Biology 202
2003 First Web Paper
On Serendip

Through Different Eyes: How People with Autism Experience the World

Alanna Albano

Many of us have heard of the neurological disorder called autism, and have a general sense of what the term "autism" means and all of the typical behaviors that belong in its category. Yet, I must question how many of us out there who do take an interest in autism really understand how having this disorder can totally distort one's perception of what one experiences in the world. A person with autism senses things differently then we normally do, and also responds to them in other ways – what we would call "abnormal behaviors". Why is this so? According to scientists, MRI research studies have shown that the brains of autistic individuals have particular abnormalities in the cerebellum, brain stem, hippocampus, amygdala, the limbic system, and frontal cortex (7). This provides substantial evidence that autistic behaviors must be in some way caused by these abnormalities. The problem is that we do not know exactly how or why these abnormalities cause someone with autism to experience the world differently than we do. This underlying issue of autism has always greatly intrigued me, and yet the topic of sensory integrative dysfunction in autism has been overlooked for many years. Articles and documents addressing this feature of autism have begun to appear only recently. While conducting research for my paper, I found it a challenge to find articles that specifically talked about this topic that I desired so much to learn about. Thus, the ultimate goal of my discussion is to reveal a misunderstood, hidden world – the complicated sensory dysfunctions that underlie autistic spectrum disorder.

What have we found out so far about how people with autism experience the world? All the information that we do know has been pieced together from observations of autistic behaviors, and recently, the personal accounts of high-functioning autistic persons. Dr. Temple Grandin, a professor at Colorado State University who has autism, has been able to provide us with an in-depth look into the sensory world of autism: "I pulled away when people tried to hug me, because being touched sent an overwhelming tidal wave of stimulation through my body...when noise and sensory over-stimulation became too intense, I was able to shut off my hearing and retreat into my own world" (7). Tito Mukhopadhyay, a 14 year old boy from India with severe autism, has also been able to give us a somewhat clearer picture of what he experiences: "I am calming myself. My senses are so disconnected, I lose my body. So I flap [my hands]. If I don't do this, I feel scattered and anxious...I hardly realized that I had a body...I needed constant movement, which made me get the feeling of my body" (2).

These accounts have provided a special glimpse into the sensory disorders that accompany autism. It is fascinating to see how Dr. Grandin and Tito are living examples of how the autistic person perceives the world. At first glance, the two testimonies seem very much alike to me. Both of these autistic persons' nervous systems are constantly overwhelmed by the sensory input that their bodies receive. However, a much closer look reveals to me the key differences between the two. Dr. Grandin is a high-functioning autistic person whose nervous system receives too much sensory input. Her brain is painfully overwhelmed by the flood of information, and in response to this she withdraws from the source of input by "shutting off" one or more of her senses in a desperate attempt to find relief. Tito, on the other hand, is a low-functioning autistic person who is amazingly still able to communicate what he is feeling to the rest of the world. According to his testimony, Tito's nervous system actually receives so little input that he cannot sense a connection with his own body. His hand flapping response is his attempt to calm himself and gain a sense of his body's existence. The comparison between Tito and Dr. Grandin demonstrates an unmistakable yet perplexing truth: no two autistic people are alike. Although they may share common behaviors, these behaviors will appear in all sorts of combinations and will vary in levels of intensity. It is my opinion that this observed irregular pattern of autistic behaviors is partly what has contributed to its being ignored for so long. I find it unfortunate that researchers in the past had probably cast autism sensory issues aside simply because it was just too baffling.

Observed autistic behaviors such as hand flapping, tapping and /or mouthing objects, toe walking, rocking back and forth, head banging, and vocalizing, along with the testimonies of various autistic individuals, have led researchers to believe that those with autism are either severely over-sensitive, under-sensitive, or both to outside sensory stimuli. Autistic persons have said that they have visual distortions and impaired depth perception of their environment, noxious sensations, and auditory, proprioceptive, tactile, and kinesthetic impairments (1). This is evidence that their nervous systems do not process sensory information correctly, so they feel overwhelmed by the abundance or lack of sensory information that their nervous system is receiving. In response to such confusing input, they exhibit abnormal behaviors in an attempt to either reduce the amount of input their nervous system is receiving or increase it. Such behaviors like tapping or vocalizing allow them to know where their "boundaries" exist in their environment, since they cannot see the world the same way we do (4).

