asplanet.info

.

.

.

We are often exposed to situations beyond our control and if we are unable to feel comfortable, do not we all back away, withdraw, auto defense. So what if we do not to you quite fit into everyone else’s circumstances, world, sensory wise alone can be alike a ticking time bomb, and when heighten senses become unbearable, our emotions can become confused to even explosive point. But if there was a noise that irritate you and you could not handle or stop, would not you lose control from time to time scream and shout, and what if no one still understood and your disciplined for suffering, wouldn’t you eventually shut down, close off. Sounds horrendous, but happens far too often to autistic children and individuals. All I ask is next time think and try and see through our eyes, not always yours. Conform leads to frustration, understanding leads to smiles…   

.

.

 .

Sometimes everything gets too much and I simply overload

and need a quick exit, other times I seem oblivious to what's

happening around me and somehow  can stay contained within

my own little bubble often where I am the happiest.

.

.

We need to allow our different emotions to be real, my thoughts intensify my emotions, as I over think, see, sense, analyze this can make my emotions a lot more intense at times. The spectrum unsaid words where we get to sense and pick up on many things and at times it's hard to know exactly what, but my moods change with what surrounds me and that is why at times too much real life overloads me... To the ones I know and behind the screen I am beginning to allow my minds thoughts to flow, say what I feel, think not what I feel I should...... but in reality at times I muddle because what I want and what I feel I should say, habit I guess kind of merge...

. 

On, off or in between the spectrum we all need to rethink who we are and allow others to be able to be who they are. Stop mirror imaging from magazine stereo-types and be realistic. Everyone has a right to be themselves, without continually being wrongly judged. So often I see people stepping outside that acceptable boundary, but who's boundary is it anyway.... will I be allowed if I dare, on a journey to discover true self, will I alienate myself more or in a sad attempt to fit in continue to imitate as in the movies!

.

We're some bodies, and just want to be treated the way everybody else wants to be treated. We may relate emotionally and socially differently, lack natural social skills, have repetitive behavior patterns and intense preoccupation. But please stop reading us text book style, as it’s really not that simply... we are all unique individuals. And please do not tell me I have no emotions, they take me from one extreme to the next, and so intense at times I overload, withdraw, shutdown.

.

My emotions are very real, I may express them differently. The times I see children, adults becoming angry and frustrated, withdraw because of lack of insight from others. We need to be allowed to show emotions our way, as what quite often happens our feelings are suppressed, instead of embraced when growing up and then as adults we often find it near impossible to express our inner selves and when we do others often do not understand, and at each attempt we are rejected.

 .

To not feel I can just have a meltdown, shutdown, close off which is normal to me, is not allowing my natural outburst, of course I now control and understand, but growing up we cannot control if do not understand. You may cry when sad, shout for joy and even scream at times, my emotions may be more intense different, maybe they should also be allowed my way. But because of the way I was brought up, I very rarely showed any emotions, for fear of being, put down, told wrong just for being me, of course this was partly because others did not understand me, including myself. I knew what was expected of me, but my emotions never seem to work like others. So for fear of being told I was wrong I often just shutdown instead…i.e. as a child at times I laughed when meant to be sad, and not having empathy for others in a way we are meant to means we often get read so wrongly, I may have seem emotionless at times to many, but I am not. I have had to learn to store up my differences, hide them away, so it’s no wonder from time to time the flood gates open, and overwhelming sadness, pain is released all at once, it at these times on the rare occasion others see me,  in their mind I am all wrong!

.

I guess as adults we have to recognize what our triggers are and sensory wise what overloads us, I have many such triggers, someone just breathing or eating to loud can cause my stress levels to shoot, living in an environment that is not sensitive to my sensory needs can be extremely stressful for some of us on the autism spectrum, making us at times quite anxious, which can lead to stress, lead to overload, lead to meltdown…. Donna Williams calls this “Anxiety Exposure” a link to more on this at bottom of web page. I so agree it’s the environment we are exposed to that affects how we act and others not understanding this can have a huge impact upon us, for some children it would be near impossible to focus with too much happening around them, as a mother I found the noise of my own precious babies hard to deal with, in situations that are out of my control noise wise I can become from a confidence individual to an overstressed very anxious person quite quickly, my main focus becomes the irritant and everything else is irrelevant, it like a surge of nervous energy takes over and if I do not take control I will meltdown or shutdown.

