Autism and the Apocalypse

Q: Would an autistic person survive in a post-apocalyptic world?

A: Yes, not only would they survive they would thrive. Let’s think about some of the possible traits of autism and how they would adapt for a post-apocalyptic world. Now keep in mind no one person with autism will have all these traits but all will have some.

1.      Poor social skills: It’s the apocalypse how many people are really left and how important are social skills at this point anyway? Next. Okay, let’s break down what we mean by poor social skills.

A.     Little to no eye contact: post-apocalypse, we are probably now living in the wilderness hunting and gathering to survive. Everyone and everything is viewed as a possible threat. Well natural instincts tell us that making eye contact in the wild is the same as challenging someone to a fight, so by avoiding eye contact we avoid unnecessary fights.

B.      Difficulty understanding jokes, sarcasm, or figures of speech: So we are serious people by nature we approach everything as a serious matter, and in the apocalypse everything is. When you joke and make light of the situation you are more likely to die. We stay serious and we survive.

C.      Does not share observations or experiences with others: We notice something we are keeping that info to ourselves. Who knows how long we will need supplies to last, if we find good hunting or fishing areas we keep it quiet.

D.     Will respond to social interaction but does not initiate: You want to talk to us fine we will respond, but otherwise we will just mind our own business and keep on moving. We have more important things to do than socialize like Survive.

E.      Aversion to large crowds: Anyone that watches the walking dead knows large crowds equals trouble. No thanks we’ll pass.

F.       Resistance to being touched: Good luck luring us into a false sense of security through physical contact may work well on others but not us.

2.      Behaviors: Let’s break a few of these down

A.     Obsession with objects, ideas or desires: Say our obsession is food then we will focus a lot on that and you can bet we won’t starve.

B.      Compulsive behavior patterns: Say we are a compulsive sniffer you know we smell everything. Well we will notice small changes in the scent of food that will help us know when it is starting to go bad and not eat it and therefore not get sick from it. Also we will notice changes in the scent of where we live so will know if someone or something has been there.

C.      Many and varied collections: We hoard things again we will have plenty of food and a lot of types to boot. Not to mention all the weapons and survival tools got plenty of those too.

3.      Let’s talk about our senses

A.     Sensitivity to sounds, textures, tastes, smells, and/or light: Basically heightened senses that means we will notice changes in sounds, smells, tastes, etc… sooner than most helping us with hunting and staying away from danger.

B.      Unusually high or low pain tolerance: high pain tolerance very helpful say we are running for our lives we trip we get hurt most people would be done for not us we get up and keep running as if nothing happened until we reach safety. Low pain tolerance also very helpful say we get a small superficial scratch or cut we notice it and doctor it therefore we don’t get an infection that could kill us.

Okay so I think you probably understand at this point how many of the traits of autism can be useful in the apocalypse.

Q: Would an autistic person survive in a post-apocalyptic world?

A: Hell Yes we would! We would kick the apocalypses butt. So if you find yourself face to face with the apocalypse Run don’t walk to your nearest autistic friend and you too may survive