09/18/2025
Always thinking outside the box.
“Severely ‘autistic’ individuals aren’t simply ‘withdrawing’ from social situations or preferring to spend their time in their own ‘inner worlds’ (to use the descriptions originally associated with the term autism.) Rather, such individuals are physically struggling to communicate. This struggle is clearly related to a fine motor dysfunction that has severely affected the muscles connected with the vocal cords, tongue, mouth, lips and hands.
If lacking the context of an animal’s lived experience of danger, we might assume that the animal expressing the ‘play dead’ reflex is exhibiting a motor “dysfunction” as the result of an injury, toxin, or air-borne ‘particle,’ not realizing that the brain actually directed this response from the inside-out. We may call the muscle paralysis a ‘condition,’ however, it would be better to describe this response as a “special biological program” of Nature; an adaptive mechanism deeply ‘programmed’ into the brain of the organism to respond automatically to a very particular kind of threat experienced in life.” – John Ohm
Many cases labeled as “severe autism” may actually reflect something different: profound motor challenges, gut issues, and sensory struggles that prevent individuals from expressing their full intelligence.
By distinguishing between “organic” inside-out adaptations of the nervous system and “inorganic” outside-in injuries or toxicological impacts, we open the door to a deeper understanding.
Keep reading “The Core of Autism” by John Ohm in Issue 86 of Pathways now: https://pathwaystofamilywellness.org/holistic-healthcare/the-core-of-autism.html