.

We cannot continually put on an act, show our emotions in the way which suits everyone else, no one can. Sadly this happens far too much and often ends with us becoming desperate and confused, reaching out, grabbing for any attention, when all we really want is to fulfill an empty void. I never ask to be born different, but as I am please allow me my differences, as at times others unintentionally suffocate me, making me defensive, wanting to hit out, but the only person who is harmed is me, often mentally and emotionally I get worn down, I need a release at times, skin pick, walk up and down, scream inside the turmoil of being misunderstood not allowed is real.

.

.

Empty spaces between my over active thoughts,

I should enjoy but often feel guilty from the lack of any think!

.

.

I think I use to think I had to learn how to be, as acted / pretended how I thought I should and then realized ok just to be me... with me I sense as much as say and kind of pull in everyone else's emotions at times and overload, I sense and feel at a deeper level, so I guess have a different sort of empathy... but saying we do not have, because others do not understand I feel is wrong and misleading... June 2009 more to follow soon...

.

.
Some aspies when have meltdowns, just lose it while others lean more towards the shutdown, withdraw. It's possible to have both but this depends greatly on the situation and the person. Most aspies tend to have both but degrees of extremity can vary greatly.

.
I do think that it does depend on the person, situation partly, to the reaction with aspies who are more sure of themselves or more fiercely independent leaning towards meltdowns rather than shutdowns but again there's a wide variation depending upon the feelings brought on by the trigger, something's that seem trivial to one may not to the next and some events can make even the most confident of aspies doubt themselves.
.
The meltdown could be described as rage against a situation, a shutdown tends to be more of a retreat. Behaviors which manifest during a shutdown include rolling oneself into a ball or fetal position, crawling under objects or lying face down or completely under the covers on a bed. Gaze avoidance tends to increase significantly during a shutdown and conversation is non-existent.
.
As with meltdowns, in a shutdown situation, the aspie may act irrationally or dangerously. Unlike a meltdown however, the harmful activities are almost always directed at oneself. The aspie may attempt self harm and may even be suicidal. They may be more likely to take reckless risks such as walking along a busy road on a dark/rainy night.
.
As with meltdowns, the cause of a shutdown tends to be cumulative and the trigger may bear little resemblance to the actual problem. The real problems associated with shutdowns tend to lean towards depression, loneliness poor self image and poor self worth.
.
In a small child, a shutdown may be triggered because of a simple breakfast issue (perhaps they were given something they don't like). In this case, the cause may actually have nothing to do with breakfast at all but rather it may be just the child's frustration at not being able to make themselves understood.
.
In an adult, shutdowns can result from extreme events having to face a large crowd, new situations not prepared for, but they can also have very small triggers which simply remind an aspie of a larger pain. Perhaps a small incident at work could provoke some long term insecurities and cause a retreat.
.
When we have meltdowns, it's usually best to leave us alone as long as safe, as a young adult I did attempt self harm, it's like a release of all the misunderstood built up emotions, confusion kind of collapse in on me. At times like this I can unintentionally be a little reckless, it's like a need to self-destruct for a while, boil over and as I calm down I will often then want to hide away and shutdown....

 .

When I shutdown, I just close off the world around me, I can response but it feels empty, I guess I become a little like a broken shell for a while, sometimes for days, sometimes for hours... and can just at times snap out of. I tend to not want or able to do much and prefer to not have contact with people. it's generally ok to talk in a soothing voice during a shutdown, just do not always expect a response or eye contact, and only touch if either invited or be cautious to see the reaction first, I prefer to be left alone....

.

Too much exposure from my ordinary life can cause me much anxiety, too much all at once and I can become irritated, my blood rushes as my adrenaline escalates throughout my body. This is my warning to escape, withdraw from situation otherwise my nerves take on a life of their own and run wild, screeching inside.  My mind a blank chaos sets in, it’s at times like this I become very silent not able to answer even if ask or have a manic outburst. At this point any intrusion feels like an invasion of my world, as I fight to focus on anything, from my sideline view. One step and I would feel totally exposed.

.

Some times as a defense, comfort I stim and/or talk to myself. I know no one is there, but by releasing my thoughts helps stop me overloading. I know at times what I say may not quite make sense to you, but when my mind is racing to have to as I see it over explain, takes up too much effort. What I say at times it may not quite go with what you are saying, but often what’s on my mind makes sense to me, and can interest me more than what’s being said. I view and see the world differently from many and as much you may not get me sometimes, I do not you.

