You can take many paths to research a book. It’s part of being an author. In my most recent research, I wondered if there was a connection between autism and the paranormal. The thought piqued my interest. To the best of my knowledge, I’m not autistic. However, when creating a new character such as a child with autism, it’s important to get it right because even fiction novels must have elements of the truth. Learning about autism was my priority. I searched for the health condition on Google and watched as many videos on YouTube as I could find to understand what autism is and how it affects people.
I’d heard there was a connection between children diagnosed with autism and access to the paranormal realm. It wasn’t until I started writing The Haunting of the Bloodroses that I needed to know if any scientific connections had been made between autism and the paranormal. After all, I didn’t want to create a false narrative. This quest led me down in the Google wormhole.
The Research
Interestingly, I ran across an article called Are Autistic Kids Magnets for Ghost? by Dr. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin and published in Psychology Today. Dr. Schurman-Kauflin is a former criminal profiler who claims to have psychic abilities. In her article, she explains how she believes spirits draw closer to autistic children (Schurman-Kauflin, 2013). Her reasoning is that autistic children have a keener ability to process information on different levels than those who are non-allistic (Schurman-Kauflin, 2013). While Dr. Schurman-Kauflin’s doctorate is in criminal justice, I found her long history as an FBI profiler and self-proclaimed psychic abilities intriguing.
The article wasn’t quick to attribute every experience an autistic child has as coming from the paranormal, and I liked that. She provided alternate theories to visions or hallucinations. These theories included medication imbalances or other underlying mental illnesses. In her article, Dr. Schurman-Kauflin provided two anecdotal examples of when an autistic child saw, drew an image, or communicated with an alleged otherworldly spirit. Dr. Schurman-Kauflin spoke about two sets of parents and the possibility that their autistic children were having interactions with otherworldly spirits. One set had been researching the possibility, while the other set claimed that their child had vivid dreams of an unknown Asian man. What was interesting was that a remote psychic confirmed what the child was seeing.
The Swedish Study
While intriguing, Dr. Schurman-Kauflin’s article failed to provide sources for further information. So, back down the Google wormhole I went. Here I found a three-year study conducted in Sweden by the Department for the Study of Religions at Gävle University. The study was titled Sensory Supernatural Experiences in Autism. While the study focused mainly on religious aspects and beliefs in different gods, I found parts of it to be more in line with my research. These parts included a detailed study of paranormal and parapsychological experiences on 17 young adults on the autistic spectrum. My interest was in children – considering the character creation – but I figured I could extrapolate some of the information to serve my needs.
In essence, this Swedish study concluded that the adults who were part of the study had more supernatural experiences than the allistic control group. Supernatural experiences in the study were defined as a sensed presence, being touched, visual stimulation, and sounds that occurred without the awareness of others. (Visuri, 2019).
The below graphic depicts the number of varieties of supernatural experiences each participant expressed during the experiment.
The next image depicts which supernatural experience occurred during the experiment.
While the Swedish study focused on supernatural instances in relation to religions and religious beliefs, correlations to autism and the unexplained were present. For instance, telepathic contact, out-of-body experiences, contact with the dead, prediction of future and feeling a spirit are all things that teeter along the thin line between the unexplained/paranormal, parapsychology and anomalous phenomena – all of which challenge the current foundations of science. The study shows these experiences occurred more in the autistic group as opposed to the control group. You can read the entire 15 page journal here.
The UK Study
The Sheffield Autism Research Lab conducted another study at the University of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, United Kingdom. The researchers looked for a correlation between 30 autistic adults with anomalous experiences and the associated distress. In this study, anomalous perceptions such as auditory and visual hallucinations and distortions along with perceptions of out-of-body experiences were analyzed. They were then compared with experiences reported by those who suffer from psychosis (Milne et al., 2017). The results indicated that those who have autism had higher rates of anomalous perceptual experiences in 28 out of the 30 participants. Hence, the conclusion seems to be that the majority of adults with autism experience an anomalous perception linked to the paranormal.
The Sheffield Autism Research Lab’s study indicated that 93% of the participants with Autism reported having experienced higher levels of anomalous perception related to paranormal activity than the overall mean average of the allistic control group. The below image shows the distress, intrusiveness, and frequency reported by the study and compares both groups. To read the entire study, click here.
The Conclusion
The Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena associates anomalous phenomena as psychic phenomena, including ghost, telepathy, mediumship, etc. (About Us n.d.) In summary, considering this and the correlations presented in the studies, there is substantial research to support a theory of paranormal, supernatural, or parapsychological experiences (anomalous phenomenon) being linked to those who are on the autistic spectrum. What are your thoughts on the subject? Are you autistic and have had an anomalous experience? Are you autistic and have experienced nothing? I would love to hear your thoughts and continue to learn more about this topic.
References
About Us. ASSAP about US – Anomaly Research. (n.d.). Retrieved January 7, 2023, from http://www.assap.ac.uk/newsite/htmlfiles/About.html
Milne, E., Dickinson, A., & Smith, R. (2017). Adults with autism spectrum conditions experience increased levels of anomalous perception. PLOS ONE, 12(5). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177804
Schurman-Kauflin, D. (2013, October 30). Are autistic kids magnets for ghosts? Psychology Today. Retrieved January 4, 2023, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/disturbed/201310/are-autistic-kids-magnets-ghosts
Visuri, I. (2019). Sensory supernatural experiences in autism. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 10(2), 151–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599x.2018.1548374
My grandson (we call him Bob) is 14 and autistic. My mother died the year before Bob was born. She was a music lover. A lot of different stuff. Jazz, opera, big band. My grandson asked me on Sunday if I knew who Cab Calloway was. I said yes because of my mom but there is no way he should know who that is. Not the first time either. My Grandmother had a favorite song by Englebert Humperdink and I found my grandson listening to that one day. I don’t know how he would have even found that. Seems just too coincidental to me.
I had an experience as a three year old child at an old apartment in the U.K. No one has been able to explain what it could have been, but I know what I saw. An evil, malicious wraith that was translucent, had an odd shaped face and an odd body, and was smiling. But the smile itself was in no way friendly; it was chilling and filled me with dread.
Since then, I have had prophetic dreams. Well, you could mark them down to coincidence, but because of the details of the dreams, this could not be so. Oftentimes, the first dream could be described as symbolic or allegorical and the second dream some time later would be an almost exact enactment of what was to come. Within a few weeks or so, these events actually came to pass.
Make of this what you will.
Virginia (Jen).
My wife died on 9/9/2022 from breast cancer. She was always different, which I liked about her. It caused a lot of issues with our relationship, however. About 20 years ago, there was a news story on TV about Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. She sat up straight and watched the story beause she completely related to everything said and we concluded that she was indeed autistic, to some degree. She definitely had psychic abilities. She also had a connection with animals. Every animal she ever met seemed to connect with her, like she was a long-lost relative!
Too many other cool and interesting personality traits with her to write here.