Aspies are basically NTs, but impaired?

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It seems the neurotypical perspective of autism is it's like a sickness; When you don't have it, you're healthy, but when you do have it, you're sick. One neurotypical female said that autism was about, basically...

"Autistic people are just like regular people except with social, cognitive and communication impairments."

So, it's like those with autism are pretty much a subclass of humans. Do you agree with this? I notice that one thing that many neurotypicals have is "social imagination" and they seem to more easily construct metaphors and use analogies that involve multiple entities and relationships (People, figures, objects, etc.), and I notice that I tend to lack in that, so I get the feeling this assessment is right - I'm qualitatively just like a normal person, but less.

If that works for you. I find it to be a useless assessment. I'm not "less than" someone else because their brain works differently from mine.

I don't think that neurotypical person was correct. Autistic people are in many ways just like neurotypicals. Autistic people are also, in many ways, different from neurotypicals. We're all humans.

Disability = inferiority is an assumption that seems culturally prevalent. It's also BS.

Rubbish, one could easily say NTs are like Autistic people but less because of areas where they are inferior.

Good lord.

Elephants are just like cars. Without wheels. Or a motor. Or windows. Or doors.


By definition autistic is NOT neuro-typical. It's not like NT lite.

Dear SW,

From reading some of the threads you have created, you are either a troll, more socially inept than one would figure, or simply can not seem to come to terms with how the autism/aspergers seems to work. I am normally more willing to try to understand, and give someone the benefit of the doubt on things, but I'm really starting to think you are more of a troll than anything else. Now, if I am wrong, I'm sorry, but when I find a thread made by you, I choose to not bother with it from now on.

I don't know about that. Aspies seem to look like NTs. They kind of talk like NTs. They think kind of like NTs. They feel like NTs. They can crave relationships just like NTs. They can succeed in school just like NTs. They can reach for goals like NTs. They dream like NTs. They desire like NTs. Aspies seem to be pretty NT...

That's what autism is about, right?

Yes. Being NT is superior from an evolutionary standpoint. Humans are pack animals. In the wild, a pack animal that wanders off and can't sense the emotions of others (eg fear at impending danger) would be at a severe disadvantage.

I'm all for neurodiversity but the only reason we can even consider that is because humans have dominated the environment to the point where we can nuture genetic traits other than "most likely to survive."

I think you're missing the point about what she was really saying. It sounds to me like a response to NT's who say things like, "You don't seem Autstic to me."

A lot of us don't, because in many ways some of us don't present as obviously as others. "Just like regular people," though, is not the same as saying we are "NT."

We're not NT, but we are in many ways not that different. It is in the ways that we ARE different though, that makes us Autistic and not NT.

We ARE just people. We are people just as much as any person is. In that respect we are like everyone else, deserving of the same respect, the same opportunities, and pursuit of happiness as everyone else. I don't believe she meant anything more than that.

We are not impaired NT's. We ARE impaired, and it is some of our differences that make us impaired. Some of our differences though, enhance our existence. In total, our differences make us NOT like everyone else.

Don't know if this the best comparison to make but...

While everyone else might be macadamias, and we might be acorns, we are all nuts.

EDIT:



And yet, I have no trouble with metaphors (see above). And have spoken to many other Autistics who don't. Therefore I find the assessment to be highly inaccurate and sadly stereotypical.

Even with my ego set aside, if I'm compared to other people, it seems rather obvious that I'm not the psychologically impaired one. And this is from the point of view of many, many, adult NTs.

Whatever.

What you are doing is saying that we are all human.

Well DUH!

NT/autism is a specific way of subdividing the population of humans. And, as you surely know, the term NT was actually created by the autism community to be applied to people that were not autistic. Additionally, NT has been corrupted to include things like schizophrenia and ADHD. NT, as orginally intended, meant NOT AUTISTIC. It did not mean less normal.

A lot of NTs, including researchers, believe that autistic behaviors are caused by deficits in all kinds of brain functions that are supposed to be the same for all "healthy humans", by which they mean NTs.

Are you f@cking serious? WHAT THE F#CK! I am sure the NT see us as some kind of sub-human or a degenerate sub class now we have autistic people calling us that too?

In the Jewish ghettos the nazis had Jews that helped with the final solution of the Jewish people I guess the autistic people will have its traitors in their ranks as well. These fellow autistic people will help the NTs by calling their own people a sub species of human. But you know what happened to the Jewish traitors who helped the nazis kill their fellow Jews they ended up in the gas chambers right along with the people they helped the Nazis lead to the slaughter.

Cats have fur like dogs do. They have pointy ears like dogs can. They show mood in body language like dogs do. They're domesticated like dogs are. They can be social and want to be around people like dogs. They walk on four legs like dogs do. Some go out on walks on leashes like dogs do. They can bond to specific people like dogs do. They need food like dogs do. They drink milk as babies like dogs do. They have preferences like dogs do. They can go out of their way for people like dogs do. Cats seem to be pretty dog-like.

Yes, both cats and dogs are domesticated mammals and yes both aspies and NTs are human. That doesn't mean that cats are dog-lite, aspies are NT-lite, dogs are cat-lite, or NTs are aspie-lite.

Last edited by Tuttle on 08 Nov 2011, 6:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You'd better be careful when posting these sorts of things because you get a lot of WP members here who think Autism means you're born the complete reverse of all NTs and you can't argue back at all. But I agree with you. I may not be NT, but I feel like an NT, with impairments. I'm just as able to work, live on my own, get married, have children, drive a car, and do all the things the average person can do, but sometimes my crap social skills get in the way and also my anxieties. Otherwise, I am able to take part in normal society. I just need a bit of help. OK, I do hate having AS, but threads like these don't make me feel so bad about myself. I am a human, just like anyone else. I have thoughts, feelings and dreams. I may not be a very good speaker but I can speak to people and I can make friends. I can relate to NTs in most ways. OK, I may find it difficult to conform, which I hate about myself, but I still feel like an NT inside but with AS traits holding me back. I would explain in more detail but then my post would be like an essay and nobody would bother to read it.

Exactly. NTs are the ones who do all the work for the Aspies, who run all the corporations