Different Brain Design? Spot The Difference!

Ever heard women dismissed using phrases such as, “Women are so irrational.  I saw one of them in hysterics once; they’re not really fit for high office”?   Or been embarrassed to be with someone who tells you that ‘them Blacks’ aren’t to be trusted?  Deeply uncomfortable stuff. Unfounded prejudice is the opposite of what Jesus brought to the world.  This much we know.

When prejudice is found, groups form to counter it.  One for minority ethnic groups.  One for women.  One for LGBTQ issues….and each group works hard to say, “We are loved by God too; we have gifts to bring.  Please do not deny us a place at the table.”

There’s another group in our parishes who encounter prejudice based on myth and fear.  It contains around a million people in the UK. Some 400,000 women.  Around 140,000 people from minority ethnic groups.   Close to 240,000 people who identify as LGBTQ.  It is people like me.  Autistic.

I’m also female, and Christian.  I’m an owner of a Professional Practice and Adviser to the Government All Party Parliamentary Group for Autism.  I’m a mum and a school Governor.  I’m part of the LGBTQ community, a respected national trainer/adviser on Autism and autistic.  Not ‘mildly’ autistic.  Properly autistic.  Autism is how my brain is designed, from birth.

Powerful word, autism.  But not always in a good way.  The autism community is reclaiming it as worth respect, something bringing skills and love as well as challenges.

What went through your mind?  Some will say, “Wow, great!” Some do a full, “Hey I once saw the 1988 Rain Man film…aren’t they all in Institutions somewhere?…something to do with badly behaved boys isn’t it…this must be something about giving money to the ‘poor suffering families’…I’d better stop reading before she asks me to get my wallet out…!”.

Nope.  Relax!   Pretty much everything you thought you knew about autism is a myth.   Ready for the real stuff?    It’s almost as likely to be women as men.  It’s not anything to do with having a low score on IQ tests.  It’s not a mental health condition.  It’s a brain design.  Most women with autism are almost indistinguishable from other women.  And we’re generally lovely people who are already in your churches and communities, but hiding.  Why?  Because we’re often afraid of the reactions of others.

We think autism used to be respected in ancient societies.  Generalising, we’re ten times more accurate than other people.  We often have some senses that are super-sensitive, so may  hear and see detail that others could only dream of.   Often brilliant at memorising texts and speeches, though very literal about how we interpret wording. And we are usually super-honest and utterly unimpressed with social ‘schmoozing’, so are the natural enemies of sociopaths.  Thus an ancient village society may have a fantastic sociopath-spotter and  wild-animal-spotter in their midst. Someone who could use their intense eyesight to track animals…an amazing sense of taste to spot traces of poison in berries and foods…a fab sense of smell to detect an oncoming forest fire, a great memory for tribe tales or religious texts.  Not better than others, but different – and that difference may have had a real benefit to society.

But it’s at a cost.  All that super-sensing by our brain stops us processing much information about people’s expressions, voice tone, body language.  Even recognising people is much harder.  We often cannot see and hear others properly in busy, noisy places under flickering fluorescent lighting.  If we’re kept in those busy, noisy places for too long, our brain wiring eventually ‘overheats and short circuits’.  We’ll do everything we can to avoid that. On brain scans it’s looking similar to an epileptic seizure, but without the physical event.    Until the wiring has a chance to ‘cool down’ in a quiet space, we might behave randomly or go completely silent for a short while.  It’s been unfortunate that the science has only just spotted this as a physical brain-event.  It meant some people thought that we were insane/not to be trusted/manipulative/dangerous. No. We just need to stay out of sensory/social overload, same as those with epilepsy may need to avoid strobe lighting.

We are socially clumsy when asked to communicate in ‘non-autistic’ ways.  We don’t mean to be.    It was easy to believe that we lacked empathy.   But what we lack is the bit of the brain that can easily see your face/hear your voice tone.  We learn to ask good questions about how you are, and really think about the answers.   I’ve so many wonderful, warm, caring autistic friends – whether verbal or not, whether of high IQ or not. Many of us are doing specialised jobs of every kind in society – from Clergy and artists to poets and authors.  From childminders and parents to top scientists and engineers.  Many others are denied a job because of myths and misunderstandings.

Alas, in some church situations, old myths may still abound.  In some churches we’re told that people like us can’t be trusted because we have a ‘mental problem’ of some sort.  That if we encounter prejudice or predatory behaviour, they cannot trust our evidence because autistic people are irrational, paranoid, lacking the mental capacity, etc.    Remember how women were dismissed as being ‘irrational’?  It’s the same for autism.  If even one autistic person out of 100 does something amiss, it’s often assumed the other 99 are just like that.  Not so.  Respecting differences and different needs is so important.

I’m just one person, helping bring together groups supporting women, and the LGBT community , and the minority ethnic communities, and people disabled by their environment etc….and saying as fellow Christians, “You are loved.  God wants us to learn from one another, to cherish each others’ friendship and uniqueness… to walk in the light of Christ towards a world where we grow in faith, love and respect for one another.”  That’s a world worth praying for.

Want more info on autism and your church?  Here are the national church guidelines commissioned by the Rt Revd John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford.

 We are very grateful to Ann Memmott for this introduction to autism and the need for churches and congregations to learn a little more about the viewpoint of those on the autistic spectrum. You can read more about her and the projects she is involved with on her website.

Ann is:

“a national disability and autism consultant, working to improve understanding of how to make use of the considerable gifts of disabled people.  Her work is supported by the Fairweathers community fund.

Ann is the author of the “Welcoming and Including those with Autism and Asperger Syndrome in our Churches and Communities” guidelines. These are part of the national “Opening the Doors” report on learning disabilities and autism, by the Church of England.

Ann also works as an adviser for many organisations, businesses and charities.  Ann is an adviser to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Autism, and works with English Heritage, the Church of England, British Standards Institute, Crown Prosecution Service and many other national organisations on how to ensure easy access to buildings and written materials for people on the autism spectrum.”