An Alternative Autism Theory

Environmental Factors and Autism

Autism Is Environmentally Caused

The first point in the Ultimate Divergence Theory is that autism's primary cause is environmental. While genetic and biological factors may contribute, they are not necessary for autism to develop. An environmental event during early developmental years—either in the womb or in early infancy—can create traumatic memories with high-level fear emotions, disrupting natural emotional expression.

Traumatic Memories and Emotion Storage

A traumatic event, experienced directly by the infant or indirectly to the fetus through the mother, can create a negative emotional memory. These memories hinder the ability to express emotion naturally. For instance, if a mother experiences high-level stress or a toxic exposure, the foetus may internalize this event, creating a traumatic memory.

The Significance of Perceived Trauma

What seems insignificant to an adult can be profoundly traumatic for a fetus or infant. For example, if an infant hears a loud noise while in a state of vulnerability, a terror-filled memory can form, storing high-level fear emotions. This remembered fear can later be triggered by various stimuli.

The Triggering of Negative Memories

Memory Triggers and Emotional Recreation

Memories with negative emotions are triggerable by anything present at the time of their creation. These triggers can include sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or touch sensations. When triggered, the same level of negative emotion is recreated, thrusting the individual into a fight-or-flight mode.

The Role of Socialization in Neural Divergence

How Blocked Socialization Leads to Neural Divergence

The severity of the stored negative emotions and the nature of the memory’s trigger, determines whether autism will develop. When memories are so triggering that they predominantly or completely block an individual's ability to participate in socialization, the natural process of social and emotional learning is interrupted. This interruption forces the person to begin developing a systemizing cognitive style in place of an empathizing one, owing to the need to create a different way of navigating through the world. Successful socialization is reliant on the ability to naturally and freely express emotion. Successful participation in the socialization process creates a predominantly empathizing cognitive style.

Extreme Neural Divergence Through Different Thinking

Our every thought creates our neural structure. As individuals blocked from the socialization process cannot develop an empathizing internal guidance system for navigating through the world, they must start looking at the world in a different way to make sense out of it and navigate a path through. This means they have to have completely different thoughts to those who are participating in the socialization process. Different thoughts create different neural growth.  Because much of what is taught through the socialization process forms the core neural structure of the empathizing cognitive style, being blocked from it and having to think about the world in a completely different way will causes major core structural differences to develop within the systemizing cognitive structure as a whole. These different thoughts create extreme neural divergence. The inability to participate in social interactions fosters the development of a neural structure vastly different from the empathizing cognitive style prevalent in the general population. This process solidifies the unique neural pathways characteristic of autism.

Socialization and Cognitive Styles

Empathizing vs. Systemizing Cognitive Styles

Everybody has a cognitive style that is a ratio of empathizing to systemizing. The general population tends to be more empathizing, and the autistic population tends to be more systemizing. Individuals with the empathizing cognitive style navigate through the world by emotion. Those with a predominantly systemizing style navigate through the world according to patterns and the systems they lead to. Much of the perceived odd behaviors that autistics display are the externalized expressions of the patterns and systems they are following in their minds as well as their coping and avoidance behaviors used to navigate their personal obstacle course of negative memory triggers.

Creating a Systemizing Guidance System

Individuals participating in the socialization process within a particular culture develop the same core neural structure because they are all learning the same beliefs and therefore sharing many of the same thoughts. Same thoughts equal same neural growth. However, for those who are forced to develop a systemizing cognitive style they tend to have to do so in isolation. Because the world is built for the empathizing style, and there is so little really understood about autism and the systemizing style there is no network available, for those forced to create a systemizing style to tap into and source the information they need to create a fully functional internal systemizing navigation system.

They must therefore begin creating their own unique hybrid type guidance systems. What system they develop depends on the patterns they randomly run into and the systems these patterns lead into. The degree to which these hybrid guidance systems can differ accounts for much of the different and unique behaviors autistics display between themselves.

Emotional Clearing and Positive Change

Clearing Negative Emotions

To be able to undertake the path to empowerment requires the adoption of an autism theory that allows for the ability to create great positive and lasting changes in one's life. The Ultimate Divergence Autism Theory suggests that clearing negative emotions from traumatic memories can result in significant positive changes for autistic individuals. This clearing of negative emotions from negative memories effectively dissolves the emotional triggers that keep autistics trapped and from experiencing much of life.

Practically all of the challenges faced by autistics can be explained through this autism theory. Also, all of the exceptional abilities that many display are accounted for. Not only that, but the Ultimate Divergence Theory of Autism also allows for great positive change to be made in autistic people’s lives. This post has just been an overview of the theory. My next posts will begin diving deeper into this theory, showing how the theory explains all the different known nuances of autism and showing current research findings that support the theory.

Conclusion

In summary, the Ultimate Divergence Autism Theory is an alternative autism theory that offers a fresh perspective on autism, emphasizing the role of environmental trauma in early development and its impact on neural divergence. By understanding and addressing the roots of these traumatic memories, we can foster empowerment and personal growth in autistic individuals. Embracing this theory can lead to meaningful improvements and a more inclusive understanding of autism.

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