What Society Thinks Autism Is
- A behavioral disorder with social and language deficits.
- A linear spectrum of "high" to "low" functioning.
- A lack of empathy or interest in social connection.
- A series of undesirable symptoms to be managed or masked.
What Autism Actually Is
- A fundamental difference in sensory and information processing.
- A complex neurotype with varied support needs determined by environment.
- A different way of connecting, often overwhelmed by neurotypical social demands.
- A state of being, whose challenges are primarily caused by an incompatible environment.
First, The Basics: What Are Synapses?
Synapses are the tiny connections between brain cells (neurons) that allow them to communicate. Think of them as the brain's internal wiring. The number of these connections is critical for healthy function.
Danger: Too Few Connections
Over-pruning is linked to conditions like Schizophrenia, OCD, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Difference: Too Many Connections
Under-pruning can lead to overstimulation, anxiety, and challenges with flexibility, but is also the foundation for creativity and pattern-recognition.
The Yin-Yang of Cognition
Prioritizing Convention: The neurotypical path relies on pre-existing social rules for rapid processing. While faster in the moment, this risks overlooking critical details, leading to significant problems when nuance is required.
Creativity (Connectivity): The autistic path prioritizes data and connections, creating a brain optimized for seeing novel patterns, analysis, and creativity.
Synaptic Pruning: Two Developmental Paths
Typical Synaptic Pruning
During development, the brain strategically removes "weaker" neural connections to become more efficient at common tasks.
Autistic Hyper-Connectivity
The autistic brain undergoes less synaptic pruning, resulting in a higher density of connections. This is not a flaw; it's a different operating system.
The conclusion that less synaptic pruning is "bad" could only come from the pre-existing belief that autism is "bad." When we remove that bias... the worst outcome of having too many neural connections is autism. The worst outcome of pruning too many is death.
Pharmacology & The Synaptic Landscape
Decrease Connectivity
Antipsychotics are designed to reduce neural activity and, as a result, can decrease synaptic connections, effectively "pruning" the brain through medication.
Increase Connectivity
Conversely, substances like psychedelics (e.g., psilocybin) have been shown to promote neurogenesis, increasing synaptic connections and fostering new neural pathways.
A Painful History: Misdiagnosis as "Childhood Schizophrenia"
For decades, the observable traits of autism in children—intense inner worlds and unique social expressions—were tragically mislabeled as "childhood schizophrenia." This led to the widespread prescription of antipsychotics, a medical intervention that actively worked against autistic neurology by reducing the very synaptic connections that define it. This historical error highlights a critical truth: when we pathologize a neurotype we don't understand, our "treatments" can cause profound, lasting harm.
The Modern Stigma: A Fear of Misperception
This history of misinterpretation has severe, present-day consequences. The way a sober autistic person moves, speaks, and interacts is often misinterpreted by a neurotypical world as intoxication.
This is not a social inconvenience—it is a direct threat to safety and autonomy.
The fear of being mislabeled as "high" or a "drug addict" leads to a constant need to mask one's authentic self. For many sober autistic adults, a simple interaction can become a high-stakes performance. A failure to perform neurotypical sobriety "correctly" can lead to devastating outcomes: being dismissed by medical professionals, losing housing, or even being wrongfully jailed or involuntarily hospitalized. Masking, therefore, is not a choice; it's a survival strategy rooted in a justifiable fear of a system that has a history of harming what it does not understand.
The Result: A Clash of Processing Styles
Top-Down (Neurotypical)
Starts with a conclusion and fits details into that framework. It's fast and intuitive, but can miss nuance.
Bottom-Up (Neurodivergent)
Starts with sensory details and builds a conclusion from the ground up. It's thorough and analytical, but can be slower.
The Causal Chain: From Biology to Burnout
1. Sensory Overload
The hyper-connected brain takes in vastly more data, leading to overload in a world not designed for it.
2. Chronic Fight-or-Flight
The nervous system enters a constant state of survival, which is then observed and mislabeled as a "social deficit."
3. Trauma & "Deficits"
Prolonged stress and invalidation create observable struggles that are the scar tissue of a hostile environment, not the autism itself.
A Path Forward: Down-Regulating the Nervous System
Because the core issue is a physiological stress response, effective intervention must target the body and the environment to create a state of safety.
Somatic Therapies
Release the body's stored trauma responses.
Breathing Exercises
Activate the parasympathetic ("rest and digest") nervous system.
Environmental Control
Consciously reduce sensory triggers like blue light and noise.
Exercise & Mindfulness
Regulate cortisol and improve the sense of the body's internal state.