Summary: Delving deeper into the phenomenon of social isolation can help improve research on autism spectrum disorders.
Source: University of the Basque Country
In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about camouflage in autism. However, research on camouflage is still relatively recent, its nature is poorly studied, and there are many open questions.
Therefore, this work aims to provide a unified view of camouflage. It can be defined as a set of strategies adopted by autistic people to fit in the social world.
“Our aim is to better understand this phenomenon and to analyze in depth how cameras develop,” says Valentina Petrolini, a researcher in the UPV/EHU’s Lindy Lab group and one of the authors of the study.
People usually cover themselves with two goals in mind: to hide their diagnosis and to fit in the social situation.
“We say that when people practice their conversations, imitate other people’s gestures and expressions, and generally try to hide their autistic behavior, they are self-deprecating,” says Valentina Petrolini.
The UPV/EHU researcher added: “Several studies link these individuals’ attempts to pass themselves off as free from high levels of stress and chronic mental illness.
How was the camera detected in the autistic population? Tools, such as tests and questionnaires, exist today, but they tend to ignore a large proportion of people on the spectrum, such as people who are unconsciously self-identified, people with intellectual and/or language disabilities, etc.
In this work, we propose to triangulate data using existing evidence, collecting data from the environment, observing human behavior in different situations, and talking to people in different situations. By questioning the person involved,” said Valentina Petrolini.
Extending camera enhancement research to currently neglected groups is also significant in terms of impact. For this reason, this study extends the discussion of the autism spectrum by modeling less studied groups, namely children and adults with language and/or intellectual disabilities.
“We argue that imitation in these groups may differ from what the current literature describes as typical cases of blindness,” says Valentina Petrolini.
“One of the points that emerges from our research is that the camera can come out differently, and have different effects depending on the people doing it,” Petrolini continued.
According to Valentina Petrolini, this purely theoretical work “suggests that the findings may not be applicable to the autistic community as a whole, as the basis of much of the research so far is limited by the nature and representativeness of the participants.”
The work highlights the need to further investigate the phenomenon of autism and develop more accurate and inclusive measurement tools than currently exist.
“We can go so far as to say that it is a call to action not to draw general conclusions,” says UPV/EHU’s Lindy Lab research team.
So Social Neuroscience and Autism Research News
Author: Macxalen Sotillo
Source: University of the Basque Country
Contact: Matxalen Sotillo – University of the Basque Country
Image: The image is in the public domain.
Preliminary study: Open Access.
“Autistic camera on the spectrumBy Valentina Petrolini et al. New ideas in psychology
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Autistic camera on the spectrum
Camouflage can be characterized as a more or less conscious set of actions and strategies used by some autistic people to navigate the neurotypical social world. Despite the increased interest in this phenomenon, its nature is still unknown and requires conceptual explanation.
In this article, we aim to provide an overview of camouflage that reflects autism as a condition.
First, we will provide an overview of the main features of the cameras. This overview shows that current characterizations fail to paint a coherent picture and that different accounts emphasize different aspects of the phenomenon.
Second, we will examine the similarities between pass and pass.
Third, we extend the discussion about camouflage to groups on the autism spectrum that are currently understudied.
We argue that imitation in such groups may differ from what the current literature describes as typical instances of imitation.
We review the characteristics of cameras in the context of such understudied groups and provide some recommendations on how to move research forward.