What is Autism Spectrum disorder?
While depictions of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in popular media range from “socially awkward genius” to “nonverbal disability,” it’s easy to see why people might be confused about how the same condition could lead to such radically different outcomes. Hopefully, this article will provide clarity.
The easiest way to explain ASD is by first addressing what it isn’t. It is not a superpower, and it is only rarely a disability. Instead, ASD can be understood as an evolutionary tradeoff that occurs in approximately one to two percent of the population.
What does “evolutionary tradeoff” mean? To answer that, it’s essential to understand the relationship between consciousness and perception. The part of the human brain responsible for consciousness is only a small part of a larger whole. Most of what your brain does involves background processes that help you navigate your environment. These processes might help you recognize important things, like your car keys and cell phone, or ignore irrelevant stimuli, like the sound of a train when you’re trying to sleep. In short, parts of your brain—over which you have no conscious control—determine what you notice in the world around you.
For individuals with ASD, these background processes are either configured differently or are missing altogether. This explains how ASD can encompass both the “socially awkward genius” and the “nonverbal disability.” In the former case, the individual’s brain highlights details that most people’s brains filter out. In the latter case, the individual’s brain is overwhelmed because it highlights everything—all the time.
However, the reality for most people on the spectrum is far less extreme than these Hollywood portrayals. For the majority, the differences are more subtle and fall somewhere between these two extremes.
In practice, these differences often translate into exceptional pattern recognition abilities, a highly valuable trait in the workplace. Individuals with ASD can excel at identifying details that others might overlook, such as:
Subtle behavioral cues
Inefficiencies in workflows
Opportunities to optimize designs with precision and creativity
