writing on the Spectrum | Margaret Jean

Feb 27 2026

Autism Spectrum, writing on the Spectrum

Autism: A Different Operating System

Autism is not a processing error. It’s a different operating system. –Sarah Hendrickx

This quote precedes the research studies that we have been reflecting on in this blog, and yet, it speaks directly to the findings revealed in the results of the research studies reported in the December 26, 2025 Washington Post article.

These studies described research revealing genetic variations found in some children at birth, which are triggered to activate at different ages and under diverse environmental conditions. In Sarah’s words “different operating systems”.

This discovery of discrete biological subtypes of autism enhances the diagnostic process, assists with placement on the spectrum and improves the ability to determine the type of intervention and/or treatment required. In essence, the spectrum becomes more of a discrete continuum of variations, rather than a vague categorisation.

In this recent expansion of the diagnostic criteria for determining autism several hither-to unknown factors have come to light. Although we have always known that the spectrum covers a broad range of symptoms, now, according to new studies a variety of factors would seem to indicate at least four distinct forms of autism:

10% of those tested were Broadly Affected, facing the most severe challenges, affecting nearly every aspect of their lives.
19% displayed Mixed Autism exhibiting developmental delay. This group ironically showed few signs of anxiety, depression or disruptive behaviour. “Mixed” indicates a wide variance in the display of social or repetitive behaviours.
30% were Moderately Challenged, exhibiting mostly problems with subtler social and communication ‘differences’ and repetitive habits.
37% were classified as Social/Behavioural: Early development was on target, but these participants struggled with issues like ADHD, anxiety, depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder. 37% of test group.

One of the key findings of the study was the late diagnosis of the fourth group—the social-behavioural. The data from a number of globally diverse studies indicates that those diagnosed after their sixth birthday carry distinct genetic profiles. These genetic profiles may be embedded codes which affect various factors including the processing of knowledge and events, and behavioral responses.

This prompts the conclusion that ‘autism’ is indeed an indication of a unique ‘operating system’, arising from underlying discrete genetic variations.

This quote from: Kingston, Susanna . Embracing Late Adult Autism: A Self-Help Guide for Adults Discovering Their Neurodivergent Mind and Learning to Thrive on the Spectrum (p. 1). Kindle Edition.

Sarah Hendrickx is the author of several books on autism (see our Authors and their Books page) and a well-known speaker. Her writing is multi-faceted; as well as writing on Autism, she also writes about gardening and travel.

Tagged ADHD, autism, health, mental-health, neurodiversity

Feb 13 2026

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Autism & the Environment, autism research, Greta Thunberg, John Robison, Temple Grandin, writing on the Spectrum

Understanding Autism: Beyond the Spectrum

Consider autistic persons who have reached a high degree of recognition–I can quickly name a few in a variety of careers. For instance, there is John Elder Robison, author; Temple Grandin, Animal Activist and speaker/author; Elon Musk, Entrepreneur; Greta Thunberg, Environmental Activist; Susan Boyle, Songstress; and Anthony Hopkins, knighted actor. This diversity would seem to indicate that autism has many different facets–thus the term “autism spectrum”.

A recent article in the Washington Post, December 26, 2025, reports findings from recent studies[i] indicating evidence of at least four autism phenotypes, having both a specific set of behaviours and genetic traits as well as overlapping origins and characteristics.

This work leads to a greater understanding of the complexities and the range of autism’s many forms, suggesting that common variants found in the general population can “in certain combinations and under certain environmental conditions” result in the development of some forms of Autism at different stages of life.

It occurs to me that limiting autism to only four types is like reducing the colour spectrum to the primary colours: red, yellow and blue. And that makes me think of rainbows.

Rainbows are caused by two everyday elements: sunlight and raindrops. These elements are natural and we see them often. However, when an individual ray of light enters a raindrop, the light bends or refracts. This separates the white light into its component colours inside the droplet. But before exiting the raindrop, the light bends again, reflecting off the back of the droplet. This final bend or dispersion reveals a particular colour—one of the primary or secondary colours, or a shade thereof.

The findings in this study indicate that autism is somewhat similar in origins. Like a ray of sunlight entering a droplet of water, there are myriad environmental[i], industrial, medicinal, hereditary and prenatal influences. These can effect change in a person’s DNA, affecting the way we develop and subsequently, the way in which we interact with our environment.

A lead author of the subtype study, Natalie Sauerwald, is quoted as saying “There are many autisms.”

