What Kind of Hallucinations Do Autistic People Have?
 

I'm wondering whether autistic people can have similar hallucinations that psychotic ill people can have - such as auditory voices, faces appearing in objects that otherwise would not look like faces, paranoia, delusions and etc.

Also, how does a psychiatrist medically distinguish between a type of psychosis and a type of autism when they're so similar, apart from brain examination (if such even exist for these things)?

Wondering because I show signs of autism as well as signs of schizophrenia.

It's my understanding that ASD and Childhood Onset Schizophrenia are two separate conditions (which can share some features) although a person can have ASD and have comorbid Schizophrenia or other comorbids like Depression or Seizures or Tourette's Syndrome, etc..

Some of your questions I personally don't know the answer. There are lots of medical articles and more online if you want to delve through it all. I think like a lot of things, the researchers are finding out more and more as time goes on.

p.s. Some quite commonly used medications can cause some symptoms which can be frightening. I know someone who was taking Inderal (Propranolol), which is a Beta Blocker, for Anxiety and they experienced auditory and visual hallucinations when they first started the med.. My son who has ASD experienced some visual hallucinations when prescribed Risperdal (Risperidone) briefly as a child.


Here's one example...

http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/schi.../10168/1822823
Autism and Schizophrenia
By Yael Dvir, MD and Jean A. Frazier, MD | March 15, 2011

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In my opinion autism is to children what schizophrenia is to adults. There's lots of supporting evidence, but no proof.

Auditory hallucinations in schizophrenics take the form of "hearing voices". The voices tell schizophrenics horrible threatening things. The symptoms of autism include failure to obtain language skills and failure to interact with others. So hearing voices would be impossible for someone who never achieved verbal communication. Further, communicating any other form of hallucination to anyone would be impossible for anyone who has no means of relating to or communicating with other people.

Autistic kids have brains which fail to develop normally. There are clues about why.

Many people who are on Autism spectrum have language skills and the ability to interact with others. It's a very wide spectrum. Not all people on autism spectrum are non-verbal.

I was diagnosed with high functioning autism, but I'm not sure if my mental state actually has anything in common with people with severe autism. In my case, I don't have any hallucinations and the only kind of psychosis I am prone to is drug induced. I'm prone to cannabis induced psychosis, and when I was smoking it regularly years ago, I had some of the symptoms of schizophrenia (hearing voices, paranoid delusions etc.). Since I quit cannabis, those symptoms have more or less subsided completely.

How did the process of diagnosing go? Was it a parent or yourself who noticed that something was wrong?

I am curious because high functioning autism must be hard to spot, especially if family is unsuspecting and often plain ignorant.

Psychosis and autism are two seperate issues, not mutually exclusive I'm sure. Hallucinations are not an integral part of autism at all and if someone has them there is something else going on as well/instead.

It just depends i worked with autistic people for years some would talk to themselves. Some would carry conversations with no one. I would say memories that makes them happy.

Talking to yourself does not mean you're hallucinating though.