• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Geek Club Books

Autism Education, Awareness, Acceptance, Advocacy

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About
    • Autism Storytelling for Hope and Change
    • Speaking
    • Creative Team & Educational Specialists
    • Advisory Board
    • Our Benefactors
    • Press
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
  • Blog
    • All Articles and Interviews
    • Articles By Author
  • Families
    • Welcome Autism Families!
    • Autism Resources Bundle!
    • Freebies
    • Mighty League Autism Moms
  • Educators
    • Welcome Educators!
    • Autism EDU
    • Bluebee TeeVee, Autism Information Station
    • School Visits
  • Comics
    • Autism Comics Overview
    • Autism in Real Life Comic
    • Autism Spectrum Comic
    • End Awareness Comic
    • Understanding Autism Comic
    • Mighty League 1: Autistic Hero Comic
    • Mighty League 2: Autistic Hero Comic Book
  • Resources
    • How to Find Resources
    • Asking Autistics
    • Autistic Self-care
    • Amazon Autism Book Shop
    • What is Autism?
    • Books By Autistic Authors
    • What is Autism Awareness?
    • Autism Glossary
    • Autism Myths
    • Autistic or Person with Autism?
    • Speech and Language
    • Autism Business Ideas
  • Zoom Magazine
    • Issue 18: The Black Autistic Experience
    • Issue 17: Health
    • Issue 16: Travel
    • Issue 15: Powerful Women
    • Issue 14: Trailblazers
    • Issue 13: Family
  • Take Action
    • How to Advocate for Autism
      • #Activate4Autism
      • Activator Heroes
    • Make a Difference
  • Contact
  • Donate

My Autistic Perspective of Autism

January 7, 2020 By Jodi Murphy 2 Comments

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on WhatsApp

Silhouette of man looking up at night sky.

A Personal Reflection of My Late-in-life Autism Diagnosis

By William Gilreath

I will describe my experiences in autism. I give specific examples from my perspective of being autistic. The experiences are in sensory, processing the world, and interaction with others.

Sensory

My senses are like the character Roderick Usher from Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” that is, over-developed. From the story:

“He [Roderick] suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses; the most insipid food was alone endurable; he could wear only garments of certain texture; the odours of all flowers were oppressive; his eyes were tortured by even a faint light; and there were but peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments, which did not inspire him with horror.”

I can relate to this; and Poe is describing someone with autism, but in the 19th century.

Textures and Taste

I will drown my food in condiments and seasonings, such as salad dressing, ketchup, steak sauce, Parmesan cheese, pepper. I’ve done so since I can remember.

Even name brands are not the same. I always buy one brand because it is more consistent or sublime in taste than another. Still, I will take foods and “drown” them with say crackers, shredded cheese. It adds to the flavor, but it is also “watering down” the flavor to something consistent and not so different. Otherwise, I’m eating something disgusting or gross for taste and texture.

Light Sensitivity

I wear black and it is something of a personal stereotype. But the reason I wear black is because my dark clothing does not reflect the light into my eyes. I cannot wear bright clothing and a white T-shirt is only tolerable. I have a new prescription for glasses, which has helped. I used to wear my sunglasses almost all the time, even indoors.

Smells

I find the scent of flowers, real flowers, can be overpowering. I always liked the smell of marigolds, but other flowers and plants are too much. In college, the two smells that I dreaded were: the wet, soaking garbage smell in the curb from drainage issues. And then all the flowers along the sidewalk—a trail of overpowering scents.

Eye contact

I am an extreme; I either lock eyes with you and don’t break off, or I glance at your eyes and then look away. It is one or the other. When I do look at a person I’m talking to, I find myself watching the facial gestures, such as muscle movements, blink rate, pupillary dilation, eye movement and so forth. Often, I’m reading the person to assess their emotional state…such as if I am boring, annoying, shocking, or surprised about what is being communicated.

Social Interaction

People are uncomfortable outside of social mores, rituals, and implicit codes of etiquette. There exists an implicit social protocol. The difficulty is I only know the social and cultural rules when I break one of them. Everything is by negation; you perceive things as “not” without knowing what.