One of the studies reported, using an unrelated research team and different data found that genetically distinct forms of autism can be expressed later—after age six[ii]. These diagnoses appeared “strikingly different” from that diagnosed in early childhood. According to the article “…hundreds of genetic mutations have been identified as being linked to autism.”

Only half appear to be inherited, the rest arise spontaneously, either from random copying errors in DNA or from external influences like air pollution, paternal age, maternal diabetes, and prenatal infections. These types of autism appear later, and look more like depression, ADHD or PTSD.

The Washington Post article also mentions James McPartland[iii]’s research at Yale involving brain synapses of autistic adults. Synapses are the vehicles for transporting messages from one nerve cell to another, allowing for the assimilation of more, and more varied information by the brain.

It is important to note that McPartland, over years of study, found that adult autists had fewer synapses than neurotypicals, and the fewer the synapses, the greater the struggle with the social aspect of life.

Like water droplets in a rainbow, each of us reflects a combination of events and influences that make us unique. These may be a result of inherited DNA or of our body’s reaction to outside stimulu or events. The important thing to remember is that in our uniqueness, we bring special attributes into this world. Celebrate them!

Litman, A., Sauerwald, N., Snyder, L. G., Foss-Feig, J., Park, C. Y., Hao, Y., Dinstein, I., Theesfeld, C. L., & Troyanskaya, O. G. (2025). Decomposition of phenotypic heterogeneity in autism reveals underlying genetic programs. Nature Genetics. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-025-02224-z

[i] David Mandell, Professor of psychiatry, U of Pennsylvania.

[ii] Olga Troyanskaya, director of Princeton Precision Health and Co-Author of Flatiron Institute Study noted above.

[iii] James McParland, director of the Center for Brain and Mind Health at the Yale School of Medicine.

For more information on this study see;

https://www.brainfacts.org/diseases-and-disorders/childhood-disorders/2025/new-autism-subtypes-identified-based-on-genes-individual-traits-111125

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/12/26/autism-research-diagnosis-subtypes/

https://www.princeton.edu/news/2025/07/09/major-autism-study-uncovers-biologically-distinct-subtypes-paving-way-precision

Tagged Autism Spectrum, biology, crucial autism research, genetics, health, mental-health, science

Jan 01 2026

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An Asperger Point of View, Autism Spectrum, writing on the Spectrum

A Child Remembers

Hi mom,

When I think about how we used to go into the forest and pick wild strawberries, spotting deer and singing songs…you and Bev picked most of the berries, Sue and I were not very focused…but you always picked enough for wild strawberry shortcake…I also remember how you played baseball with us and our friends and how you took all of us to the beach in that big old Pontiac wagon…and how we pushed that car to the gas station….those were the best times of my life!

Thanks for being such an awesome mom!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I received this message from my son this Christmas. If you read my previous blogs on my take on my parenting skills or lack thereof, you will know why this message means so much to me…

Often when we think we are failing because of our inability to ‘get’ what other parents/friends/families do, we actually manage.

Yours truly,

Margaret Jean.

Tagged Parenting with Autism

Sep 26 2025

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autism research vs Robert F Kennedy Jr, writing on the Spectrum

Understanding Autism: A Response to Kennedy’s Claims

A Statement from the BC Autism Support Network:

Tagged ignorance surrounding causes of autism, research and autism, Robert F. Kennedy Jr and autism

May 31 2025

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writing on the Spectrum

Growing up with my Children: an autist’s perspective on parenting

I had a great time growing up with my kids.

We played ball. We climbed trees. We went berry picking and came home and made cakes oozing with fruit. We walked, checking out the neighbourhoods, the streets and fields around where we lived.

We learned to do cartwheels together on the front lawn, near the old Gravenstein apple tree.

We would sometimes all load up in the little Cortina and go to the beach or the park.

For a time, we lived in a park, a forty-six acre nature park while their dad was a park caretaker.

The kids had dogs and the park had two streams running through it and a swimming hole. There were swings and slides and a baseball diamond, creeks and bridges.

There were huge trees in the park, cedars and beeches and firs, and all kinds of exotics that the original owner had planted.

My children would run and play with their dogs, with their friends.

They went off to Navy Cadets every week. Even my son pressed his own uniform pants. He said I didn’t do it right! They polished their shoes and kept themselves well turned out for the event.

If there was a quarrel or a fight between them, I would make them face each other and with me in the middle, they would each get a turn to tell their version of what happened, no interruptions.

