EXTENSIVE LIST OF AUTISTIC TRAITS:

Not all of these need to be met in order to be autistic, but it is a common list of
traits.

- Need for sameness/consistency

- Little tolerance for change (either in general or specific areas)
- Stimming with any of the senses
- Under or overreaction to any of the senses
- Eye contact is painful/uncomfortable
- Excessive eye contact
- Bluntness
- Meltdowns
- Shutdowns
- Masking
- Alexithymia
- Photographic memory
- Difficulty with memory (short or long-term)
- Special interests
- Executive dysfunction
- Detail-oriented (in seeing, thinking, speaking)
- Tends to see the details rather than the big picture
- Difficulty comprehending and applying instruction
- Black and white thinking
- Pathological Demand Avoidance (a profile)
- Sensory issues (over/understimulation)
- Social awkwardness (according to allistic standards)
- Doesn´t read social cues well
- More likely to be open and accepting of others
- Emotional regulation difficulty
- Cannot switch from one task to another on demand
- Doesn’t interpret meanings well (others must be direct)
- Propioception difficulties
- Situational mutism
- Non-speaking, semi-verbal, hyperverbal
- Echolalia
- Lack of facial expression or exaggerated facial expression
- Displays different facial expression for the emotion being felt
- Dislikes small talk
- Trouble expressing thoughts, ideas and needs to others
- Logical thinking
- Gives up on tasks that are not easily overcome
- Trouble focusing (possible co-morbid ADHD)
- Has a different tone of voice/inflection, might be monotone at times
- Difficulty in understanding and accepting social hierarchies
- Tendency to overshare
- Needs repetition of instruction
- Verbosity (using more words than needed, wordiness)
- Considered gifted or savant
- Hands on/visual learner
- Difficulty in lying
- Needs time to de-stress after social situations
- Different gait or posture
- Ritualistic
- Escapes through imagination
- Difficulty knowing turn to speak, may interrupt
- Experiences intense, overwhelming emotions
- Hyper and hypoempathetic
- Interest in objects
- Trouble understanding personal space
- Unusually high or low threshold for feeling emotions
- Sensory seeking/sensory avoidant
- Food selective
- Impulsivity
- Hyperactivity
- Aphantasia
- Copying another person’s or character’s mannerisms
- Trouble understanding body language and facial expressions
- Interoception difficulties (not knowing when you’re hungry/sleepy, can´t pinpoint
location of pain)
- Experiencing joy over what most people consider mundane
- Retained primitive reflexes
- More likely to question gender/sexuality
- Prolonged staring/eaves dropping
- Lack of fear towards danger
- Constant internal monologue
- Perfectionism
- Conversation rehearsing/scripting
- Synesthesia
- Misophonia
- Strong sense of justice
- Need for equality/exactness
- Sees, interacts with, understands and interprets the world in a completely different
way
- Hyper focused (specially on special interests)
 - Low or high threshold for feeling things physically (pain, heat, cold)
- Stronger connection to animals
- Separation anxiety
- Intuition or “sixth sense” (due to pattern recognition)
- Great pattern recognition abilities
- Gargoyle sitting

COMORBIDITIES: A comorbidity is something you may be more likely to have

alongside being autistic. Being autistic does not cause comorbidities.
- Anxiety
- Depression
- OCD
- ADHD
- Sensory Processing Disorder
- Tourette Syndrome
- Eating disorders
- BPD
- Insomnia
- Gastro-intestinal issues
- Aphantasia
- Synesthesia
- Alexithymia
- Headaches/migraines
- Dyslexia
- Dyspraxia
- Dyscalculia
- Vertigo/motion sickness
- Double jointed
- Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
- Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome
- Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

BARRIERS TO DIAGNOSIS:
- Medical gaslighting
- Outdated diagnostic tools
- Stereotyped medical bias
- Judgement from others
- Imposter syndrome
- Has restricted ideas about what autism “looks like”
- Unsupportive family
 - Finantial issues
- Misdiagnosis
- Race
- Long waiting lists
- Lack of resources
- Lack of geographical specialists
- Being AFAB
- Pathologizing autism
- Lack of accessibility for adults

10 autism facts:
- Autism is genetic
- Autism can’t be “cured”
- ABA is harmful
- Autism Speaks is not an ally
- “Autistic” is preferred to “person with autism”
- The autistic community rejects the puzzle piece symbol
- Functioning labels are harmful
- A lot of autistics are queer/LGBTQIA+
- Autism is NOT an intellectual disability
- Nonspeaking/nonverbal people do communicate and need to be listened to

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS AND AUTISM:

Executive function is a set of cognitive skills that help us to regulate and control our thoughts
and actions and is controlled by an area in the brain called the frontal lobe.
It encompasses so many essential areas of daily living, which can make it harder for people who
struggle with executive dysfunction to go about their day and control their behavior.
Aspects of executive function:

