July 25, 2025 • 32 mins
What Is Autism? A Journey Through a Kaleidoscope of Meaning
The DSM-5 calls autism a "genetic neurodevelopmental condition," like saying a symphony is "organized sound waves." True, but missing the music entirely.
Join host Anita for a revolutionary exploration that shatters everything you thought you knew about autism. Using five distinct lenses, we'll discover why autism isn't one thing with one explanation, but multiple simultaneous truths happening at once.
🧠 The Attentional Lens: Meet Maya, a data scientist whose story reveals monotropism - how autistic attention flows in deep, powerful channels rather than wide streams.
🤝 The Communication Lens: Discover the double empathy problem - why communication difficulties between autistic and non-autistic people are bidirectional, not deficit-based.
🌟 The Sensory Lens: Explore Intense World Theory - autism as reality experienced in ultra-high definition, not reduced functioning.
🧬 The Evolutionary Lens: Uncover archaeological evidence that autism-like traits contributed to humanity's greatest innovations and survival.
🎭 The Identity Lens: Understand why "autism is me" represents a fundamental shift from medical pathology to neurological identity.
From cutting-edge theories by autistic researchers to evolutionary perspectives that reframe autism as cognitive specialization, this episode reveals autism as a "symphony of simultaneous truths."
Whether you're autistic, love someone who is, or simply curious about human neurodiversity, prepare to have your understanding transformed.
Perfect for: Anyone questioning what autism really means beyond clinical definitions.
Thank you for listening to Neuro Rebel — the bilingual podcast where we flip the script on what it means to think differently. I’m your host, Anita: autistic, gifted, and a retired law professor on a mission to bring rigor, empathy, and a dash of rebellion to conversations about neurodiversity.
🔍 What we do:
Each week, we blend evidence-based deep dives, solo reflections, and candid interviews with researchers and lived-experience experts. Expect English ↔ Español segments, sharp wit, real stories and actionable insights you can share with friends, colleagues, and classrooms.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Anita English (00:01):
So what is autism?
Let's start with what we thinkwe know from within the prison
walls of definitions.
If you spent any time readingabout autism, you've encountered
the familiar refrain.
Autism is a geneticneurodevelopmental condition
(00:22):
characterized by challenges insocial communication and
restricted repetitive patterns.
I said it, the definition hasbeen carved into stone tablets
of medical textbooks repeated incountless articles and whispered
in clinical corridors.
(00:44):
But here's what troubles meabout this definition.
It tells us absolutely nothingabout what it means to be
autistic.
It's like describing the oceanas a large body of water
containing salt and thinkingsomehow you've captured the
essence of the ocean.
With that Adam two, what is your20?
(01:05):
So before you answer thequestion, what is autism?
With a tire textbook definition,you've heard a thousand times.
I want you to do somethingradical with me.
I want you to throw outeverything you think you know
about autism.
And join me on a different kindof journey.
(01:32):
Yes, autism is a geneticneurodevelopmental condition.
It is that, but saying that'sall autism is would be like
saying the ocean is just H2O.
Technically true, but completelyinsufficient because here's what
(01:52):
I've discovered in my years ofresearch, advocacy and lived
experience, asking what isautism with only one lens is
like trying to understand asymphony by analyzing only the
sheet music.
You might learn about musicalnotation, but you will miss the
(02:15):
emotion, the cultural context,the way it moves people to tears
or joy, and the entireexperience of what music
actually is.
But here's where it getsrevolutionary.
What if autism isn't just onething that looks different from
(02:36):
different angles?
What if autism actually requiresmultiple simultaneous
explanations to understand it atall?
Today, we're going to pick upthat kaleidoscope and turn it,
but this isn't just about prettypatterns.
(02:57):
Each twist will reveal not justa different perspective, but a
different type of truth aboutautism.
Sociological truths, cognitivetruths, evolutionary truths,
phenomenological truths, and bythe end, you'll understand why
the question, what is autism canonly be answered in the plural
(03:22):
because autism is many thingsall at once, depending on which
lens of inquiry you choose.
Welcome to Neuro Rebel, thepodcast where we challenge
everything you thought you knewabout Neurodivergence and
(03:44):
celebrate the beautifulcomplexity of different minds.
I'm Anita, your host, retiredlaw professor, Fulbright
Scholar, and late diagnosedautistic adult who spent decades
thinking she was broken beforerealizing the world's
instruction manual was justincomplete.
(04:04):
This is where we dismantlestereotypes, question the status
quo and explore what it reallymeans to be neurodivergent in a
world built for neurotypicalbrains.
Today we're going beyonddefinitions toward a kind of
(04:26):
understanding that might justchange how you see human minds
entirely.
Let's start by putting on ourfirst lens, what I call the
(04:46):
intentional lens, and we'regoing to talk about monotropism
and the cognitive landscape.
And to understand this, I wantyou to meet Maya.
Maya is a 32 year old datascientist working for a tech
company in Austin.
She has a PhD in statistics andcan spot patterns in massive
(05:10):
data sets that entire teamsmiss.
She's the person, colleaguesturn to when they need someone
to find a needle in thehaystack.
The anomaly in the algorithm orthe signal hidden in the noise.
But Maya's Workday is a study incontradictions.