Then we would decide what had to happen from there: an apology (usually mutual) or sharing, or whatever the situation called for. There were consequences, mutually decided, sometimes grudgingly agreed to. But the children knew it was fair and right.

What I got from my childhood, my daughter once said to me, is a sense of justice.

My children still remember how beautiful the park was when all the fruit trees blossomed in the spring. And the wonderful harvests in the fall.

Yes, life was not always idyllic. In fact, far from it sometimes. But these memories are what we hold on to…

Tagged dogs, nature, travel, trees, writing

Apr 04 2025

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Adult Aspies and Social situations, Positive Aspects of Life on the Spectrum, Temple Grandin, UNFORGIVING, writing on the Spectrum

Autism and Life Beyond the Herd

This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man*.

You may often hear or read this quote: the epitome of self-awareness. As someone on the Autism Spectrum, it registers with me. It must be so for many people now and also throughout the ages since Shakespeare’s time, because it is often quoted.

And yet, it is commonly known that humans are born with the herd instinct.

For instance, in Chapter nine of Atomic Habits, James clear states that the human brain is programmed with the desire to be like everybody else.

This need originates in a protective instinct which triggers the drive to be included–The aptly named ‘herd instinct’. To belong, to imitate the successful integrative and admired behaviours of others, to go along with behaviours we might secretly deplore, stems from our earliest prehistory.

As cave dwellers, and tribesmen, living within the group we were protected, we could benefit from shared resources. On our own, alone, banished, or ostracized, we became easy targets for wild animals, other tribes, disease and injury. Vulnerable. Miserable. Usually prey. Ultimately dead.

Safety was an overwhelming issue. As for procreation, the presence of at least one other person was required. Then there’s the bonus of shared resources as well as shared responsibilities. Going along with the prevailing group meant not only survival but a more desirable quality of life.

Theoretically our habits and behaviours are influenced by the culture in which we are born, raised and which we enter into as adults.

Scientifically we are told that our brains are programmed to want to be aligned with the position assumed by the majority, and the powerful.

Research has proven time and again that being smart, being right, being true to yourself is less important than aligning oneself with the prevailing opinion. This is ingrained in our being. Man is mentally programmed to respond in this manner.

I realized as I read this that, surprisingly, I had never wanted to be like everyone else. In my memoir “Unforgiving” I explained that while my teenaged peers wanted to be different, they only really wanted to be different from their parents–not from each other. As for me:

I wanted to be the one and only Margaret Jean on the planet, and I wanted to be indelibly stamped as that single original sample of humanity whose Margaret Jean-ness would permeate every cell of her body and shine through everything she did.

That led me to think about other autistic people, in my family and in my friendships and acquaintances. Many of them have expressed the same feeling: Yes, we want to be accepted. Yes, we want to be understood. And no, we do not want to be like everybody else.

We value our uniqueness, the different way we perceive situations and people. Our evaluation of events and information. For instance, what if Temple Grandin had given in to everyone else’s concept of the behaviour of cattle, ignoring her insights as to their behaviours? What if she had not had the courage to pursue the possibility of uniqueness in her brain?

We shouldn’t feel apologetic for being autistic. It is how we were born, who we are.

I may misunderstand some social situations, but I may also have a deeper understanding of some. I may be more intent on social justice than I am on fitting in. Is that really a bad thing?

Our friends and family want to draw us into the herd for our own protection. For our own social welfare. For our own social ease. Admirably, they are thinking of our own good.

But is it what we want? Do we seek permission to be who we intrinsically are? Do we need it? Those few who make it—how do they do it? By accepting themselves…By being true to who they are.

*Hamlet, act I, scene iii, lines 78–80.

Tagged accountability, Atomic Habits, Autism & Individualism, Autism and acceptance, books, feedback, habit, Herd instinct, James Clear, neuroscience

Mar 28 2025

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autism relationships, sexual abuse survivors, Writing, writing on the Spectrum

Autism: Criticism and Self Doubt

Inez Garcia 1974

Growing up on the Autism spectrum, being constantly criticized for my behaviour, often justifiably so, created tremendous self-doubt.

This criticism made it easy for people to convince me that behaviour that I felt was entirely appropriate was in fact, unacceptable.

Lately, I’ve read James Clear’s Atomic Habits, in which he states that a habit he has ingrained is that he has to write every day. He only has to write one line, but the habit he’s ingrained is, he has to write every day. That, he says, is how he became a writer.

I was born a writer.

