| Overview | 1. Introduction | 2. Diagnostic fog | 3. Sensory processing | 4. Emergent patterns | 5. Research & therapy | 6. New model | 7. Conclusion |
If we no longer view autism as a clearly defined disorder with fixed symptoms, but as an emergent reaction to sensory and systemic conditions, then the focus of research and therapy also shifts.
Currently, symptom-oriented diagnostics dominates, supplemented by genetic studies that often remain inconclusive. What’s missing is a targeted, systemic approach that asks questions such as:
Such questions require interdisciplinary research: neuroscience, endocrinology, psychology, education, and even cybernetics would need to cooperate. What’s missing today is an overarching functional model that doesn’t classify symptoms, but maps the interaction of the levels involved.
Current practice often aims at behavioral training. Autistic children learn eye contact, interrupting routines, or “appropriate” social behavior. But if these behaviors are symptoms of a profound stimulus imbalance, then training merely addresses the surface – without changing the inner reality. In the worst case, the child only learns to mask better – at the expense of energy, well-being, and identity.
A cause-oriented support would need to take a different approach:
This type of help is not corrective, but understanding. It aims not at normalization, but at cooperation with a different mode of perception. The focus shifts: from deficit to fit.
| Back to Chapter 4: Emergent reaction patterns | Next to Chapter 6: Outline of a new model |