- They’re so complex, and as the name suggests, it’s a spectrum that is VERY broad and multidimentional
- Routines & Interests
- Sensory processing
- Executive functioning
- Social energy
- Emotional regulation
- Movement & motor skills
- Communication
- They experience the world very differently. Each one of them have their own strengths n weakessnes
- It’s almost impossible to think like them. You can understand them in some way, but thinking like them is neurologically impossible. Something like social anxiety is a little easier to relate to because a lot of it is just physiological and psychological sensations.
- But it must feel so weird to struggle to think like others. And it makes total sense for them to try to mask themselves because they kinda know that they’re the ones who don’t think the “right way”. They believe that the only way to thrive in the world is by behaving like “normal people”
- If you look at it from that perspective, then it makes total sense why they decide to mask.
- Based on what I’ve read, masking is very exhausting for people in the spectrum. I’m sure it has a huge negative toll on their mental health and general quality of life.
- in addition to that problem, because they’re trying to be normal, a lot of the times they don’t come off as normal. for example, having eye contact comes naturally to most of us. but if people on the spectrum tried to do that, they’ll come off as inauthentic, or even weirder than if they just acted the way their brains want to act (looking at the center, or not even looking at all)
- The closest thing that I can relate to with the idea of masking is conforming. Social anxiety crippled me and stopped me from being able to put my true self out there. I felt like I had to follow a script of how others expect me to act.
- looking back at that experience, what would have helped me? it would be quite hard to make a software that could help me in this situation. Unless it’s acting as a therapist. In other words, there isn’t a quick fix for my problem with social anxiety. It’s a long-term process of being able to notice it and slowly but surely growing that courage to break the script that you feel the world has for you. so would a software that listens to these interactions and provides insight on where they didn’t sound so authentic, or someone took advantage of them, or their social anxiety basically started to act up. we would flag these moments and provide insight on why they’re happening
- this is a lil tricky because AI is unreliable and the consequences of providing inaccurate advice is very high. the best AI tools these days are the ones that have high upside when they work and low downside when they don’t work. This case specifically is the complete opposite Because one insight can’t transform a person. The user needs a recurring number of insights that can finally clear the skies.
- can the same be said for masking?
- trying to understand masking
- Is it nature or nurture that causes the most problems for autistic people?
- what autistic people really want
- they use dramatic language that might sometimes seem inappropriate
- as a result of peoples reactions, they learned to no longer share these things and be honest about how they feel
- it just happens automatically. You don’t have any control over it.