 .

Conversion wise when my nervous energy is running wild I tend to either dominate the conversation when meeting new people and at times my words can jumble into a cascade of chaos, which rarely make sense to others, jumping from one topic to the next and at times even being in no relation to what you may be speaking about. At other times a deadly silence, which even I can find hard at times, when like this I often feel compelled to say some think, any think and usually the wrong thing.

.

Racing thoughts often keeps me awake at night, like an overloaded computer that very rarely shuts down, just breaks down from time to time  I even went to meditation classes once and did try for a while, but they ask me to leave the class, as I interpreted others too much... too much nervous energy I guess... as I get older I feel there is hope that one day I will be able to, but for now long baths help me relax.... and long walks, being creative however that is etc..... Nighttime is my biggest nightmare laterally, I have to be very sleepy and have no noise, hard when your married have family etc... So usually I am the last one to go to sleep... the night owl.

.

Writing things down does help me to progress my thoughts and not just procrastinate as us aspies tend to...  Emotional matters one of my biggest problem areas, a feeling of wanting to explain but worrying if not understood will make matters worse, after all for many of us emotion wise often we get things throw back at us, our thought for being the way we are! I have found by verbalizing and over explaining helps a little, writing down my thoughts in a letter or email sometimes works better for me anyway.... opens discussion or not!

.

.

Emotions the not being alone, but feeling so lonely …. a scenario I feel many of us on the with ASD can relate to, I at times find it much easier to share my thoughts in writing, but find it near impossible at times to exchange them in the ebb and flow of actual personal interaction.  The empty void which many not on the autism spectrum find hard to understand, and unintentionally often make the divide bigger, we do not just see and express situations, we often sense and really feel deep inside, but at times it can seem like living in an invisible cage, because those intense emotions are trapped behind a glass screen and ours alone, the connection with the outside just is not there.

 .

I also so agree we sense the unease within this world, the cities have become boiling pots waiting to happen and feel many of us being more aware are more user friendly, we quite possibly consume less than the average person and I feel are more eco friendly, considerate to the world and animals around us… partly I feel this has some think to do with we not only see, but sense the unease, unrest… somehow we seem to have a deeper connection with the planet, we see details in the small detail and often notice things others may never see… since discovering I had Aspergers and many associated conditions not so long ago, my life has become one of self discovery…

 .

Whatever I do the future is what will happen, while it intrigues me. My anxiety comes from my own complexities, my personality being blurred edges of reality, as diagnosed late in life what part is aspie and what part enforced by none ASD people.  As in Oscar Levant quote: "There is a thin line between genius and insanity.  I have erased this line." Our complexities of mind, our obsessive tendencies push the boundaries - disorders such as OCD, bipolar maybe they are just extremities of difference.  Labels we are given by professionals trying to figure us out, and then feel a need to want to change, conform us to fit into their world - but we will never fit into neat stereo type boxes!. This is not meant as a statement, just a process of thought, just an idea to get others thinking differently, should we in fact label every difference? or allow for more extremities in this world, we cannot explain everything - autism, the universe and never will.  But until everyone is more accepting and understanding of diversity and difference we will continue to feel alienate from the planet we were born to be. 

.

At times I wonder how I survived for so long as my differences were severe enough to hamper not only my dealings with others but, more importantly, my judgment of them. Maybe that’s why I can relate to celebrities that we so often read about and their personal struggles and  I am less cynical as understand how it feels to be trapped within our own  prison it has nothing to do with who they are as celebrities, I hate it that some just think poor rich people, life is not that simply and for some reason some of us are just born so much more complex, until society allows difference and diversity many of us will continue to struggle, often in a world that can be so unforgiving for extremities and complexities they themselves do not understand.

.

I grew up blaming my life, childhood until I discovered bipolar, Aspergers and so much more… I am nearly 50 and feel half my life I have been searching for answers that were not there, I feel it is vital that more well known people speak out, otherwise so many more young lives will be wasted…. As much as those of us differently minded speak out, there will never be change until others really listen, want to hear and at least try and understand. We all need to educate ourselves and teach our children about diversity and difference…

 .