She arrives at the office at7:00 AM a full hour before most
(05:32):
of her team, specifically toavoid the sensory chaos of a
busy workplace by the time hercolleagues arrive.
She's already deep into heranalysis.
Noise canceling headphones onthree monitors filled with
cascading data.
(05:53):
Here's what's fascinating.
When Maya is in her element thatis analyzing patterns, building
models, diving deep into complexproblems, she can work for 6, 7,
8 hours straight without abreak.
She loses track of timecompletely.
Her manager has learned to setgentle reminders for her to eat
(06:18):
lunch and take a break becauseMaya's focus is so intense that
hunger signals simply do notregister, but interruptions.
Those are devastating when acolleague taps her shoulder to
ask a quick question.
It's not just a momentarydistraction.
(06:40):
Maya describes it as havingsomeone yank the emergency break
while I'm driving 80 miles anhour.
It can take her 20 even 30minutes to get back to that deep
level of focus.
Maya discovered she was autisticat age 29 after years of
wondering why she felt like shewas playing a game where
(07:02):
everyone else knew the rulesexcept for her.
Her, the fluorescent lights thatgave her migraines, the open
office design that made her feellike her skin was crawling.
Even the small talk that feltlike speaking a foreign
language, suddenly it all madesense to her.
(07:24):
This is where we encounter ourfirst revolution in thinking,
courtesy of autistic researcherswho understand autism from the
inside.
Imagine your attention is likewater.
Most people's attention flowslike a wide shallow river
(07:46):
spreading across the landscape,touching many different areas at
once.
Easily redirected when somethingblocks its path.
But Maya's attention flowsdifferently.
It carves deep, narrow channels,incredibly powerful, intensely
focused, but harder to redirectonce it's found its course.
(08:10):
This is Mono Tropism, a theorydeveloped by autistic
researchers, Dina Murray, MikeLesser and Lawson.
It's not about having attentionproblems, it's about having a
fundamentally differentarchitecture of attention.
Dr.
Gwen Lawson himself, autisticdescribes it beautifully.
(08:33):
He says, the mono tropic mindtends to focus on smaller number
of interests at any given time,and to have more processing
resources dedicated to thatinterest.
So when Maya is analyzingpatterns, she's not just paying
attention.
She's experiencing whatresearchers call a tunnel of
(08:57):
attention that blocks outirrelevant stimuli and allows
for incredibly deep focus.
The fluorescent lights don'tdisappear because she's learned
to ignore them.
They literally fade fromconscious awareness as her
cognitive resources flowentirely toward the data.
(09:17):
This isn't a malfunction.
It's an entirely differentcognitive architecture, like the
difference between a laser and afloodlight.
Neither is better or worse.
They're simply designed fordifferent purposes.
But here's where it getsfascinating.
(09:38):
This attentional architectureexplains so much more than just
special interests.
It explains why switching taskscan feel like changing the
course of a river.
Technically possible, butrequiring enormous energy and
why unexpected interruptions canfeel jarring.
(10:01):
You are not just shiftingattention, you're literally
redirecting a powerful cognitivecurrent.
Damian Milton, another autisticresearcher, puts it this way.
Rather than seeing autisticpeople as lacking in some way,
mono tropism suggest a differentcognitive style, one that
(10:23):
prioritizes depth over breath.
So what is autism through thisfirst lens?
Well, autism is a differentcognitive architecture where
attention flows in deep powerfulchannels rather than wide
flexible streams.
Creating extraordinary depth offocus and unique challenges in a
(10:46):
world designed for attentionalmultitasking.
Now let's twist our kaleidoscopeand look through what I call the
communication ecosystem lens.
Let's go beyond the empathymyth.
This is where we encounter oneof the most groundbreaking
(11:09):
insights in autism research.
One that completely refrains thetired old empathy deficit
narrative.
Here's a revolutionary idea.
What if the problem isn't thatautistic people can't
communicate or empathize?
What if The problem is thatwe've been studying
(11:30):
communication as if it were asolo piano performance, when
really it's a duet.
Enter the double empathy problemtheorized by autistic
researcher, Dr.
Damien Milton.
Imagine you have two computers,both sophisticated, both
powerful.
(11:51):
But running different operatingsystems, when they try to
interface without propertranslation, software data gets
corrupted, messages get lost,and connections fail For decades
when this happened betweenautistic and non-autistic
people, we blamed the autisticcomputer.
(12:13):
We said it had a communicationdisorder or an empathy deficit.
But Milton asked a differentquestion.
He asked, what if both operatingsystems are working perfectly
well?
They just need bettertranslation protocols.
(12:34):
Milton's research revealssomething extraordinary.
When autistic people communicatewith other autistic people, they
show high levels of rapport,good information transfer, and
social reciprocity.
The so-called communicationproblem only emerges in cross
(12:55):
neurotype interactions.
It's like discovering thatSpanish speakers don't have a
language disorder when theystruggle to communicate with
English speakers.
They just need a translationmutual effort and respect for
both linguistic systems.
But here's the deeper insight.
(13:16):
Empathy itself isn't one thing.
It's an ecosystem.
Cognitive empathy, which is theunderstanding of what someone
might be thinking.
Affective empathy, which is thefeeling of what someone is
feeling, compassionate empathy,which is being moved to help
(13:37):
others.
