The look of autism
I posted this story on my Psychology Today blog, where it generated a number of comments. I've repeated it here . . .
The look of autism . . . what is it, exactly?
I see certain people, and I think, "He' looks Aspergian." Often, if I talk to them, they'll say, "Yes, I have Asperger's too." Exactly what am I seeing?
And I'm not the only one. Many moms with a kid on the spectrum have a very good instinct for spotting other autistic kids. Some psychologists and mental health workers have this ability too.
If I ask other people what it is they see, they often give a convoluted explanation of all the things they observe to justify their conclusions. Yet I doubt what they say . . . I make those judgments in a moment when I see someone, and I've observed many others who do the same. There's no time for all the so-called observation. Somehow, it's a gut level thing.
Those of you who've heard me speak may have gotten some of my ideas on how we do this. I think there are clues in our facial expressions. We Aspergians all remember making wrong expressions at inappropriate times. But wrong for whom? Our expressions seem wrong to observers who don't have autism, and who read some totally wrong negative meaning into our look.
But between Aspergians, are our expressions still wrong? I don't know the answer to that, because I didn't knowingly know any Aspergians as a kid. And now, being older and better trained, I don't make those "inappropriate expressions" very often.
But I still recognize fellow Aspergians, in fact I do so more effectively with every passing day.
So I wonder if those different expressions serve as a subconscious signal to between Aspergians . . . "he's like me." In the past few months I have devoted a lot of thought to this question. I'll be writing about it in Beyond Normal, my next book.
Last week I spoke at the Thompson Center, an autism research facility at the University of Missouri. I met Judy Miles, a geneticist who's studying the same question, but from a different perspective. She said something fascinating to me. "In the 1940s, Kanner wrote about beautiful children with autism." Later readers have taken that as a metaphor, but what if he meant it literally? As she says, there are some kids with profound autism who are also have beautifully sculpted faces. Could there be a connection?
Before you dismiss that idea out of hand, consider that there are facial markers for any number of other differences. Down's syndrome comes to mind as another condition with a distinctive look.
She's using a system from 3DMd that employs four groups of cameras to make a full view of the subject's head, which is then rendered in 3d in the computer for analysis. I've got some research papers on her work, and I can't wait to learn more about it.
My life experience tells me there is a distinct look to "people like me." I can't say if it's in our facial structure, or our expression, or both. I also can't say it's "one look fits all." I get that "he's Aspergian too" feeling often enough, but there are also times when someone approaches me and says, "I have Asperger's," and I don't get any connected feeling at all. But perhaps another Aspergian would say, "he's like me" to that same person.
What's the value of all this, you ask?
Recognition of a look of autism would be one more step in the evolution of society. I often say, knowledge is power, and that's a potentially powerful bit of knowledge. It could certainly help me understand other people, and I'm surely not alone in that.
There are those who will certainly differ with me, saying such recognition could be used to discriminate against autistic people. I can't deny that may happen. But in the end, I think the benefits of greater insight like this triumph over the drawbacks based on misuse.
What are your thoughts?
The look of autism . . . what is it, exactly?
I see certain people, and I think, "He' looks Aspergian." Often, if I talk to them, they'll say, "Yes, I have Asperger's too." Exactly what am I seeing?
And I'm not the only one. Many moms with a kid on the spectrum have a very good instinct for spotting other autistic kids. Some psychologists and mental health workers have this ability too.
If I ask other people what it is they see, they often give a convoluted explanation of all the things they observe to justify their conclusions. Yet I doubt what they say . . . I make those judgments in a moment when I see someone, and I've observed many others who do the same. There's no time for all the so-called observation. Somehow, it's a gut level thing.
Those of you who've heard me speak may have gotten some of my ideas on how we do this. I think there are clues in our facial expressions. We Aspergians all remember making wrong expressions at inappropriate times. But wrong for whom? Our expressions seem wrong to observers who don't have autism, and who read some totally wrong negative meaning into our look.
But between Aspergians, are our expressions still wrong? I don't know the answer to that, because I didn't knowingly know any Aspergians as a kid. And now, being older and better trained, I don't make those "inappropriate expressions" very often.
But I still recognize fellow Aspergians, in fact I do so more effectively with every passing day.
So I wonder if those different expressions serve as a subconscious signal to between Aspergians . . . "he's like me." In the past few months I have devoted a lot of thought to this question. I'll be writing about it in Beyond Normal, my next book.