Some may feel sorry even laugh at those of us that are different from the average” norn”……! But I often see their inner turmoil and pain, where others pass by, as however hard I try and however happy I seem I always know the next storm is not far away, I guess my mind is like the varied weather seasons and guess I have kind of got use to the highs and lows, the bright days and dark days. Some of my darkest moments my most creative, the solitude I enjoy when allowed.  I am quite happy at the moment but know there will be many more days when I feel the need to hide away for a while, I do not feel its depression it’s like the ocean waves they come and go, with differing intensity, creativity and a world many of you may never get to know..

.

Another of our misunderstood differences "empathize" is an area I feel we are often so wrongly read, as to me empathy has many shapes and forms, we just do, see, view things differently from many in this world, but I also like to think the majority of what is right is only where you are at a present moment. So surrounded by all ASD people, does that mean others do not have empathy if show differently from us!
.
I also feel this is partly because so often none ASD individuals feel they understand professionally, but even those of us who have lived with ASD like myself my whole life and have many extended family members, Once I discovered self, my autism core, heart as I see it, it took me many more years to truly understand, I guess we are a little like the universe, the mysteries continue to enfold.

.

.

.

Tides and waves

As Intensity mounts

So does the tide

My breath in rhythm

The waves they ride

Releasing and cleanses

I feel the tides pulling

Trapping me inside

Uncontrollable waves

Out of my reach

Tides reverse the action

Now within my grasped

Waves raise and fall

Re-balance from inside

Tides instigate reaction

The air is calm yet again

Waves wipe out the rage

And at peace for now

Alyson Bradley Nov.2008

 .

"One of the places I feel truly able to be myself,

by myself is out at sea, alone in a kayak, as my

  life continues to be an ongoing rollercoaster"

 .

.

  AsPlanet forum member comments

“Speaking as someone who has Aspergers, I often am treated more as

having a disability first and a higher aptitude for math and science second.

But I am proud to be an Aspie and if I ever find the genes for Aspergers

syndrome I will ensure that they survive for the benefit of future generations.”

 .

 “There is the worst:  An autistic adapted to the

normal people.  It is a grief. I know from me.”

 .

Doubled edged sword I so agree, the amount of people who I know on the spectrum preferring at times an isolated existence because of this and many find it easier to start up relationships on line, email there thoughts rather than say, as often our expressions can let us down....
.
I feel its so important that we are allowed to do things in our own way, because being continually wrongly judged often leaves our confidence shattered.... our difference way of seeing the world and insight should be allowed, even if our over focus to detail, obsessiveness is not always understood - in fact at times we are discouraged even given other labels just for being self.
.
We all need to do whats right for us, otherwise like I have found we even begin to doubt ourselves. We can not help who we are and our differing perspectives need to be embraced, we can all learn from each other if we really listen.

.

When I was first diagnosed because of the stigma attached where I live to the word Aspergers which at first was even alien to me, I felt ashamed to say the word, but now I am proud I refused to let others make me feel ashamed of self...

.

.

.

.

 Emotions and social interactions on forum:

.

.

.

Autistics are acutely aware of emotional projection, due to not being able to filter out sensory input and the mono-processing of emotions, even if they cannot identify the exact emotion that is projected (when the emotion is more complex).
.
Just as sensory experiences have the potential to over-stimulate someone, they also have great calming potential, such as is used in stimming. The emotional mode can be one of merging with one’s environment to the point where one feels as if he/she mixes with other people, animals, and objects. However, taking in all the details of the environment can otherwise be overwhelming and frightening. Also, objects (including people) may be seen in parts because the whole is too much to be perceived at once. The autistic senses are wide open to both the “good” and the “bad” of sensory-emotional reactions.
.
In autism, emotional communication will appear in more primal and unrefined (i.e. simplistic) ways. Since autistics do not internalize much of the more complex social-emotional hierarchy, more basic and less culturally-derived sensory methods can and should be used for meaningful interactions. This can include parallel play and teaching (or in some cases simply allowing) the person to express him/herself through art, such as music and painting.

 .

Taken from: Interpretations of the Mind: An Exploration of Consciousness

and Autism  - By Marcie Kimball - see full article via link, very interesting read: http://www.autism-society.org/site/DocServer/Interpretations_of_the_Mind.pdf?doc\

.

________________________________________________________ 

.

.

Sensory overload: An insider’s perspective

Two days before I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, I emailed a friend and described the experience of sensory overload:

 .

