The popular image of a person with autism is a quiet, isolated individual who prefers solitude to social interaction. This is often true, but by no means always the case. While autistic people, by definition, have challenges with social communication, many enjoy social interaction, group activities, and friendships.
Not all autistic people are introverts
For many autistic people, social interaction can be a challenge. However, that doesn't mean that all autistic people are introverts. In fact, many autistic people are extroverted and enjoy social events.
People with autism often speak with a different rhythm, prosody, and/or volume than typical peers. Thus, even if the words themselves are appropriate, they may sound flat, loud, soft, or otherwise different. It's not unusual for people with autism to "script" their conversations.
Common signs of autism in adults include: finding it hard to understand what others are thinking or feeling. getting very anxious about social situations. finding it hard to make friends or preferring to be on your own.
There are many possible reasons why someone with autism might not speak, including difficulty processing language, anxiety, or lack of interest in communication. Nonverbal communication can be just as important and effective as verbal communication.
Some children may have problems with auditory processing, the system by which their brains interpret the words that they hear. Others may struggle with the motor skills needed to form words. For example, speech apraxia affects people's ability to plan and coordinate the mouth and tongue movements used to talk.
Many autistic people enjoy spending time alone and consider it important for their wellbeing. Loneliness is different though. You might feel lonely if you don't have opportunities to socialise, or find this difficult. You might have friends/colleagues but feel misunderstood, or like you cannot be yourself around them.
Common characteristics include: difficulties interpreting social rules and body language, which can lead to confusion or misunderstandings. difficulty in forming and maintaining friendships. a tendency to take things literally, which can lead to communication difficulties.
Mild Autism Symptoms in Adults
Difficulty making and maintaining friendships: Adults with autism have trouble understanding and following social rules, and can sometimes be seen as "rude" or inconsiderate. This can make it difficult to establish and maintain friendships.
Prosody has long been an obvious source of difficulty for individuals with autism. People on the spectrum may speak in a monotone way, or do the opposite and exaggerate their intonation.
In previous studies, children with autism have been found to have unusually wide faces and wide-set eyes. The cheeks and the nose are also shorter on their faces (Aldridge et al., 2011).
Schriber et al[55] investigated personality differences between ASD adults and neurotypical control adults using self-reports of the Big Five personality traits. Individuals with ASD were more neurotic, and less extraverted, agreeable, conscientious and open to experience, than neurotypical controls.
Yes, it is possible for a child to have both shyness and autism. In fact, many children with autism may also experience symptoms of anxiety or shyness in social situations.
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.
While many autistic adults live comfortable and productive lives, they can still have difficulty in situations requiring social interaction or where there is exposure to certain sounds, lights, and smells.
But emerging research suggests that autistic adults are at high risk of a broad array of physical and mental health conditions, including diabetes, depression and heart disease. They are also about 2.5 times as likely as their neurotypical peers to die early.
Common Autism Obsessions
Fixation on a particular topic or subject: Many people with autism have a deep interest in a particular topic, such as trains, dinosaurs, or computers. They may spend hours reading about or talking about this topic, to the exclusion of other activities.
Autistic people can find social situations difficult or overwhelming and struggle to make and maintain friendships, leading to social isolation.
Many people with autism crave intimacy and love. But, they don't know how to achieve it in a romantic relationship. They can feel blind to everyday subtle social cues from their partner. This can cause conflict and hurt feelings.
“Nothing is impossible in terms of friendships for people with autism,” Lerner says, “but it does perhaps take a different route.” Social connection is a powerful predictor of long-term physical and mental health.
Summary. 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.
Because individuals with autism have a literal perception of the world, they tend to take things at face value without judging or interpreting them. This has led some researchers to conclude that people with autism perceive the world as it actually is as they don't allow their brain to shape how they see things.