In my early teens I wrote poetry, the words flowing from an inner source that moved my pen across the page. I could easily express emotion and lead my audience to exactly where I wanted to take them.

People listened attentively and responded with enthusiasm. For me, it was as natural as breathing.

Then I bound myself into a relationship with a much older man. A well-educated man who had studied the classics and philosophy. A man raised in an atmosphere of Emily Post’s Blue Book of Etiquette. A man who denigrated my writing.

One day, in a passionate sense of injustice I wrote poetically about an incident that I heard about in the news.

The news article featured a woman of strong character–Inez Garcia. A woman who was raped. Two men assaulted her, one of whom weighed over three hundred pounds. He held her down, while the other man raped her. When they were done, they let her go. Threats against her life were uttered. Incensed and traumatized, she went home. She grabbed her son’s gun. She hunted one man down. Shot and killed him. The other man fled.

I wrote the ballad in her defense when she was arrested and charged with first degree murder.

My husband was shocked. It was 1974 and the very thought that I would dare to write about rape–a forbidden subject—offended him. That I could even consider defending the woman he found despicable. The thought of me submitting the ballad to any publication appalled him. He told me to burn it.

At the time, Women’s Rights and the Chicano Movement were gaining ground in the San Francisco Bay area. When news of Garcia’s plight became known, feminists took up her cause, and Garcia herself became a speaker addressing women’s groups.

According to Wikipedia, I was not the only woman to take up the pen in Garcia’s defense.

As a cause celebre, her (Inez Garcia’s) case inspired numerous works of art and music, including the Beverly Grant folk song “Inez”, performed with the group The Human Condition; Marge Piercy’s poem “For Inez Garcia”;^[5] and Jayne Cortez’s poem “Rape.”^[6]

These women became noted for their work in Garcia’s defense and went on to become well published writers.

As for me, I didn’t burn my ballad, but I did essentially fold up my writing persona and immerse myself in motherhood and housekeeping.

That I gave up writing at that point in my life was not my husband’s fault. It was entirely mine, for giving his opinion so much weight, and my own so little recognition.

Years later and in a more progressive relationship, I entered a university undergraduate program where I studied literature, including contemporary poetry. Writing that I found surprisingly reminiscent of my early work.

And by degrees I learned to trust myself to write again, encouraged by professors who recognized my latent talent and helped me publish.

But the process is not the same. It’s a constant battle to put my writing first, to allow myself to sit down and open that channel.

This is my continued fascination with Atomic Habits: sooner or later the habit of sitting down to write will be ingrained, and I will once again, see myself as a writer.

If you are having self-doubts, if you feel that what you believe is worthwhile is being negated by everyone around you, don’t give up and please, don’t give in.

Trust yourself, and find your place in this world. It’s waiting for you.

Inez Garcia was retried and exonerated after serving two years in prison.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inez_Garc%C3%ADa Research data’

Tagged Atomic Habits, Autism spectrum & criticism, autism spectrum and social situations, creative-writing, Inez Garcia, James Clear, The Women's Movement 1974

Apr 02 2024

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mindfulness, writing on the Spectrum

A Work In Progress

Making the Body/Mind Connection Part 3

I am trying hard to follow my own advice and be more mindful, but too often, I find that I am not.

I find myself preoccupied with work problems and issues. It’s high season for my seasonal work, and the demands on me are almost unbearably heavy right now.

I do not wish for my days to be entirely consumed with work. There is so much more that I want to do!

I live on the usually rainy west coast of BC, but when it is unseasonably sunny out, I need to bask in that sun for at least half an hour, just to remind myself that there’s a rewarding and joyful life available and waiting for me.

I like to both read and least listen to books, but I am reduced to only listening to audio books in the car on my way to the gym.

Lately, I find I am not even making time to phone and chat with my friends or keep in touch with my distant cousins and relatives, some of whom count on me for support and encouragement.

I am incredibly fortunate in that I have a caring partner who plans and prepares our meals, and takes care of the light housekeeping and gardening.

So really, my complaint, when I stop to think about it, is not about my situation, it’s about how I am dealing with it, which is a result of what’s going on in my head.

This reminds me of an article I once read, by an esteemed author named Ekhart Tolle. He said something that really caught my interest.

He said our minds are busy clogging up our thoughts with the past and the future. This keeps us from noticing and fully living the possibilities and the pleasure of the moment we are in.

Tolle believes that even when we feel that being in the present moment is painful, unpleasant or even unacceptable, that feeling is a judgement we are making about that moment. And just thinking in those terms, Tolle warns us, works against our best interests.