And these are different riversin the empathy landscape, and
they flow differently indifferent minds.
Research by Dr.
Kristen Gillespie.
Lynch shows that autistic peopleoften have heightened emotional
empathy.
(13:59):
That is, they feel others'emotions intensely, sometimes
overwhelmingly so the differenceisn't in caring.
It's in the translation betweendifferent emotional languages.
As autistic researcher ArianAman observes the question isn't
(14:21):
whether autistic people haveempathy.
Rather, the question is whethernon-autistic people have empathy
for ways of being that differfrom their own.
So what is autism through thislens?
Well, autism is one dialect inthe diverse language of human
(14:41):
social communication.
A dialect that's beensystematically misunderstood
because we've been usingmonolingual dictionaries to
interpret multilingualconversations.
(15:01):
Let's turn our kaleidoscopeagain, and now we enter what I
call the sensory universe lensand living in high definition.
Here we need to fundamentallyreimagine what it means to
experience reality itself.
Close your eyes for a moment andimagine you're wearing a pair of
(15:25):
those high definition headphonesthat musicians use in recording
studios.
Suddenly you can hear everybreath between the notes, every
tiny vibration of the guitarstrings.
Every whisper of air in thebackground, the music isn't
(15:45):
louder, it's infinitely moredetailed.
This is what autisticresearcher, Dr.
Camila Markram calls the intenseworld theory.
She proposes that autisticbrains aren't broken sensors
receiving too littleinformation.
But rather they're incrediblysensitive instruments receiving
(16:09):
reality.
In ultra high definition, Dr.
Markram explains what we areseeing is not a deficit, but
rather an excess of neuronalprocessing.
The autistic child may bewithdrawing, not because they
don't care, but because theycare too much.
(16:34):
Think about it this way, if yournervous system is like having a
satellite dish that picks up notjust standard television, but
also radio waves and cell phonesignals and electromagnetic
fields from every electronicdevice in a three block radius,
well that is an A malfunction.
(16:55):
It's just incrediblesensitivity.
And it can be overwhelming whenthe world isn't designed for
your reception capabilities.
This intersects beautifully withmono tropism.
When your attention flows indeep channels and your receiving
(17:16):
sensory information, in highdefinition, you develop
extraordinary abilities tonotice patterns, details, and
changes.
That others might miss entirely.
The challenge comes when you'reforced to process multiple high
definition channelssimultaneously.
(17:37):
Temple Grandin, one of the firstautistic voices to be widely
heard, described it perfectly.
She said, I think in pictures,words are like second language
to me.
I translate both spoken andwritten words into full color
movies.
Complete with sound, which runlike a VCR tape in my head, but
(18:01):
here's what's revolutionaryabout current research.
Scientists are discovering thatthese sensory differences might
actually be evolutionaryadvantages, not deficits.
Dr.
Michelle Dawson's research showsthat autistic people
consistently outperformnon-autistic people on tests of
(18:23):
pattern recognition and detailedanalysis.
So what is autism through thislens?
Well, autism is a neurologicalconfiguration that processes
reality in higher resolution.
Revealing details, patterns andconnections that standard
definition processing mightmiss, but requiring different
(18:47):
environmental accommodations tothrive.
Now let's twist our kaleidoscopetoward deep time and look
through what I call theevolutionary tapestry lens.
This is where autism's storybecomes part of humanity's
(19:09):
greatest adventure.
Here's a puzzle that evolutionposes.
If autism were truly just acollection of deficits, then why
do the genetic variantsassociated with it persist
across cultures and millennia?
Evolution is ruthless withmaladaptive traits.
(19:31):
So why is autism still here?
Dr.
Penny Spikins an archeologistoffers a fascinating answer.
She's found evidence in ancientcave paintings and toolmaking
that suggests autism-like traitsmay have contributed to some of
humanity's greatest innovations.
(19:52):
The obsessive attention todetail, the pattern recognition,
the ability to hyperfocus forhours.
Perfecting a spear or trackingastronomical movements, those
existed for millennia.
Imagine an early human group.
You need people who can managesocial dynamics, negotiate
(20:15):
alliances, keep everyonecoordinated, but also you
desperately need people who canspend 16 hours straight
observing how water flows todesign better irrigation.
Or who notices that certainstarred patterns always appear
before the rains come.
(20:37):
Dr.
Jared Resser proposes what hecalls the solitary forager
hypothesis that autismrepresents an alternative
evolutionary strategy.
The solitary forager would havebeen equipped with enhanced
local perceptual processingsystematizing capabilities.
An increased capacity forobsessive preoccupation, he
(21:01):
explains.
Does that signify someone?
You know, it's like evolution,designed both generalists and
specialists.
You need the big blade forgeneral cutting, but when you
need to remove a splinter, youalso need those tiny, precise
tweezers that most peopleoverlook.
(21:24):
And here's where it gets evenmore interesting.
Recent genetic research by Dr.
Simon Barron Cohen's team showsthat genes associated with
autism also correlate withenhanced performance in
mathematics, physics, andengineering in the general
population, the same geneticvariations that create autism
(21:48):
also contribute to humaninnovation and discovery.
Michelle Matron, an autisticresearcher, puts it beautifully.
Autistic people are not failednormal people.
