Chris Goodchild

"We experience life with great intensity and have a very poor filtering system.
"We can get bombarded with stimulation and information and can become easily confused and overwhelmed
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8274357.stm
 
Now 43, Chris was diagnosed with Asperger's only 18 months ago.
For years he struggled with depression and anxiety as he tried to conceal his autistic traits behind a façade of learnt, socially-acceptable behaviour. "I hid my unusualness, those feelings of being bad, mad, crazy, deranged," he said. "I had to adapt to what other people thought was normal, to survive."
 
'Adults with Autism' will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 29 September at 2100 hours, repeated on Wednesday 30 September at 1630 hours.

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the affect of cortisol levels

Writing in Psychoneuroendocrinology, researchers noted children with the autistic condition do not experience the normal morning "surge" of cortisol.

This may explain their need for routine and aversion to change, they suggested.

"Cortisol is one of a family of stress hormones that acts like a 'red alert' that is triggered by stressful situations allowing a person to react quickly to changes around them," said Mark Brosnan, a psychologist at Bath University.

"In most people, there is a two-fold increase in levels of this hormone within 30 minutes of waking up, with levels gradually declining during the day as part of the internal body clock."Our study found that the children with AS [Asperger's Syndrome] didn't have this peak, although levels of the hormone still decreased during the day as normal.

"We would now like to see similar work in adults."

Yes please

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7976489.stm

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Autistic traits 'spread widely'

Professor David Skuse...said the results did not downplay the genuine impact of more severe autism.

"What this does suggest is that drawing a dividing line between those with autism and the rest of the population involves taking an arbitrary decision."

"Clinicians and those involved in education need to aware that there are children who do not have autism but who nevertheless have somewhat elevated levels of autistic traits - our research suggests that these children are at slightly greater risk of developing behavioural and emotional problems."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7841808.stm

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