Studying Pervasive Development Disorder [Gracelyn]

I am doing some general investigation of Autism Spectrum Disorders, or Pervasive Development Disorders. I see no reason why I should not record my observations here, if I do so anywhere. Here we can refer back to our original observations at a later time, and Boss or other people can see what we've learned as well.

The singular worry I have about this project is not in recording my research, but in doing it at all. It is a natural human tendency to see a list of behaviors, or symptoms, and say, "Oh, that's me!" Those who do it to a severe degree are considered hypochondriacs. But it's something we all do, I believe. So by studying ASD with the idea that it may apply to Stephanie, it's possible that I could create the problem in her. Working with alters, it's certainly possible to create a disorder within an alter that wasn't there before. Most especially because she is still only partially formed. Her behavior is not 'set'. However, there have been enough signalling behaviors to indicate the problem, so it is advisable to learn more about it in order to try and help her.

My initial observations of her behavior first.
-She is disconnected from the real world, even when fully in control of the body. She completely tuned Boss's existence out when she was listening to the shower, until he touched her.
-Her perception of time seems tenuous at best. Even observing her, I cannot tell how long an activity has been going on.
-She has difficulty making a decision to complete an activity, or to begin a new one. If directed, I have the feeling that she could do so, but she lacks self-will in this manner.
-Her verbal skills, even inside our mental environment, are stunted. She does not converse with anyone else, only projects singular thoughts and emotions. For instance, when she sat down in the shower, her entire line of reasoning that I could observe was "feet hurt."
-She tends toward repetitive physical movements - rocking, shaking her head back and forth.
-She is drawn toward water. At least two occurrences of her manifesting have involved the bathtub or shower.

I'm finding lots of websites geared toward parents of autistic children. Obviously, we cannot observe Stephanie's development at 1-3 years of age. She is, we think, 12 years old at this point, and must be observed where she is.

My first reading site that has potential is http://www.brighttots.com/Autistic_behaviors.html. The first section mentions an obsession with water. I was unaware that this was related to ASD, just observed that it was true for Stephanie. The obsession with numbers actually sounds more like Kiara, and as a whole system we are very routine-driven. Of the simple stereotyped activities, again I think of Kiara, with her tongue-clicking and touching of textures. I have not seen either of these with Stephanie, though I have seen the rocking. In fact, of the complex stereotyped activities, I still see more of Kiara, with arranging objects and such. I've seen no tantrums or similar behavior from anyone in the system. However, our depressions, especially on weekends, when routine is severely interrupted or lacking entirely could be considered a very passive-aggressive tantrum. Again, though, this seems to be system-wide.

Moving on to http://www.worldofautism.com/ASD/Speech_language_problems_autism_spectrum.html, we talk about communication. I believe that Stephanie had a short conversation with Boss when she first presented, but the conversation was 'filed away' by Cherish, so I suspect she was conversing on Stephanie's behalf. I do have an image of Stephanie having something to say, opening her mouth, and then closing without saying anything as she tried to remember the mechanics of producing a sentence.

Individuals with autism frequently appear to have deficits in paying attention to auditory information. They frequently have to be trained to pay attention to sounds. Even when they are paying attention, many individuals with autism seem to have difficulty in decoding what sounds mean and in matching them to words or thoughts. In some individuals with autism, this may be because they actually have difficulties with words and thoughts themselves. In others, it may be more because of a mapping problem. Individuals with autism frequently have difficulties with articulation, often as part of a broader problem of difficulty with oral-motor functions (movements of the lips and tongue and associated breath control). 

Yes, the articulation was difficult for her. And she does seem to process sound differently - with less importance. The sound of water on her ear in the shower was important, not because of the sound itself, but because of the rhythm of it. Boss speaking at the same time had very little importance.

Here's an Australian site about PDDs - https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2010/192/1/high-functioning-pervasive-developmental-disorders-adults. And there are a few interesting bits here:

People with PDDs are also often slow, untidy writers;16 typing may not be affected, in which case learning to type fluently helps greatly with written communication.

Why yes, we do have terrible trouble with writing anything out; typing, however, came to us with ease.

Many adults with high-functioning PDDs describe unusual sensory experiences. In particular, hypersensitivities in many sensory modalities have been described, but there is little empirical evidence that these symptoms are more prevalent in people with PDDs than in the general population. Individuals with PDDs have described difficulties tolerating bright lights or particular sounds, especially high-pitched sounds.10Hypersensitivities to particular textures, including difficulty wearing some clothes, can also occur.17 Texture difficulties may affect the ability to tolerate some foods.18 Some tastes may be very difficult to tolerate19 and there may be sensitivities to certain odours,19 leading to restricted diets.
Hyposensitivities are less commonly described. Hyposensitivity to pain, where usually painful stimuli may not be noticed, has been described,20 as has hyposensitivity to cold.20 Some individuals describe fluctuations between hypo- and hypersensitivities.21 

Now this is terribly interesting. Our primary has, for years, reported a difficulty processing strobe lights - rather than getting the off-and-on input most people report for strobes, she gets simply 'off', as if the lights are off entirely. The primary especially, as well as Silent One, often hear a high-pitched squealing from some electrical equipment that Boss cannot hear at all. There have been times that we have failed to notice pain; recently we burned ourselves in the kitchen and didn't notice it until a blister started to form. However, we process visually quite well, and are excellent at spelling and mathematics.

I will be following up with more research and observations. I certainly think it likely that our system as a whole, but particularly Stephanie and Kiara, would test somewhere low-intensity on the PDD/Autism spectrum.