Autistic Artist

Todd's Visit

Todd Jacobs made a presentation regarding autism service dogs last week at the U.C. Davis M.I.N.D. Institute. He visited Sacramento with his friend Pamela (photo at left) and service dog Glindy (photo below left). My husband and I were the lucky ones to escort them, including taking them out to dinner. I very much enjoyed their company and speaking with Todd and Pamela.

What interested me most, personally, was when Todd mentioned to me that with his dog he was able to go out socially, shopping with his loved ones for half a day. To me that would be a major accomplishment. Like Todd, an hour or two in such an environment is so taxing that I’d be exhausted the rest of the day. In fact, were I to go to another town to make a presentation such as Todd’s, I’d be so tired, I’d have to rest an entire week afterward! But Todd said that his dog provides feedback and a focus that greatly reduces the over-stimulation.

See my review of Todd's presentation at my dog blog.

Me & My iPod

Like many autistics, I can become easily overloaded by the world around me. It's not so bad at home when the house is quiet. But a couple of leaf blowers or one shopping trip near cranky kids and parents can send me into meltdown mode.

Autism and Daily Pain

I'm still not feeling well after my celiac attack of the past couple of days. I do feel better than yesterday and the night before. I still can't believe I spent most of my life feeling sick like that. Being sick daily was just something I'd gotten used to. No wonder I was always so tired and never seemed to get anything done!

No one can be expected to be at their best when they are in in pain. No parent, teacher, coworker or boss can expect an autistic individual to be the best child, student, coworker or employee when that individual is pain from any number of catalysts -- even if it is a catalyst that may not affect the neurotypical. And there are so many things that may cause us pain, much of which we can mitigate with a little help from our doctors and others around us.

Problem Solving with Temple Grandin

Dr. Temple Grandin, designer of livestock handling facilities and a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, gave two presentations yesterday, February 14, at Freeborn Hall at the University of California at Davis here in Northern California. Dr. Grandin's autistic directness made for very lively and and entertaining talks.

Dr. Grandin's presentations overlapped. She described her own history and experience with autism and how autism inspired her work (especially with animals). She also shared ideas and advice to help autistics. The well-attended presentations were sponsored by the MIND Institute.

Here are some of my impressions and reactions to the presentations. I'm sure I could make several long posts regarding many of Dr. Grandin's comments, but I'll keep to three relatively short points here.

Motor Skills

I was incredibly clumsy as a child. I cannot overstate this fact. It was almost impossible for me to be able to catch a ball or throw one. My family and the local kids made fun of me for my lack of coordination. Kids would do almost anything in school not to have me on their team because I was so bad at sports.

Ironically, I loved moving and being in motion. I loved to run and jump. As a child I rocked and spun around. To this day I like non-competitive sports and have enjoyed walking, kung fu, and bicycling (although I didn't learn to ride a bike until well after the other children, at age nine or so). But I have severe acrophobia and am always afraid to climb on things like a bike. (I am hoping eventually to buy a recumbent bicycle which is much lower to the ground.)

I also have issues with balance. I often feel disoriented when walking, and the slower I walk, the worse it is. I often crash into doorways and furniture. It is not uncommon for me to have bruises and not to know how I got them.

Sensory Overload: Taste

Most things I’ve gotten better at eating since childhood, but I still do not like slimy textures and will not eat most custards, tapioca, most tofu, eggs which are runny or too moist. They make me gag.

Sensory Overload: Smell

I can smell things others cannot. Often I will smell something, but others won’t believe me until they see the evidence for themselves.

For example, I smelled something really bad behind my dishwasher, but the landlord insisted there was no problem. My roommate did not smell it either.

But when the landlord took the dishwasher out to replace it, he discovered a dead mouse back there!

Also, I smelled burning in our house which neither my room mate nor my landlord could smell. But when the landlord went into the basement, he found the heating unit burning up! In fact, he said that my sensitivity to scents probably saved the house from burning down.

Some scents are so noxious to me I cannot bear them at all, and they will give me a headache (certain perfumes or herbs). I will also get a headache from walking down the detergent and household clearner isle in the supermarket.

On the other hand, some things smell wonderful to me that I think shouldn't. I love the scent of oil paint and turpentine. I love the scent of vinyl.

Sensory Overload: Tactile

I have to have soft clothing. Usually I prefer cotton, although linen is okay, the older the better (as it can become very soft).

Tags in clothing bother me, and I have learned to cut them out or completely remove them, if possible, with a seam ripper. I love some of the new clothing with the tags sprayed on the inside back top, near the neck opening.

Some polyesters, acetates and nylon can chafe my skin. I cannot sleep on sheets that have any content of polyester in them -- they feel like fire on my skin.

It was very traumatic when I was a child when my mother washed or brush my hair. Also, when I was a child bathing caps were in style, and the kids all wore them, but they always gave me a headache. My mother told me that, when I was three and four, wearing certain clothing made me run around the house screaming.

Sensory Overload: Visual

I intensely dislike florescent lights and seem to have a hard time working under them. I can see them vibrate which seems to tire me. Often they emit sounds I find annoying.

Also, most CRT computer screens and some TV’s bother me, and I cannot bear the digitized look of HDTV if it is a relatively inexpensive set. I have a hard time living in (or working in or traveling through) areas where there are bright large signs, visual clutter, disorganization, and piles of things everywhere. (People have commented than my décor is spartan, although I don’t think it is).

Currently, I do much of my artwork under Ott lamps which are florescent. I love the fact that they show everything in "true color." However, they are florescent. I have not yet decided whether or not to go back to incandescent light nor not. Sometimes something can bother me subconsciously, but I won't notice it until it is too late, and I have become over-stimulated. I do know the Ott lamps sometimes put out an atrocious hum that I can barely stand.

The other evening I did some journaling under and incandescent lamp in the evening, and it did seem I was more relaxed and better able to work longer before getting tired enough to stop.

Sensory Overload: Auditory

One of my biggest challenges is one which plagues many autistic people namely, that of sensory sensitivity. I am so sensitive that it is very easy for me to become overwhelmed and exhausted. Even a visit to a grocery store with all its advertising, music, children screaming, florescent lights, and navigating around people can make me too tired to do much when I get home.

In the next few days I will be sharing some of those sensory issues and describe how they affect my experience.

I am highly sensitive to sounds, and many sounds bother me, especially high pitched sounds, babies crying, transformers, my computer drive, digitized music or podcasts if the resolution is low, whining from radios or speakers. Apparently, I can hear sounds that only animals such as dogs can hear.

Many sounds that bother me either do not bother others or bother them far less. While I can consciously "tune out" a sound, it can still subconsciously affect me enough to overload me in a short time.