“I’m flooded constantly by other people’s energy, by sounds, visual images, everything. I can walk into a room and feel all the emotional energy in the room, but it’s completely undifferentiated. I’m unable to translate facial expressions or body language. I’m unable to filter anything out. Everything comes in, but my brain can’t parse it fast enough…I become very disoriented and overloaded. I say too much, or stumble over my words, or simply feel paralyzed and mute.”

.

I’ve found that I experience sensory overload for the following reasons:

.

Delayed processing. A conversation with even one person can overload me. Because I can’t read nonverbal cues and intuit what the person is thinking or feeling, I have to depend solely on the meanings of the words themselves. Therefore, I have to analyze the words and formulate a response very quickly. After awhile, I start to lose track of the conversation, and I have difficulty knowing what to say.

 .

The resulting anxiety can cause me to transpose letters and sounds in my response. At other times, I simply can’t remember the words I want to use. Occasionally, I become hyperlexic and start to do a monologue. However, I’ve learned through painful and embarrassing experience not to take over the conversation. It exhausts me, and it’s not exactly a wonderful experience for the other person.

.

Fortunately, when I get more familiar with a person and we’ve had a number of interactions, I find it easier to have a conversation. Subconsciously, I’ve put together all the experiences I’ve had with the person, and I can use them to more quickly interpret what he or she says. If the person has a good sense of humor, all the better. I can joke around once I’m comfortable with someone, and if both of us can laugh, it relieves a great deal of stress.

.

Difficulty filtering sensory stimuli. If I’m in an environment in which there are too many voices and other sounds, I become overwhelmed very easily. Too many moving visuals, such as a great number of people, buses, and cars on a busy city street, also have this effect. When the two types of stimuli are combined, sensory overload happens almost immediately.

.

Too much empathy. Yes. That’s what I said: Too much empathy.

 .

For many years, I’ve been aware that when I walk into a room full of people, I enter into the experience of everyone in the room. It’s as though all the emotions come right through me. When this happens, I become very disoriented, so much so that I have difficulty feeling or thinking at all. I have tried shielding with my intellect, but the energy it takes is very draining. Whether I shield or not, I become very emotionally and physically fatigued.

 .

I’m still discovering strategies to avoid sensory overload, to respond to the early warning signs, and to take care of myself when it happens. In upcoming posts, I’ll say more about the ways I’m working to reduce the experience of sensory overload.

From Aspergers Journeys : 

.

"There’s a book by Donna Williams called “Autism and Sensing”. It gives her own quite extreme account of the ’sensory overload’ you describe.I think we can learn to understand the ‘feel’ of all the information we are receiving, at least in some situations.In more demanding scenarios, I have to readjust my attitude to take into account the disorientation. It seems that regardless of the situation, if I stop thinking or making an effort, I just feel slightly confused, as though I’m suddenly unable to understand anything around me."

.

________________________

.

.

Everyday Heaven by Donna Williams:

 Everything I read in regards to Donna Williams I enjoy, maybe because I can relate too so well.... Everyday Heaven, journeys beyond the stereotypes of autism and draws attention to what makes no sense to none aspies, does to us and vise versa, decided to add this book review see link, which also reviews most of her books: http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book.php/isbn/9781843102113
.
I have quoted this section, as feel explains how as Donna puts it they are (NT) "self in relation to others and I was essentially self in relation to self" its like others do not sense or feel as we do leading to many misinterpretations, I have included a few para's as feel relevant lines to me, when reading her books I know someone else really gets me:

"People assume that if you've spent time together with other people, you will have built up rapport with them over time. Unless you've disliked the people, it is assumed some sort of relationship has evolved. This assumption works fine for people who get to know each other through the system of interpretation. For them, each new meeting brings more knowing.
.
I don't use interpretation to build relationships. Over time just accumulate a larger store of facts and establish some routines involving people's ongoing presence. When the people leave, I retain that impersonal, factual information, even for years, along with all other personally irrelevant information that my undiscriminating brain picks up. When the people leave, it is the end of the routine and that can be jolting. As long as I have disassembled all established routines by the time the people go, I'm generally not bothered.
.
Very occasionally I'll deeply connect with someone who's entered my life. To me that's like a good dinner or like a picture that I like so I'm not indifferent to seeing good things go. But this has to do with sensing. I will sense whether I feel right around someone in a few seconds so if I don't find that with someone in a few seconds, then knowing them for a week or a month or a year won't change that."

