ACCESSING YOUR INTUITION
Becoming Unbound: Sensing as a Channel to the Extraordinary
BY MICHAEL JAWER
7KH ODWH 'RQQD :LOOLDPV ZDV D UHPDUNDEOH SHUVRQ Raised in Australia, she was autistic but didn’t know it until diagnosed DW DJH 8S WR WKDW SRLQW VKH KDG EHHQ UHJDUGHG DV H[FHHGLQJO\ VWUDQJH³5HWDUGHG´³PHQWDO´³VWXSLG´DQG³FUD]\´ZHUHVRPHRIWKH terms used, starting with her own family. In many respects, Donna, the author of several landmark autism memoirs beginning with Nobody Nowhere , was encased in her own ZRUOG6KHKDGDIDVFLQDWLRQIRUVKLQ\REMHFWVDQGWKHIHHORIGL̆HUHQW fabrics. She would see patterns and spaces, losing herself in what she JD]HGXSRQRU IHOWKHUVHOI DSDUWRI6KH ORYHGPDNLQJ FROOHFWLRQVRI things and endlessly ordering them. She largely saw parts of people — hands, arms, faces — and didn’t easily connect the whole person to- gether, let alone her or his motivation. Similarly, the meaning carried by gesture and intonation was often lost, with the sounds of words alone having an impact. 'RQQD FRQVWDQWO\GHDOWZLWK DEDUUDJH RI VHQVDWLRQ¿QGLQJKLJK pitched sounds, bright lights, and even the most basic touch intoler- able. It didn’t help matters that her parents could be violent and abu- sive. Emotion scared her, and she coped by further withdrawing on the one hand and developing a pair of trusty personas on the other. She also, it turned out later, was allergic to various foods; her behav- ior and demeanor improved to some extent when this was addressed. Donna ultimately became able to feel her feelings rather than being scared by them and retreating into her private, inaccessible world. A Web of Sensory Impressions In her memoirs, Williams struck several themes that are highly use- IXOLQXQGHUVWDQGLQJZKDWLW¶VOLNHWREHDXWLVWLF+HU¿UVWNH\SRLQWLV that people on the autism spectrum view themselves and the world primarily through a web of sensory impressions, not mental con- structs. 3HRSOHZLWKDXWLVPVSHFWUXPGLVRUGHU $6' DUHDSWWRH[SHULHQFH WKLQJV¿UVWDQGIRUHPRVWDVVHQVRU\SKHQRPHQDEHLQJGUDZQE\WKH literal impressions themselves rather than by the person or thing in its totality. Whereas most people know a comb, for example, as an object WKDWKDVXWLOLW\ZLWKKDLUDQGWKDWKDSSHQVWREHÀDWDQGKDVWHHWKDQG is often black, for an autistic person that same comb might be fasci- nating for the scraping sound it makes when run across one’s teeth. In the same way, individuals with autism perceive other people, animals, HYHQLQVHFWVEDVHGRQFKDUDFWHULVWLFFRORUVVPHOOVYRFDOL]DWLRQVDQG PRYHPHQWVUDWKHUWKDQWDNLQJWKHPLQDV³ZKROLVWLF´RUJDQLVPV “Resonance” in Autism A second, fundamentally related point is that people with autism will often merge into the web of sensation they are witnessing. They ³UHVRQDWH´ZLWKZKDWHYHU LV EHLQJ H[SHULHQFHG ORVLQJ WKHLU VHQVH RI ERG\ERXQGDULHVVR WKH\ VHHP WREHFRPHRQHZLWK WKHREMHFW ³6XG - GHQO\´REVHUYHV:LOOLDPVLQ $XWLVPDQG6HQVLQJ ³WKHUHLVQR\RXDQG what had been you just becomes a tool, like a sponge through which this sensing or resonance is taken in. What is sensed is not taken in E\WKHFRQVFLRXVPLQGDQGWKHUH LVQRWKRXJKWDQGQRUHÀHFWLRQQR wonder and no curiosity. There is just a journey into whatever is being VHQVHG´ $WKHRU\WKDWKDVSDUWLFXODUUHOHYDQFHKHUHLVNQRZQDVWKH³LQWHQVH ZRUOG´K\SRWKHVLV ,WSRVLWV WKDWSHRSOHZLWK DXWLVP DUHERPEDUGHG at an early age with sensory stimuli and they subsequently withdraw
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from the world in order to cope. The theory is the brainchild of Hen- U\0DUNUDPGLUHFWRURIWKH&HQWHUIRU1HXURVFLHQFHDQG7HFKQRORJ\ DQG FRGLUHFWRU RI WKH %UDLQ 0LQG ,QVWLWXWH DW eFROH 3RO\WHFKQLTXH )pGpUDOHGH/DXVDQQH0DUNUDPGHYHORSHGWKLVWKHRU\ZLWKKLVZLIH UHVHDUFKHU.DPLOD0DUNUDPDQGWKHLUIRUPHUDVVRFLDWH7DQLD5LQDO - GL%DUNDW,WHPHUJHGRXWRI\HDUVRI IUXVWUDWLRQZLWK WKH0DUNUDPV¶ VRQ.DL ZKRLVQRZLQKLVWZHQWLHV 7KH FRQFHSW WKH\ KLW XSRQ LV GHVFULEHG PRVW HORTXHQWO\ E\ 0DLD 6]DODYLW]LQKHUDUWLFOH³7KH%R\:KRVH%UDLQ&RXOG8QORFN$XWLVP´ ( Matter 'HF 6KHZULWHV ³&RQVLGHUZKDWLWPLJKWIHHOOLNHWREHDEDE\LQDZRUOGRIUHOHQWOHVV and unpredictable sensation. An overwhelmed infant might, not sur- SULVLQJO\DWWHPSWWRHVFDSH.DPLOD>0DUNUDP@FRPSDUHVLWWREHLQJ VOHHSOHVVMHWODJJHGDQGKXQJRYHUDOODWRQFH³,I\RXGRQ¶WVOHHSIRU DQLJKWRUWZRHYHU\WKLQJKXUWV7KHOLJKWVKXUW7KHQRLVHVKXUW<RX ZLWKGUDZ´VKHVD\V8QOLNHDGXOWVKRZHYHUEDELHVFDQ¶WÀHH$OOWKH\ can do is cry and rock, and, later, try to avoid touch, eye contact, and other powerful experiences. Autistic children might revel in patterns DQGSUHGLFWDELOLW\MXVWWRPDNHVHQVHRIWKHFKDRV´ The intense world theory presumes the world autistic people per- ceive is one of constant sensory overload. This is because their brains are hyperconnected. Rather than one cell having connections to ten other cells, it might be linked to twenty. So the world is experienced DV³DEDUUDJHRIFKDRWLFLQGHFLSKHUDEOHLQSXWDFDFRSKRQ\RIUDZXQ - ¿OWHUDEOHGDWD´,W¶VZRUWKQRWLQJWKDWHPRWLRQDOVWLPXOLDUHDVSURP - LQHQWDVSK\VLFDOVWLPXOLLQWKDWEDUUDJH'RQQD:LOOLDPVFDOOHGLW³DQ LQWHQVHXQFRQWUROODEOHHPSDWK\´$URXQGVRPHRQHZLWKDEURNHQOHJ IRU LQVWDQFH VKH ³IHOW WKHLU SDLQ LQP\ OHJ´ 7KHPHFKDQLVP DV VKH describes it, is one where too much information is coming through and the person can either attend to the external stimuli or the internal stimuli but not both at the same time. Williams didn’t just resonate with people and things — she resonat- HGZLWKSODFHV WRR6RPHWLPHV´ VKH VDLG ³LW LV«SRVVLEOH WR VHQVH D lingering ‘feel’ to a place just as we might smell a lingering smell on the FDUSHW IURPDEHHUVZLOOLQJSDUW\«RUH[SHULHQFHWKH OLQJHULQJ µWRXFK SULQW¶RIDKDQGVKDNHWKDWKDVDOUHDG\OHIWDIHZVHFRQGVDJR´,QWKLV respect, people with ASD may be Highly Sensitive Persons, the term
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PATHWAYS—Fall 21—9
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