How differently do you view yourself from NTs?

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As a teenager I was completely different from everyone else with no social skills, but I've since "trained" myself to be more "NT-like" and taught myself how to socialise. I'm still not great at socialising, but I'm better than I was at least, although I still can't keep friendships. In terms of emotions, interests, world perception, and dealing with sensory input, I am still quite different. -sigh-

I chose "somewhat different", as I can only speak for myself. By first glance I pass for an NT.I can easily talk to strangers and I am quite good under four eyes, - but people often see me as eccentric/atypical and wonder about, what I say and how I say it. They wonder about my quirks, my way of dressing and my unexpected reactions to things.

I used to feel inadequate and have a low self esteem, but DX changed that.
I don´t feel alien, but I have come to feel, as if I have landed in a culture, I don´t quite understand, - regarding some unwritten rules, some non-verbal communication, rethorical norm - and all that usual stuff.

Age + experience do help.

you titled this thread "How differently do you view yourself from NTs?" and when i clicked in i saw the poll which asks "How different do you think you are from NTs?". they are 2 different questions in my mind.

so there are 2 different answers.

Q:"How differently do you view yourself from NTs?"

A: i do not view myself in any way except in a mirror. i have no concept of how i seem to the outside world, and i never consider myself from an external viewpoint. i just am and i do not reflect on it. i see people who are considered N.T's everywhere and i accept their behavior as similarly instinctive as mine. i do not have any "point of view", or in other words, "opinion" about any aspect of my or other peoples behavior.
i manage to do what i need to do in the world of people who all bustle about on their own way, and i only focus on what my intentions are and nothing peripheral to that.


Q:"How different do you think you are from NTs?"
A: very. i have no interest in most things that interest people are interested in. i can not fathom how they can be interested in what they are. they likewise can not see why i am so pursuant of what they consider trivialities.
ne'er the twain will meet.

I feel mostly different from others but some of it is because I have some rare physical disabilities in addition to Aspergers.

I'd say somewhere around slightly different to somewhat different. Most of the time, I can act pretty NT because my autism is usually really mild. The only time it's ever triggered is if someone actually triggers my anxiety. Bad things can happen when I meltdown or throw one of my outbursts. Other than that, no one really knows I'm autistic unless my parents have to tell them that I am.

I do feel rather different from NTs though, but it's not as much as you would think. There are days when I can feel withdrawn and in my own world. However, I can't really say either since I've never paid much attention to this kind of thing either.

Inverted. My right is left, and my left is right. LOL JK.


I'm a human first, female second. Then as an aspie, and so on...

Yes, everyone is unique and weird in their own way. But at least most NTs don't feel like they're born in a wrong planet in most of their lifetime. Or wrong century or country or whatever makes someone feel alone in a crowd in a peacefully "normal" setting.

To be honest, just a while ago, unspoken rules of norms were ticking me off by catching me off guard... That would only remind me more of why am'I different from most of them.

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I said not hardly different at all. I know that I process things differently, I know that I think about some things differently, but overall I don't see many differences between me and NT's. Some of that may be because I wasn't diagnosed until middle age so I never thought I was fundamentally different from others, just kind of off and not well adjusted was how I thought about it. Some of that may also be because I've spent 90% of my life acting like other people to the point where it's second nature now.

I still feel a twinge of the old panic about how I'm acting at times, (not the same thing as my panic attacks, this means I just notice I'm doing something "funny" and don't know what to do about it, or worry that I'm about to do something funny because I've barely caught myself before I did it) and sometimes I'll do something completely AS like blurting out "I love your haircut! That's almost like Kate from Jon and Kate! That's so cute! I like how it sticks up like that, is it hard to keep?" which was absolutely fine but then when she thanked me I asked this total stranger "Can I touch it?" because that didn't seem weird to me at all and I REALLY WANTED to touch the poking up part of her hair. I seemed and looked otherwise normal so she said ok, and I did, and was way too pleased with it and made myself stop. Other times I'll point out small but what I think are important inaccuracies to an almost total stranger after overhearing their conversation, and other times I'll just decide to tell them a bit of trivia that is very obscure about the topic they were talking about. At the time I do it I think it's completely friendly and normal because I'd like it if somebody did that to me. It's only after when I realize I was being weird. I will also go on and on and on with a long winded and boring lecture about a topic that I know a s**t ton of stuff about that somebody happened to bring up in conversation, or a related topic. I usually realize during my lecture what I'm doing and stop and apologize.

