Are NT's just real?

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We are aspies and autistics, I get that, but there must be more different people then we see

It sounds like NT's are just an umbrella term, is there such thing as a typical person, I find it hard to find one person that is just like another?

Well, you either developed ToM at age 3-4 and get the nonverbal intuitively or you don't. There's no in-between.

I don't think so. I think the predominant aspect of "NT" is their ability to adapt, adjust, and generally perceive how to conform.

Autism's social aspects seem to be more about an inability to perceive how to conform, than they are about an unwillingness or lack of desire. Its no fun being on the outside, even when the inside is bizarre and seemingly pointless. In no way is the NT way "correct" -- it's just the evolved cultural mean. NTs are able to change themselves to that, or at least to change the masks they use to appear to match that. Autism makes that difficult for the rest of us.

The NT and Auties/Aspies labels just describe the neurological differences, there are lots of other things that can affect how anyone processes events such as upbringing, culture, gender, age etc....

Try reading "The Speed of Dark" (a near-future science fiction novel) by American author Elizabeth Moon. The story is told from the first person viewpoint of an autistic process analyst but it has very interesting (and different) "NT" characters also. It shows how a lot of auties/aspies can be a lot more "normal" than NTs

"NT" would I think technically be a spectrum of its own, just like ASD's. Most people who do not have an ASD do not understand that about the autism spectrum, so it would stand to reason that it would be difficult for people who are on the autism spectrum to fully comprehend the breadth of what "NT" constitutes, or could potentially constitute.

My line of reasoning above though suggests that the two spectrums are mutually exclusive. I absolutely do not believe that that is the case. I feel like I personally understand both pretty equally, and neither of them seem on their own to really suit my state of being. And FYI my "status" on all that is that I am thought to have AS by my therapist, but I am undiagnosed; my "test results" lean toward AS but are definitely a combination of the two. So I'm really not sure where I stand...

There is no "typical" person and there is no blueprint for brains. If you're looking for similarities between AS and NTs, look for NTs that are isolated for periods of time. When you don't connect with society for awhile it changes you. When you have a problem connecting, it manifests itself in ways beyond the neurological wiring, and in ways that mimic environmental causes rather than innate ones.

I think to say it's sheer "ability" is not specific enough. Some people on the spectrum can, for one reason or another, successfully conform on the outside, it just is not "natural". The fundamental NT, when they act in this adaptive manner, feel comfortable and "real" acting in that manner; the adapted ASD could theoretically appear no different, it's just the physical drain and discomfort in acting that way (because it doesn't feel "real").

I know that's not the full story, but that's my take on the adaptive aspect of the NT/ASD "rift".

I kinda see it as a spectrum too. I think if Autism is a spectrum with mild to severe basically in that spectrum, then that spectrum would continue to go on the other side (from the Autism Mild side) to start NT Mild and continue to NT Severe. Maybe neurotypical isn't the word because typical describes what is normal to the species maybe, but either way, i think there is a mild normal to a severe normal, and i think the more severe normal is, the more disabling it is to a person. How much would someone succeed if they overly herded (totally the follower incapable of taking any leadership or doing his own thing)? Drama queens are the perfect example of "moderate normal." Instead of avoiding attention, they demand it. Instead of not having enough emotions or portraying those emotions, they over react or over act. Instead of being socially impaired, they manipulate the system to work in their favor (the word is often called trifling). Instead of having difficulty imitating behaviors, they are incapable of going through a moment without imitating behaviors. Instead of being job oriented, they are people oriented (not a combo of both). Instead of taping the episode of Pokemon or history channel, they tape Days of our Lives and American Idol and freak out if anyone interrupts them while they are watching their taped episode (will even have to call you back for it). I'm telling you, I'm Aspie and my sister is a very irrational drama queen, and I know what I'm saying. Anyone reading this thinking this woman is smoking crack would be in full agreement with me after watching my sister and I live together for one week. I've never seen two personalities clash so much. Even to make my experiment more interesting, we both have Aspie kids. She is the cause for many of her son's Aspie temper tantrums whereas I seem to be the only solution for my daughter's. I know I'm on to something, but I seriously doubt if I wasted my time researching it and trying to make something of it, nobody will listen to me because in the end, nobody listens to the Aspie Girl.

Do you mean the drama queen would be "extreme normal"? Because I understand what you're saying but it sounds to me like that would be somewhere at the far end of the NT spectrum, rather than moderate

Yeah I originally had it as extreme, but I changed it because I think there's more to it. Kinda like leaving some blank spots on the element chart for future discoveries.

Yes, I would have to agree. I was just saying that there is no the NT way. But you are certainly right, I can function reasonably well, but I really don't like it, and it ends up tripping me up and I make mistakes. I have such a hard time believing that NT do in fact feel comfortable that way. Boggles the mind. Makes me slide back into my own little tendencies and out of my ability to play their character.

A problem with this talk of "neurotypicals" is that is not much clear what "neurotypical" means.

- Sometimes is used in the sense of "people without an ASD" (I suppose that is the original meaning)

- Other times is used in the sense of "people without no neurological condition" or even "people without no neurological or psychological condition" (what will probably made NTs a demographic minority)

- In another moments, seems to me that some people use "neurotypical" in a meaning very similar to "extraversion + low neuroticism" (or what the ancient greeks called "sanguine personality")

Sometimes NT's actually scare me

Tey appear too much the same for my taste. When you look around at my school, you can hardly tell the difference between people, they all look totally the same. The same clothes, haircuts, same jokes, same way of walking, talking, same taste on many things, same interests and no significant variety in personality. No, this is no NT-bashing, in case someone would start a thread about it. It has bothered me in high school, how uniform people are.

Greentea,

Can you prove to me that you are right? Where is the evidence to support this claim of yours? How about a few citations?

To add to the continued discussion of the "spectrum"...

If you think of AS to NT as one spectrum you're not getting the whole picture. It's actually multiple spectrums; one for each trait. Throw in other neurological differences in there and you have even more spectrums.

It's probably easy for someone who has more pronounced AS traits to believe that there is somehow this clear cut, cut-and-dry line where ASDs stop and NTness begins. I can tell you from firsthand experience that it doesn't work that way.

Maybe a few, but your typical person is certainly not.. er.. typical.
The autism spectrum is perhaps one 2D plane in a 3 or 4 dimensional spectrum of people. (Actually.. it probably has a lot more dimensions than that.. but that's kinda difficult to fathom. I can, a bit, but that's cause my mom had this religious theory while I was growing up that God is [exists in? not clear in which..] the infinite dimension.)