We are people whose cognitivearchitecture is optimized for
different kind of tasks.
(22:08):
So what is autism through thislens?
Well, autism is an ancientcognitive specialization that
has contributed essential skillsto human survival and
advancement.
A reminder that diversity ofmind isn't a flaw in our
species.
It's one of our greatestevolutionary assets.
(22:38):
Let's turn our kaleidoscope onefinal time and look through what
I call the identityconstellation lens, because
ultimately autism isn'tsomething you study from the
outside.
It's something people live fromthe inside.
When you ask autistic peoplewhat is autism, you often hear
(23:02):
something that sounds simple butcontains multitudes.
Autism is me You don't hear.
Autism is something I have likeyou'd say about a cold or a
broken leg.
You also don't hear autism is mychallenge.
Or my difference.
(23:22):
Autism is woven into the fabricof identity itself.
Dr.
Dari Naman, founder of theAutistic Self-Advocacy Network,
explains it this way.
For many of us, autism is notsomething that can be separated
from who we are.
Our autism affects how we think,how we process the world, and
(23:46):
how we relate to other people.
It is part of our neurologicalinfrastructure.
It is who we are, and this iswhy the puzzle piece symbol
meant to represent autism feelsso wrong to many autistic
people.
It suggests incompletenesssomething missing a problem to
(24:08):
be solved, but autistic peoplearen't puzzles and they're not
missing pieces.
They're complete humans whoseminds work differently.
It's more like the differencebetween watercolor and oil
painting.
Both create profound art, butyou can't judge a watercolor by
(24:29):
oil painting standards.
The watercolor isn't a fail oilpainting.
It's a completely differentmedium with its own techniques,
beauty and purpose.
Listen to this insight fromautistic writer and researcher,
Julia Bascom.
(24:51):
She says, autism is notsomething a person has or a
shell that a person is trappedinside.
Autism is a way of being.
It is pervasive.
It colors every experience,every sensation, perception,
thought, emotion, and encounterevery aspect of existence.
(25:13):
But here's what is revolutionaryabout recent research.
When autistic people learn aboutautism from other autistic
people, like through socialmedia or through autistic led
organizations, that is throughcommunity.
They develop stronger, healthierautistic identity than when they
learn about autism.
(25:34):
Only through medicalprofessionals or family members,
Dr.
Monique Botha's research showsthat identity first, language
and community connection areassociated with better mental
health outcomes and a strongersense of self in autistic
adults.
It's like the difference betweenlearning about your culture from
(25:58):
someone who lives it versussomeone who studied it in a
textbook.
Both perspectives have value,but there's something
irreplaceable about recognitionand validation from your own
community.
So what is autism through thislens?
Well, autism is a fundamentalneurological identity that
(26:21):
shapes how someone experiencesevery moment of their existence.
It is not something to overcome,but something to understand,
accommodate, and celebrate aspart of the magnificent
diversity of humanconsciousness.
(26:42):
So what is autism then?
It is a symphony of simultaneoustruths.
It is a different cognitivearchitecture where attention
flows in powerful focusedchannels.
It is one dialect in the diverseecosystem of human social
communication.
(27:04):
It's a neurologicalconfiguration that processes
reality and higher resolution.
It's an evolutionary cognitivespecialization.
That has contributed to humanadvancement.
It's also a fundamental identitythat shapes how someone
experiences existence itself.
(27:25):
It is all of these thingssimultaneously.
Not one or the other, but oneand the other and the other.
But here's the secret.
Our kaleidoscope reveals.
Autism isn't one phenomenon thatlooks different from different
(27:46):
angles.
Autism is multiple types ofphenomena, cognitive, social,
sensory, evolutionary,experiential that are all
happening at the same time inthe same person.
And this is why every attempt tofind the explanation for autism
(28:09):
fails.
Autism requires whatphilosophers call multiple
realizability.
It's real across multiple levelsof analysis Simultaneously, you
need sociological explanationsand cognitive explanations and
phenomenological explanationsand evolutionary explanations.
(28:34):
As autistic researcher Dr.
Damian Milton puts it.
Autism is not a single entitywith a single cause, but rather
a complex interplay ofneurological differences,
environmental factors, andsocial dynamics.
And here's what I want you towalk away with today.
(28:54):
The poverty isn't in autisticminds.
It's in our impoverished ways ofthinking about complex human
realities.
For too long, we've been tryingto answer the question of what
is autism, as if it were asimple, single level phenomenon.
(29:15):
But autism like consciousnessitself, like love, like
creativity, existssimultaneously across multiple
dimensions of reality.
The beautiful truth is this,when we learn to think in
multiple dimensions.
We don't just understand autismbetter, we understand what it
(29:38):
means to be human better.
We realize that all humanneurodiversity, the full
spectrum of ways the minds canwork is far too rich and complex
for any single explanation tocapture.
Every human mind existssimultaneously as a biological
(30:00):
system.
A cognitive architecture, asocial phenomenon, an
evolutionary inheritance, and alived experience.
Autism just makes thiscomplexity visible in ways that
challenge us to think moresophisticatedly about minds in
(30:20):
general.
So the next time someone asksyou, what is autism?
I hope you'll remember ourkaleidoscope.
Turn it gently.
Let the multiple patterns emergeand share the richness of what
you see.