The distortions in sensory perception have been linked to certain brain abnormalities discovered in the brain autopsies and MRI images of different people with autism. Normally, our internal "brain maps" give us a sense of our bodies and involve the regions of the brain that deal with the senses and movement. MRI images depict that autistic persons have scrambled brain maps (2). In other words, the information connections for sensory functions still exist, but they are located in the wrong parts of the brain. For example, face-recognition areas in the brain of autistic persons have actually been found in the frontal lobes, which is quite contrary to the specialized location of face-recognition in the normal brain (2). Autistic brains have been found to be larger than average, and they contain an incredible amount of electrical discharges in the hearing regions. The cortical columns of the brain contain a much higher amount of cells than the norm, and also make extra connections between neurons. This excess circuitry is what is believed to cause problems in sensory function (10). Abnormalities found in the brain stem, cerebellum, hippocampus, amygdala, and the limbic system may also explain many sensory processing problems. For example, the amydala, the emotion center of the brain, is underdeveloped, as well as the hippocampus. The hippocampus controls sensory input as well as learning and memory, so immature growth in this region of the brain would most definitely explain some common autistic behaviors. In the frontal cortex, it has been discovered that there is a significant lack of Purkinje cells. How this abnormality relates to neurodevelopment and mental function is still unclear to researchers (9).

As of today, researchers recognize the common pattern of autistic behaviors, and they have located what and where the abnormalities in the brain are. They have agreed that these abnormalities may be contributing to the behaviors often observed in autism, but exactly how and why is still a widely debated topic. Various researchers have come up with their own specific interpretations of the connections between the autistic brain and autistic behavior. For example, in terms of visual perception, researchers have theorized as to whether autistic persons really do have severe visual distortions of what they see, even though they are by no means blind. Many have debated how and why some autistic persons will rely on touching objects to recognize the identity and location of objects despite their apparent ability to see. We know that parts of the autistic brain that control vision may be under or over-developed, but it is not understood how sometimes autistic persons may be able to see just fine, while at other times they behave as if they were truly blind. From what I have read, it seems that some professionals question if these visual experiences and such are truly caused by physiological problems in the brain, or if they are just mere hallucinations. The second argument seems highly unlikely to me when so many apparent abnormalities in the autistic brain have been detected. It only makes sense that the visual disturbances would be attributed to something physiological, not psychological.

Unfortunately, there has also been an overwhelming reluctance by professionals to rely on the testimonies of autistic persons who are capable of describing their condition. I was rather shocked to come upon this fact while conducting my research. I do not understand why they would refuse to listen to the ones who suffer from the disorder, because they are the only ones who can actually explain what it means to live in the world of autism. Do these researchers believe that the words of a mentally disabled individual are not plausible? Such negative attitudes displayed towards society's mentally disabled have only delayed in the quest to solve the baffling puzzle of autism.

In conclusion, we are left with more questions than before, and no definite answers. I have explained the complications surrounding sensory integrative dysfunction in autism, hoping to make others aware of how much it affects those living with autistic spectrum disorder. Autistic people will respond to a lack or abundance of sensory input by flapping hands, shutting off certain senses, and doing other abnormal behaviors. Several abnormalities have been found in the autistic brain, but many researchers debate what the connections are between these abnormalities and autistic behavior. These debates, as well as disfavorable attitudes towards the mentally disabled, have only slowed our progress in the search for answers. I can only hope that in the future improved research studies and technology, as well as increased awareness and compassion among society, will have helped to improve our knowledge and understanding of sensory dysfunctions in autism.

Bibliography and Additional Links:

1) Can Foundation Page,A Case Study of Distorted Visual Perception in Autism

2) Autism Today Page, A Boy, a Mother and a Rare Map of Autism's World

3) Autism Today Page, Different Sensory Experiences/Worlds

4) Autism Today Page, Possible Visual Experiences in Autism

5) Autism Today Page, Reconstruction of the Sensory World of Autism

6) Autism Today Page, Auditory Processing Problems in Autism

7) Autism Info Page, My Experiences with Visual Thinking Sensory Problems and Communication Disorders

8) Autism Today Page, An Inside View of Autism

9) Pub Med Page, Nicotinic Receptor Abnormalities in the Cerebellar Cortex in Autism

10) Pub Med Page,
Stereological Evidence of Abnormal Cortical Organization in Individuals with Autism

11) Autism and Related Conditions Page, Sensory and Motor Disorders

12) National Center for Biotechnology Information Page, Neurofunctional Mechanisms in Autism

13) Autism Today Page, Sensory Disorder

Comments made prior to 2007

I think that people using the words mentally disabled contribute to the fact that researchers tend not to trust the descriptions of autistic individuals when discussing their perceptual experiences.

I am a high functioning autistic person and I can assure you that I am in no way mentally disabled. Mentally different, yes. The only thing that disables me is the attitude, including inappropriate language, of so called normal people.

I take great offense to being referred to as mentally disabled. It is inaccurate and untrue ... Gillian Graham, 31 May 2006