by Raluca Ciobanu & Ovidiu Brazdau
Raluca Ciobanu is an art therapist who works with children on the autism spectrum, using various methods for developing a better adult-child relationship and finding new ways to improve the acquisitions sustainably. [1]
We hope that the perspectives described here will be helpful for any adult interested in new ways to connect deeply with an individual on the autism spectrum. Our observations show that a deep connection style is already used by some therapists and family members of individuals on the autism spectrum, and those who seem to use this method, along with the classical approach, consistently produce excellent results. That has encouraged us to advance on this path and study the underlying mechanisms.
Field observations and hypotheses
1. The autism spectrum includes individuals with a dense synchrony of their body layers, generating a denser than average pre-conscious awareness, perhaps as a mutation in our species, resulting in neurodiverse individuals.
Due to the dense synchrony in their body layers (physical, energy, information), life’s adaptive processing is still learning how to build higher-order structures such as self-identity, systems thinking, conceptual thinking, meta-cognition, meta-attention, meta-emotions. Also, due to the initial lack of second-order organization of systems, the conscious experience tends to remain in a nascent stage of complexity, resulting in a dominance of the pre-conscious awareness (‘something is there, but I cannot figure out what it is’).
2. As an adaptation to the denser perception, nature has adapted the attentional styles and seems to have enhanced contextual and visual functioning in these individuals (as compared to the neurotypical person), as a way of meaning-making.
We are not implying that this inner configuration would always generate better performance at visual-spatial assessments; instead, we want to emphasize that the visual-spatial approach generates meanings more rapidly, as an adaptation to the sensory data overload.
3. Sometimes, the density of the autistic inner experience is very similar to the high-density energy experiences known as kundalini activations, or to the experiences generated by the DMT molecule (as experienced in high-energy spikes during ayahuasca experiences).
For individuals on the autism spectrum, with this dense high-synced information configuration, to learn perceptual patterns and their function/meaning is more difficult when using standard learning methods, as compared to the neurotypical population. The majority of humans have a ‘lighter’ inner environment, and they only experience high densities occasionally, in situations such as natural childbirth, manic episodes, kundalini awakening experiences, altered states of consciousness induced by hyper-ventilation or entheogens, or after staying in the dark for at least a week.
During group experiences with ayahuasca, participants experience a very intimate connection and information-energy transfers among them, as moments of ‘deep connection’, technically described as spontaneous samyama (merging, full absorption). Samyama is a process of perfect and continuous fusion with the object of attention. Or, in other words, knowing an object by completely merging with it. The interconnections and reciprocal learning, observed during ayahuasca experiences, provoked us to test whether the information transfer and mutual learning also emerge in the connection between the individual on the autism spectrum and their closest relationships (such as their family or therapist).
4. We observed that if the therapist/parent opens up to the dense configurations using approaches such as mindfulness, or increased present moment awareness and witnessing awareness, the child on the autism spectrum may ‘click’ and connect with the adult, and unconsciously ‘learn’ how the information is organized in the adult nearby, and naturally ‘absorb’—through resonance-based information exchanges—the patterns necessary to organize the pre-conscious information.
Initially, we tested this hypothesis with some kids on the autism spectrum, and our observations showed that just by being present in the same space with the child, as a witness, and using a ‘unitive consciousness’ approach, the child naturally clicked with the adult, getting a sense of safety and becoming more creative. In time, this helps with the acquisition of meaning and self-identity structures.
In ‘Presence: From Autism to the Discipline of Authentic Movement’, Janet Adler says: “Forty years ago, autistic children were described as those beings who never had an experience of relationship with another human being. In such a child there is no hint of an internalized other, a mother, an inner witness. There is no internalized presence. For a decade I worked in big and empty rooms where autistic children, one by one, filled the space with their absence until, because of a momentary presence, we experienced a connection. Such moments of grace created resonance within our relationship, revealing a glimpse of light.”[2]
How is this deep connection/transfer generated? As the adult already has a meta-organization of information, the child unconsciously ‘absorbs’ various patterns and begins to use them unconsciously, thus contributing to the inner development of their self-identity, as the self-identity is composed of habituated patterns.