- Initiation: starting tasks

- Inhibition: stopping at the appropriate time
- Emotional control management: managing emotional responses
- Shifting: transitioning between tasks.
- Working memory: holding information in your brain for long enough to complete a task
- Planning and organization: ability to manage tasks and keep things in order
- Self-monitoring: mental control and self-regulation

MELTDOWNS:
When do they happen?:

- When a person is over or understimulated

- There is a disruption in routine or normalcy
- Demands are put on us unexpectedly´
- There is stress
- Our emotions become overwhelming
- There is any level of confrontation
They can look like:

- Pacing
- Crying
- Bolting
- Self-injurious stimming
- Yelling
- Lashing out (anger irritation)
- Hyperventilating
- Withdrawal (internal meltdown)
- Going non-verbal
- A plea to stop or leave
- Zoning out
`

THE SENSES: Sensory processing.

Levels of responsiveness:

- Under-responsive, “hyposensitive”: exhibits less of a response to sensory information,

takes longer to respond to sensory input, or requires more intense or long-lasting
sensory input before they are moved to action.
- Over-responsive, “hypersensitive”: responds more intensely, more quickly and/or for a
longer time to sensory information.
- Sensory seeking: having a nearly insatiable craving for sensory experiences and actively
seeking sensations.
There can be a mix of these levels in different senses, and someone could be some of them
at the same time (example: hyposensitive and sensory seeking, hyposensitive and
hypersensitive (situational))
1. Propioception:
HYPERSENSITIVE:

- May hold their body in odd positions or appear lethargic. (tired and slow movements)
They may become tired after standing for long periods of time.
- Appear stiff while walking.
- Difficulty manipulating small objects.
- Appear uncoordinated in their movements.
- Be hypersensitive to pain.
HYPOSENSITIVE:

- Unaware of bodily sensations (hunger.. etc)

- Bumps into or leans on people/objects.
 - Has difficult navigating rooms and avoiding objects when moving around.
- Stumble and fall more than average.
- Appear floppy and have a difficulty with balance.
- Have difficulty with activities that require a change in body positioning. For example,
playing sports.
- Sit in a “w” stance on the floor.
- Drop objects easily.
- Have a limited sense of personal space. May unknowingly stand too close to other
individuals or objects
SENSORY SEEKING:

- Constantly moving
- Seeks out rough housing.
- Likes pressure (example: tight clothing)

2. Vestibular:
HYPERSENSITIVE:

- Fear of heights.
- Dislikes being rocked.
- Dislikes any rollercoaster rides.
- Easily becomes motion sick or dizzy.
HYPOSENSITIVE:

- May not notice when falling and not extend hands or feet to protect themselves.
- May be described as clumsy, often falling over, tripping and losing their balance. They
might have to look at the floor while walking.
- Does not get dizzy easily.
SENSORY SEEKING:

- Adventurous climber/jumper.
- Enjoy a large amount of bouncing, jumping and spinning without becoming nauseous or
dizzy.
- Enjoy thrill-seeking activities, such as rollercoasters.
- Rocking (standing or sitting).

3. Tactile:
HYPERSENSITIVE:

- Does not like certain textures/clothing (wool, fur, jeans)

- Does not like having messy hands/face.
- Finds having hair or nails cut unpleasant.
- Dislikes light or unexpected touch.
- Becomes anxious while standing close to others.
- Become irritated while wearing shoes or socks.
-
 HYPOSENSITIVE:

- Be able to tolerate very hot or cold temperatures. They may seem unaware of these
extreme temperatures.
- Be able to tolerate high levels of pain or seem unaware of pain.
SENSORY SEEKING:

- Constantly touching objects

- Mouths objects
- Prone to self-injury, rub and scratch at body parts to gain extra input.
- Prone to roughhousing, unaware of their own strength.

4. Visual:
HYPERSENSITIVE:

- Prefer environments with low lighting.

- Appear uncomfortable or frustrated in highly lit areas.
- Avoid bright lights.
HYPOSENSITIVE:

- Does not seem affected by intense sensory visual input.

- Trips or falls down stairs or curbs because they did not see them or cannot tell how far
they are.
- Miss objects when trying to grab them, or be unable to locate objects that are obvious to
others.

SENSORY SEEKING:

- Fixates on moving parts

- Stares at bright flashing lights or bright colors.
- Often watch others in the environment.
- Gravitate towards high contrast pictures or patterns.

5. Auditory:
HYPERSENSITIVE:

- Dislikes loud noises.

- Scared of unexpected noises.
- May be able to hear and become distracted by background noise others may not notice.
- May experience misophonia.
HYPOSENSITIVE:

- Needs things repeated multiple times to process/understand them.

- May be unable to locate where sounds come from.
- Not respond when their name is called.
- May be unable to locate where sounds come from.
SENSORY SEEKING:

- Likes loud music or noises.

- Listens to TV or music with a very high volume.
- May be described by others as loud or noisy.
- Creates sounds themselves for stimulation