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Why Do Autistics Tune and Script?
I have autism, and my life has been shaped around discovering what hurts the symptoms
of autism, what helps the symptoms of autism, and why.
In this video, I explain why autistics do one of sixteen different types of behaviours.
Then I'll let you know how to get more information, if you want it. This is one of a series of
16 different videos which I hope will make it easier for you to explain autism behaviours
to extended family, colleagues, educators, friends, or anyone who might be working with
or supporting someone with an autistic spectrum condition.
I'm Jackie McMillan of Thrive With Autism. I help parents, educators, health practitioners,
and adult autistics to reduce or eliminate the symptoms of autistic spectrum disorders,
so that autism no longer defines their lives, or limits their opportunities.
So, why do autistics tune and script? Well, first, I'm going to explain what those are.
Tuning is where you sing the same melody over, and over, and over again, for minutes, for
hours, sometimes for a whole day. So for example it would be something like, um, "Where have
all the flowers gone". And you wouldn't just sing all the verses, you'd sing all the verses
in order, over and over and over. And scripting is a similar thing, it's from,
ah, repeating a passage from a book, or from an audio, or from a video, or from even a
commercial sometimes, repeating that sequence of words or phrases over and over and over
again. Well, why do autistics do this? Well, there, there are a couple of things
going on. The first is that, um, when you have a reduced amount of RAM -- so if our
brains are like a computer, and we've got a lot of hard drive, but we don't have a lot
of the, the memory, the RAM that allows you to have a whole bunch of windows open at the
same time. Every time you're trying to pull up words
for something that's going on, you don't necessarily have, have the ability to take in what's happening,
and respond to it in a way that's appropriate for the moment. So sometimes it's easier to
engage by just using "canned" words or "canned" music, that has a particular meaning, and
that feels appropriate to that situation. Now, the other thing that can be going on
is, is that, um, when you're... A lot of our experiences aren't positive when, when we're
autistic. And when we have an experience that is positive, and either we find it funny or
uplifting, or somebody else finds it funny or uplifting, uh, it'll often be a very memorable
occasion for us. And it'll be something that we'll use kind of as a touchstone that we'll
use for situations that really aren't as nice, aren't as good, aren't... We're not as happy
in. So we'll tune or we'll script these things over and over again to help lift our spiri,
spirits in these other circumstances that are not as great.
If you want more information, some free webinars are coming up.
Autism Essentials gives you the keys to help the autistics you love at home, school, and
work. The Five Root Causes of Autism helps you find
the unique blend at the root of your particular autistic challenges.
Thank you for caring about someone with autism.