I understand that they get them but what happens exactly to them?
In: Biology
Oh, also, you asked about how it affects our ability to function.
For me, and many others on the spectrum, it takes _a lot_ of brainpower to process social things. The nuances in a facial expression, the emotions implied by a choice of words, etc. Not just the inputs, but also the outputs: what’s the right word choice to express sympathy versus indifference (even if I don’t care about the topic, because I do care about the person). Even just remembering to show my emotions to the outside world by smiling, etc, that takes brainpower that it doesn’t for neurotypicals.
When I’m having a sensory episode, that brainpower gets chewed up trying to process the senses, so all of the social stuff drops. My wife refers to it as “the human simulation goes offline”. I can’t read faces, linguistic nuance is completely lost, my affect goes flat, I say things that sound completely inappropriate (but are really just what we’re all thinking) because that filter drops, etc.
My wife has actually figured out how to use this reduced social cognition to recognize an oncoming sensory episode. She’ll flat out ask if I’m having one, which is great because it makes me stop and do some self assessment. Not all episodes are sudden and noticeable – sometimes they creep up like background noise. So she’s able to see them before I do, in some cases.
Latest Answers