::Sin filtrar
Un libro de Tez Frost
Vivir el autismo: un viaje a través de historias personales, conocimientos científicos y defensa de un mundo más inclusivo.
Los capítulos
A continuación se enumeran todos los capítulos del libro. Junto con el tema principal, los subcapítulos se suman a la narrativa principal para reunir un panorama completo de las experiencias científicas y personales de los autistas actuales, junto con ideas para crear una sociedad más inclusiva y equitativa.
Autism::Engineered - Book Description
Explore en profundidad el mundo del autismo con un análisis innovador de los últimos artículos científicos junto con la experiencia vivida por el autismo.
La autora autista Tez Frost presenta a los lectores la hipótesis del cerebro sin filtros, arrojando luz sobre cómo las personas autistas perciben e interactúan con el mundo de maneras profundamente diferentes, pero singularmente reveladoras. Este libro desentraña las complejidades del procesamiento cognitivo autista, las sensibilidades sensoriales y el enmascaramiento neurodivergente, brindando una perspectiva compasiva y analíticamente fundamentada.
A través de narrativas personales atractivas, análisis de expertos y conocimientos prácticos, Frost desafía conceptos erróneos comunes y ofrece una valiosa guía para personas autistas, padres, educadores y cualquier persona que busque comprender mejor el autismo.
Descubra cómo desenmascararse respetando sus valores personales, identificando áreas de exploración y definiendo un marco para actuar en un entorno seguro. Autism::Unfiltered es una lectura esencial para cualquier persona dedicada a fomentar un mundo más inclusivo y empático.
Nota: Este libro no está publicado formalmente, comuníquese con el autor si está interesado en ayudar a publicar el libro para que otros lo disfruten.
"Este libro es ideal para quienes se plantean la posibilidad de ser autistas y para lectores autistas por igual: una lectura muy agradable. A medida que vaya pasando las páginas, prepárese para recibir iluminación, desafíos e inspiración".
Profesor Mark Brosnan
Jefe del Departamento de Psicología
Universidad de Bath, Reino Unido
LIGHTS
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Los capítulos
To understand any complex system, we begin with its architecture, operating logic, and fundamental parameters. This section lays the groundwork for viewing autism not as a malfunction, but as a differently configured cognitive system. By exploring the autistic brain’s historical framing, processing style, structural strengths, and sensory thresholds, we build a technical understanding of how autistic minds are structured, calibrated, and optimised for a different mode of engagement with the world.
SECT1.TK01 [7.7kB]
Reverse-Engineering Autism – The History and Evolution of a Misunderstood System
Autism, as a cognitive and sensory operating model, has long been misinterpreted because science has attempted to describe it from the outside in. For much of its history, autism was primarily defined by a set of negative behavioural traits, such as social deficits, communication challenges, and repetitive or restrictive behaviours; observations made under clinical or social pressure.
This deficit-focused perspective painted autism as a disorder of dysfunction and deficit, emphasizing what autistic individuals “lack” compared to neurotypical norms. However, such an external, symptom-based approach reveals little about how the underlying system actually functions or why these traits emerge.
In this chapter, I trace the historical path that led to our current understanding of autism and explain why it is time to reverse-engineer this misunderstood system, starting from its internal logic and genetic origins rather than its external presentation.
SECT1.TK02 [36.9kB]
Core Processing – The Unfiltered Brain Hypothesis
In computing terms, core processing units (CPU) are efficient machines focused on a set of tasks fed by concise data provided through layered filters, buffers, and pre-processor algorithms. These systems are designed to regulate input; to simplify, prioritise, or even discard certain signals before they reach the central processor. Human cognition operates in a similar way. The neurotypical brain applies cognitive filters such as automated scripts for social interpretation, sensory dampening, and information triage; all of which are optimised for speed, conformity, and emotional balance.
But what happens when those filters are reduced, bypassed, or differently calibrated?
The unfiltered brain hypothesis proposes that autistic cognition is best understood not as a defective system, but as one operating with minimal pre-processing. Information whether sensory, emotional, or conceptual enters consciousness in its raw, high-fidelity form. This creates a vastly different cognitive experience; rich in detail, precise in pattern detection, but often overwhelming due to sheer volume and intensity.
From an engineering perspective, this is not a flaw in the machine but a trade-off. The autistic brain may operate more like a diagnostic mode or direct-feed system; more sensitive to anomalies, more attuned to precision, but more vulnerable to overload. In this chapter, we explore what this means for how autistic individuals perceive, think, and respond to the world, and why recognising this core processing difference is essential to designing environments that work with, not against, atypical minds.
