Comments on: Peripheral vision in some people on the autism spectrum.

By: donna

donna — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:54:19 +0000

what you’ve described is meaning deafness (auditory verbal agnosia) and its reading equivalent (visual verbal agnosia). I also suspect you may have some visual agnosia (object and context blindness) and that the strong contrasts brought by strong colors helps you more quickly recognise the meaning of individual things in the general mess of things…I know if there’s even minimal mess on my kitchen bench I can’t recognise the meaning of objects…I can tell by their form where each GOES but not what they are until each is separated out from the mess. this is because the placement cues which can help with meaning go missing when there’s mess… anyway I wrote of both meaning deafness and meaning blindness in Autism; An Inside Out Approach and in The Jumbled Jigsaw…many people with autism have some meaning deafness but not all and then maybe half the people with meaning deafness also have meaning blindness (and many who have both also have body agnosias – body disconnectedness issues). And yes, burden on one channel can shut down processing levels on the others. Those two books have plenty of strategies in the management of this… good luck.

Donna Williams *)
http://www.donnawilliams.net

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:04:55 +0000

I think I have something similar to what is described in this article. I tend to rely heavily on visual detail and vibrant colours. Because of this, I would watch “Sesame Street” and play with Lego blocks through sixth grade. Whenever I try to read an article or listen to the news, I have a hard time comprehending to what the story is about or what is being spoken (unless the visual detail in such topics are deemed “obsessively appealing”). Even when I try to read, I treat the words like it’s just “empty pictures” in themselves. I can sound out the words, but I cannot comprehend to them.

I do have a big obsession over Canadian banknotes (yes, I am from Canada) and their vibrant colours. Whenever I do receive $10 or more in my change, if a $10 bill is in the till and the cashier gives me back two $5 bills, it is a green light for problematic behaviour – because “10″ to me is larger than “5″, but in reality one $10 bill vs. two $5 bills equals the same. My perception of “10″ being larger than “5″ in this case is way off.

I did hear, around 2002, that “Sesame Street” may be toning down the segments to allow a lot less vibrant colours (vibrant colourful segments are a thing of the past), and many of the classic animated segments that existed 20 years ago probably no longer exist on today’s new episodes.

What I wonder is, do you suppose my visual attention is problematic whenever I struggle to comprehend to what’s being spoken to me or what I am trying to read? Am I considered “legally illiterate”? Is it possible that I have a hard time learning the normal behaviours because the norms are actually “invisible”?

By: David Alexander

David Alexander — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:44:04 +0000

Thank you for your comments on my discussion above of how I use my autie-vision to enhance my aesthetic experiences. Have you met anyone else who does something similar to the “eye photography” that I described above? Did you get a chance to look at the photo that I posted on Flickr photo sharing that I think should help you understand more thoroughly what I described?

By: donna

donna — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:46:26 +0000

Hi David,

yes, it always amazed me that it is near impossible to capture autie-vision using photography… this is because some of autie-vision is kinesthetic (about movement) or musical (I see musically… ie extreme sense of visual patterns and their interplays and shifts).

By: donna

donna — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:47:01 +0000

I drive, but only with tinted lenses.
before I had them I had eight total write-offs in eight years
I have had no accidents since I’ve had tinted lenses except one where a car suddenly pulled out in front of me on a main road.

I do struggle to interpret what I see in real time, but I’m a far more instinctual driver than those without my issues because my sense of the musicality of movement around me is incredibly developed and I respond more quickly than many to patterns which don’t fit the norm even if I can’t tell what those are.

On the down side, it’s easier for me to mistake two similar visual phenomena, such as grey road and grey foot bridge, and I have experienced the situation where the side of a cement footbridge appears to be an ascending continuation of the road! (scary). But now I know this illusion, I have watched out for it.

I sometimes feel my vision is closer to that of an animals. I DONT think in pictures. Nor do I believe animals do. But I do have an acutely developed sense of movement, rhythms around me and good spatial sense.

