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Navigating Autism: How to Identify and Cope with Personal Triggers
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts how an individual communicates and experiences the world. Autistic behaviors may include intense and limited interests, repetitive behaviors, sensory sensitives and difficulty recognizing and expressing emotions.
Autistic individuals may experience meltdowns. A meltdown is an intense and involuntary reaction to the challenges that autism presents, like intense sensory experiences, navigating tricky social situations and emotional dysregulation.
In mental health circles, a trigger refers to an event or feeling that causes a strong emotional response. Neurotypical and neurodiverse individuals alike have triggers, and everyone’s triggers are different. A neurotypical person may feel sadness or nervousness when being confronted with one of their triggers. For autistic individuals, however, being exposed to a trigger can lead to a meltdown.
Meltdowns are stressful and incredibly unpleasant to experience. For autistic adults, meltdowns will happen occasionally, but having a better understanding of individual triggers may help them prevent meltdowns when possible.
Navigating Neurodivergence: Tips for Managing Asperger's Brain Fog
Our understanding of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has grown significantly over the years, leading to important changes in how we diagnose and describe its various presentations. One of the most significant changes to the ASD diagnosis is the inclusion of Asperger’s syndrome as part of the autism spectrum.
Asperger's syndrome was added to the DSM-IV in 1994 but was moved underneath the diagnostic umbrella of “Autism Spectrum Disorder” in the DSM-V in 2013. Though Asperger’s syndrome is considered to be part of the autism spectrum, it presents symptoms that are similar to ASD but may be less severe or pervasive. Asperger’s is typically marked by:
- Impaired social interaction and nonverbal communication
- Restricted interests
- Repetitive behaviors
- Lack of awareness about how their actions may impact others
The main difference between Asperger’s and autism is that people who were formerly diagnosed with Asperger’s may have less severe symptoms and no speech delay. In fact, those who have been diagnosed with Asperger’s may have advanced speech and language skills.
So, while Asperger’s used to be its own diagnosis, the current diagnostic standards for autism spectrum disorder include Asperger’s. Those who may have, in the past, been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome are now likely to be diagnosed with level one autism or to be classified as having low support needs.
While it’s true that diagnostic standards have been updated due to the fact that Asperger’s and autism have a large overlap of symptoms, Asperger’s is no longer used also due in part to its controversial namesake. Asperger’s syndrome was first formally named by Hans Asperger after he conducted a comprehensive study on a group of children with autistic traits in 1944. Though Asperger was never an official member of the Nazi Party, he worked closely with them and cooperated with their policies, which targeted neurodivergent individuals. Asperger’s ties to nazi policies, and the harsh language he used to describe his patients is among the reasons that the term “Asperger’s” is no longer widely used.
However, even though the term is largely outdated, many neurodivergent people were originally diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and still resonate with it. Therefore, it’s important to approach the controversy surrounding the name with nuance.
Understanding Autism and Sleep: Navigating Sleep Patterns in Autistic Adults
Restorative sleep is essential for maintaining overall good health, influencing both mental and physical well-being. However, for many autistic adults, quality sleep feels out of reach.
Sleep challenges, such as trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, are some of the most common complaints among adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Some autistic people may sleep too much or too little, have irregular sleep patterns or struggle with other diagnosable sleep disorders.
Read on to learn about sleep challenges associated with autism spectrum disorder, factors contributing to sleep struggles and how to get better sleep.
