Yes, I'm talking about autism again. Sometimes I feel that I shouldn't talk about it, not on the Internet anyway. I'm not a psychologist, or a neurologist, or telepathic, I have NO authority in any of those fields. But I am a person on the autism spectrum, and one that is fortunate enough to be on the portion that can to communicate clearly to all of the "normal" people. So I must be able to say something about it. Anyways, enough of my worrying that I've done more harm than good, and onto my topic.
Autism can make people feel overwhelmed. This isn't helped by the fact that our "hyper-focus"* can often direct itself onto the negative. This quote from the first episode of the 21st' century Doctor Who sums it up quite well.
"The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour. The entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour. And I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world. And, if we let go..."The Doctor, "Rose"
Or you can think of it like this. Say you're at school. The last bell just rang, and you're walking to the bus to get home. When suddenly, you realize that you left your coat in the Chemistry classroom. You are filled with an urge to turn around and get that coat, but you also realize that if you do so, you will be going against the flow of traffic, and it would take you twice as long to get to the Chemistry classroom as it would to just get on the bus. You can just get your coat the next day anyways.
I know that there shouldn't be any shame in asking for help, but often doing so feels like disrupting the flow of traffic. It's embarrassing for me, and to everyone else it's at best mildly annoying, and at worst disruptive. We have to keep going, that's just how the world is, we have to go through the motions constantly. If we ever stopped, just for one second, then the rest of the world would move on without us and we would be drowned in a rushing wave of flesh and noise.
But what's wrong with going against the flow of traffic? Everyone does that at some point. Yes, even the "normal" people that run the world. Maybe you can run quickly to get to that coat and make it to the bus on time. So what if you run into a couple people on the way there, you brush up against total strangers in the hall every day and nobody gives a damn. Even if you miss the bus, you can still get a ride home, or just walk. Odds are, unless you're in an ACTUAL position of power, no-one is going to die or have their livelihood ruined if you make a mistake.
Have a nice day.
Greg.B
*Hyper-focus, for those not familiar with the term, is a little trick that some people with atypical neurology can do where we intensely concentrate on a relatively small subject. No, I can't show you how to do it. To be honest, I don't think it's something that can be taught. Even if it was, I wouldn't because it is very difficult to stop hyper-focusing, and I have very little control over what ends up being the subject of that focus.
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