By: David Alexander

David Alexander — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:25:10 +0000

I have aspergers with many of the classic symptoms, and I am high functioning enough to do accounting work. I am a calendar savant and can usually tell anyone the day of the week they were born on within 5 seconds. This requires only a strong ability to quickly visualize images iin my mind. I also have strong peripheral vision and difficulty with being overwhelmed when I look someone in the face directly. Because of this I use my peripheral vision heavily. I think that your explanation involving rods and cones is the best that I have ever seen. I have found that moving my eyes slightly up, down and across a face while talking sometimes helps a little. During the large part of the day when I am in doing activities where my eyes are moving a large amount, I am no longer overwhelmed by the one point that I am focusing on and my strong peripheral vision causes a larger area than most people see clearly to come clearly into view. However, I can’t quickly go back to focusing on one point which is part of the reason why I don’t drive. However there is one way that is very important to me in which I use my strong peripheral vision to my advantage and that is in having aesthetic experiences. I refer to this type of experience as “eye photography”. Just as when taking a picture a photographer will often wait for the right time of day get the best lighting for a photograph and will position himself in a way that will allow him to get the best possible composition. I do the same thing when I experience beauty through my eyes. When I find the right composition and lighting I will adjust the colors that I see and the brightness by closing my eyes. If for example I wanted to experience the beauty of a pink flowering cherry with sunlight from behing causing the blossoms to glow, I would close my eyes with my head pointed away from the sun so that I would see a dim shade of orange through my closed eyes. I would then open my eyes and quite heavily squint while I looked at an area of green so that the pink would be the right shade and the glow of the sunlight would be at the right level of intensity to create the best possible aesthetic experience. I would also want the wind to be strong enough to cause the blossoms to flutter, but I would not want the wind to be so intense that it caused the branches to move too much. I would then rapidly scan my eyes once forward and once back across an area of relatively uniform characteristics, always within less than a second and usually while squinting very slightly. During this brief time the beauty explodes into my view. My strong peripheral vision allows me to quickly and intensely suddenly comprehend the interelationship of form, color, and brightness over a relatively large area which allows me to sometimes have a very intense experience of beauty. Very few situations allow for this so such experiences are relatively rare for me. You can get a good idea of what allows for such an experince by going to Flickr photo sharing and typing in “Christchurch cherry blossom” or “October cherry blossom”. The picture shows as having been take by “eyephotographer”. It is not an expecially good picture since it was taken with a disposable camera. I didn’t take any of the other pictures under my name which are much better. I only put them there to meet Flickr’s requirement of having at least seven photos displayed to use their site. I just recently started using a digital camera and I have not converted my non digital photos to digital for display on Flickr which along with my poor photography skills explains having only one example to show.

By: donna

donna — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:22:31 +0000

I guess I’d say start with regular sunglasses, see if that makes things better. If she tends to be quite allergic and rather ADHD, you could check her salicylate levels (look up salicylate food list) then have a look at a 30 day trial of omega 3s and see if that helps her with visual processing. Also go to wikipedia and look up prosopagnosia… face blindness… i also write of it in other places on my blog and in my books which you can find on my site http://www.donnawilliams.net the most relevant of these books is probably Like Colour To The Blind. But also check out my art with her because face blindness is expressed a lot though that. but the fact she struggles with the lighting AND can’t recognise faces says that her face blindness may be underpinned by visual fragmentation issues. Not sure if this would be Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome as its also covered by other forms of visual agnosia… you can find info on agnosia on wikipedia… but I also have a clip about it on you tube… just go toyou tube and type in donna williams. most of all let her know that this is both a strength and a weakness and not to resent it or judge herself by it, but do find ways to make it work for her. All the best… Donna *)

By: Su Joy

Su Joy — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:24:36 +0000

This is so useful. My daughter has visual tracking problems. This is continuing to be a real problem with learning at school,as she doesn’t seem to track from in front to then looking down. In fact she has a reluctance to look down at desk level. She has poor recognition of people in photos and also can’t handle the lighting in some shops.
Any suggestions?

By: donna

donna — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 20:59:27 +0000

sounds a lot like a sugar issue too…. white flour registers as simple carbs – sugar.
the digestives and white bread toast would physiologically be little different to giving him spoonfulls of sugar per day. Whilst this could well feed candida like crazy, cadida will also then crave more and more sugar ‘highs’.
at the same time the diminished gut function and leaky gut situation that could theoretically ensue would do little for brain or immune system health.

By: Margaret Sahin

Margaret Sahin — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:07:47 +0000

Thank you Donna. I have been a bit concerned for some time that salycilate (is that it) might be a factor, since I read or watched something of yours which i believe mentioned apples as a culprit. this little boy is pretty adicted to them and in a diet of toast, digestive biscuits and not much else, they have obviously seemed a healthy option, but I do wonder. he tends to be very ‘high’ and excitable, squealing and grabbing (very happily). i sahall have a talk to his Mum.
I definately need a copy of Like Colour to the Blind now. I own or have read most of your stuff and find it hugely helpful. Now I ‘ve discovered so much on this site, I will be a frequent visitor.
Thanks