New information must be carefully identified, classified and stored in a binder judiciously intended for this purpose. In my daughter's head, everything is organized down to the last detail.
My daughter often talks to us about how she organizes information in her head. For some time, his explanations have become increasingly clear, fascinating and very well verbalized for a young child with Asperger's syndrome. So I wanted to share it with you since I believe that this mental organization is similar for many autistic people.
My daughter's brain is a huge, complex database, memorized like clockwork. “My memory never fails me, everything is filed in my head, I remember everything, everything, everything! Our daughter often tells us, and I confirm, her memory is remarkable! In her head, she tells us, it's like a big network with several binders. There is the binder of animals, ninja, hatchimals, ideas, etc. Each large binder has several sections. For example, animals will be divided into categories (horses, hamster, cat, dog) and sometimes into sub-categories (color, hair, scales, size).
“We can't changeschool bags! It doesn't make sense," she told me. The binders do not reverse. We can't change them as we want, it "bugs" in the head. Thus, when new information comes in, you have to review all the binders and see in which it is possible to classify the information received. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it takes a lot of mental juggling to get there. “Oh! What am I going to put this in now! Wait, I have to think. And here she goes in an infinite and captivating monologue, trying to find a meaning, a logic to reorganize the whole of her brain. Undo a binder, reassemble it, introduce new information, destroy a binder, create a new one, etc. It's tough!
When an element is disturbed, when information is inconsistent, too unpredictable, unknown, its mental image explodes. Disorganization sets in, sometimes at lightning speed. "It's my idea bag that just exploded into lots of little pieces. she told me, still exhausted from the disorganization. “It gives me a headache and I weigh hard with my hands over my ears so as not to lose the idea. Cries and anger (fear, helplessness) take hold of her. The need for silence, calm and time is urgent.
From the outside, his behavior may seem rigid and his temperament very intransigent. “But what are we going to do if it doesn’t work? What's plan B mom? I have to plan ahead, in case plan A doesn't work. “I want to know everything and we're not changing plans. »my daughter tells me almost daily, who will monologue aloud again all the unimaginable possibilities to imagine, organize and finally be ready! Then, nothing should change, at least, without having been warned and not too often. The need to know, to control HIS environment is omnipresent. Predictability allows you to avoid “jumping up” your mental schemas and your binders in your head and disorganizing, decomposing into crumbs. She is not rigid or controlling of others, she only wishes to protect herself from being overloaded.