Last week I spoke at the Thompson Center, an autism research facility at the University of Missouri. I met Judy Miles, a geneticist who's studying the same question, but from a different perspective. She said something fascinating to me. "In the 1940s, Kanner wrote about beautiful children with autism." Later readers have taken that as a metaphor, but what if he meant it literally? As she says, there are some kids with profound autism who are also have beautifully sculpted faces. Could there be a connection?
Before you dismiss that idea out of hand, consider that there are facial markers for any number of other differences. Down's syndrome comes to mind as another condition with a distinctive look.
She's using a system from 3DMd that employs four groups of cameras to make a full view of the subject's head, which is then rendered in 3d in the computer for analysis. I've got some research papers on her work, and I can't wait to learn more about it.
My life experience tells me there is a distinct look to "people like me." I can't say if it's in our facial structure, or our expression, or both. I also can't say it's "one look fits all." I get that "he's Aspergian too" feeling often enough, but there are also times when someone approaches me and says, "I have Asperger's," and I don't get any connected feeling at all. But perhaps another Aspergian would say, "he's like me" to that same person.
What's the value of all this, you ask?
Recognition of a look of autism would be one more step in the evolution of society. I often say, knowledge is power, and that's a potentially powerful bit of knowledge. It could certainly help me understand other people, and I'm surely not alone in that.
There are those who will certainly differ with me, saying such recognition could be used to discriminate against autistic people. I can't deny that may happen. But in the end, I think the benefits of greater insight like this triumph over the drawbacks based on misuse.
What are your thoughts?
Comments
Having a daughter, and an undiagnosed stepfather and brother in law, with aspergers has let me recognize the trait in strangers as well. Especially children but that might be becasue most of my experience is with my daughter.
For some reason I have always been a people watcher and observed how people talk and behave from afar. It is like you say a gut instinct but I think that is just our brain instantly comparing those tiny nuances and making a split second analysis about them and their relation to others. It is hard to put into words though.
If I had to try to describe it i would say it is not just seeing someone making the wrong expression (because I don't always know the situation they are in when I see them) but sometime it is an exaggerated, or ever so slightly distorted expression.
My daughter has always had the hardest time making a proper smile for the camera to the point where she had to practice in a mirror to make it better for school pictures. And today it is still...off. I wonder if the facial muscles are "clumsy" like i know a lot of other aspergians major muscles are. Or the controls to them are I guess I should say.
So maybe the relaxed state of these muscles is unique, or maybe they are always a little tensed up or something. Not sure just thinking this up as I type.
Anyway, again I loved the book. Entertaining, informative, and funny to boot.
misunderstanding and ridicule
Perhaps you have opened a door for others to see into.....I loved my son unconditionally, and was his strongest advocate, hopefully with a better understanding and research, children will not have to suffer the consequences of this complicated condition. Thank you for your time and experience to this very worthwhile cause.
: )
If only we could get the pediatricians to recognize a "look of Asperger's." Kids might get better early intervention instead of having their parent's concerns dismissed.
http://www.thegirlfromtheghetto.wordpress.com
There is no way for me to know who's right. You see what they can't, or you are mistaken.
It does nto really matter, if you apply lessons like in my book, and life goes better for the kid.
You should just do what works and learn as you go.
I'm not sure if that's a "look of autism" issue or something else, though
Actually, it never occurred to me to question if it was good or bad. To me, it just IS. Is is neither good or bad.
Don't confuse a moral judgement with an evolved sensitivity. That's what I am discussing here.
I don't know what it is-but I can see it in a heartbeat-this "look of autism"-and it would be GREAT if it were something others could perceive as well-to know that the person is on the spectrum-and to not read their behavior in negative ways-as often happens
3D face scans spot gene syndromes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6982030.stm
I bet there's a genetic component to the "look" you're detecting. Perhaps there are several genetic differences that can all cause Asperger's (or something similar), each with a different "look." That might explain how some people have it and some people don't.
My son definitely has a different look (that I also had as a child). He still looks like a baby at 4 years old, with a large forehead and sort of sunken, enlarged eyes.
Incidentally, I read somewhere that autism can be detected by forehead differences (usually a protrusion where the frontal lobe is enlarged, I believe.
How nice it would be if others could be trained to recognize it and automatically understand!
