How would NTs function?

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If the majority of people were Aspies?

My guess is that the biggest problem NTs would have would be social. The NT need for frequent and prolonged social contact would be dysfunctional. The DSM would cite neediness, clinginess and an inability to cope with being alone as core symptoms.

There would be a spectrum. Extremely introverted and shy NTs would e considered the highest functioning, the least affected. The most extroverted NTs would be the most severely affected. Depending on environment, some might develop the severe pathologies such as personality disintegration sometimes seen in people kept in solitary confinement for extended periods.

NTs lucky enough to be born near other NTs would immediately bond together. NTs would frequently seek out any animal companions they could. "The raccoon doesn't judge me."

Extroverted Aspies would be considered to have a mild pathology, something analogous to (but the opposite of) Social Anxiety Disorder. They might feel more comfortable in the company of NTs.

The other constellation of symptoms would be around focus. Glossing over large areas and only seeing certain details would be a core symptom. This would be treatable with drugs- probably the exact same drugs used for ADHD now.

Lack of sensory sensitivity might or might not make it into the DSM. If it did, it wouldn't be a core symptom and diagnosis wouldn't require it be there. This is because lack of sensory sensitivity wouldn't be particularly impairing- not like the social and focus cluster of symptoms. It might be noted but that's about it. It wouldn't be a therapy focus. NTs would find manmade enviroments dull and under-stimulating but the natural world holds plenty of stimulus. NTs might be very outdoorsy to get away from the muted light and hushed indoor environment but any impairments arising from that(like children always staring out the window) would be attributed to lack of focus. Many Aspies uneducated in NT Syndrome wouldn't even realize this sensory-craving behavior even existed. If they saw an NT pursuing bright lights and loud sounds, they would think they were seeing lack of focus.

That's an amusing "other world", LOL. But honestly, it'd be quite accurate, I would think.

^^^This.

And I suppose some of us would attempt to become more aspie like so we could get along at work etc.

They would be very frustrated. Thew would get co-morbids although the co-morbids might be different they would get depressed. Eventually they would need to meltdown but in general they would not be judged harshly for that. The majority would still melt down in an autistic world but it would be a lot less so if an NT melted down very often it would be considered "disordered" .Their "style" of meltdown would be considered weird.

oh god, this is beautiful

i can imagine two autistic parents taking their kid to a specialitst

"oh doctor, its terrible, he keeps trying to talk to other kids and wont leave us alone! he wants to pretend and isnt stacking and lining up objects!"

"well ma'am, im afraid your child is a neurotypical"

..or those select few NT's would completely rule the world & concentrate all of it's wealth even tighter than it is now, seeing as they'd be the only few with the executive functions and social skills that enabled them to manipulate everyone else with far greater ease than the 1% elites do to the masses today.

I could see it now: "NTs inexplicably like to listen to music at an absurdly loud volume that damages the ear drum and can't understand why some others don't like that."

There are more than a few aspies who are like that.



Again, more than a few aspies find it hard to concentrate, and find it easier to focus in on particular details rather than being able to see the whole picture.

You ought to develop this alternate reality more. . . . it's already brilliant. Call the country "Aspergia"

This sounds like it would make an awesome book. I could see NTs having a hard time finding employment because their lack of hyper-focus on minute details and need for continuous interaction while they work would get in the way of their performance. NT children might have to go through social skills therapy to "dampen their heightened sensitivity" to "critical" remarks, the sort of which aspies consider normal. They would also have to be taught logic, how to use it and how to dampen their instinct to act and react based on emotion rather than facts. While aspies melt down over too much stimulus today, I could see NT children melting down over too little, getting overwhelmed and agitated by how dim, quiet and ordered everything was, sort of like a sensory deprivation experiment. They might also get reckless as they got older, particularly in their teens, in a desperate attempt to break out of the insufferable rigid routines placed on them by their friends and family. They might also have to deal with feelings of low self-esteem due to a lack of ability to find and latch onto a special interest, thereby being the only one around incapable of picking a subject and monologuing on it for hours, which might make them feel intellectually inadequate. Their parents would probably describe them as restless, constantly jumping from one activity to another, skimming the surface but never really delving into the depths of the facts. There would be books written about "the strange NT who spent his life desperately seeking the company of others, only to meet someone wise or go into therapy and discover that he had it within him to prentend to be aspie enough to get by all along." Their speech patterns too would probably be considered vague and imprecise, such is the NT fondness for using such ambiguous terms as, "stuff," "things," "y'know", etc. They probably wouldn't enjoy reading very much either as the majority of books would be factual, with only a small subset of fiction authors to choose from. I could see an aspie world being extremely difficult for an NT. Maybe this is the description I should give to the next NT who questions the severity of my problem.

The sad part is, in this hypothetical world NTs would have it just as bad in society (I think) as autistic people currently do. Whether NT or on the spectrum, human nature doesn't change too much...

(I would, btw, be interested to hear from those of you who may disagree, because I certainly haven't tried to think through the entire scenario. Note that I'm referring to problems with their treatment by society specifically, though, not overall.)

Magically in this alternate universe/timeline I am NT defined :/

He's got a point there....

And get overthrown and shot in the streets when eerything comes collapsing and the neurotypical behaviors stick out like 'sore thumbs'



We'd just segregate them into neurotypical neighborhoods or regions, or something like that. Or use them for certain purposes, but with autistic handlers to keep them from screwing the autistic people over. OR something like that (think: Soviet political commissars or NKVD units)

What a lot of people seem to be forgetting that in a world where autistic people are the majority, we wouldn't be called "autistic," because we would technically be the neurotypicals. People that weren't autistic would likely referred to by their own pathologized condition. Maybe they would be called "allistic" people, which is what some of us already refer to them as.