Autism isn’t a linear spectrum, it’s a spectrum with multiple categories. This is not a definitive list of categories but after googling around a bit, here’s a few of mine which I found helpful to spell out.

They’re complicated, sometimes contradictory but people are never so simple no matter what their brains are like. Here’s my attempt at explaining what it feels like to be me on the spectrum.

Language

Genius level language skills. Was always good, took only a little training as a kid to polish.

Language connects directly to my emotions. I always get the precise word for what I’m feeling and try to convey what I mean that way. However, due to my body language and tone not conveying information, if those are prioritized over what I’m saying, people can literally not understand the words I’m saying to them.

Can explain myself very well and in a compelling way, as long you’re reading what I’m writing. Or listening while I’m specifically performing.

Otherwise I can have a neutral tone in casual conversation and what I’m saying might be important but the tone gets me ignored.

I also have trouble with figuring out implied meanings unless it’s in a specfic situation like negotiations. However, in those specific situations where I’m listening for implied meanings, I can figure out things much much better than neurotypicals. Evaluating power balances and such. This is a learned skill though.

Always directly answer direct questions. Feels like lying otherwise. Can come off as rude or hostile when it’s not meant that way.

Sensory

Sight:

My actual eyesight is pretty normal just need glasses for close up things. The difference is in the processing of vision in the brain.
Can’t stand reflections in my glasses, like the reflection you might see if there’s a light behind you. The constant distraction gives me a headache over 5-10 minutes.
Have to seal the curtains and bunch them up a bit because the light from the morning sun will hurt my eyes. I’ll literally wake up with a feeling of them burning if I’m in a too bright room.
LEDs like what you might see on your laptop power indicator can prevent me from sleeping.
White lights (above 5 or 6k ) give me immediate headaches. Higher colour temperatures will make me sick faster.
Separately from their colour temperature, flickering lights also give me headaches. No matter the colour temperature.
Monitors and my phone are always set to low light.

Hearing:

Extremely sensitive hearing especially for higher pitched sounds.
Sharp sounds (like metal spoons on metal/ceramic plates) hurt. It’s not discomfort the way neurotypical people experience it. I’d rather get an electric shock from a hot water geyser than hear a metal spoon drop onto a metal plate at arm-on-table height because the electric shock is less painful.
Cannot separate individual voices when there are lot in the background. Same for noises with equal volume as the speaker. It makes me not able to understand the speaker.
Particularly sharp sounds can give me instant headaches and force me to sleep for a while to recover.
Deeper sounds are ok, even loud ones. High pitch is more of a problem than loudness though loudness may be unpleasant.

Touch:

Cannot wear certain fabrics of clothes.
Cannot wear right fabrics if they touch my neck even if they are generally fine. Prefer open neck t-shirts.
Can wake up from sleep with touch.
Watches with rubber wrist bands are uncomfortable to wear, always remain aware of wearing them.
Need specific pyjamas, t-shirts to sleep.
Temperature senstive while sleeping, can’t have it be too hot or cold would prevent sleep. This is usually find in the day. I prefer being slightly cold in the day. Much prefer that over being hot.

Taste:

Any taste is genrally fine but changing the taste/texture of a certain meal is not preferred. Can be mildly stressful if it changes everyday.
Would prefer the same dish to taste exactly the same.
Prefer having a standard breakfast, lunch and dinner dish. That changes infrequently (usually the same for weeks or months).

Proprioception:

Proprioception is knowing where your body is. Like how you can eat a spoonful of soup or rice with your eyes closed because you know where your hand is.
Extremely good at in-line skating, very agile on skates.
Slam into stationary obbjects while walking.
Particularly hit things with the edges of my body, like just the little toe or just my hip, while walking because I didn’t realise I wasn’t far enough away from it.

Emotion:

Extremely emotional but without a lot of facial expressions so people don’t realise it.
Emotional shutdown in various situations so the facial expressions can reduce to nothingness. I might be happy or sad or angry or genuinely neutral and it would all look the same.
I like to write poetry to express this.

Executive function:

Here’s a definition of executive function:

Executive function and self-regulation skills depend on three types of brain function: working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control.

Working memory governs our ability to retain and manipulate distinct pieces of information over short periods of time.

Mental flexibility helps us to sustain or shift attention in response to different demands or to apply different rules in different settings.

Self-control enables us to set priorities and resist impulsive actions or responses.

I have very high working memory, very high self control. Very little mental flexibility.
I also have snap focus, meaning the flow state which happens only sometimes for others is basically me all the time for anything. Relaxing with a show, or working. Focus is relaxing.
With low mental flexibility, it’s hard for me to change tasks. It can get distressing if I have to change plans or tasks a lot.
I prefer upfront prioritization, like at the beginning of the day I’ll spend some time only prioritizing things and then spend the rest of the day doing them in that order.
Anything that can’t be planned for in advance can be very very hard to do.
Anything that involves taking a break and continuing later, such as washing clothes and then 40 minutes later, drying them, can feel nearly impossible and I regularly struggle with it.
If a focused activity has been interrupted, I can’t get back to it right away. One of the most distressing things can be multiple rounds of start/stop in a short period on the same thing. I have to do something else for a while and then resume.
This also means if I’m working in a day, it has to be continuous plus I prefer to begin work in the mornings. A 2 hour break and then working again feels like no break at all. Except for lunch which through steady long pattern can be accepted.
Long term planning is much easier for me, as long as I don’t have to do it in conjunction with other things.
Because I can’t deal with spur of the moment things, I pre-plan every detail in advance so I don’t have to deal with new things on the go. Will be highly organized with dedicated prep time to organize. Will be an un-cordinated mess without it.

All these things vary from person to person and autistic people might have conflicting sensory needs. Always be sure to ask the person what they need and believe it.

Are you an autistic person for whom the categories above matter in some way? I’d love to hear what you experience in:

Language
Sensory, Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste, Proprioception
Emotion
and Executive function

Just write up what you feel about these either in your notepad or in the webpage for the contributing editor which will save what you write and make it easy to email to me! I’ll feature your work with credit or anonymously as you desire.

I’m eager to hear from more of us autistics.