A Day For Dan On The Spectrum: Senses Gone Wild

A major component of our Spectrum Perspective Signature Training program is helping our participants see things from someone else’s perspective. You never know what someone else may be going through at any given time. These are some things I deal with every day. 

No one person’s experience being autistic is the same as another's. Hence the “spectrum” label. For me, it has presented itself in a variety of ways in my day to day life. For one, there are the environmental aspects. An example of this would be the sights and sounds most people take for granted every day. Part of my autism is the inability to always filter out stimuli. Imagine sitting in a room “silently” but seeing every random flicker of light, every line on a wall, even every time a pattern is slightly out of alignment from one curtain to the next. Hearing the gentle hum of the halogen lights, the on and off of the A/C, and especially the ticking of an almost audibly imperceptible, but ever-present, clock. There’s also when you encounter a new environment. All these sensory inputs are new, and while it is exciting just like it would be to most people, it quickly becomes like you’re standing next to the amplifier at a concert, turned up to 11, and the sound is coming into your body through every sense you have. How would you handle a day where your senses worked like that? Having a system you know and trust in place can make all the difference in the world!