Social Interaction and Autism

Personal Accounts

‘I can remember when I tuned out, I would just sit and rock and let sand go through my hands. I was able to shut the world out.’ (Temple Grandin).

‘School was a torture ground in itself for me because of my lack of social skills and my absolute terror of people, in part because I didn’t just automatically know the social rules, and, when I did lean them, I had to think about them all the time and who can keep up that sort of coping skill all the time? ‘Karen’, (Clare Sainsbury)

“ I’m in my mid fifties, I live alone, abhor ‘company’. I only leave the house when absolutely necessary, and wont have anyone in my house, even siblings and family, so I only ever see them outside. However, I’m intelligent (I have an IQ above 150) and studied for a degree in History at Cambridge as a mature student.” (Source: personal correspondence to Research Autism from someone who wishes to remain anonymous, received February 2008).

Updated

16 Jun 2022