I have learned to make eye contact although it is more like a stare that is hard to stop and harder to start again once I have disengaged. I have learned to not say exactly what is on my mind some of the time. Very hard to do! As "Eric" was saying I am very honest and it's hard to lie. I find it so natural to be honest and blunt that I would rather have an argument about the truth than try to lie.
My son is Autistic so I can usually spot people who are Autistic or Asperger's in a heart beat. My husband and I are probably Aspie so I'm sure that has something to do with it also. There is definately something that we are all noticing.
Woof.
And thanks for your thoughts on the look. I'm sure there's a lot there if only we can unravel it . . .
I love your blog and your book. I'm looking forward to your next book.
Paul Ekman has made a career of studying faces and how they communicate emotion. His book, Emotions Revealed, is filled with photos showing the very subtle differences between different emotions, and how changes in one part of the face change the meaning entirely. The amazing thing is that we can often recognize these signs automatically. I wonder if you're noticing something along those lines?
I didn't fully notice his "look" until I was in the hospital a year ago and was away from him for many days for the first time. When he came to visit, I saw it perfectly clear for the first time.
It's like he's far away and deeply within himself at the same time. It's kind of "other-worldly". He's just a step farther apart than the rest of the normals.
I think that it's a result of taking so much in and needing to process more deeply. It's a look of deep awareness and the way that he copes with constant over-stimulation.
I see it now all around me.
Inexperienced people might confuse it with looking "checked out", but that doesn't quite capture The Look.
At the risk of sounding too out there, I think austistic people exist in a different dimension withtin the prevailing one. You see more, experience more, and don't naturally lie or distort what you experience. It's a lot. Hence, the Look.
Correct me if I'm wrong, pet me if I've hit upon anything that resembles your experience.
Have you heard this as well? I found it quite interesting. I cannot remember which book I read it from.
I have an Aspy son (17) and a husband who is not diagnosed, but responded "This sounds like me" when he read our son's psych evaluation. I am probably what you would term extreme NT, as well as our 14-year old daughter; makes for an interesting mix.
My son Elliot, almost 5 and diagnosed as PDD-NOS, get lots of "looks", and sometimes laughs, when we're out. He's a beautiful kid, as strangers frequently point out, but he also moves about in a sort of swimmy/floppy way, a sashay of sorts, that marks him as different.
I see many Aspergian traits in Elliot (and in my dad, my uncle, myself), but since Elliot can be rather outgoing and dramatic, he doesn't easily fit the ASD stereotype of the quiet introvert and has more than once received the "he doesn't have any autism, he's only ADHD" comment by people who barely know him.
But what I mainly wanted to say is that, in my experience, people on the spectrum tend to gravitate towards others like themselves, or--as is the case with my dad and mom--to neurotypicals who are so extremely trustworthy and goodhearted that they can serve as guides in an otherwise threatening world.
I know that I naturally gravitate to people who are "different" in Aspergian ways, perhaps because we have an intuitive understanding of each other.
Elliot gets along wonderfully with an 8-year-old Aspergian son of friends of ours, and he has a brother-like bond with a six-year-old who shows every sign of being Aspergian but has not been diagnosed.
I look forward to meeting you when you come to Defiance in September. As soon as I finish my creative writing syllabus, I'm sending it on to my students along with encouragement that they both read your book over the summer and investigate your blog for themselves, not in an "you'll get extra credit if you write to John" kind of way, but just in a "John is really an interesting person--I think you'll like his perspective" way.
I notice a lot of autistic children right off the bat because of their actions and behavioral symptoms. I can't say that I can tell a physical difference, though.
Again, I really enjoyed your book. Check my blog out if you get a chance. :)
Here's a thought I'm having about the "beautiful people" factor that you might like... anthropologists say that we are unconsciously attracted to a mate based on indicators pointing to the best chances of survival or perpetuation of species. For example, a woman with long, thick hair may appear fertile ("a picture of health") and therefor desirable. A muscle bound hunk was the "gold standard" at one time, tho his brawn may be obsolete in the present technological age. I know that this theory is a buzz-kill for all those romantics out there... BUT let's apply it here anyway, for fun. What if the features of Aspies and autistics have, through some force of natural selection, drawn us in because they are in fact the next big thing that mankind has to offer?
I apologize in advance if my assertion is offensive to some... most of mine are.. ~ MJ