It occurred to me that high-functioning neurodivergent minds are not well understood by neurotypical people, so in an effort to bridge the gap, I’d like to break down why we can break down, shedding some light on why we seldomly reveal to neurotypicals why we break down, and hint at why we are not well understood by science.
To understand the issue with atypical neurology, it is first important to understand the relationship between language, figurative symbology and the subconscious mind.
The world we live in is full of symbols and metaphors that convey meaning to the subconscious mind for practical reasons. Both metaphors and the subconscious speak the same abstract symbolic language of patterns, the means by which humans mediate patterns of thought & behavior. Metaphors convey meaning and architect culture.
People who are on the autism spectrum or have Asperger’s Syndrome have a boundless subconscious. It allows us to think outside the box and be incredibly creative, but it often also prevents us from being put into boxes. We are perceived as having “difficulty” understanding metaphors or figurative language. The reason why this happens is the very boundless nature of our subconscious mind.
Where neurotypical people have a neurology that incorporates metaphors into a preconditioned pragmatic context, our subconscious, being practically boundless is able to put it into any context.
It is thus not that we don’t understand metaphors or abstract language, but that our mind is able to connect it with so many things that we risk falling into a mesmerizing mental abyss when confronted by them.
This can be a problem in the workplace, since leaders are often trained to employ metaphors to convey meaning, thoughts and behaviors. Though this works perfectly to steer typical minds, neurodivergent people may find it extremely challenging to be directed by abstract means.
Compounded by social stresses, figurative language can lead to a cascade effect in the subconscious mind, which seeks to return with the “meaning” of things to the conscious mind, leading to a perceived paralysis, or even a breakdown.
The cascade effect is due to a kind of recursive cognitive algorithm that builds a fractal model of the phenomenology of meaning, potentially never ending.
Our subconscious mind, with its broad contextual boundaries, obsessively tries to build an interconnected pattern of “meaning”. Meanwhile, the conscious mind is waiting for the result, either paralyzed or disoriented until interrupted. Absent training and sufficient intervention, this can cognitively escalate to extremely harmful symptoms.
Exhausting as it may be, many of us learn to live with it, often not even fully understanding what is happening to us, managing it by creating external patterns, which is why you may see us stimming (leg shaking). It is a means to occupy the subconscious mind.
Hope this contributes to an understanding of the realities of those who contribute to shaping your realities.
