"I do doodle. You, too. You do doodle, too."*
Published February 28, 2009 @ 12:12PM PT
Doodling Can Help Memory, a study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology found (popular science article on same).
This is kind of funny to me as I was often admonished in school for doodling, teachers insisting that I was not paying attention. I made more than one teacher extra irritated by echoing back enormous portions of the lecture they were giving in what I thought was honest proof of my actually paying attention. This admonishment about "not paying attention" also followed on the heels of me tapping, rocking, moving in any way or pretty much doing anything besides sitting completely still--ironically something that will cause me to become utterly unable to pay attention.
The doodle study reminds me of the eye contact study that included key findings such as:
* It is relatively easy to train five year olds to avert their gaze more when answering questions. This increases their ability to answer both verbal and arithmetical questions.
* Children develop the use of gaze aversion as a concentration tool during their fifth year.
* In the laboratory, children averted their gaze less when interviewed across a live video link than when interviewed face to face. However, question difficulty had an enormous impact on the amount that children averted their gaze from the interviewer in both situations. This suggests that children avert their gaze when answering difficult questions to avoid the extra mental effort of monitoring faces, rather than for social reasons, such as embarrassment.
I also have often been accused of not paying attention by teachers (and others) because of not making eye contact, when ironically staring at eyeballs is a sure way to white out any ability I have to understand anything at all. These days my accommodations sheet I give to my professors literally says, "it is important to note that repetitive 'fidgeting' motions and lack of eye contact are not an indication that I am disinterested or not paying attention."
If one believes these concentration and memory studies though, my "autistic behaviors" are not so wacky after all, since it seems these behaviors may be of general benefit to human beings in concentration and memory.
What is wacky to me is the difference in attitude about these behaviors depending on whether they are discussed in the context of autism or outside of the context of autism. For people who are not on the spectrum, doodling and gaze aversion are considered possibly valuable concentration aids. For people who are on the spectrum, these same behaviors are considered "mysterious" and pathological and to be trained out of a person.
Last year I was presenting at the AAIDD annual meeting, and my fellow autistic co-presenter said to the audience something to the effect of, "if you ever twitch or tap the end of your pencil to concentrate to relieve tension, then you understand some of the main reasons why many autistic people stim." There followed an "a-ha" moment rippling through the audience then, and comments afterwards regarding the importance of making that connection in understanding.
How many opportunities for understanding each other are lost because of constantly viewing autistic behavior as bizarre pathology instead of as being motivated by some of the same reasons it is for people who aren't labeled autistic? I may fidget more often and more unusually than non-autistics, but I also expect maintaing concentration in some situations is more difficult for me due to my autism.
*from Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 3, episode 11
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Comments (8)
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Dora is committed to improving quality of life for individuals on the autistic spectrum--including herself! She is Co-director of the Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education and a member of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's Board of Directors.
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I can't even describe how familiar the picture is you posted. Where is it from? It's like a direct reflection of my oldest son's mind as translated in his art. He compulsively draws at least a dozen pictures every day, and they all look like that--busy and intriguing and convoluted and dizzying. He's also a doodler--even in kindergarten, he would have to cover his papers with arrows and other things, and now, in second grade, everything he does is still hyperadorned.
My middle son cannot make eye contact in most situations and will tell you that it "hurts" him. For me, it's just a distraction (I stand there thinking more about what the eyes and face I'm watching are trying to communicate and less about what I'm saying) unless I'm mad about something. If I'm mad, I inadvertently stare TOO much, which comes across as intimidating. Can't win on that one.
Posted by Emily Willingham on 02/28/2009 @ 07:00PM PT
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Hi Emily, the photo came from ticklemepink on flickr. (reminds self yet again to post flickr photos as links...)
Posted by Dora Raymaker on 02/28/2009 @ 11:24PM PT
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Speaking of fidgets, if I sit on a table when I'm lecturing--which I often do--I will frequently catch myself rocking.
Posted by Emily Willingham on 02/28/2009 @ 07:01PM PT
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Emily said: "He compulsively draws at least a dozen pictures every day, and they all look like that--busy and intriguing and convoluted and dizzying. He's also a doodler--even in kindergarten, he would have to cover his papers with arrows and other things, and now, in second grade, everything he does is still hyperadorned."
Yes, my drawings look like that too, and in school I hardly had any unadorned exercise-books (or whatever they're called) either. I also noticed that the drawings of many other people on the sectrum look a whole lot like mine. Consider this (the cover art): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-Asperger-Syndrome-Christopher-Gillberg/dp/0521001838/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235913464&sr=1-4.
Could have been by me.
This is something I'm quit intrigued by, and I wonder if anyone has ever looked into it.
I should scan some of my stuff sometime and put it on my blog. The latest drawing/doodle I made was at last the NVA Autisme Congres, during the lectures. To help me understand and pay attention better :D.
Posted by Norah vd Stel on 03/01/2009 @ 05:22AM PT
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You should do that. I put some of TH's art on my blog (it's tagged as "art mandalas...", and someone else noted that it was very reminiscent of Stephen Shore's book cover; the way the tree is done is soooooo very much like TH. http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1931282196/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link
Norah, that link you posted looks exactly like work that both of my older sons do. It's very similar. My middle son also draws constantly--his thing is miniaturization, so it's all tiny.
Posted by Emily Willingham on 03/01/2009 @ 06:42AM PT
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Dora
Thank you for this post. As a parent advocate and someone who presents on autism issues, I have always sought to make that "connection in understanding" that you explain in your post. I'm thrilled to hear that (as a non-autistic), I'm doing it right! I have used the pen tapping (and clicking) example many times. Thank you for the validation!
Posted by Sara Reed on 03/01/2009 @ 06:53AM PT
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And thank you Sara for your good work!
Posted by Dora Raymaker on 03/01/2009 @ 12:25PM PT
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My compulsive doodling has led to many a docked 'participation' grade, especially at the college level. Same for eye-contact issues. I hope that this is brought to the attention of many college professors and school teachers alike. I can only process one set of verbal information at a time: I can listen OR take notes. If I take notes, I can only concentrate on what I'm writing, so I miss whatever is said while I'm busy. I retain more if I just sit and draw and listen and fidget.
Posted by Ali ... on 03/02/2009 @ 04:12PM PT
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