I have struggles with visual sensory stimulation. As a passenger in cars, I struggle not to panic. As we drive down the road, the movements of cars all around me have me in a constant state of fight or flight as they veer and dart about my vehicle. Being the driver is only marginally better. I have poor depth perception, and I cannot judge how close the other vehicles are in relation to my own.
I have long suspected that my struggles were related to my autism, but I had mistakenly thought that my problem was a visual processing disorder. However, when I researched visual processing disorder, I soon discovered that my symptoms weren’t even mentioned.
According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, Visual Processing Disorder is:
“A visual processing, or perceptual, disorder refers to a hindered ability to make sense of information taken in through the eyes. This is different from problems involving sight or sharpness of vision. Difficulties with visual processing affect how visual information is interpreted, or processed by the brain.” (National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), 1999)
The informational website goes on to explain that those who struggle with visual processing disorders have difficulties with the correct ordering of writing numbers and letters; recognizing letters like p, q, b, and d as separate letters; differentiating objects by color, size, form, position, pattern, and shape; extrapolating what an object is when it is only partially drawn or partially visible; visual recognition of objects known to the person; and differentiating between the big picture and the details. So while my struggles were visual in nature, they were not, in fact, a manifestation of visual processing disorder. Visual processing issues cover things like dyslexia, but not my struggle with processing visual information while driving.
In my search to determine exactly what the nature of my issues with riding in cars were, I came across research into the ways autistic people process motion. In the study “A Substantial and Unexpected Enhancement of Motion Perception in Autism” by J.H. Foss-Feig, et al (2013), researchers stated:
“This dramatically enhanced ability to perceive motion is a hint that the brains of individuals with autism keep responding more and more as intensity increases. Although this could be considered advantageous, in most circumstances if the neural response doesn't stop at the right level it could lead to sensory overload."
This is exactly what I am experiencing. I feel as though everything is coming at me so quickly that my anxiety spikes, and I don’t feel like I have time to respond. And yet, the feedback from other people in the car with me is that I am overreacting to cars that are not as close as they seem, and that vehicles were not moving as fast towards me as I thought they were. When I am driving in less crowded conditions, I don’t struggle with this at all. But in crowded freeway conditions with hundreds of cars crowding about me, darting in and out of lanes at 75mph, my brain becomes overwhelmed and I struggle not to go into a meltdown.
Other unusual manifestations of overly sensitive visual experiences I have when driving are a hypersensitivity to noticing animals on the shoulder or in the road, even in the dark or low visibility, and noticing, and reacting, to sudden changes in road conditions before other people in the car notice them, like disappearing lanes or approaching construction.
Sources:
J. H. Foss-Feig, D. Tadin, K. B. Schauder, C. J. Cascio. A Substantial and Unexpected Enhancement of
Motion Perception in Autism. Journal of Neuroscience, 2013; 33 (19): 8243 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1608-12.2013
National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD). (1999). Visual and Auditory Processing Disorders.
Retrieved July 24, 2020, from http://www.ldonline.org/article/6390/
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