SECT1.TK03 [27.4kB]
Cognitive Infrastructure: Building Blocks of Autistic Talent
Autistic talent is rooted in a distinct cognitive infrastructure; one that prioritises precision, consistency, and deep thinking over speed or conformity.
With the right support systems and environment, the autistic mind: built on internal frameworks can demonstrate exceptional pattern recognition, sustained focus, and a strong drive for logical coherence. Traits often misunderstood as rigidity or inflexibility are, in reality, structural advantages that provide stability in problem-solving, systems thinking, and technical mastery.
In this chapter, we explore how the architecture of autistic cognition supports not only specialist skill but also resilience, integrity, and innovation. These traits form the internal scaffolding that enables extraordinary capability.
SECT1.TK04 [27.3kB]
Signal Calibration: Understanding Sensory Thresholds in Autism
Autistic individuals often interact with the world through a differently calibrated sensory system; one in which the threshold for filtering input signals is transposed, leading to experiences of hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity.
Rather than indicating a fault, this variation reflects a system tuned to operate within a broader or narrower sensitivity range than the typical standard. From an engineering perspective, the system is functioning as designed, simply under a different set of parameters.
This chapter examines how sensory calibration influences perception, cognitive load, and behaviour, and how physical and social environments can either support or overload an autistic individual. Understanding these sensitivities is essential for designing inclusive spaces and systems that respect neurodiverse needs.
Los capítulos
Every system operates within an external environment, and its performance depends on how well it interfaces with other systems. This section explores the social layer of the autistic experience—where protocols often misalign, feedback loops intensify, and adaptation mechanisms like masking are deployed for compatibility. From communication breakdowns to emotional sensitivity and the cognitive architecture behind special interests, we examine how autistic systems interact with neurotypical ones and the cost of maintaining those connections.
SECT2.TK01 [29.9kB]
The Feedback Loop: Autistic Sensitivity to Empathy and Criticism
Autistic individuals are often highly sensitive to emotional feedback from others. Whether it comes as empathy, praise, or criticism, this feedback can trigger intense internal responses that may persist long after the interaction has ended.
This sensitivity should not be mistaken for emotional weakness; it reflects a tendency toward deep processing and a strong desire to understand the intent behind social signals. Even well-meaning comments can be over-analysed or emotionally magnified, creating a loop of internal reflection that is difficult to interrupt.
In this chapter, we explore how autistic people receive and process emotional input, why criticism can feel particularly sharp, and how sincere empathy, when expressed clearly and without ambiguity, can be profoundly supportive.
SECT2.TK02 [17.7kB]
The Social Interface – Autistic Communication Protocols and User Experience
This chapter explores social interaction as a dynamic system governed by unwritten communication protocols that shape how individuals connect and understand one another. For autistic individuals, these protocols often differ from neurotypical norms, creating unique challenges and opportunities in the social experience.
By framing socialising as an interface, where input, processing, and output must align, this chapter investigates how autistic people navigate social cues, interpret unspoken rules, and manage the complexities of human connection. It also introduces the double empathy problem, which suggests that communication breakdowns between typicals and atypicals are mutual, arising from a mismatch in perspectives rather than a flaw within one group.
Social interaction becomes not just a series of behaviours but a sophisticated system requiring calibration and adaptation from all participants, highlighting both the strengths and difficulties experienced by autistic users of this social interface.
SECT2.TK03 [23.4kB]
Running Emulation Software – Atypical Masking in a Neurotypical Environment
This chapter explores the experience of atypical masking through the concept of system emulation. Just as one operating system may run emulation software to simulate compatibility with another, autistic individuals often mask in order to appear neurotypical, modifying tone, body language, facial expressions, and conversational responses to align with expected norms.
While this emulation can help avoid social friction or exclusion, it consumes significant mental resources and often leads to emotional exhaustion, loss of identity, and long-term burnout. The chapter considers the distinction between compatibility and authenticity, questioning whether current environments are genuinely inclusive or simply require quiet compliance.
By framing masking as a form of emulation software, this chapter reveals the hidden complexity behind appearing to fit in and challenges the assumption that integration should rely solely on the atypical system adapting to the typical one.
SECT2.TK04 [5.4kB]
Monotropic Threads – Special Interests as Primary Subroutines
This chapter examines the role of special interests within the autistic cognitive architecture, framed through monotropic attention. Unlike polytropic thinking, which distributes attention across multiple stimuli, monotropic thinking favours deep, sustained focus on a limited number of threads.
