How can I face the NT World?

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Since I started high school, I've been making a much bigger deal about my autism because of all the NT problems I've been facing and most of them think I know about stuff they do (like having good social skills, holding down a job, schoolwork at their level [AKA, stuff like algebra], knowing about mainstream culture and stuff,) and I really don't because I'm either not interested in them or my disability stops me from doing that stuff, so how can I face the NT world?

I'm the same age as you so it shouldn't be surprising that I haven't figured that out either...

After three years of high school, I'm surprised that they haven't figured out that you don't know those things...

Last edited by DJRnold on 10 Aug 2008, 8:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.

One step and one problem at a time ^_^.

What philosopherboi said and try not to make an issue of the Autism unless there is a particular reason to bring it up. You will get better at dealing with social issues with more experience although you may still suck at certain aspects of it well into adulthood. There are areas that I still don't do well at.

What I kind of want to do is to completely desensitize myself to social pressure. Like, what if you were to go out onto a street corner and start yelling, "I have a very small penis!" and all sorts of other self-depricating statements? Or what if you were to just go out into an intersection and lie down on somebody's hood until he gets out of his car? If I were to do stuff like that, I'd very quickly lose my social anxiety. Of course, it's social anxiety that keeps me from doing that stuff.

Of course, the thing is that you never see anybody doing that, so that means that everyone has at least some amount of anxiety.

I'm somewhat in your same place, and the answer is you cannot fit into the NT world. You can function though. If you are having trouble in algebra ask for tutoring, if you have a hard time holding down a job, then sucks for you right? f**k mainstream culture. Do you really want to be listening to Katy Perry, and wearing Hollister clothes? Do you want to be talking about sex (while not really knowing what they are talking about), instead of your special interests? On top of all of that, even if you are interested in all of that or can do math or hold down a job they are still going to know you are different which means either you will need to find accepting people, or just do your best to blend.

I've actually tried that before when I was a teen. Embarassing yourself. Thought it was somewhat useful but it didn't solve anything.

Meh. But if you do something embarassing enough, it has to be like, "Well talking to this girl can't possibly be anywhere near as embarassing as the time when I exposed my genitals to that group of nuns at the Vatican and then got arrested in front of a crowd of thirty people."

Street Theatre is a more socially acceptable way of looking/acting like a dick in public, and you can earn money too. I once dressed up as a fetish nun and flashed my rubber bikini at total strangers to earn my ticket into Glastonbury Festival. There is photographic evidence online if you look hard enough for it.

you don't have to know aout the mainstream culture really. Though you can listen to what other people talk about it and look it up on urbandictionary or youtube or google if you want to.

Nice. I think the craziest thing I've done was when an anti-Iraq protester yelled, "Send the troops home!" I shouted, "Why don't we send you home?" The other day I saw some crazy wannabe prophet shouting on the street corner about how America is a "sex-ridden cesspool" that is "doomed for destruction." I wanted to shout "the end is near!" just for fun but didn't want people to associate me with that guy Obviously, I thought the guy was kind of annoying, but I have to give him mad props for having the cojones to go out onto a busy streetcorner all alone and start shouting that stuff.

there's the Black Bloc and the like. MsBehaviour pointed out Street Theatre as well. Also just wear weird stuff, like a Tin-foil hat through the city or something..

You can also do real life trolling in debate tournaments. HEEHE at my 'Nuke Africa' and "n****rs are Animals" and "Pedophilia Disad" cards I made and used. Too bad I didn't win because they were "offensive" (also the Single-A people would simply find and make up stuff and say Policy Debate can't allow racist stuff as this is not the purpose of it so you have to attack that and they can spread you, among other things Single A teams do that AA don't....seriously, the wat they spew out evidence and thst they outnumber us because they have dedicated debate classes and the like.....ehh. Also the Single-A judges can be bitches-lol @ me pissing off 2 of them...)

Well your coach has to be willing to allow it-mine was

EDIT: and of course, the well-known joke of shouting internet memes or jokes to random people off a speker or something. People tend to do that at Anime cons, especially the /b/tards...

EDIT 2: show them "disgusting" things in RL, like Goatseing them when you're right there. Or showing then Hentai of various types..

Hey roygerdodger, approximately the same age here. I deal by telling people, say, "I don't really care much about actors and actresses," which sometimes can make you look really cool. For schoolwork, which wasn't really a problem for me, I would just act like a bit of a slacker in those areas you don't understand - as long as you're not actually in those classes, pretending to be a slacker should be okay. Be honest about your disinterest, and when you can't do something because of your disability, just pretend it's not cool enough for you to do anyway.
Because being yourself can be exhausting sometimes.



I performance act, it's different usually because people don't know you're acting but it's still fun as hell. Usually I go out and pretend to be a time traveler or something, the key is you don't tell anyone your backstory, you just behave as if you think that person would. For example, I go around wearing a mishmosh of 80's, 70's and modern styles, because a time traveler from the future would probably just have a general idea of what we would wear realistically (the same way we have a general idea of 1800's clothes, etc.) And I have a slightly different way of speaking, different slang, etc. I go up and start touching people's cars and inspecting them, and marvel loudly at our antique electronics. Also I have to act amazed at all the bald people. There are no bald people in the future. Or small dogs. : )
Do anything that forces you to draw attention to yourself. It really helps take away the anxiety. Once you feel less anxious you can stop making yourself look like an idiot.

Just be yourself, accept yourself and don't let them brainwash you into believing that you are lacking or that you are inferior in some way. Devote a lot of time to your education and DO NOT LET THEM DISTRACT YOU AWAY FROM THAT.

The one thing that will take you further that you have absolute control over is your education and more importantly, the amount of education .

Do not let lack of good friends keep you from realizing your goals in life and living a good life where you feel in control. Remember that lots and LOTS of people lack good friends, it is definitely NOT uncommon to be treated like crap by so called friends who never really understood the meaning of friendship or who have been treated like such crap in their family they are confused about how to treat others, NT or no.

BUT, the one thing every single one of us has ultimate control over is our education, the amount we recieve, the advantage we take of it. Do not let this important time pass you by. Make the most of it.

To be honest, I'm worried about the same things now that I'm going to Univercity. People often look at me and think that I'm like everyone else, but then when I can't deliver 'normal' behavier they think I'm nuts. Mostly I just stopped caring what other people thought of me. I don't owe them anything, not normalicy, not ironed clothes or even an exsplination.

I once read in a book called 'Danial isn't Talking' (a book about a little boy with autism) where one of the charicters says: 'Other people don't have children with Autism. They aren't intitled to an opinion.'

Do your best with what you have, and if you screw up, or something doesn't go like you thought, don't beat yourself up. I made a book with some small drawings that talks about all the important things that I want people to know about my Autism. Maybe that could work for you too.

Don't bother. Trying to be what you're not will just hurt you, and you'll gain nothing in return, as you'll most likely fail at being what you're not (have you ever tried breathing under water?). Walk your own path, and forget about the "NT" and "Autism" stuff; do what you can and want to do, nothing more, and nothing less.

Be wary of people who try to make you be what you aren't, as even with the best of intentions, they're only seeing it from their side, and their side will never completely understand yours.

But this is just my take (I went through most of mainstream high-school as someone with Autistic Disorder, so I know how it goes).