Many autistic people enjoy spending time alone and consider it important for their wellbeing.
Autistic adults are often lonelier than nonautistic adults. Loneliness for both autistic and nonautistic adults was related to social skills and dissatisfaction with social support.
Lack of Social Communication Skills
Children with autism tend to have little desire or ability to communicate or engage with playmates. Peers may see this behavior as hurtful ("he's ignoring me!") or may simply ignore the child with autism. In some cases, children with autism may be bullied or excluded from a group.
There are other brain disorders that mimic autism symptoms, like ADHD and anxiety disorders, including selective mutism. Autism can be misdiagnosed as another disorder with some shared symptoms.
ASD level 3 is characterized by severe challenges in social communication as well as extremely inflexible behavior. Children with level 3 autism will be nonverbal or have the use of only a few words of intelligible speech. Initiation of social interaction is very limited, as well as response to others.
The aversion to touch may be misunderstood as a lack of comfort with affection. Children with autism do experience and express affection – some may simply experience and express it differently than others.
While many people with autism may appear to lack empathy and sympathy, it is not the case for all people with autism. For those who struggle with displaying appropriate empathetic responses, the reasons may relate more to social communication issues than a lack of underlying emotional response.
However, there are plenty of extroverted (or otherwise) autistic people who might even be perceived as almost obsessive or overbearing because of their desire to talk with their friends. Contrary to what some people may think, autistic people want connection just as much as any other human being.
In short, autistic people are more than capable of love and being in romantic relationships. Being in a relationship with an autistic person may just look a little different than what you're used to.
Abstract. Backgrounds: Autistic adults tend to prefer eating alone, which may result in further social isolation. This study aims to understand contexts of challenges autistic adults face when eating with other people outside home. Methods: We explored autistic subjectivities actively situated in eating environments.
Associative Thinking: Most individuals on the spectrum are associative thinkers rather than linear thinkers. In other words, one thought connects to another and so on through sometimes loose or seemingly irrelevant connections.
For some autistic adults, emotions do not show, either on their face, in their body or in their tone of voice. The circuitry in the brain responsible for expression of emotion through the body and voice is working differently in autism.
Some autistic people might like more 'obvious' forms of flirting like grand gestures, crafting things for someone or writing letters.
In reality, people with autism can experience romantic love and often attach considerable value to their close relationships. Difficulties in these relationships tend to involve an attachment to routines, social interaction challenges, and communication issues.
Some people with autism don't instinctively think to give kisses or hugs and tell you they love you, so their partner often has to be the one to initiate these things.
In addition to sensory triggers, certain chemicals found in everyday household products like cleaning supplies or air fresheners can also aggravate symptoms of autism. These chemicals include phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA), which have been shown to disrupt hormones and affect behavior in animal studies.
Many autistic people experience hypersensitivity to bright lights or certain light wavelengths (e.g., LED or fluorescent lights). Certain sounds, smells, textures and tastes can also be overwhelming. This can result in sensory avoidance – trying to get away from stimuli that most people can easily tune out.
Create A Structured Environment
Children with autism feel much more comfortable and connected when they have a set routine with clear structures, and minimal alterations from their predicted schedule.
People with autism tend to have insomnia: It takes them an average of 11 minutes longer than typical people to fall asleep, and many wake up frequently during the night. Some people with the condition have sleep apnea, a condition that causes them to stop breathing several times during the night.
Some autistic people may experience problems seeing with “meaning” within their visual surroundings and environment. This means they may use other sensory inputs to gain meaning because they cannot internally mentalise the image, visuals or see the significance they hold.
Autistics tend to be detail-oriented and highly observant, able to spot issues that most would overlook.
Many people in the autism community also prefer identity-first language. They view autism as a central and important part of their identity and take pride in it.
Types of feeding problems associated with autism
This most often involves preference for starches and snack foods and more frequent rejection of fruits and vegetables. Children with autism are also more likely to engage in problem behaviors such as crying, disruption and leaving the table during meals.