00:00hello and welcome to lunchbrain the show
00:03that puts Big Ideas into an adorable
00:05little bento box for you this is
00:07Marshall Edwards your host
00:09today we'll be discussing the intense
00:11world theory of autism this theory was
00:14created by researchers Camilla and Henry
00:17markram in 2010. this theory states that
00:21the autistic brain is home to
00:23supercharged micro circuits these micro
00:25circuits are a small unit of the brain
00:27that works together to process
00:31an autistic person absorbs information
00:34very fully so it can be hard to organize
00:38this information quickly or in an
00:42immediately usable way on the other hand
00:45autistic people often make connections
00:47that other people aren't able to make
00:49one of the results of this intensity of
00:53of stimulation and sensation is the
00:58control of sensation through different
01:01coping mechanisms in the autistic brain
01:04to quote a popular Twitter campaign
01:06everything happens so much for example a
01:10touch on bear's skin for an autistic
01:12person if they're not expecting it can
01:15be an extreme sensation because the
01:18brain is trying to process that
01:21sensation so completely
01:23uh this can be mitigated by the autistic
01:26person wearing tight clothing or
01:29covering clothing or even a heavy
01:32draping clothing that provides a steady
01:36sensation to the body
01:38but it as as the friend of an autistic
01:40person you can prevent this by letting
01:44them know you're present before you
01:47touch them by establishing a pattern and
01:50most of all by talking with an autistic
01:52person about their boundaries and
01:55respecting those boundaries when they
01:58autistic children start developing
01:59coping mechanisms early on to help
02:02control the sensations that they are
02:04being bombarded with from all sides
02:07um these can include things such as
02:09stimming stimming covers a wide range of
02:13uh behaviors such as rocking in place
02:17grinding teeth tapping feet or fingers
02:20cracking knuckles squeezing or flapping
02:24hands and so on the benefit for the
02:27autistic person is that this provides a
02:30controlled sensation which they can use
02:33as a filter or background noise almost
02:36like a steady beat for a rock song for
02:39which they can help process everything
02:42else that's going on around them it
02:45definitely helps me for instance when
02:47I'm at work I use headphones all the
02:49time I have one ear covered and one year
02:51uncovered so that I have a constant
02:54source of predictable noise in one ear
02:57and another ear ready to receive
03:00information from my surroundings whether
03:02it's a machine going off someone needing
03:05to speak to me or get my attention or
03:08any other stimulus the result if I don't
03:12do that is that everyday noises even if
03:15I know what I'm listening for can
03:18disorient me and cause me to very
03:22quickly become over stimulated and
03:26now here's where I editorialize a little
03:29um I would describe the intense world
03:32theory of autism as a superpower you
03:35on the one hand your brain is making all
03:38these intense connections and analyzes
03:40of everything that's going on around you
03:42which can allow you to come up with
03:45insights or ideas or realizations that
03:49no one else is having and that can be
03:51very very useful and inspiring and can
03:55bring you a lot of Joy at the same time
03:58you're unable to filter out things that
04:00other people naturally are able to put
04:04into the background such as irritating
04:07noises for example or sudden shocks that
04:12affect you much more severely than
04:15so I think that in order for people with
04:19odd for autistic people to live happily
04:22with this overstimulated state of mind
04:26there has to be some sort of
04:29organization in their interactions and
04:33families workplaces and social spaces
04:37need to work to accommodate these needs
04:41because let's face it as I've said
04:45earlier in the video
04:47autistic people have been making
04:48accommodations for everyone else
04:51since they were tiny babes
04:54um we've been stimming so we can control
04:57your outbursts and Loud Noises uh
05:01there's just a lot of things that are
05:03acceptable in the atmosphere for 90 of
05:07the people that will cause meltdowns or
05:14improper functioning in autistic people
05:18how hard we try and we are trying we're
05:20trying very hard but we need everyone
05:27so that's my take not everyone's going
05:30to agree with it but
05:32that's where I stand anyway thanks for
05:34tuning in for this episode of lunchbrain
05:37I'm Marshall Edwards thanks for
05:39listening and if you agree with my
05:41opinion feel free to comment if you
05:43disagree feel free to comment please try
05:45to keep it civil if you can
05:48and I you know I'm not a total expert I
05:52do have autism I do have a lot of the
05:53sensory issues described here but at the
05:56same time I'm not the only person with
05:58these issues and there are a lot of ways
06:00to interpret what's going on and to look
06:03at the intense world theory so until
06:07um feel free to subscribe and give this
06:10a like and share it around if you like
06:12it thank you very much bye