Because autism isn't one thingwith one story to tell.
(30:42):
Autism is a symphony ofsimultaneous truths, and that's
exactly how it should.
This has been Neuro Rebel, wherewe celebrate the beautiful
complexity of different minds.
I'm Anita, your host, remindingyou that the most profound
(31:06):
questions don't have simpleanswers.
They have richly layered onesthat reward deeper
investigation.
Thank you so much for listening.
If this episode resonated withyou, help us reach others who
might enjoy listening to it.
Share it.
Leave us a review on yourfavorite podcast platform.
(31:28):
Follow us.
Find us on social media at NeuroRebel Podcast.
Do you have burning subjectsyou'd like us to cover in
upcoming podcasts?
Would you like to be a guest?
Write to us on ourwebsite@neurorebelpodcast.com to
continue this conversation.
(31:49):
Until next time, keepquestioning, keep learning, and
keep expanding your kaleidoscopeof understanding because in a
universe this fast andbeautiful, there's always
another lens worth exploring.
So what is autism?
Let's start with what we thinkwe know from within the prison
walls of definitions.
If you spent any time readingabout autism, you've encountered
the familiar refrain.
Autism is a geneticneurodevelopmental condition
(00:22):
characterized by challenges insocial communication and
restricted repetitive patterns.
I said it, the definition hasbeen carved into stone tablets
of medical textbooks repeated incountless articles and whispered
in clinical corridors.
(00:44):
But here's what troubles meabout this definition.
It tells us absolutely nothingabout what it means to be
autistic.
It's like describing the oceanas a large body of water
containing salt and thinkingsomehow you've captured the
essence of the ocean.
With that Adam two, what is your20?
(01:05):
So before you answer thequestion, what is autism?
With a tire textbook definition,you've heard a thousand times.
I want you to do somethingradical with me.
I want you to throw outeverything you think you know
about autism.
And join me on a different kindof journey.
(01:32):
Yes, autism is a geneticneurodevelopmental condition.
It is that, but saying that'sall autism is would be like
saying the ocean is just H2O.
Technically true, but completelyinsufficient because here's what
(01:52):
I've discovered in my years ofresearch, advocacy and lived
experience, asking what isautism with only one lens is
like trying to understand asymphony by analyzing only the
sheet music.
You might learn about musicalnotation, but you will miss the
(02:15):
emotion, the cultural context,the way it moves people to tears
or joy, and the entireexperience of what music
actually is.
But here's where it getsrevolutionary.
What if autism isn't just onething that looks different from
(02:36):
different angles?
What if autism actually requiresmultiple simultaneous
explanations to understand it atall?
Today, we're going to pick upthat kaleidoscope and turn it,
but this isn't just about prettypatterns.
(02:57):
Each twist will reveal not justa different perspective, but a
different type of truth aboutautism.
Sociological truths, cognitivetruths, evolutionary truths,
phenomenological truths, and bythe end, you'll understand why
the question, what is autism canonly be answered in the plural
(03:22):
because autism is many thingsall at once, depending on which
lens of inquiry you choose.
Welcome to Neuro Rebel, thepodcast where we challenge
everything you thought you knewabout Neurodivergence and
(03:44):
celebrate the beautifulcomplexity of different minds.
I'm Anita, your host, retiredlaw professor, Fulbright
Scholar, and late diagnosedautistic adult who spent decades
thinking she was broken beforerealizing the world's
instruction manual was justincomplete.
(04:04):
This is where we dismantlestereotypes, question the status
quo and explore what it reallymeans to be neurodivergent in a
world built for neurotypicalbrains.
Today we're going beyonddefinitions toward a kind of
(04:26):
understanding that might justchange how you see human minds
entirely.
Let's start by putting on ourfirst lens, what I call the
(04:46):
intentional lens, and we'regoing to talk about monotropism
and the cognitive landscape.
And to understand this, I wantyou to meet Maya.
Maya is a 32 year old datascientist working for a tech
company in Austin.
She has a PhD in statistics andcan spot patterns in massive
(05:10):
data sets that entire teamsmiss.
She's the person, colleaguesturn to when they need someone
to find a needle in thehaystack.
The anomaly in the algorithm orthe signal hidden in the noise.
But Maya's Workday is a study incontradictions.
She arrives at the office at7:00 AM a full hour before most
(05:32):
of her team, specifically toavoid the sensory chaos of a
busy workplace by the time hercolleagues arrive.
She's already deep into heranalysis.
Noise canceling headphones onthree monitors filled with
cascading data.
(05:53):
Here's what's fascinating.
When Maya is in her element thatis analyzing patterns, building
models, diving deep into complexproblems, she can work for 6, 7,
8 hours straight without abreak.
She loses track of timecompletely.
Her manager has learned to setgentle reminders for her to eat
(06:18):
lunch and take a break becauseMaya's focus is so intense that
hunger signals simply do notregister, but interruptions.
Those are devastating when acolleague taps her shoulder to
ask a quick question.
It's not just a momentarydistraction.
(06:40):
Maya describes it as havingsomeone yank the emergency break
while I'm driving 80 miles anhour.
It can take her 20 even 30minutes to get back to that deep
level of focus.
Maya discovered she was autisticat age 29 after years of
wondering why she felt like shewas playing a game where
(07:02):
everyone else knew the rulesexcept for her.