In ‘A Future for Neuroscience’, Mike Johnson explains: “I suggest breaking EQ (emotional intelligent quotient) into entrainment quotient (EnQ) and metronome quotient (MQ). In short, entrainment quotient indicates how easily you can reach entrainment with another person. And by ‘reach entrainment’, I mean how rapidly and deeply your connectome harmonic dynamics can fall into alignment with another’s. Metronome quotient, on the other hand, indicates how strongly you can create, maintain, and project an emotional frame. In other words, how robustly can you signal your internal connectome harmonic state, and how effectively can you cause others to be entrained to it. Autism might be reconceptualized along two dimensions: first, most forms of autism would entail less general ability to reach interpersonal entrainment with another’s connectome harmonics—a lower EnQ. Second, most forms of autism would also entail a non-standard set of connectome harmonics. I.e., the underlying substructure of core harmonic frequencies may be different in people on the autism spectrum, and thus they can’t effectively reach social entrainment with ‘normal’ people, but some can with other systems (e.g., video games, specific genres of music), and some can with others whose substructure is non-standard in the same way.”[3]
What can parents and therapists do to maximize this effect? Connect deeply with the child, habituate the connection, and stay around, purposefully, to allow the transfer to unfold over time. After the connection is there, if the adult has access to post-autonomous stages mechanisms (as described by Susanne Cook-Greuter in inner growth theory), the adult can consciously feed the child with patterns and systems. If the adult is in the conventional stages, the feeding still happens, but it requires an emotional connection, such as an unconditional love flow. Some post-autonomous features are real time self-identity awareness and perspective skills, witnessing awareness (or developing an inner observer), and the ability to have meta-experiences (e.g., emotions about emotions, reflections about the thinking process).
5. Gazing into each other’s eyes is a powerful connection method, but it may temporarily destabilize the inner configuration of both participants.
That’s why some individuals on the autism spectrum avoid eye contact. Collective experiences with ayahuasca show that looking into each other’s eyes during high-density kundalini peaks facilitates a massive information transfer.
6. In individuals on the autism spectrum, the dense high-sync sometimes leads to an increased self-stimulation drive.
In this situation, an option would be learning to self-adapt to the denser interconnections in the energy and information body layers[4]. In other words, learning to manage low-level kundalini-like experiences as everyday habits. We have noticed that the repetitive inner and outer movements of the individuals on the autism spectrum support their inner experience by ‘patterning’ certain content, let’s say about 30% of it, so that the individual can access and process the other 70%.
7. We hypothesize that individuals on the autism spectrum may have a higher natural (endogenous) DMT production in the body, as compared to neurotypical individuals, or they may have a different rhythmic patterning similar to synesthetic individuals.
Simon Baron-Cohen and collaborators in ‘Is Synaesthesia More Common in Autism?’ explain: “Synaesthesia is a neurodevelopmental condition in which a sensation in one modality triggers a perception in a second modality. Autism (shorthand for Autism Spectrum Conditions) is a neurodevelopmental condition involving social-communication disability alongside resistance to change and unusually narrow interests or activities. Whilst on the surface they appear distinct, they have been suggested to share common atypical neural connectivity. In the present study, we carried out the first prevalence study of synaesthesia in autism to formally test whether these conditions are independent. After exclusions, 164 adults with autism and 97 controls completed a synaesthesia questionnaire, Autism Spectrum Quotient, and Test of Genuineness-Revised (ToG-R) online. The rate of synaesthesia in adults with autism was 18.9% (31 out of 164), almost three times greater than in controls (7.22%, 7 out of 97, P <0.05). The significant increase in synaesthesia prevalence in autism suggests that the two conditions may share some common underlying mechanisms. Future research is needed to develop more feasible validation methods of synaesthesia in autism.”[5]
The autistic tantrums involve a spontaneous reconfiguration of energy, as in kundalini spikes during ayahuasca experiences. The notable difference is that the child is entirely overwhelmed by the peak, cannot manage the overload, and fades out. This is a natural coping mechanism, also observed when people who participate in entheogenic ceremonies go beyond their processing capacity and fade out, or dissolve their identity into a temporary psychotic-like experience.