That is the biggest thing as an aspie, autistic—you know that you’re not reading or perceiving something but not what, and it is frustrating to know this. Worse is to know it will happen again…only at what point? I have a great degree of social and general anxiety and now learning I am an aspie, I know the cause. I perceive other people in my own nation and culture as alien. I am an outsider—an android, replicant that walks among them.

Asking for Understanding

As an autistic individual with other kindred in the world, my plea and only piece of advice to give anyone reading this is simple: We need understanding when relating and communicating with us and acceptance for who we are.

Read William’s Full Essay

William Gilreath is a software development engineer living in Oregon. He had a late-in-life-diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome. William is a fan of technology, writing, and mathematics. Find more information about his books, articles, and research papers on his website.

If you liked this essay, you may also like:

  • More personal autism stories and essays
  • Stories about autism entrepreneurs
  • Personal journeys and autism topics by our Autistic writing team
  • Should you use autistic or person with autism?
Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on WhatsApp

Filed Under: Blog Haps, Tell Us Your Story Tagged With: acceptance, personal autism story, sensory processing disorder

About Jodi Murphy

Jodi Murphy is the founder of Geek Club Books, a registered nonprofit committed to creating a world where autistic individuals are fully accepted, valued and have a voice. Her priority is bringing autistic individuals creative and leadership opportunities that are meaningful, empowering and support their advocacy. She works with a creative autistic team to produce pop culture-based autism awareness education that is innovative, engaging, positive and opens hearts and minds to a new way of thinking about autism. Sign up for Geek Club Books mailing list for free apps, resource guides, curriculum, audio stories and more: https://geekclubbooks.com/autism-bundle.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jim Booker says

    January 7, 2020 at 10:11 pm

    William thank you for being honest and for taking the time to describe what it’s like to live in your world. I hope this will help people understand and you will be given the patience you need and deserve.

    Reply
  2. Louise Page says

    January 22, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    Wonderfully written William. I recognize even myself in much of what you have conveyed. Learning from the insights of persons, such as yourself, is an invaluable resource for others who wish to try and understand the real ‘world’ of persons on the Spectrum. Bless you and best wishes, Louise.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Join Our Neurodiverse Community:

Read Our Current Issue:

Search

Latest

  • My Soul is a Garden I’m Learning How to Properly Tend
  • How to Increase Your Resilience while Autistic
  • #AskingAutistics: How Do You Feel About the Puzzle Piece Symbol?
  • Why It’s So Important to Remain Open to Joy
  • Why Do People Think I Should Be Sad and Sorry about Autism?

Topics

  • 501c3 Mission (8)
  • Anxiety (8)
  • App & Product Reviews (12)
  • Autimisms (29)
  • Autism Acceptance (13)
  • Autism at Work (9)
  • Autism Entrepreneurs (17)
  • Autism Resources (6)
  • Blog Haps (550)
  • Buzz (6)
  • Classroom (15)
  • Curious Interviews (118)
  • Day in the Life (9)
  • Dorktales (4)
  • Impactful Blogs (9)
  • Labels (4)
  • Love (5)
  • Mighty League (31)
  • Neurodiversity (2)
  • Our Personal Autism Journey (28)
  • Penfriend Project Autism Columns (228)
    • Adriana's Awesome Autistic Book Lists (3)
    • Aspierations (16)
    • Autism Insider (78)
    • Autistic Speaks (27)
    • Being Brave (28)
    • Chloe Rothschild (3)
    • Fidgets and Fries (3)
    • Happy Aspie (9)
    • My Shaynanigans (8)
    • Neurodivergent Rebel (23)
    • Positively Autistic (18)
    • Proud Autistic Living (6)
    • Tud Sense (5)
  • Pop Culture (8)
  • Safety (8)
  • Self-Care (7)
  • Self-Esteem (3)
  • Self-Improvement (10)
  • Sensory Needs (10)
  • Social Skills (4)
  • Speech and Language (6)
  • Tell Us Your Story (29)
  • Zoom Autism (64)

Footer

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2021 Geek Club Books

To improve your experience on our site we may use cookies. Find out more.