Her, the fluorescent lights thatgave her migraines, the open
office design that made her feellike her skin was crawling.
Even the small talk that feltlike speaking a foreign
language, suddenly it all madesense to her.
(07:24):
This is where we encounter ourfirst revolution in thinking,
courtesy of autistic researcherswho understand autism from the
inside.
Imagine your attention is likewater.
Most people's attention flowslike a wide shallow river
(07:46):
spreading across the landscape,touching many different areas at
once.
Easily redirected when somethingblocks its path.
But Maya's attention flowsdifferently.
It carves deep, narrow channels,incredibly powerful, intensely
focused, but harder to redirectonce it's found its course.
(08:10):
This is Mono Tropism, a theorydeveloped by autistic
researchers, Dina Murray, MikeLesser and Lawson.
It's not about having attentionproblems, it's about having a
fundamentally differentarchitecture of attention.
Dr.
Gwen Lawson himself, autisticdescribes it beautifully.
(08:33):
He says, the mono tropic mindtends to focus on smaller number
of interests at any given time,and to have more processing
resources dedicated to thatinterest.
So when Maya is analyzingpatterns, she's not just paying
attention.
She's experiencing whatresearchers call a tunnel of
(08:57):
attention that blocks outirrelevant stimuli and allows
for incredibly deep focus.
The fluorescent lights don'tdisappear because she's learned
to ignore them.
They literally fade fromconscious awareness as her
cognitive resources flowentirely toward the data.
(09:17):
This isn't a malfunction.
It's an entirely differentcognitive architecture, like the
difference between a laser and afloodlight.
Neither is better or worse.
They're simply designed fordifferent purposes.
But here's where it getsfascinating.
(09:38):
This attentional architectureexplains so much more than just
special interests.
It explains why switching taskscan feel like changing the
course of a river.
Technically possible, butrequiring enormous energy and
why unexpected interruptions canfeel jarring.
(10:01):
You are not just shiftingattention, you're literally
redirecting a powerful cognitivecurrent.
Damian Milton, another autisticresearcher, puts it this way.
Rather than seeing autisticpeople as lacking in some way,
mono tropism suggest a differentcognitive style, one that
(10:23):
prioritizes depth over breath.
So what is autism through thisfirst lens?
Well, autism is a differentcognitive architecture where
attention flows in deep powerfulchannels rather than wide
flexible streams.
Creating extraordinary depth offocus and unique challenges in a
(10:46):
world designed for attentionalmultitasking.
Now let's twist our kaleidoscopeand look through what I call the
communication ecosystem lens.
Let's go beyond the empathymyth.
This is where we encounter oneof the most groundbreaking
(11:09):
insights in autism research.
One that completely refrains thetired old empathy deficit
narrative.
Here's a revolutionary idea.
What if the problem isn't thatautistic people can't
communicate or empathize?
What if The problem is thatwe've been studying
(11:30):
communication as if it were asolo piano performance, when
really it's a duet.
Enter the double empathy problemtheorized by autistic
researcher, Dr.
Damien Milton.
Imagine you have two computers,both sophisticated, both
powerful.
(11:51):
But running different operatingsystems, when they try to
interface without propertranslation, software data gets
corrupted, messages get lost,and connections fail For decades
when this happened betweenautistic and non-autistic
people, we blamed the autisticcomputer.
(12:13):
We said it had a communicationdisorder or an empathy deficit.
But Milton asked a differentquestion.
He asked, what if both operatingsystems are working perfectly
well?
They just need bettertranslation protocols.
(12:34):
Milton's research revealssomething extraordinary.
When autistic people communicatewith other autistic people, they
show high levels of rapport,good information transfer, and
social reciprocity.
The so-called communicationproblem only emerges in cross
(12:55):
neurotype interactions.
It's like discovering thatSpanish speakers don't have a
language disorder when theystruggle to communicate with
English speakers.
They just need a translationmutual effort and respect for
both linguistic systems.
But here's the deeper insight.
(13:16):
Empathy itself isn't one thing.
It's an ecosystem.
Cognitive empathy, which is theunderstanding of what someone
might be thinking.
Affective empathy, which is thefeeling of what someone is
feeling, compassionate empathy,which is being moved to help
(13:37):
others.
And these are different riversin the empathy landscape, and
they flow differently indifferent minds.
Research by Dr.
Kristen Gillespie.
Lynch shows that autistic peopleoften have heightened emotional
empathy.
(13:59):
That is, they feel others'emotions intensely, sometimes
overwhelmingly so the differenceisn't in caring.
It's in the translation betweendifferent emotional languages.
As autistic researcher ArianAman observes the question isn't
(14:21):
whether autistic people haveempathy.
Rather, the question is whethernon-autistic people have empathy
for ways of being that differfrom their own.
So what is autism through thislens?
Well, autism is one dialect inthe diverse language of human
(14:41):
social communication.
A dialect that's beensystematically misunderstood
because we've been usingmonolingual dictionaries to
interpret multilingualconversations.
(15:01):
Let's turn our kaleidoscopeagain, and now we enter what I
call the sensory universe lensand living in high definition.
Here we need to fundamentallyreimagine what it means to
experience reality itself.