Some methods for developing a deeper connection with individuals on the autism spectrum
1. Develop better body awareness: contact improvisation and any form of authentic dance would help.
We recommend watching ‘Body and Earth. Seven Web-Based Somatic Excursions’, proposed by Andrea Olsen and Caryn McHose, available at www.body-earth.org:
“This series of short films offers resources for ease in the body by restoring inherent flow, our birthright. They are for anyone with curiosity about living more consciously. Two underlying concepts inform this work: Body is Earth. Our bones, breath and blood are the minerals, air and water inside us. When you arrive in a new place, in just a few days the 70% of your body that is water is now from that watershed. The local eggs, milk, and greens that you eat shape your muscles and bones. Humans are nature too, not separate but same.
The second concept is that dance—and movement—are essential ways to experience this interconnectedness. Rather than superficial, peripheral, or extraneous, movement is central, essential, and core to what it means to be human in this time. Bodies have intrinsic intelligence formed from over three billion years of evolutionary history—since the origins of the first cell. Rather than seeking control over the body and the places we inhabit, we develop practices for deep attending. To explore these concepts experientially, we begin with our feet. In Day 1, we orient to weight and space and practice arriving. In Day 2 we refresh fluidity, followed by Day 3—investigating breath and voice. In session 4 we remap verticality, and in Day 5, we explore the process of perception, remembering how orientation and perception underlie every movement we make. In Day 6 we focus on balancing the nervous system. And finally, in Day 7, we apply all these resources to embracing mystery, meeting the uncertainty and challenges of our days more consciously and with more spontaneous joy.
These seven movement explorations can be done individually, part-by-part, or linked for an hour-long practice. The verbal cues are meant as invitations, not commands. Follow what captures your imagination, finding your own inroad to embodied awareness. You’ll need a space to move in, that feels private enough for focused concentration, a yoga mat or other clean surface, and comfortable clothing. It’s helpful if you have a writing journal to reflect on the process. You can work alone or with a group, as we enter this journey together.”[6]
2. Learn meta-attention styles (monitoring attention to attention); learn to divide attention and practice wide attention, mindfulness, and witnessing awareness.
Attention is the ‘scanner’ that connects us with various sources (internal and external), making the information available for our awareness and the conscious experience. To connect with individuals on the autism spectrum, use a type of attention called ‘diffuse/wide’ attention, or attention to the big picture, and combine ‘objective’ and ‘immersed’ styles.
Les Fehmi in ‘Attention to Attention’ explains: “How we pay attention determines significantly and immediately our experience, physiology, and behavior. How we pay attention determines our subjective experience of our own identity and our objective experience of internal and external sensation and perception. Also, we can learn to flexibly choose and determine how we attend. Certainly most of us have the ability to choose the direction of our narrow attention, in order to choose to experience any subset of available stimuli at any given time. With training, we can also choose to broaden the scope of our attention to include a more diffuse and integrated background awareness of available stimuli, even in multiple sense modalities simultaneously. Moreover, we can choose to flexibly pay attention in other ways which help us function more or less well in specific conditions.”[7,8]
In ‘The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness’, Jeff Warren writes: “We must learn, said Smritiratna, to treat our thoughts the way we treat sounds or sights or smells. They are temporary bits of content that flit across the mind. They don’t own us.[…] There are four foundations to mindfulness. The first is mindfulness of body, both the senses, and the physical feeling of the body, the pressure of the seat against our backsides, the pressure in our bellies. The second is mindfulness of pleasure and pain—the two extremes we flit through on a daily basis. The third is mindfulness of mood. And the last is mindfulness of our mental patterns and thoughts. Try to identify all of these things, even if some of them may be unpleasant. Remember: every experience is bearable one breath at a time.”[9]
3. Develop the ability to connect with space, stay present, and witness the individual on the autism spectrum, using the techniques from authentic movement developed by Janet Adler.
In ‘Witness Consciousness in the Development of the Individual’, Paula C. Sager explains: “What makes Authentic Movement unique as a practice is that the mover is in relationship to a non-moving external witness. The primary intention of the external witness is to pay attention to her own internal experience while tracking the spatial, temporal, and physical journey of the mover. A seasoned witness, evolving from practice as a mover, typically has a well-developed inner witness, capable of separating her own experience from the mover’s and of discerning any tendency to judge, interpret, or project her own experience onto that of the mover.