.

.

“All or nothing, either something sits there all year or gets done straight away”

.

.

.

 William Stillman : "IM NOT RETARDED IM SMART NOT A MENTAL GIANT BUT I AM INTELLGENT"  These are the words that were communicated to me by a sixteen-year old young man whom I was visiting in his rural high school classroom on a crisp and wintry January morning.  Like most teens his age, he took classes in keyboarding and computers, and was a fluent two-handed typist.  But his classroom was anything but typical; it was for kids in Special Ed, and my new friend was autistic and virtually mute, a man of very few words. And yet the words he conveyed upon our first meeting were a declaration to belie his physical appearance in favor of presuming an intellect intact.
.
It was a credo I had heard--or rather read--from countless others before him; those who felt the need to qualify their unconventional mannerisms, vocalizations, and assorted neurological blips, disconnects and misfires by imploring, in essence, "Don't trust y our eyes.  This isn't really me.  See past my deceiving exterior, see beyond my label." And indeed, I always assure them that I see clearly their gorgeous humanity and profound potential.
.
The desire to simply be welcomed and accepted is universal to all human beings, but there are those among us that struggle in the endeavor for worthiness--to be considered whole and complete and competent.  Still, while I've enjoyed a career as someone who intuitively connects to those on the autism spectrum, I knew that this concept of presuming was not exclusive to people with autism.  Upon becoming conscious of it, I realized that an assumption for incompetence of those with different ways of being surrounds us with glaring reality throughout each day.  It shows in the way others publicly avoid the brightly beaming man with Down Syndrome; or the adult son who berates his elderly mother compromised by dementia; or the impatience with which people tune out the person who stutters; the small child everyone thinks wants to be tickled, swung through the air, hair tousled; or the individual who is blind that truly is capable of ordering her own meal instead of the server deferring to her companions with, "And what will she have?"
.
It extends even to the infant who struggles to make her needs known in the ways only she knows how to, as explained by my friend Evelyn, "My granddaughter usually takes a nap by falling asleep on my shoulder after letting me know that she is tired by rubbing her eyes.  On this day, she looked at my shoulder and started alternately bucking her head into my chest and pushing me away.  Instead of personalizing her behavior by thinking, "She misses her mother," or blaming it on entering the terrible twos early, or thinking she's overly tired, I decided that she was communicating to me that I had overloaded one of her senses.  I looked down at my bright orange ribbed sweater and decided that either the color or texture were not soothing and conducive to falling asleep.  I covered my shoulder with a cloth diaper, patted it and said 'soft.'  She looked at the diaper, at my face, back at the diaper, and then laid her head down and went to sleep
.
In reflection of our neurological brotherhood, if we embrace the philosophy of presuming intellect we are in a position to become agents of transformation.  We have become a culture that elevates perfectionism to exalted heights, which is an unrealistic and potentially damaging aspiration.  When we acknowledge the kinship we share with one another, we are most apt to value diversity in our lives within the context of mutual respect, co-collaboration for greater good--and the presumption of intellect.  This is the proper response to autism.
.
It's not too late.  But time is of the essence in recognizing this most salient truth about the autistic experience.  I hear too regularly from individuals with autism who are suffering...suffering not from autism, but from the abhorrent prejudices of others that seek to further distance our humanity from one another.  As a result, too many people with autism are severely depressed and contemplating suicide, absent compassionate understanding and devoid of an inner knowing that purports great purpose.  I should know, given my own version of autism.
.
It was a quiet, inner voice that kept me safe from any real harm in my formative years, a voice with spiritual origins that I often discounted.  But it was this small, still voice that prevented me from taking my own life in adolescence due to the social pressures of non-conformity; and it is this voice to which I now owe reverence for enlightening me with the spiritual reserve to preserve.  So when this voice spoke to me again recently, I listened intently to its secret call.  It yielded a message of optimism amidst adversity, and of the need to stay the course in advocacy of those without a voice.  It concluded with a nourishing affirmation, "Peace within, brother tell." And so I'll carry forth continuing to tell what is right and true and good and kind, desiring to share a creed of acceptance.... Won't you join me?

.

The Soul of Autism by William Stillman

"shows there is much to learn from people with autism about

transcendence rising and a new humanity accessible for all."

.

.

.

.

Chapter 6 -The Understanding and Expression of Emotions

.

.

.

.