Neurotransception goes beyond interoception (Mahler 2016), where a person is trying to interpret their internal world, exteroception, where a person is trying to make sense of the world around them, and neuroception (Porges, 2004), where individual neural circuitry assesses the safety of individuals and situations. Vermeulen (2012) provided a functional definition of autistic experience as trying to make sense of a world that is chaotic and confusing.
Transcending all these concepts is a new conceptual framework derived from theorisation (Jabareen, 2009), which I have defined as neurotransception. Neurotransception involves the transmission and reception of neurobiological signals that could be consciously or unconsciously occurring between individuals which are used to sense the safety of being in the space with other as part of the social hierarchy relationship within that group or interaction. When divergent intersubjectivities from different neurotypes meet, imposed power dynamics from conscious/unconscious levels may evolve based on the non-autistic other’s intrasubjective misinterpretations to reconfigure their prediction error in predictive coding theory (Friston, 2010). This may manifest as an attempt to fix rather than relate to an autistic individual and other forms of neurodivergent ways of being, resulting in exacerbated experiences of masking, shaming, as well as trauma-informed, and attachment-based reactive responses.
The research findings from a doctoral piece of research suggest underlying relational dynamics occurring throughout the autistic individual’s lifespan, which may have impacted their mental health experiences that have been misrepresented as part of autistic experience. This has implications for researching misrepresented individuals, exploring a longer conversation around diagnosis at a relational level, and developing more relational therapeutic approaches to neutralise neurotransception.
Watch this space for how we can apply the principles behind neurotransception in working at a relational level in making connection with those who are misinterpreted and feel very disconnected from society, whether this if from a neurodivergent way of being or potentially can be explored in the context of other groups that feel marginalised within society.