The external witness, who typically sits on the periphery of the space, plays a vital role in supporting the development of the mover’s inner witness. For the mover, the process of becoming conscious of one’s experience while ‘in movement’ (stillness can be a form of movement) is the ongoing practice of developing and strengthening the ‘inner witness’. After the movement portion of an Authentic Movement session, time is usually given to a transitional activity, such as writing, drawing, or working with clay or other art material, followed by a set time for verbal processing between the mover(s) and witness(es). The mover is considered to be ‘the expert of her own experience’ and is therefore invited to speak first.
The witness is careful to be conscious of how she talks about her experience of witnessing the mover, often deliberately acknowledging her own experience as distinct from that of the mover. For some movers the experience of being witnessed is a relief. For others, especially at first, being witnessed can bring up feelings of ambivalence and discomfort. If the witness can convey a sense of ‘compassionate-enough presence’, the mover will likely, over time, develop greater trust and security.”[10]
While working with children on the autism spectrum, we observed that using narrow-focused attention exclusively may inhibit their activities and reduce the connection between the adult and the child. Although their attention is very dynamic, many children on the autism spectrum notice the attentional style of the therapist/adult. After they learn to be in the same space, while acknowledging that they are being witnessed, they relax, allowing the adult into their inner space (which is usually merged with the outer environment). We tested this idea, in therapy sessions, and we noticed that after the mutual attentional recognition had been established, the child learned that the therapist’s attention is not dangerous; so it was possible to watch the child for over an hour, without being disconnected from the shared space.
Other resources: ‘Looking for me’ and ‘Still Looking’ by Janet Adler.[11]
4. Develop the mechanisms to connect deeply with the child as a whole and learn to access an expanded presence, specific to the ‘unitary mystical state’ or unitive/nondual consciousness.
Jeff Warren, in ‘The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness’, says: “Robert Forman is a former professor of religion, and the author of some excellent articles in the Journal of Consciousness Studies. I think of him as a kind of mystical action figure. He transitioned into nondual consciousness a few years ago, neural tubes ‘unzipping’ along the back of his neck with a long tearing sound, in his memorable description. It’s fascinating to think about how the various mystical states all relate to one another.[…] For Forman, there is a clear progression: first you tap into the Pure Conscious Experience (PCE), then the PCE expands so it exists alongside the normal run of mental content and you get the Dual Mystical State, and finally that ‘interior silence’ balloons out beyond the confines of the body to include everything, so that, in the words of German idealist Malwida von Meysenburg, who describes one such Unitary Mystical State experience, ‘Earth, heaven, and sea resounded as in one vast world encircling harmony… I felt myself one with them’. When we hear about ‘becoming one with the universe’ we tend to roll our eyes, or turn down the volume on the Final Fantasy DVD. But it’s only a cliché because so many people have reported the experience, and not just New Agers. No one knows what’s behind these episodes—is it some oddball bit of brain activity, indigestion, or, as Forman himself puts it, ‘an encounter with Ultimate Truth?’ But their very commonness—the fact that they happen both spontaneously and as a result of deliberate practice—suggests that they may have implications for the study of consciousness itself.”[12]
While studying the family environment of the children on the autism spectrum, we observed that some adults tend to have many unconscious anxieties, worries, or disappointments with regard to the child, and these tensions become a part of the child’s experience. They are unable to discriminate between their tension and the adult’s tension. So the child may reason that they are the cause of the stress they feel from the adults. The unconscious transfer has to be very carefully managed, as the children may have moments when they experience an external tension as their own.
In the art therapy sessions, we observed that if the therapist’s emotional life was too heavy, that quality was reflected in the child’s behavior and interfered with the interconnectivity with the adult. Some children managed to communicate with the therapist that they felt discomfort due to the therapist’s emotional overdrive. The solution in this situation was to acknowledge, ‘Yes, what you feel in me is correct. I feel like this, thank you’, to communicate that ‘It’s my responsibility to manage my emotions’, and then to correct the energy flow, so that the child can learn that managing tensed or unpleasant emotional states is possible.
5. Learn about subpersonalities and observe them manifesting in the child’s actions and attitudes, as flows of behaviors.