Special interests are not merely hobbies or fixations; they function as primary subroutines: core processes that organise cognition, support emotional regulation, and drive purposeful engagement. Often misunderstood by neurotypical observers, these threads provide stability, meaning, and joy, enabling high levels of skill acquisition and insight.
By exploring the cognitive efficiency and emotional grounding that special interests provide, this chapter reframes them as essential to both atypical identity and system coherence in the autistic mind.
SECT2.TK05 [16.7kB]
Gender Modulation – Variation in Cognitive Build Across the Autistic Spectrum
Gender influences the presentation, recognition, and experience of autism, while also challenging the binary assumptions embedded in diagnostic criteria historically tailored toward white, male individuals. Just as systems may respond differently to input depending on their calibration or configuration, autistic traits can be masked, misread, or entirely missed due to gendered social expectations.
This chapter examines why autistic women and non-binary individuals are often underdiagnosed or diagnosed later in life, and how the concept of gender itself may be experienced differently by autistic individuals. It also considers the idea of "gender indifference", where gender identity may feel less socially salient or more cognitively abstract, and how this experience can be further shaped by cultural and racial context.
Autism, in this light, is not a uniform condition but a system modulated by social, biological, and perceptual factors that challenge conventional norms.
Los capítulos
When a system is pushed beyond its operating limits, protective mechanisms activate or failures occur. This section investigates the realities of shutdowns, meltdowns, and burnout as fail-safe responses to prolonged overload. It also shifts focus to the host environment: how society receives and responds to atypical minds, and what happens when systems designed for one user profile exclude others. By understanding these fault lines, we begin to consider how recovery and repair must be supported not just internally, but structurally.
SECT3.TK01 [18.9kB]
System Overload – Fail-Safe Mechanisms and Emergency Shutdown Protocols
This chapter explores how society responds when autistic communication or behaviour does not match expected norms. Much like a system that is tuned to recognise familiar inputs, social environments often reject or misinterpret signals that do not conform to default expectations.
Autistic individuals may communicate with clarity, directness, or silence, use different body language, or respond in unexpected ways. These signals are frequently treated as errors, even though they are consistent and meaningful within the autistic individual’s operating model.
Schools, workplaces, and services are often configured around neurotypical assumptions, which creates friction when atypical signals are introduced. Instead of adapting to diverse input types, these environments often expect the individual to self-modify, leading to exclusion or masking.
By examining these mismatches as system compatibility issues rather than personal failures, we can better understand what needs to be redesigned to support genuine inclusion.
SECT3.TK02 [11.8kB]
Host Environment – Why Inclusion Requires Adaptation, Not Assimilation
This chapter focuses on how environments, institutions, and social systems can be redesigned to better support autistic individuals. Rather than expecting people to adapt to rigid structures, the goal is to adjust the system itself to accommodate a broader range of cognitive and communication styles.
From an engineering perspective, this is not about lowering standards but expanding functionality. A well-designed system accounts for variability, anticipates different user needs, and avoids single-solution assumptions. The same principle applies to inclusive design, whether in schools, workplaces, public services, or digital platforms.
Key areas for reconfiguration include sensory environments, communication formats, recruitment processes, and performance metrics. By building flexibility into these systems, we reduce friction, support autonomy, and unlock the potential of neurodivergent minds.
Inclusion is not just a moral goal; it is a design challenge. When done well, everyone benefits from a system that is more adaptable, more humane, and more efficient.
SECT3.TK03 [40.4kB]
Inclusive Design – Reconfiguring Societal Systems for Neurodivergent Belonging
This chapter explores how public institutions, workplaces, education systems, and digital platforms can be reconfigured to work more compatibly with neurodivergent needs. Rather than placing the responsibility on autistic individuals to adapt to standardised environments, the focus shifts to redesigning the systems themselves.
In engineering, compatibility is not about forcing uniformity; it is about creating interfaces and structures that accommodate variation. The same principle applies to society. Systems that account for sensory preferences, communication differences, and cognitive diversity create more stable, accessible environments,not just for autistic people, but for everyone.
This chapter highlights specific areas for inclusive redesign, such as hiring practices, classroom formats, environmental design, and social policy. It also stresses the importance of involving neurodivergent individuals in the design process from the start.
