The diagnostic criteria for autism include problems in communication, behavior and relatedness and British researchers, writing in the December 2007 issue of the "Journal of Intellectual Disabilities," would add anxiety to that list. They found that autistic adults were three times more likely to experience significant levels of anxiety than people with other intellectual disabilities. This emotional state can cause psychological distress and physiological symptoms such as a racing heart rate and difficulty breathing.
Anxiety Regarding Change
Not being able to imagine what is going to happen in an unknown situation causes extreme anxiety and this is the daily experience for people challenged by autism. The brain of a person with autism is unable to consider what it already knows--memories and feelings and the way others are reacting--while focusing on what is immediately confronting the person; according to autism counselor and author Susan Dodd in her book "Understanding Autism." For example, when a fire drill occurs at the school of a child with autism, his brain focuses on the event as it unfolds but, even after 10 fire drills, he will not grow less afraid because he does not take social cues from others and he can't think about how well all of the other experiences ended when his brain is hyperfocused on the fact the daily routine is changing.
Anxiety may be seen in the person's difficulty breathing or in the repetitive motions he uses to self-soothe. But whenever possible the person with autism will take actions aimed at avoiding change and the anxiety it brings which make his behavior seem stubborn, rigid and obstinate.
Anxiety Regarding Social Communication
Because other people require emotional interaction and because they want to talk about things that are not concrete, being with them can be exhausting for the person with autism even when companionship is desired, according to Temple Grandin, Ph.D., a woman personally challenged by autism. She shared, in a 2006 interview for National Public Radio, that having to engage in social chit-chat is exhausting but talking about concrete things is pleasant. Social banter requires being able to think about what you are going to say when the other person is sharing their ideas and feelings--an impossible task for people who can not attend to two thoughts at the same time, as is true in autism--and verbal skill deficits such as rapid word recall, common in autism, can also make conversing awkward and anxiety producing.
Anxiety from Sensory Overload
To an autistic person an environment rich with sounds, sites, smells, tastes and tactile sensations, including touch is commonly experienced as physically painful. According to researchers at the University of Louisville, this is caused by the autistic brain's inability to filter background sensory experiences and this pain, they found, causes anxiety and depression.
Many children who exhibit this degree of sensory overload are not diagnosed with autism; though if tested specifically they would meet autistic criteria. Instead they are diagnosed with sensory/perception disorders and treated accordingly. Olga Bogdashina, Ph.D., a linguist specializing in autism, stated in her essay for "Autism Today" that these may be among the most fortunate of autistic children. She notes that children who master strategies for decreasing sensory overload will not need to engage in temper tantrums as a reaction to the pain experience of sensory overload, something autistic children often continue throughout their school years. They also won't need to engage in repetitive, self-soothing behaviors that others find annoying and bizarre or retreat into solitude as a way of tuning out.
The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Intellectual Disabilities in Education Act protect an autistic person's right to accommodations needed to eliminate sensory overload at work and at school within reasonable limits.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Autism
- "Journal of Intellectual Disabilities"; Levels of anxiety and sources of stress in adults with autism; A. Gillott and P.J. Standon; December 2007
- University of Louisville: New Autism Treatment Wins Eureka Award from the National Institutes of Health: Summer 2009
- National Public Radio: Temple Grandin on Autism and Language
- "Autism Today"; Different Sensory Experiences; O. Bogdashina, Ph.D.