Due to the intense sensory experience, in an individual on the autism spectrum, the subpersonalities are ‘sequenced’, and they interfere with each other and follow one after another in rapid succession (as compared to the neurotypical population, where they are more stable and tend to be integrated into a habituated self-identity). In a few minutes, more than one subpersonality may become active.
For instance, let’s assume that a child on the autism spectrum has 20 subpersonalities (mini-identities). Let’s use a chronology by ‘minutes’ as a metaphor. In the 1st minute, due to the sensory input, subpersonalities no. 1, 7, 9, 10, 15 may become active and fade away quickly. In the 2nd minute, the subpersonalities no. 2, 8, 11, 16 may be rolled in. So if we analyze only these two minutes, it may seem that there is no coherent organization. But then comes the next minute, when maybe subpersonality 7 gets triggered and activates again. In the inner experience of the child as seen from subpersonality 7, there are no gaps; the 1st-minute events and the 3rd-minute events are in succession (flow). For an adult observing the child, it may look as if there is no coherency because of the 2nd-minute gap. If an adult asks a question about something in the 1st minute, waiting for the answer in the 2nd minute, and there is no answer, the adult may conclude that the child didn’t receive the message (or didn’t understand it). Yet, in the 3rd minute, here it is, the feedback. However, due to the interference of the 2nd minute, it may be mixed with other stuff.
Now, expand this example to a day, and the behavior of the child on the autism spectrum may become more familiar. It’s as if, to connect with the child, the adult needs to learn delayed gratification (delayed feedback), while still keeping an ongoing connection with the child as deeply as possible, to provide the necessary patterning for developing their own sense of self and their own patterns of adaptive processing.
In art therapy sessions, we observed that the children tend to start up to ten projects in the first sessions if they are allowed to do what they want. In the following sessions, as the connection between the child and the therapist began to emerge, the number of art projects generated in a session became significantly lower. After the body tension gets fluidified, and the self-identity fragmentation reduces, the child becomes more attentive to the connection and provides more feedback on what they are doing.
References and notes (updated – January, 2022)
1 Contact information: https://www.facebook.com/kaRAmearttherapy
2 Adler, J. (2006). Presence: From Autism to the Discipline of Authentic Movement. Contact Quaterly, Summer/Fall 2006, 11–17.
3 Johnson, M. E. (2018, August 13). A Future for Neuroscience. Opentheory.Net. Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://opentheory.net/2018/08/a-future-for-neuroscience
4 Brazdau, O. (2019, February 27). Entheogenic Insights I: Psychology of DMT/Ayahuasca Experience. Consciousness Quotient Institute. Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://www.consciousness-quotient.com/psychology-of-dmt-ayahuasca-experience
5 Baron-Cohen, S., Johnson, D., Asher, J., Wheelwright, S., Fisher, S. E., Gregersen, P. K., & Allison, C. (2013). Is synaesthesia more common in autism? Molecular Autism, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/2040-2392-4-40
6 Olsen, A. (2015). Body and Earth. Seven Web-Based Somatic Excursions – Introduction. Body and Earth. Retrieved January 14, 2022, from http://www.body-earth.org/introduction
7 Fehmi, L. (2003). Attention to Attention. In J. Kamiya (Ed.). Applied Neurophysiology and EEG Biofeedback. Future Health.
8 Bahrami, B., Carmel, D., Walsh, V., Rees, G., & Lavie, N. (2008). Spatial Attention Can Modulate Unconscious Orientation Processing. Perception, 37(10), 1520–1528. https://doi.org/10.1068/p5999
9 Warren, J. (2007). The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness (First Edition). Random House.
10 Sager, P. C. (2008). Witness Consciousness in the Development of the Individual (Master’s thesis). Faculty of The Owen Barfield School of Sunbridge College. https://www.academia.edu/1102112/Witness_Consciousness_in_the_Development_of_the_Individual
11 Additional resources: Expressive Media Inc. (2010, July 4). Looking For Me by Janet Adler [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsRfMm7DCww; Expressive Media Inc. (2010, November 11). Still Looking by Janet Adler [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcZGUTy5wYk
12 Warren, J. (2007). The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness (First Edition). Random House.