Compatibility is not achieved through retrofitting difference into rigid models. It requires intentional design that values diversity as a functional asset, not a deviation to be corrected.
Los capítulos
Every system eventually undergoes review, calibration, and software updates. For autistic individuals, the process of diagnosis can act as a diagnostic firmware check: confirming identity, recontextualising experiences, and offering a clearer user manual. This final section addresses the pathway to diagnosis, the emotional and social shifts that follow, and the long-term process of post-diagnostic reconfiguration. Rather than a conclusion, this marks a reboot, a moment to reframe one’s operating model and engage with the world more intentionally, authentically, and sustainably.
SECT4.TK01 [10.1kB]
Diagnostic Firmware Update – Navigating the Referral and Validation Pathway
This chapter examines the process of seeking and receiving an autism diagnosis, particularly later in life. For many, the referral pathway is slow, inconsistent, and shaped by outdated models that do not reflect the full diversity of autistic experience.
A formal diagnosis can act like a system update: it doesn’t change who someone is, but it provides a clearer model hence understanding of how they function. With this new framework, many autistic individuals are better able to interpret their past, understand their needs, and communicate those needs to others. Diagnosis can bring relief, validation, and a sense of alignment.
However, the process itself often involves delays, gatekeeping, and criteria that favour certain presentations over others. This chapter outlines common barriers within the referral system and highlights why a lack of diagnosis does not invalidate autistic identity. It also recognises the growing role of self-identification, especially in communities where access to formal assessment is limited or biased.
Understanding the limitations of the current diagnostic system is the first step in advocating for change toward a model that recognises difference without delay.
SECT4.TK02 [14.0kB]
System Reboot – Post-Diagnosis Configuration and Adaptive Roadmaps
A diagnosis is not a fix or an end point; it marks the start of a new phase of understanding. This chapter explores what comes next: how autistic individuals can begin to adjust, reframe, and configure their lives around a more accurate picture of who they are.
Many people experience a period of reflection after diagnosis. Long-held beliefs are re-evaluated, past experiences reinterpreted, and future plans reshaped. This process often involves unmasking, rethinking priorities, and finding new ways to manage energy, communication, and self-care.
Rather than aiming for dramatic transformation, this chapter offers a practical approach. It encourages gentle recalibration: identifying what matters, what causes strain, and what supports well-being. It also highlights the importance of community, shared language, and self-advocacy.
A diagnosis may update the system’s description, but the reboot is where integration begins. With clearer understanding and better tools, autistic individuals can move forward not by conforming, but by aligning life with how they truly function.
Tez Frost
Soy un ingeniero aeroespacial autista diagnosticado tardíamente que reside en Bath, Reino Unido. Estoy casado con mi esposa y tengo dos hijos adolescentes.
Hace tiempo que siento que soy diferente, no en el sentido de ser única, sino más bien de sentirme diferente a mis compañeros. Escribí este libro para entender más profundamente lo que significa ser autista. Al descubrirme a mí misma, espero que otros también puedan encontrarse a sí mismos.
¿Por qué escribí este libro?
Mi viaje hacia el mundo de la defensa y la comprensión del autismo comenzó con experiencias personales que despertaron en mí un ferviente deseo de explorar y compartir las diversas perspectivas que rodean esta condición compleja y a menudo incomprendida. Como alguien con una profunda conexión con el autismo, tanto a través de mis propias experiencias como de las de mis seres queridos, me sentí obligado a embarcarme en una misión para arrojar luz sobre la naturaleza multifacética del autismo y allanar el camino hacia una mayor aceptación e inclusión.
Este libro no es solo una colección de palabras escritas en papel; es una manifestación de mi compromiso inquebrantable de amplificar las voces de las personas neurodivergentes y desafiar las percepciones sociales sobre el autismo. A través de una combinación de investigación científica, anécdotas personales y perspectivas de la comunidad autista, mi objetivo es ofrecer una exploración integral y empática del autismo.
Espero inspirar compasión, fomentar la comprensión y generar un diálogo significativo sobre el autismo y la neurodivergencia. Juntos, emprendamos un viaje de descubrimiento, aceptación y celebración de la hermosa diversidad que nos hace singularmente humanos.
Contáctenos
¿Tienes preguntas o quieres saber más sobre mis escritos? No dudes en ponerte en contacto conmigo. Siempre me entusiasma conectarme con personas que comparten una pasión similar por crear un mundo más inclusivo para las personas autistas.
Tez Frost
Bath, United Kingdom
tez. frosty@gmail.com
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