People with autism see the world differently. The reason why autism develops is not completely clear, and this disorder sparks curiosity among scientists around the world. This leads to similar research being conducted at institutions such as Caltech in the United States.
Ralph Adolphs focused his research on how people with autism perceive objects in over 700 photographs. The sample consisted of 20 people with autism spectrum disorders and 19 people in a control group. Eye movements were recorded during the exposure of each photograph. The results are truly fascinating.
The individual photographs show the places where the subjects focused the most.
As it turned out, people with autism primarily focused on the center of the photograph, even in cases where the objects were outside of it.
Autism can have various manifestations. In general, people with this disorder are known to perceive faces quite differently than typical individuals. “In reality, however, they do not perceive most things in a typical way,” the author of the study adds. A better understanding of how autistics perceive the world opens doors to treatment possibilities, but especially to the diagnosis of autism.
On the left, you can see a map of how individuals with autism perceived the different objects, and on the right, the control group:
