Difficult navigation

I often wonder what it must really be like to have autism. Navigating yourself in a world that is already complicated for all of us but with an extra "layer" of difficulty to deal with. And what if you have a learning disability as well as autism...such individuals deserve medals not sympathy!. That is why I learn from such clients as much as I support them. It must feel like being rocked and buffeted constantly. Seeking and finding rules and patterns aids the navigation for those with autism...like developing a personal map.

Individuals with autism usually have great talents and abilities so this could be seen as a wonderful "plus" side for them, the people that they come into contact with and society as a whole. I am still not sure if pleasure or anxiety "rule" when it comes to autism. Do autistic individuals find "pleasure" in routines and the predictable or do they feel anxiety when there is no routine? Which rules and leads to the eventual choice of a particular action? Maybe it is a combination of both but with anxiety probably being more dominant.