Autism Awareness Day: How is autism perceived in India?

Devanshi Verma
Jul 20, 2017 · 2 min read
International studies show that about 1 in 68 people have autism and its overall occurrence is uniform across the globe. This concludes that there are more than 18 million people with autism in India. (Representational Image, Flickr) (Others)

Inside the mind of a person with autism

We asked doctors to explain as best they could what goes on inside the mind of the different autistic people we met. The doctors told us what the autistic people would say, if they were able to articulate it themselves:

“I understand what you say but I don’t know how to respond — words don’t come out. I do feel happy, sad, frightened and very confused and not being able to express is extremely frustrating. In my own definition of rationalism, screaming seems the only way to put out a message.

My ears are very sensitive to loud noises — it is painful. It’s like having microphone in your ears that catches every frequency — volume set to maximum. I try to filter out as many noises as possible but high-pitched ones are impossible to ignore.

I feel uneasy when I am touched — I withdraw human touch to avoid the overwhelming sensations. I want to feel good about being hugged but it arises anxiety — the type you get from stage fright.

My mind functions very differently from yours. It does not work by words, but through visuals — like videos being played in my imagination. When I hear the word “stop”, I can only visualise the “BUS STOP” sign. When I hear the word “dog”, images are of individual dogs I have known or read about. I do not think about a general dog. Thinking in images is very different from thinking in languages.

Also, I often fail to recognise faces until I have known a person for a long time.

The only non-visual thoughts I have are of music. I can clap out a rhythm by myself, but I am unable to synchronise my rhythm with somebody else’s.

I don’t like changes — I don’t like wearing new clothes. I have a shirt assigned for each day of the week. If I cannot wear that particular one, I feel uncomfortable. I don’t know how to tell you that so I scream and cry. I need at least a few days to adapt to new types of clothing.

I wish you understand that the way you sense the surroundings are different from how I do. Stimuli that you consider safe sometimes seems threatening to me. At times, I feel the environment is hostile.

Only if you knew, my behaviour would be so much better.

I feel I don’t belong — sometimes, it seems like everyone else knows a secret that I don’t. I wish they would stop trying to change me and accept me as I am.” says a person with autism.

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