These assessments of our situation are pronounced as unalterable facts by our mind, and Tolle posits that it is this judgement which causes us pain and unhappiness.

Tolle’s wise advice? “Whatever the present moment brings, accept it as if you had chosen it.” He cautions us to always work with the present and never against it.

“Make the present moment your friend and not your enemy, and you will transform your life.”

This advice sounds powerful. Also very difficult to initiate and sustain.

Reflecting on this article, which I’ve found in my files, I realize that accepting the reality of the present moment requires practice.

To do so without adding mental predictions of where it is taking me, or how it has affected me, or labelling it a positive or negative moment, to simply accept the moment whatever it may bring, could be the next step in my journey to mindfulness.

I must learn to live in the present moment. To recognize what I am doing. To be fully cognizant of my immediate situation, my environment and my body, as I am moving into the next moment. And that the next moment is always an unknown.

I am working on it.

Tagged Ekhart Tolle

Mar 24 2024

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awkwardness, body, body and mind, mind, mindfulness, mobility, physical self, writing on the Spectrum

United We Stand, Divided We….

Exploring the Mind/Body Connection Part 2

I am grateful to my body for all the years it has amazingly, carried me through this life. In elementary school, it helped me win races and high jump and in high school, allowed me to participate in team sports like baseball and basketball. I could act in film and on stage. I could walk for miles and often had to. This body bore me three fine children. And in the confines of this body, I cared for a husband with a critical heart condition.

But ultimately, I never thought much about the physical embodiment that accompanied ‘me’ wherever I went. I stumbled, tripped, rushed, and blundered.

Alternately, I would sit for hours in an unhealthy position, lost in a book or a problem or a project. My body was just there with me, taken for granted, unnoticed, like an unloved child in the room.

The most positive remark I can make about my attitude toward my body is that I have always been aware that mobility is crucial to a vibrant and happy life. So, this project of honouring my physical self should be a simple matter, right?

The trouble is my mind seems to be jealous.

Just when I think I’m doing well with regular breaks from the computer for movement and stretching, or going to the gym, my mind steps in and takes over, completely absorbing me for hours beyond the time I have allotted it, and once again robbing my body of its due.

Why do I live so much in my head? Why are my thoughts a constant flow of unremitting playback and commentary?

Why can I not enjoy a mental silence now and then? A cessation of mental chatter, a period of serenity which would allow me to breathe more deeply, to drink in the moment, the bright purple and yellow of the primulas outside my window, the hummingbirds hovering at the feeder, the snow on the roofs across the way.

Suddenly, it becomes clear: to give my body its due, I must be able to exert some control over my mind.

My friend, Richard, an expert in mindfulness tells me it will take a conscious effort to co-ordinate my body and mind. It’s a matter of giving my physicality the mindful recognition it deserves. And treating it respectfully.

Richard says I must learn to be still: to extricate myself from this mental rat race in which I seem perpetually absorbed.

I must deliberately engage both body and mind, he tells me, not only when motion is involved but also when it’s time to be still!

He says there is a way to harmoniously reunite my mind with my body. That I must recognize that there are no grounds for perceiving these aspects of myself as a duality. But this body/mind division seems so real to me. If he’s right, I’m not dealing with two separate entities, body and mind are intimately connected. It seems they just don’t recognize each other now.

I must introduce my body and my mind to each other.

I’m going to ask Richard to tell me more about this. What does recognizing the oneness of my body and mind look like in everyday life? How do I practice this kind of unity? Does anyone else feel this disconnect–this separation of these two aspects of self? How do we reconnect, assuming the connection existed in the first place?

Come join me in my exploration of the mind/body connection!

Tagged autism body/mind ', health, jealous mind, mental-health, mindfulness, vibrant life, wellness

Feb 28 2024

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writing on the Spectrum

Helping Neurodivergent Children Have Success in the Classroom.

Positive Aspects: Sheila’s Story continued.

Margaret Jean

Asperger Me!

Category Archives: writing on the Spectrum

Autism: A Different Operating System

Understanding Autism: Beyond the Spectrum

A Child Remembers

Understanding Autism: A Response to Kennedy’s Claims

Growing up with my Children: an autist’s perspective on parenting

A Work In Progress

United We Stand, Divided We….

Helping Neurodivergent Children Have Success in the Classroom.

Asperger Me!

Category Archives: writing on the Spectrum

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