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What It’s Like to ‘Wake Up’ from Autism After Magnetic Stimulation

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Re: What It’s Like to ‘Wake Up’ from Autism After Magnetic Stimulation

#11

Post by proksoup »

qewrffewqwfqew wrote: post #5

The sort of post-TMS emotional hypersensitivity he describes is "normal"? On one hand I wonder if I'm further on the spectrum than imagined and should seek help ... on the other, being overwhelmed by other folks' emotional state sounds crippling.

It most certainly is, and the disarray caused by finding people to contain motivations that were hidden can radically alter relationships.

Stay in the dark maybe I don't know I wish the light bulbs we already found were legal, but me myself I'm signing up if this technology becomes so and a few other folks take the risk before me first ...

Re: What It’s Like to ‘Wake Up’ from Autism After Magnetic Stimulation

#12

Post by anigbrowl »

agumonkey wrote: post #7

I wonder how sexual development happens in autism. In terms of emotional connection it's a pretty central and strong source.

Such a broad question doesn't admit of an easy answer, but if I was going to put in a single sentence I'd say dating was hell but sex is fine. No idea whether autistic people are more or less prone to be into kinky sex but my hunch is more.

Re: What It’s Like to ‘Wake Up’ from Autism After Magnetic Stimulation

#13

Post by notthemessiah »

smegel wrote: post #3

The biggest takeaway from this for me was...so what the hell is EM radiation from my mobile phone doing to my brain???

Cell phone radiation is typically in the GHz wave range, and rTMS, as well as most brain waves, typically between 1 and 30 Hz. They are completely different parts of the spectrum, well, so unless you are a pigeon, I don't think there's much effect.

Re: What It’s Like to ‘Wake Up’ from Autism After Magnetic Stimulation

#14

Post by Viper007Bond »

qewrffewqwfqew wrote: post #5

The sort of post-TMS emotional hypersensitivity he describes is "normal"? On one hand I wonder if I'm further on the spectrum than imagined and should seek help ... on the other, being overwhelmed by other folks' emotional state sounds crippling.

No, I'd say the hyper part of it is not normal, at least from my perspective and AFAIK I'm "normal". I suspect it would be somewhat like seeing the world in black and white and then suddenly being able to see colors. At first it would be overwhelming but eventually it would just be normal and drown out into the background. White noise.

He talks about customers coming into his shop and then him worrying about their problems. "Normal" to me is to be able to empathize with them, much like the skinned knee example in the article, but then being able to quickly move on. I mean I see someone get a skinned knee, I think to myself "ow! I bet that hurt!", but I don't think about it for the next hour. It's just a quick thought. The same would go for empathetic emotions, and like the knee, they're at a muted level compared to the original person's feeling of it.

Hope that helps. It's hard to put into words.

Re: What It’s Like to ‘Wake Up’ from Autism After Magnetic Stimulation

#15

Post by qewrffewqwfqew »

proksoup wrote: post #11
qewrffewqwfqew wrote: post #5

The sort of post-TMS emotional hypersensitivity he describes is "normal"? On one hand I wonder if I'm further on the spectrum than imagined and should seek help ... on the other, being overwhelmed by other folks' emotional state sounds crippling.

It most certainly is, and the disarray caused by finding people to contain motivations that were hidden can radically alter relationships. Stay in the dark maybe I don't know I wish the light bulbs we already found were legal, but me myself I'm signing up if this technology becomes so and a few other folks take the risk before me first ...

> I wish the light bulbs we already found were legal

Are you hinting at psychedelics? I'm familiar with their documented ability to open up different kinds of doors, but not this particular one. Colour me skeptical.

Re: What It’s Like to ‘Wake Up’ from Autism After Magnetic Stimulation

#16

Post by tgflynn »

I'm amazed by the improbability of this guy's life. He had an abusive father and a schizophrenic mother dropped out of school at 15 then worked as a sound engineer for a famous rock band, built a successful high-end auto repair business and then became a best selling author. I have to admit I was skeptical reading the article but his story seems to check out (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Elder_Robison).

I wonder how relevant his experiences with autism and TMS would be though to those of us with less extraordinary lives. I mean I'm guessing that having a life like this would tend to suggest that someone's internal mental makeup is somehow rather non-mainstream as well.

Re: What It’s Like to ‘Wake Up’ from Autism After Magnetic Stimulation

#18

Post by e12e »

qewrffewqwfqew wrote: post #5

The sort of post-TMS emotional hypersensitivity he describes is "normal"? On one hand I wonder if I'm further on the spectrum than imagined and should seek help ... on the other, being overwhelmed by other folks' emotional state sounds crippling.

To me it sounds like he probably ended up on the far sensitive side of the spectrum, but well within normal. But, even if he was an adult, he didn't have the mental tools to handle the emotion - I read it as if he suddenly got the intense and open empathy children can have. You don't go to a six year old and describe the suffering of refugees in detail, because it'll give them nightmares. Just having a general idea of someone's suffering can be overwhelming for a child.

I know people that are very emotional, and can get overwhelmed by seeing others suffer -- but people that are absolutely "normal". I wouldn't call it "average" (for adults anyway) however.

I do think he's wrong about not having had a limited form of empathy: literally feeling other peoples pain is empathy. That doesn't mean he didn't care, or loved before - but it absolutely sounds like he had trouble: "understanding and entering into another's feelings" (from WordNet, my emphasis).

It's a fascinating story, like a real-life "The Speed of Dark", by Elizabeth Moon (in part inspired by her son):

http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Dark-Ballantine-Readers-Circle/d...

Re: What It’s Like to ‘Wake Up’ from Autism After Magnetic Stimulation

#19

Post by tgflynn »

notthemessiah wrote: post #13
smegel wrote: post #3

The biggest takeaway from this for me was...so what the hell is EM radiation from my mobile phone doing to my brain???

Cell phone radiation is typically in the GHz wave range, and rTMS, as well as most brain waves, typically between 1 and 30 Hz. They are completely different parts of the spectrum, well, so unless you are a pigeon, I don't think there's much effect.

I have no concerns about cell phone radiation but I'd just like to point out that the high carrier frequencies don't necessarily preclude effects on low frequency systems. The modulation envelope probably extends down quite close to DC (think about the modulation induced by a cell phone adapting its emission to towers) and virtually any non-linear circuit can act as a rectifier/detector. I used to work in an accelerator physics lab and the low frequency effects of RF leaks could be interesting.

Re: What It’s Like to ‘Wake Up’ from Autism After Magnetic Stimulation

#20

Post by Joof »

philovivero wrote: post #4

I'm glad this guy wrote this up. Now I have no desire to get off the spectrum.

I don't think it would be as intense for a long period of time. He effectively got a new sensory capability and it was all new to him, but he didn't understand how to processes it for a while. It appears to be useful to understand social situations, so it may be worth considering.

There's was no mention of the warmth you feel when someone who loves you genuinely smiles at you. It's rare, but a great feeling.

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