If you could become NT, would you? seen on twitter

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If I could somehow have two neurological channels and be able to switch effortlessly to being NT for all the benefits it confers, but switch back to my aspie channel as well, that would be ideal.

Yes, If I could come NT, I would!

One thing I do like about being a Aspie is the life lessons I learned from it, it scares to think of the perspectives in life I would be ignorant on if I was a NT from the start, not to mention unfairly judging people.

Sometimes I wonder, if I was a NT and a Aspie/Austic came into my life, how would I treat them? Would I go hard in the paint trying to find info on their traits via Google to better understand them?

Agreed!

At first, when I saw the question, I thought YES! Definitely! But when thinking about it for another minute, it made me feel sorry for my asperger-self. Like I was abandoning it on the side of the road or something. I feel guilty for even considering it. But it would make life a whole lot easier... probably less feeling guilty about irrational things!

This thread should have a voting poll also so we can actually see the %

You can spin this around a little to include more neurological persuasions. For example, my older cousin has mental retardation. I never researched literature on his condition (for lack of a better word), because I felt I didn't need it to understand him better. Same with an old colleague of mine with BPD, who I shared a great rapport with. We'd occasionally bring up our respective disorders during conversation, and that was enough for mutual understanding on those particular subjects. Never picked up a book on Borderline.



I disagree (though I don't mean to sound harsh about it!). Because, if you don't put up a poll in these kinds of threads, it invites people to more closely elaborate on their choices. Of course there will always be posts that only amount to 'yes' or 'no', but when you have a poll up, more people are inclined to just vote and not bother to post.

"If you could become NT, would you?"

yes Yes and YES! Did I say Yes?

why, oh why would I want to do that? so I could be social pressured by people..no
I am glad that I'm not social able because it means that I am harder to manipulate..
I understand why some people would but I wouldn't.. yes I am lonely and stuff but that is a small price to pay to remain my self.

it would be so nice if i could only live up to what my natal horoscope says about my potential. but the way i am now, that is not likely. it would be nice to be not so addled, to have normal executive function and clarity of thinking.

Are you saying being NT automatically means you are unkind and uncompassionate?

Last edited by Shellfish on 06 Mar 2012, 5:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

I would. In a heartbeat.

A lot of people here say they don't want to give up their fundamental selves, that becoming NT would mean giving up that which makes them who they are.

I ask what being me has ever done for me. I can't see myself as simply different than normal people. I see myself as less than. Everything I can do, they can do. And more.

I'm not the hopeless "poor me" type. I believe very strongly in doing the best with what resources have been given us. But I can't help but think of how much better I could do if I had the same ability to navigate the world that comes so easily to most people.

I think it's horrible that people are saying they'd rather die than not have Asperger's. That's just as bad as somebody saying that they'd rather die than have AS (which would probably cause an uproar around here).
However, I do agree that this late in life it would be difficult to change. Once you've been this way for so long it is the norm; it is more comfortable than the alternative. If the question was, more specifically, "Would you rather have been born without AS?", I think more people would say yes.

yes

Yes, I would want to be neurotypical. I don't really see too many good traits with my Asperger's self except for the bad ones. I'm not one of those highly intelligent people with Asperger's syndrome, as a matter of fact I have a learning disability when it comes to math and really slow brain processing.

You're raising an excellent point. Much of how we each answer this question, depends on how we interpret what it means to "become an NT". Why the very phrasing of that questoin "If you could become NT... etc." is an indication of the attitude of the person who originally asked it. I would have phrased the question differently.

Furthermore, we each of us have different ideas of what becoming "neurotypical" would mean. For me, personally, I would prefer to say "If I could lose my autism", and I'd interpret it as no longer having trouble with reading social cues, not feeling so hesitant to start up a conversation in a group of strangers, no longer being overwhelmed in crowded places, not hyperfocusing on details anymore, or adhering to routines and schedules so much.

However, I realise that my interpretation of the question, and the answer that follows from it, may in fact be offensive of insulting to some people who have different opinions on the nature of ASDs and "neurotypicality", and I must respect those opinions.

For example, I don't think that if I "lost my autism" (for lack of better phrasing), I'd lose my individuality, my interests, or that I'd suddenly care for the social pecking order. Why do I think that, because I've met plenty of so-called "NT's" who have far more fascinating interests than I do, and don't care about the shallow part of social life.

I know I wouldn't, it would be scary conforming without reason and getting manipulated by fake people. I also wouldn't want to be a judgmental idiot who bullies people who are different.