go outside. Get some more sunlight. Remember, we discussed this in the third and fourth 71 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:12,320 episode. This will reset our homeostasis. I bet it will give benefits, at least minimize 72 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:21,880 the behavior phenotypes. The struggles that we can see. This is in all of the so called 73 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:34,720 disorders listed in the DSM, not limited to autism. All. If disagree, email me. I have 74 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:43,120 an anecdote. During holidays, family gatherings and such, lots of food, lots of people and 75 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:50,920 paper plates being thrown away. No, it's not a silly climate topic. People throw the paper 76 00:12:50,920 --> 00:13:00,880 plates away. We eat, we dispose of the paper plate. Food side up. And it loosely stacks 77 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:13,480 up. However, well, two things here. One, if face down, it minimizes smell and sight and 78 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:23,320 mass. But two, you can push down on the backside of the paper plate and push down to get more 79 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:33,120 in one trash bag. Things like this are confusing to me. Why don't other people see this? You 80 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:38,240 want a glimpse into the inside of someone with autism. It's things like this. It's 81 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:49,200 just strange to us. And this annoys me. There is nothing about this that makes sense. Nothing. 82 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:57,360 I see this. Fill my eyebrows wrinkle up. That conflict. Here, I'm receiving the conflict 83 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:06,200 and stimulus response. I turn it over and press down and get out. I fix the trash can 84 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:17,360 and the paper plate stacking up overflowing. I fix it and I get out. And that's true. Traffic 85 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:26,000 flow. Spacing between cars is strange to me. I don't understand why the spacing cannot 86 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:38,040 be more equal. 360 degree spacing. Remember B movie. This interacts with me when driving 87 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:46,080 and trying to turn into traffic and while running. Something I notice is when. Let's 88 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:55,120 say a two lane. Two lane or more road. Two lanes traveling in the same direction. When 89 00:14:55,120 --> 00:15:05,120 people pass cars or especially semis. They take their time passing. They increase their 90 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:14,280 time traveling within feet of another vehicle or even a semi. It's wild. Why would you 91 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:24,320 travel within feet of a semi? Time the passing so you can accelerate and pass past a car 92 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:33,240 or semi without staying there side by side with it and increasing your time next to it. 93 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:42,520 Now before your reflexive thought whenever I say time and accelerate within speed limit 94 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:51,000 forgiveness or acceptance of course and pass the vehicle on or especially the semi as fast 95 00:15:51,000 --> 00:16:01,000 as possible. We learn about distances of following the vehicle in front of us. We learn about 96 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:08,440 that. That's pretty common information. You don't want to follow too close but it's a 97 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:18,120 360 degree consideration. We need to watch out 360. I'm blown away by people passively 98 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:26,700 passing semis increasing time and distance being within feet of it. Maybe they heard 99 00:16:26,700 --> 00:16:36,080 the previous episode and they want to high five the other driver. Researching items. Researching 100 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:45,440 items I want to purchase and this is no different than the fixated interest. It is consuming. 101 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:56,080 I mean time and energy. It is not a dreadful feeling though. We just go all in. Relationship 102 00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:04,080 implications are involved here too. Between fixated interest and being a so called over 103 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:14,600 analyzer or over thinker. This is happening. This is how we do things. I have examples. 104 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:24,440 Any different context. Of teaching the workers about the item and similar items. The similarities 105 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:34,280 and differences of the items. And quite frankly I love it. I have examples of teaching other 106 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:40,800 consumers about the products as they were in the store looking at the items at the same 107 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:51,200 time. I love it. I can even prompt it and do it without using words. Or sometimes I will 108 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:59,440 just ask them. I can notice they are looking for something. A favorite for me is the vitamin 109 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:06,240 and supplement aisle. There's a lot of biology within this aisle. And a lot of times people 110 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:14,200 are lost. They are searching for something. And I will just ask them. Oh iron for your 111 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:24,640 red blood cells right? Your hemoglobin or respiration. And then wonder or even tell them 112 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:33,520 that hemoglobin and chlorophyll are very similar. Hemoglobin uses the iron which is what you 113 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:43,320 are after. Chlorophyll uses magnesium. Just remember too all the discussion on sunlight 114 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:52,880 and UV light and the healthy benefits that it will provide for hemoglobin. Remember we 115 00:18:52,880 --> 00:19:04,680 can talk endlessly about our interest. And it is endlessly. An example of a worker at 116 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:11,400 a store. I taught them what their barcodes mean. Their price tags. What all the different 117 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:20,440 elements of that tag means. Because I looked it up and I learned it. This is very bizarre. 118 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:31,440 And really no application in life. It's just a part of it. Hans Asperger's syndrome called 119 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:40,440 children he was researching little professors. He had nicknames for them. Little professors. 120 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:49,800 That's autism. This is what autism is. That's how you need to understand autism. Forget everything 121 00:19:49,800 --> 00:20:01,560 you previously learned and rethink what is autism. See it not as a disorder. See it as 122 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:10,200 a superpower. Maybe something that you can't even think about doing. And how society can 123 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:20,880 integrate this. This is how it ought to be. That is how it can be. Look out for future 124 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:29,640 episodes about autism and education and autism and employment on how these things these two 125 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:42,680 paradigms are set up for our failure and how society can adjust to improve the situation. 126 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:52,520 Other personal examples of criteria B. Things that don't make sense to me. Pants sizes. 127 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:57,200 Come to my attention that maybe recently I don't know. I don't know when it started 128 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:08,720 quite frankly that some pants sizes some pant makers manufacturers use alpha for their size. 129 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:17,720 Why would you use alpha for your size. Small medium large for pant sizes. This doesn't make 130 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:29,800 any sense. We understand it's almost universally understood. Numeric sizes for pants 30 32 131 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:43,240 34. I get that. What's small medium large. Why would you do that. And finally something 132 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:49,560 that's something that I've encountered. I observed and I think it's strange is when 133 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:57,280 people make the decision to eat out at a restaurant. You you make a decision that another human 134 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:06,120 being or a a collection of human beings that are involved. You're going to have them prepare 135 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:13,600 a meal and just basically feed you. Now once you make that decision that somebody else 136 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:25,240 this is in somebody else's hands. You forfeit the ability to have an opinion. Or an expectation. 137 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:33,760 Of what you're receiving. That's another human being. If if you don't want that unpredictableness 138 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:40,880 of somebody else preparing or other people as a whole. Serving you and preparing food 139 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:51,080 for you. Then you do it. You don't get to complain. Remember never underestimate a human's 140 00:22:51,080 --> 00:23:01,480 capacity to think. And don't try to change someone with autism. Just because it offends 141 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:13,920 you. Understand how to utilize this this phenomena for society for the person more importantly. 142 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:19,320 If you're listening and enjoy the episode or enjoy the podcast please feel free to leave 143 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:28,040 a review or rating. In podcasting reviews ratings and downloads are huge. And I very 144 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:39,160 much appreciate your feedback. If you would like to contact me please do so at info dot 145 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:59,160 from the spectrum at gmail dot com. And thank you for listening to from the spectrum podcast.