Close your eyes for a moment andimagine you're wearing a pair of
(15:25):
those high definition headphonesthat musicians use in recording
studios.
Suddenly you can hear everybreath between the notes, every
tiny vibration of the guitarstrings.
Every whisper of air in thebackground, the music isn't
(15:45):
louder, it's infinitely moredetailed.
This is what autisticresearcher, Dr.
Camila Markram calls the intenseworld theory.
She proposes that autisticbrains aren't broken sensors
receiving too littleinformation.
But rather they're incrediblysensitive instruments receiving
(16:09):
reality.
In ultra high definition, Dr.
Markram explains what we areseeing is not a deficit, but
rather an excess of neuronalprocessing.
The autistic child may bewithdrawing, not because they
don't care, but because theycare too much.
(16:34):
Think about it this way, if yournervous system is like having a
satellite dish that picks up notjust standard television, but
also radio waves and cell phonesignals and electromagnetic
fields from every electronicdevice in a three block radius,
well that is an A malfunction.
(16:55):
It's just incrediblesensitivity.
And it can be overwhelming whenthe world isn't designed for
your reception capabilities.
This intersects beautifully withmono tropism.
When your attention flows indeep channels and your receiving
(17:16):
sensory information, in highdefinition, you develop
extraordinary abilities tonotice patterns, details, and
changes.
That others might miss entirely.
The challenge comes when you'reforced to process multiple high
definition channelssimultaneously.
(17:37):
Temple Grandin, one of the firstautistic voices to be widely
heard, described it perfectly.
She said, I think in pictures,words are like second language
to me.
I translate both spoken andwritten words into full color
movies.
Complete with sound, which runlike a VCR tape in my head, but
(18:01):
here's what's revolutionaryabout current research.
Scientists are discovering thatthese sensory differences might
actually be evolutionaryadvantages, not deficits.
Dr.
Michelle Dawson's research showsthat autistic people
consistently outperformnon-autistic people on tests of
(18:23):
pattern recognition and detailedanalysis.
So what is autism through thislens?
Well, autism is a neurologicalconfiguration that processes
reality in higher resolution.
Revealing details, patterns andconnections that standard
definition processing mightmiss, but requiring different
(18:47):
environmental accommodations tothrive.
Now let's twist our kaleidoscopetoward deep time and look
through what I call theevolutionary tapestry lens.
This is where autism's storybecomes part of humanity's
(19:09):
greatest adventure.
Here's a puzzle that evolutionposes.
If autism were truly just acollection of deficits, then why
do the genetic variantsassociated with it persist
across cultures and millennia?
Evolution is ruthless withmaladaptive traits.
(19:31):
So why is autism still here?
Dr.
Penny Spikins an archeologistoffers a fascinating answer.
She's found evidence in ancientcave paintings and toolmaking
that suggests autism-like traitsmay have contributed to some of
humanity's greatest innovations.
(19:52):
The obsessive attention todetail, the pattern recognition,
the ability to hyperfocus forhours.
Perfecting a spear or trackingastronomical movements, those
existed for millennia.
Imagine an early human group.
You need people who can managesocial dynamics, negotiate
(20:15):
alliances, keep everyonecoordinated, but also you
desperately need people who canspend 16 hours straight
observing how water flows todesign better irrigation.
Or who notices that certainstarred patterns always appear
before the rains come.
(20:37):
Dr.
Jared Resser proposes what hecalls the solitary forager
hypothesis that autismrepresents an alternative
evolutionary strategy.
The solitary forager would havebeen equipped with enhanced
local perceptual processingsystematizing capabilities.
An increased capacity forobsessive preoccupation, he
(21:01):
explains.
Does that signify someone?
You know, it's like evolution,designed both generalists and
specialists.
You need the big blade forgeneral cutting, but when you
need to remove a splinter, youalso need those tiny, precise
tweezers that most peopleoverlook.
(21:24):
And here's where it gets evenmore interesting.
Recent genetic research by Dr.
Simon Barron Cohen's team showsthat genes associated with
autism also correlate withenhanced performance in
mathematics, physics, andengineering in the general
population, the same geneticvariations that create autism
(21:48):
also contribute to humaninnovation and discovery.
Michelle Matron, an autisticresearcher, puts it beautifully.
Autistic people are not failednormal people.
We are people whose cognitivearchitecture is optimized for
different kind of tasks.
(22:08):
So what is autism through thislens?
Well, autism is an ancientcognitive specialization that
has contributed essential skillsto human survival and
advancement.
A reminder that diversity ofmind isn't a flaw in our
species.
It's one of our greatestevolutionary assets.
(22:38):
Let's turn our kaleidoscope onefinal time and look through what
I call the identityconstellation lens, because
ultimately autism isn'tsomething you study from the
outside.
It's something people live fromthe inside.
When you ask autistic peoplewhat is autism, you often hear
(23:02):
something that sounds simple butcontains multitudes.
Autism is me You don't hear.
Autism is something I have likeyou'd say about a cold or a
broken leg.
You also don't hear autism is mychallenge.
Or my difference.
(23:22):
Autism is woven into the fabricof identity itself.
Dr.
Dari Naman, founder of theAutistic Self-Advocacy Network,
explains it this way.
For many of us, autism is notsomething that can be separated
from who we are.
