Autism and Synesthesia: Forms, Prevalence, and Tips

By Becky Moody

One of the hallmarks of autism is the difference in the sensory experiences that help us make sense of the world. Many autistic individuals face the challenge of living in a world that was not designed with our sensory experiences in mind.

The challenges can be further complicated when multiple sensory experiences are involuntarily triggered at once. This is often the case with autism and synesthesia. While living with autism and synesthesia simultaneously can be difficult at times, having different sensory experiences can also give autistic individuals a unique perspective of the world.

This blog post will give you an introduction to autism and synesthesia. I will discuss what synesthesia is, the advantages and challenges of synesthesia, and how it can impact daily life for autistic individuals. This article will also discuss strategies for family members of autistic individuals to honor their loved one’s unique sensory profile.

Understanding Synesthesia

Synesthesia is a phenomenon in which information that is meant to stimulate only one sense inadvertently stimulates other senses. This is caused by extra connections between certain neural pathways in the brain. If you’re wondering how to pronounce synesthesia, it’s sin-ess-THEE-zh-uh. 

There is no reputable synesthesia test to diagnose synesthesia. Although some online assessments exist, most people with synesthesia simply self-report their experiences and are happy to find that others have similar experiences. 

There are many different synesthesia forms that include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Day-Color Synesthesia: Days of the week and months of the year are experienced as innate and specific colors.

• Auditory-Tactile Synesthesia: Hearing sounds results in experiencing other physical sensations, such as temperature and pressure changes, different textural sensations, or pain

• Grapheme-Color Synesthesia: Experiencing letters and numbers as different colors

• Ordinal-Linguistic Personification: Letters and numbers are assigned unique personalities

• Time-Space Synesthesia: Seeing units of time such as days of the week or months of the year as different points in space.

• Sound-Color Synesthesia: Experiencing other people’s voices or music as colors.

• Hearing-Motion Synesthesia: Hearing sounds by watching something in motion. For example, someone might be able to hear the steam rising from a hot cup of coffee.

• Mirror-Touch Synesthesia: Experiencing physical pain when seeing another person in pain.

  
  

Co-Occurrence of Autism and Synesthesia

Synesthesia itself is not a medical condition, although it can often co-occur with other neurological conditions. Most notably, synesthesia can co-occur with autism which often results in sensory experiences that can be intriguing as well as overwhelming. As many as 19 percent of autistic individuals also experience synesthesia.

In my case, synesthesia was one of the earliest clues that led to my identification

as neurodivergent. As a child, I didn’t know that my synesthesia symptoms were not something everyone experienced. I assumed everyone knew Wednesdays and July were bright blue. I thought everyone saw bright pops and whirls of color whenever they listened to music. As I got older, I quickly learned this wasn’t the case.

When I was 13, I learned that my ability had a name when it was a question on an episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? It was at this moment that I realized if this little quirk of my brain had a name, perhaps it wasn’t something everyone could experience. When I was finally identified as autistic at the end of my twenties, the unusual sensory experiences I’d lived with all my life finally made sense.

Experiences of an Autistic Synesthete

I experience more than one form of synesthesia. When I listen to music or to another person’s voice, I see different colors and patterns. With this type of synesthesia, the colors and patterns do not interrupt my field of vision. Instead, they display themselves in my mind’s eye. Over the years, I’ve made “synesthesia art” where I play a piece of music and draw or paint what I see.

Another form of synesthesia I experience is the personification of letters and numbers. For example, the number “7” is sophisticated and no-nonsense. The letter “R” is stylish and proud.

I also experience day-color synesthesia. This comes with certain advantages. I almost never forget what day of the week it is because whenever I wake up, my brain senses a new color. That color matches whatever day of the week it is.

Day-color synesthesia also benefits my long-term memory. I sometimes shock people with minute details from specific dates in my life. It’s a lot easier for me to remember something if I can recall that it happened on an orange day (Friday) in the month of midnight blue (December).

Time-space synesthesia gives me the advantage of having an impressive mental calendar. To illustrate how this might look to someone without this type of synesthesia, I am typing this blog post in December. To me, December looks and feels like I am approaching the bottom of a big, invisible sloping hill that starts its ascent all over again in January. The ability to visualize the cycles of time and where they are in relation to my physical body also enhances my long-term memory.

Living with Autism and Synesthesia

While it can be exciting to experience the world in such a vibrant way, synesthesia can sometimes be challenging to live with as an autistic individual. This is because we live in a world where sensory experiences are designed with neurotypical sensory profiles in mind.

As an autistic individual with synesthesia, the world can sometimes feel like an overwhelming place for me. For example, sounds that may not bother other people may be physically painful for me to experience. Some sounds are too “bright” or “sharp” and hurt my eyes and head.

It is not unusual for me to walk out of my house wearing noise-canceling headphones whenever possible, and I’m usually listening to a playlist of my favorite music. Listening to music in public helps give me some control over my sensory experiences. It’s much easier for me to focus and stay regulated when I’m sensing beautiful, familiar colors and patterns instead of a cacophony of nonsense and overwhelm.

Having autism and synesthesia may mean you need to devote additional attention to your unique sensory profile. I recognize that experiencing multiple sensory responses at once can quickly exhaust me. Learning about energy accounting has helped me understand how to take better care of myself when I’m overwhelmed by living in a world where sounds are sometimes too bright and the passage of time literally feels like a rollercoaster.

Supporting Someone with Autism and Synesthesia

Over the years, my experience of having synesthesia and sharing my sensory experiences with others has been largely positive. I am very lucky that the overwhelming majority of people I’ve shared my synesthesia with believe that it is a gift that helps me see the world in a unique way.

If someone you love is autistic and experiences synesthesia, you may be wondering how to support them. One of the best things you can do for your loved one is to believe them when they share their sensory experiences with you. The coaches at Thrive Autism Coaching can also help your autistic loved one develop strategies to navigate a world that can be sensory-unfriendly.

Final Thoughts on Autism and Synesthesia

Synesthesia can be a wonderful gift and can help autistic individuals see the world in unusual ways. The ability to have sensory experiences that might not be available to other people offers us unique perspectives. It is true that having multiple senses activated at one time can be overwhelming. It takes up a lot of cognitive processing power, however, with the right support, autistic individuals with synesthesia can continue to experience the world in vibrant, colorful ways and share those experiences with others.