I thought that I would take a moment to illustrate what I love about being autistic. I'm going to do that, sort of. The thing that I love (now) about being autistic almost killed me in my 20’s - until I found two mentors that taught me how to operate my autistic brain as designed.
Notice that I used the term mentor, not therapist, not psychiatrist, not doctor, not Autism $peaks.
All human brains are quantum field generators (or simply quantum fields). 90%-98% of the human population has the ability to unconsciously control / limit the activity of this amazingly powerful tool. The autistic person does not, by design.
In my late teens and twenties, medical science’s answer for my seemingly out of control quantum field generator was medication and talk-therapy. When these didn't work, because they can’t and are not fit for purpose, medical science’s only answer was to up the dosages of some very powerful drugs - effectively putting my brain in a chemical straight jacket. Being a gestalt processor (aka, non-verbal), I lacked the ability to describe just what level of suck I was feeling (I had zero gestalts available for this). Lacking the ability to effectively communicate, I wasn’t able to properly consent to this line of treatment. It didn’t work. It was so unsuccessful that I ended up spending a month in the hospital recovering from their therapies.
I met a mentor when I was almost 30. He taught me how my brain was designed to function. He taught me how to use my brain as designed. It literally changed my life.
Consider this, if you had an acre of lawn in front of your house, how long would it take to mow that lawn with a regular push mower? Several hours? What about a lawn tractor? You’d reduce that time to under an hour. What about a quantum mower? With a cutting tool for each blade of grass, you’d be done as you started the task. Would you ever go back to a push mower.
The human brain is really no different. It’s a quantum field generator. It’s ability to process is unrivaled by the best machines invented thus far. The vast majority of people have a limiter placed on their processing ability - probably a result of natural selection. Having an unregulated quantum field generator is not entirely a good thing if you don't have the experience running one.
You see, most therapists are trained along the lines of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Old Abe thought that folks would behave in a certain way, satisfying safety needs and gradually lifting themselves up to other activities as they satisfied certain emotional / behavioural levels.
Maslow doesn’t work for autistic brains. It doesn't explain sensory overload. It doesn’t explain explosive emotions. It doesn’t explain shut downs. It just doesn’t work. So, what does? Glasser's Choice Theory.
Choice Theory notes that there are a variety of reasons behind choice. As it relates to the autistic brain, and quantum fields, imagine facing a choice - do you want to go to dinner? Think about the probable choices around that very innocent question. The quantum field generator begins to calculate the potential answers beyond a simple yes/no - it includes where, routes, meal choices, potential verbal interactions, etc. It cascades out of control, leading to overload and shut down in the worst of cases. The autistic brain wants to get to it's “Quality World.” You've just changed the route to that “location.” It now attempts to plan the path back. It’s not fun.
Thank you for getting this far. Please keep in mind that 20 years ago, this whole exercise would not have been possible.
My first mentor introduced me to the topic of the autistic brain as a quantum field generator. My second mentor taught me how to use it. I don’t think he actually intended to teach me how to use my autistic brain. He didn’t know that I was autistic. He was my wrestling coach at the time I was learning Shuai Jiao (a Chinese style wrestling that is similar to Sambo). He introduced me to a concept from Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s books - the theatre of the mind. Dr. Maltz’s theory is that one could use this stage in one’s mind to accomplish many things. Give it a task to accomplish. Let it run in the subconscious. It will let you know when it's ready.
I tried little things first. It worked. I tried progressively more complex things. They worked as well. I tried a rather audacious task for a non-verbal autistic - I wanted to write a book. I gave by quantum field generator the task of creating the book.
Five weeks later, I was having what felt like a panic attack. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn't concentrate. All I could think about was the contents of this book. I sat down to type it out. I’d type until I passed out. Then, a short time later, my brain would wake me up to keep going. The draft was done in a week. The completed / edited book was done in five weeks - five very exhausting weeks. That book, Forensic Photoshop, has been a best seller and has been sold on every continent (except Antarctica). Coach was right.
I've spent the time since then learning, refining, adjusting, and attempting to push the limits. I went back to school to complete my degree. I kept on going. I got a doctorate. I kept on going.
I've been using my personal quantum field generator to solve problems for me, my family, my friends, and my students - for about two decades now. It’s enabled me to be able to provide for myself and my family - something that is largely out of reach for many autistic people.
So, you see, the thing that I love about my autistic brain literally almost killed me a few decades ago. Thanks to the quantum nature of time and memory, those days are still present in my short term memory - everything is still in my short term memory. It’s often quite tough to sort through all the data quickly - thus speech delay and the need to spend the time to write things like this down.
My brain is not a superpower. It's just wired different than most. I’m still figuring it out. With each new revelation comes new challenges. A few years ago, I discovered how to use diet to control my energy levels and thus switch it off for a bit longer - being able to sleep an hour or so longer now (about 5 hours on average). I lost 160 lbs of unnecessary weight that was the result of being on a ton of medicines that medical science deemed necessary - but weren’t. The doctors just don’t quite know about the autistic body - or that sensory processing / integration includes the whole body and not just your ears and eyes.
Put another way, as a scholar of philosophy and religion, and having taught and spoke on comparative religion for almost a decade, I know that Christians generally believe in an intentional, omniscient, omnipresent God. They believe that God designed all things for a purpose, fitting into a plan that our human brains can’t possibly comprehend. Because God does not make mistakes, they believe, doesn’t that mean that my brain works exactly as their God designed it to work? With this sentiment in mind, I find groups like Autism $speaks - and other eugenics oriented groups - so abhorrent and evil. They work and raise money and plan for a day when people like me don’t exist on this planet. That test that the eugenicists made to detect if an unborn many may have Downs Syndrome - they want a similar test for the presence of autistic traits - so they can inform the mother and father that it would be better to abort (terminate the pregnancy - kill the unborn child - you choose your preferred phrase).
Why on earth would we want to do that?
— Spring 2023 Update —
Some of the material from this article has made it’s way into my book, No Place for Autism? It’s available at Amazon, and many other online booksellers.
— May 2024 Update —
My quantum processor has been at it again. See what it came up with, and how that revelation has solved so many issues in my life. Life, after all, is full of surprises.