Our autism affects how we think,how we process the world, and
(23:46):
how we relate to other people.
It is part of our neurologicalinfrastructure.
It is who we are, and this iswhy the puzzle piece symbol
meant to represent autism feelsso wrong to many autistic
people.
It suggests incompletenesssomething missing a problem to
(24:08):
be solved, but autistic peoplearen't puzzles and they're not
missing pieces.
They're complete humans whoseminds work differently.
It's more like the differencebetween watercolor and oil
painting.
Both create profound art, butyou can't judge a watercolor by
(24:29):
oil painting standards.
The watercolor isn't a fail oilpainting.
It's a completely differentmedium with its own techniques,
beauty and purpose.
Listen to this insight fromautistic writer and researcher,
Julia Bascom.
(24:51):
She says, autism is notsomething a person has or a
shell that a person is trappedinside.
Autism is a way of being.
It is pervasive.
It colors every experience,every sensation, perception,
thought, emotion, and encounterevery aspect of existence.
(25:13):
But here's what is revolutionaryabout recent research.
When autistic people learn aboutautism from other autistic
people, like through socialmedia or through autistic led
organizations, that is throughcommunity.
They develop stronger, healthierautistic identity than when they
learn about autism.
(25:34):
Only through medicalprofessionals or family members,
Dr.
Monique Botha's research showsthat identity first, language
and community connection areassociated with better mental
health outcomes and a strongersense of self in autistic
adults.
It's like the difference betweenlearning about your culture from
(25:58):
someone who lives it versussomeone who studied it in a
textbook.
Both perspectives have value,but there's something
irreplaceable about recognitionand validation from your own
community.
So what is autism through thislens?
Well, autism is a fundamentalneurological identity that
(26:21):
shapes how someone experiencesevery moment of their existence.
It is not something to overcome,but something to understand,
accommodate, and celebrate aspart of the magnificent
diversity of humanconsciousness.
(26:42):
So what is autism then?
It is a symphony of simultaneoustruths.
It is a different cognitivearchitecture where attention
flows in powerful focusedchannels.
It is one dialect in the diverseecosystem of human social
communication.
(27:04):
It's a neurologicalconfiguration that processes
reality and higher resolution.
It's an evolutionary cognitivespecialization.
That has contributed to humanadvancement.
It's also a fundamental identitythat shapes how someone
experiences existence itself.
(27:25):
It is all of these thingssimultaneously.
Not one or the other, but oneand the other and the other.
But here's the secret.
Our kaleidoscope reveals.
Autism isn't one phenomenon thatlooks different from different
(27:46):
angles.
Autism is multiple types ofphenomena, cognitive, social,
sensory, evolutionary,experiential that are all
happening at the same time inthe same person.
And this is why every attempt tofind the explanation for autism
(28:09):
fails.
Autism requires whatphilosophers call multiple
realizability.
It's real across multiple levelsof analysis Simultaneously, you
need sociological explanationsand cognitive explanations and
phenomenological explanationsand evolutionary explanations.
(28:34):
As autistic researcher Dr.
Damian Milton puts it.
Autism is not a single entitywith a single cause, but rather
a complex interplay ofneurological differences,
environmental factors, andsocial dynamics.
And here's what I want you towalk away with today.
(28:54):
The poverty isn't in autisticminds.
It's in our impoverished ways ofthinking about complex human
realities.
For too long, we've been tryingto answer the question of what
is autism, as if it were asimple, single level phenomenon.
(29:15):
But autism like consciousnessitself, like love, like
creativity, existssimultaneously across multiple
dimensions of reality.
The beautiful truth is this,when we learn to think in
multiple dimensions.
We don't just understand autismbetter, we understand what it
(29:38):
means to be human better.
We realize that all humanneurodiversity, the full
spectrum of ways the minds canwork is far too rich and complex
for any single explanation tocapture.
Every human mind existssimultaneously as a biological
(30:00):
system.
A cognitive architecture, asocial phenomenon, an
evolutionary inheritance, and alived experience.
Autism just makes thiscomplexity visible in ways that
challenge us to think moresophisticatedly about minds in
(30:20):
general.
So the next time someone asksyou, what is autism?
I hope you'll remember ourkaleidoscope.
Turn it gently.
Let the multiple patterns emergeand share the richness of what
you see.
Because autism isn't one thingwith one story to tell.
(30:42):
Autism is a symphony ofsimultaneous truths, and that's
exactly how it should.
This has been Neuro Rebel, wherewe celebrate the beautiful
complexity of different minds.
I'm Anita, your host, remindingyou that the most profound
(31:06):
questions don't have simpleanswers.
They have richly layered onesthat reward deeper
investigation.
Thank you so much for listening.
If this episode resonated withyou, help us reach others who
might enjoy listening to it.
Share it.
Leave us a review on yourfavorite podcast platform.
(31:28):
Follow us.
Find us on social media at NeuroRebel Podcast.
Do you have burning subjectsyou'd like us to cover in
upcoming podcasts?
Would you like to be a guest?
Write to us on ourwebsite@neurorebelpodcast.com to
continue this conversation.
(31:49):
Until next time, keepquestioning, keep learning, and
keep expanding your kaleidoscopeof understanding because in a
universe this fast andbeautiful, there's always
another lens worth exploring.
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