Postcards From My Mind: Perspectives of Asperger's Syndrome

External Sensory Processing

Intake Stage: (how information is taken in from the environment)

• Regulation / Modulation: I think of this as the flow of information. Were you ever presented with a meal or desert that looked so yummy that you kept eating and didn’t stop? Then all of a sudden your stomach felt like it was going to explode? This is similar to the regulation and modulation stage. When a person cannot regulate how much of something they need or cannot block out sensations, this can lead to a regulation or modulation problem.
  
  Information can feel like a tidalwave of sensation. Sometimes I think I’m ok, I think I’m ok, I think I’m ok .. then bam! Without warning I’m completely overloaded. Often this occurs when I feel an emotion. If I’m looking at something and I feel happy, the happiness might continue well past the “normal” stage and become uncomfortable. It’s strange, but one can actually suffer from too much happiness! It’s like my body gets out of control and the out of control feeling is what doesn’t feel good. I think this is why I have such wide mood swings.
  
  
• Attention: In order to process something correctly, one needs to pay attention to it. As a child I would sit in class and try to pay attention; however, my attention would fluctuate between what I was supposed to be paying attention to, my body sensations, the video camera playing my memories (then I called it a Beta Max), and patterns in the classroom (such as the symmetrical blinds, repeated paneling, and window panes).
  

 

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