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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

#131

Post by restalis »

agumonkey wrote: post #112
restalis wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"for people with socio-affective issues it has some relevance" It may. It would enlarge the amount of things we use to relate to when we're communicating but it's not essential for a natural-perceived relation. The mechanics may be all what's necessary. From what I've noticed, all that non-autistic persons are really interested in this regard is the belief that the other person is emotionally-empathetic, and that int…

I may be an oddity but I can assure you that emotional relation through contact has significant deep sources, causes and effects on one's mind. It was like going from 2D monochromatic vision to 3D trichr. And in my case it wasn't a smooth transition and caused me deep anguish to say the least. When I see documentaries about autistic childs, the way they express anxiety and hit themselves, I can't help but to think ab…

The autistic condition forms a spectrum. Children that you might have seen in the documentaries could have had a severe form. For what I care, anxiety is not something necessarily related to autism as emotional people feel anxious too.

That being said, I have to admit that autism gets somewhat easier with age because of increased general tolerance and endurance in individuals. Small children need close contact and may even die (in the first days of life) without, even with the basic needs taken care of.

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

#132

Post by [deleted] »

Practicality wrote: post #106

So, funny that on hacker news and lots of programming blogs when this topic comes up a lot of people chime in about being on the (autistic side) of the spectrum too. Ironically, I feel left out. I am on the other end of the spectrum. Kind of like what this guy described after the treatment, although I've been dealing with it my whole life, so I don't get all worried. I feel like the only programmer who is intensely a…

[deleted]

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

#134

Post by paloaltokid »

Practicality wrote: post #106

So, funny that on hacker news and lots of programming blogs when this topic comes up a lot of people chime in about being on the (autistic side) of the spectrum too. Ironically, I feel left out. I am on the other end of the spectrum. Kind of like what this guy described after the treatment, although I've been dealing with it my whole life, so I don't get all worried. I feel like the only programmer who is intensely a…

> I feel like the only programmer who is intensely aware of the emotional state of my colleagues. I can sometimes tell people what they are feeling (when they are opening up) and it shocks them because I know it better than they do.

You are not alone. I often feel the same way. I'm going to assume that you work primarily with male programmers, since that's the makeup of our industry. (In all of my jobs, most of the programmers I've worked with have been male).

I think guys generally are actually quite emotional, much much more than they let on. But our culture has very strange notions around masculinity and what it means to be male. Vulnerability, empathy, intuition, these things are not instilled in us as positive character traits for a man. Instead, rationality, self-reliance, self-confidence, and detachment from emotion are elevated as things to aspire to.

There is absolutely value in being rational, self-confident, and being able to not get taken out by your emotions in a crisis situation. But when you use those things all the time in your life to get by, they become a real handicap.

I can't tell you how many times I've worked with guys who I knew were going through a lot (parents with mental illness, divorce, troubled home life) but tried so hard not to let on and at the same time never talked about it when given an opening.

We have really screwed ourselves over as a culture and we owe it to our sons to redefine what masculinity is so that they don't have to endure the same emotional hangups as us.

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

#135

Post by restalis »

thedevil wrote: post #103
motti wrote: post #84

My mother published a fairly seminal paper on the topic [1] 18 years ago which concludes that emotional awareness (specifically, the "Theory of Mind"[2]) can be learned by people with Autism. At the time this was against prevailing wisdom but AFAIK is now considered accepted wisdom. [1] https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?cluster=165456960940191... [2] https://www.autism.com/understanding_theoryofmind

So do you, or anyone else, know good methods and resources for teaching children with autism theory of mind? My son is ASD (as I probably am). And I want to help him out so that he doesn't have to learn the hard way as I did. I'm going to buy the Social Stories book (mentioned in your link) off Amazon. I'd love to hear any other helpful ideas. I also read several body language books over the years. The best is What E…

Books alone won't do you or your son much good. Get as much personal improvement/development live courses as you guys can, acting would be my top.

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

#136

Post by o_____________o »

Practicality wrote: post #106

So, funny that on hacker news and lots of programming blogs when this topic comes up a lot of people chime in about being on the (autistic side) of the spectrum too. Ironically, I feel left out. I am on the other end of the spectrum. Kind of like what this guy described after the treatment, although I've been dealing with it my whole life, so I don't get all worried. I feel like the only programmer who is intensely a…

I'm this way too. What was your childhood like? I attribute some of my sensitivities to growing up with a single mother and sister in a female-centric household, where I was free from one side of the gender norms you'd get from having a father around.

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

#137

Post by delazeur »

o_____________o wrote: post #136
Practicality wrote: post #106

So, funny that on hacker news and lots of programming blogs when this topic comes up a lot of people chime in about being on the (autistic side) of the spectrum too. Ironically, I feel left out. I am on the other end of the spectrum. Kind of like what this guy described after the treatment, although I've been dealing with it my whole life, so I don't get all worried. I feel like the only programmer who is intensely a…

I'm this way too. What was your childhood like? I attribute some of my sensitivities to growing up with a single mother and sister in a female-centric household, where I was free from one side of the gender norms you'd get from having a father around.

I have two moms, and while I am not entirely insensitive to the emotions of other I am probably somewhat less sensitive than average. I don't think female-centric households have much to do with it.

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

#138

Post by delazeur »

paloaltokid wrote: post #134
Practicality wrote: post #106

So, funny that on hacker news and lots of programming blogs when this topic comes up a lot of people chime in about being on the (autistic side) of the spectrum too. Ironically, I feel left out. I am on the other end of the spectrum. Kind of like what this guy described after the treatment, although I've been dealing with it my whole life, so I don't get all worried. I feel like the only programmer who is intensely a…

> I feel like the only programmer who is intensely aware of the emotional state of my colleagues. I can sometimes tell people what they are feeling (when they are opening up) and it shocks them because I know it better than they do. You are not alone. I often feel the same way. I'm going to assume that you work primarily with male programmers, since that's the makeup of our industry. (In all of my jobs, most of the p…

Well, personally, I am a male comfortable talking about personal stuff with friends but I would never talk about it at work.

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

#139

Post by o_____________o »

delazeur wrote: post #137
o_____________o wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm this way too. What was your childhood like? I attribute some of my sensitivities to growing up with a single mother and sister in a female-centric household, where I was free from one side of the gender norms you'd get from having a father around.

I have two moms, and while I am not entirely insensitive to the emotions of other I am probably somewhat less sensitive than average. I don't think female-centric households have much to do with it.

Didn't mean to suggest that was the only ingredient. I'm sure there's an endless amount of other factors that interact with as much complexity, including biological predispositions, shared view of masculinity, emotional IQ and communication style of the mother, how much admiration for femininity you internalize...

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

#140

Post by Practicality »

paloaltokid wrote: post #134
Practicality wrote: post #106

So, funny that on hacker news and lots of programming blogs when this topic comes up a lot of people chime in about being on the (autistic side) of the spectrum too. Ironically, I feel left out. I am on the other end of the spectrum. Kind of like what this guy described after the treatment, although I've been dealing with it my whole life, so I don't get all worried. I feel like the only programmer who is intensely a…

> I feel like the only programmer who is intensely aware of the emotional state of my colleagues. I can sometimes tell people what they are feeling (when they are opening up) and it shocks them because I know it better than they do. You are not alone. I often feel the same way. I'm going to assume that you work primarily with male programmers, since that's the makeup of our industry. (In all of my jobs, most of the p…

Thanks. I agree strongly. Having both sides adds real depth to life.
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