Experiencing 

The Pearl Necklace Metaphor 

• Various routines can be imagined like a pearl necklace. Everything happens one after the other. In the morning you get up, you have breakfast, you go to the university. If something changes, a "pearl" in the routine must be altered. To replace a single pearl in a necklace, the entire chain must be re-threaded. This takes time and requires deep concentration. For example, if freezing rain makes the commute to university impossible, the schedule must be replanned, such as studying from home instead.

• Under haste or pressure, it can happen that the pearls of this necklace fall to the floor. Some may even be lost in the process. Then, the necklace can no longer be threaded as it was before. The effort required to replace the pearls and re-thread the entire chain is enormous.

-> With a careful, gentle approach, the necklace can be re-threaded; it just takes a little while. This way, not a single pearl falls or is lost, and the schedule is changed in total tranquility.

• Being read to while there is background noise is like trying to understand a text while hearing interference (static through headphones) or a chaos of voices.

• Some devices cause a high-pitched whistling that sounds like a sharp, piercing tone. 

• To some, it feels as if everyone is speaking very loudly, as if a hard-of-hearing person were sitting across from them—even though one isn't hard of hearing at all.

-> Reading in peace, without static through headphones, makes things understandable. Furthermore, interference and disturbing noises can be effectively avoided through sound-optimized room design.

• Threading a needle or tying a bow feels like doing it while wearing thick gloves. 

• Painting wax decorations or tin soldiers feels like using coarse tools while being rushed.

-> Painting tin soldiers or applying wax decorations to candles is possible, but "strength lies in tranquility." With enough time and peace, even an Easter candle can be successfully crafted, as seen in the picture. Through serenity while working, creativity can flourish, allowing one to find unique ways—such as tying a bow differently or choosing to use Velcro.

• Knitting in a hurry is like two people trying to knit a pair of socks together using only one hand each. 

• Playing a piano piece under stress feels as difficult as a four-handed piece where every single hand is doing something completely different.

-> Every process consists of a sequence of individual moments. If each one is considered with care, it is possible for two people to play a piano piece together!

• Unfamiliar actions often feel like having to use your first smartphone without an instruction manual.

• Cooking in a typical everyday environment feels like being constantly disturbed or distracted (acoustically, visually, or tactilly) while trying to prepare a delicate dish. 

• Instructions can feel as if you are expected to plan something without any prior information, for example: "Rig a sailing ship."

-> Once you know how, it is possible to set even a sail with complicated rigging.

• Objects in a room may appear as if you are walking through a gap between two chairs (only 40 cm apart) without turning your body sideways, even when it feels very tight.

• Painting a picture under time pressure feels like having to apply makeup to someone while sitting behind them. 

• A modern staircase can feel like walking up an old stone staircase where the steps are not perfectly even.

-> With a great deal of mindfulness, it will succeed — just avoid any rush!

Multitasking or coordinating many things at once feels like the early stages of learning to ride a bike or drive a car.

-> Step by step — for example, by patiently completing a safety training course at your own pace.

Estimating the weight of objects is like lifting something that looks heavy but is actually very light (or vice versa).

-> If you take the time to test it—is it heavy or light?—then it doesn't matter whether it looks light or not. You will feel it and can then react accordingly.

• Social rules often seem like a completely made-up role-playing game. For example: someone joins a new group where the rule is to greet each other with elbows, except for one person (the boss) who gets offered the pinky finger (or some other polite nonsense!). Everyone is offended (= jumping around) if the "newcomer" does something wrong. 

• You can imagine learning the social rules of different groups and milieus as if you had to study the social interactions of raccoons.

-> With a great deal of effort, one can memorize all these rules—or you can simply accept the other person as they are and focus on what truly matters, such as working together.

Getting into a conversation with people is sometimes as if they are all visibly wearing the exact same mask.

-> It is possible to perceive what is hidden behind these masks. If autistic people focus on their own way of perceiving, they learn to gauge others, even when people wear masks that are difficult to see through.

• Shaking someone's hand feels as if they have something prickly in their palm. 

• Touching someone can feel as if they are "charged," giving you an electric shock.

• Under severe sensory overload: it feels like being hit with a stun gun. 

• Shaking hands to greet someone is like touching hands that are sticky, dirty, or heavily perfumed.

-> You can imagine it as having to be as careful as if you were picking up a hedgehog with your bare hands. It is better to keep some distance and wait for the autistic person to approach you. Sometimes, a wave or a verbal greeting is perfectly sufficient.

• Writing while overloaded is like having to write with your non-dominant hand while wearing distortion goggles.

• Severe sensory overload makes it feel as if you can only perform a task or paint by watching your own reflection in a mirror. 

• Hectic situations create the sensation of having to navigate an obstacle course while looking only through the viewfinder of a camcorder.

-> There is strength in serenity! It is the key to utilizing this useful "detail zoom" ability.

• Having to grasp something visually in a hurry feels to some like wearing glasses smeared with cream.

•  Even just sunny weather can feel like having to perform a task under flickering disco lights or intense solar glare. 

• Some lamps have the effect of making it feel as if you are living in a room with a broken, flickering neon tube. 

• On a cluttered worksheet, it feels as though all the important information is written in fine print;

• Worksheets with background figures can even trigger optical illusions.

-> Simple worksheets, tinted glasses, dimmed cozy lighting, semi-transparent curtains, and LED lamps are very useful accessories. It is extremely practical to be able to see clearly in low light long after others are "groping in the dark."