I don't think about myself as different from others though. I don't think about my AS much unless I'm here, I do something that I know is caused by it, or I feel myself being overwhelmed by something and now I know why. I do explain it to certain people in my life, but most people I know on a face to face basis don't know about my AS. I've told my kids but I doubt they even remember. My husband and I don't talk about it because it's not an issue, when an AS issue comes up I say to him what I've always said to him about it "You know I don't like...." or "You know how I am...." and thats that. I didn't change how I talk about things to him because of my diagnosis, there is no need to. In his head, just like in my head, my AS stuff that is bothersome or noticible is just "how I am". No biggie. Then again, I have a mild case, or maybe it was worse when I was a child and I have just gotten adept at hiding it, I don't know.

The only one I actually talk to it about, who I know in real life is my best friend. The one on heroin now. She always talks about how I'm the smartest person she knows and how I know a ton of stuff that nobody else does, and when somebody wants to know something I'll research it to death and then lecture them to death about it. She never remembers what AS is, she just calls it "That s**t you got, you know, that makes you smart but weird". She's not ugly about it at all, in fact she seems really freakishly proud of my AS. Maybe it's more pride in my IQ, because she's never had a friend who was in any way smart. Probably because most smart people don't choose to hang out with drug addicts, she was a meth junkie when I met her but I didn't know for a few months. I thought she was just hyper and crazy and that was fine. I would have known it if she was on coke, because I can recognize geetered a mile away but I had never been around a tweaker before. Now I know it. I also know when she's high on the gear because I can recognize it in her, but others can't. I don't pick my friends based on their habits or morals though, and I've always got along better with people out of the mainstream, so if somebody clicks with me, we are good to go. I don't go around befriending a lot of dopeheads though, most will get over on you in a heartbeat and I can tell when it's fake friendliness and for real friendliness. I don't let folks get over on me anymore, and I had to learn the hard way to recognize it and stand up and stop it and tell them to f**k themselves. She's never done that and is honest with me and cares about me. She always was like that with me, so junkie or no, she's my best friend and she truly does understand me and I understand her. I've had my drug days, but I was much younger than her when I did them, she got a late start.

My doctor knows because I'm friends with his wife and I told her. I told her after I went on this long explanation about something unimportant to most people but vital to whatever the issue was that I was discussing. When I saw her zone out I decided to stop and apologize and also tell her why I did it. She was curious about it, she had heard of it but hadn't really met on a friend basis anyone with it. That she knew of. Most wouldn't know it unless I tell them or do something asinine, and I rarely do asinine things anymore. I haven't had a public meltdown in over a decade, and the public meltdowns are very rare, especially the hysterical full on ones where I can't talk coherently or be touched or anything. I rarely have those at home anymore either. Knowing about my AS and how it can cause them, and learning to recognize the causes and step away before I get to that point has helped my temper more than anything. Well, my AS caused stuff. I still have a horrible temper and am mean as a snake when crossed, but I'm usually not over the top and loud and crazy about it like I used to be before I knew about the AS and how it makes me think it's good to just let go and show what I feel when it's really not at all.

Overall, I don't see myself as defined by my AS. I think that's a good thing for me because I can enjoy my special interests and be fine with myself for my weird likes and habits, but I've pushed myself hard enough when I was younger to where I don't need what I might need because of the AS if I hadn't done that. I'm also lucky that my AS was mild enough so that I could actually do that because not everyone can. Also, knowing that you have something that causes you to act and react and feel the way you do makes it much harder to try to change it. When you don't know, it's just a quirk of yours that you should be able to change, when it's something real then you feel like you may not be able to do it.

So, thats my summary. Hope it was helpful.

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I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
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My guess is negative correlation between how different people view selves and how different people are from majority

I view myself as extremely different from most people, and not only from NTs but all people.

Part of it is probably just because my perceptions are strongly oriented to recognize patterns, notice differences and find anomalies. It's just natural to view myself as an anomaly. It's like playing Where's Waldo. He's really not all that different from the others in the picture, but for the purposes of the game you have to view him as completely alien and different, so you can distinguish him from others.

We're all the same, but different.

When I was growing up, I always figured they were the odd ones.