Difference between Introverted NT and ASD

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Saw this come up in a different thread in relation to socialising and would like to know what you feel the main differences between the two are in terms of behaviour (obviously the NT does not have an ASD, so I am thinking aside from that. For example If you were socialising how would you know you were socialising with an NT introvert and not someone on the spectrum who had not yet been diagnosed).

It's pretty easy:

ASDs are impairments in daily functioning.

Being an introvert is not an impairment in daily functioning.

If you are not impaired, you do not have an ASD.

I am almost the same as an "Introverted NT person", except ...

Single Major difference
1. I have the "preoccupation with order" trait. Just like the autistic kids stacking cans and lining up their toys on the wiki autism page. My brain wants to perform ordering, and sees the world through an ordered understanding.

a. The brain wants to engage in an ordering activity. Math, puzzles, logic, problems, new information to order, new technical information to integrate, added complexity.

b. I have "order expectancy" based on my interactions with the world i.e., I expect the world to follow the order as I have memorized it. For example, I know about 95% of the time at Subway they ask me first if I want cheese, and then if I want my sandwich toasted. I see the order, and see when the order is violated.

Minor Differences

2. Speech differences. My speech is poorly developed. There is differences in continuity, use of words, however, probably I am better at choosing precise words.

3. Details over Generality - focus on the details.

The introverted NT wouldn't meet the full criteria for an ASD diagnosis, meaning they wouldn't have the same degree of sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, restricted interests, and social deficits as we do.

My own 'social deficits' include face blindness, inability to interpret body language, trouble discerning sarcasm, auditory and visual processing dysfunctions, and alexithymia (emotional blindness). An introverted NT probably wouldn't have those issues.

LoveNotHate have you ever thought you might just have OCD?

Do you have any of the other symptoms of autism, or just that one. Which I wouldn't call a major difference.

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The difference is that introversion is not requisite to being autistic. Some people with autism are garrulous and talk at great length. And some like myself try to socialize and be outgoing, but fail spectacularly.

Yes, I have thought that. I even created a topic and asked that question.

But I am diagnosed and seen for autism by seven different doctors from two different hospitals. And one of the doctors is an autism specialist.

I did not learn to write until I was about twenty-two, and I did not learn to speak other than a few sentences at a time until I was about thirty-two.

So you were virtually non-verbal? So you were diagnosed when you were a child?

And wouldn't you class that as social/communication problems?

Also I apologize for being off-topic. Should I send a pm?

Last edited by Acedia on 07 Feb 2014, 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

This is true but also if you're socially impaired you don't necessarily have ASD. Social impairment could be caused by a lot of things such as social anxiety for one example.

The social imairment in everyday functioning should be in relation to:

1)Problems with non-verbal communication. This could be the way you communicate non-verbally putting people off , like if you have a stilted voice which makes you seem aloof and distant or weird mannerisms which annoy/creep people out. It could also be not understanding and responding properly to others non-verbal cues , like not noticing when someone's bored out of their skull and they want you to stop talking so you keep going on and on or not noticing that someone's giving you non-verbal signals to leave or end a conversation and over-staying your welcome, for some examples.

2) Problems with social and/or emotional reciprocity You could be unable to hold a back and forth conversation because you go on too long and don't pause or you don't keep the conversation going when it stalls and make the other person do all the work, for some examples of what I think is a milder impairment in this.

3) Relationships not developed to where they should be for your developmental level. This doesn't mean you can't have any friends or relationships but that for your age and intellectual level you don't have relationships developed as would otherwise be expected.

This is how I understand the social communication section of the diagnostic criteria and an introverted NT would not meet this criteria.

Introverted NTs have problems with this as well. They often don't know what to say when a conversations stalls.

^^^
....but they wouldn't meet all of the criteria above causing severe impairment in their daily functioning.

Agreed.

I was non-verbal as a child my dad told me , because he said they would have to check on me, because I made no noises. I was not diagnosed as a child. My parents were poor. We lived in a trailer park in Florida, United States where cockroaches would run across the floor.

I was not verbal until perhaps age eight. Then I was semi-verbal with continuity, prosody, longevity of speech problems. However, I was fine if I just spoke a few sentences. Possibly, I just did not know what to say. I would go to school and tell the kids things my parents would say so they would think I am smart. But mostly I was quiet. Kids would say, "What is wrong with you?"

Around age ten or twelve I think, it was raining on our car, and I told my dad "get under the overpass because it is raining". Though, I did not use the word "overpass". And he was proud of me that day because I showed a glimmer of intelligence. I remember because he told my mom what I said, and how smart I was to figure that out.

With regards to the "social/communication problems?" well since I have outgrown this mostly, I answered the question with regards to difference today between me and a hypothetical introverted NT person.

But yes, I spent most of my life with speech problems, so noticeable, that my boss at a job when I was about thirty told me that he knew someone who hit his head in a swimming pool and had speech problems, so maybe I should see a doctor.

However, I was so bullied by others that I wanted my way to be the right way. I perceived his advice as more bullying.

An introverted Neurotypical would not suffer from Sensory Processing Impairments.

Their lack of inclination to socially engage would be more voluntary and emotion based, rather than a neurological inability to jump-start a conversation, initiate a fresh conversation, or be able to follow an ongoing group discussion and interact appropriately.

A Introverted Neurotypical would not be suffering from Selective Mutism and unable to speak, while their brain spun its wheels, vainly attempting to think of the right thing to say before the moment had passed.

An Introverted Neurotypical would have things to say, but simply choose not to say them out of shyness.

Very interesting LoveNotHate, thanx for sharing.

I agree with daydreamer84's post. She has said pretty much everything.

I had a friend a few years ago who is an introvert. We'd talk about introversion quite a lot - I didn't know I was Asperger's at the time.
Things we had in common:
- Being drained after being in social situations
- Needing alone time
- Not liking loud offices or overtalkative people
- Liking deep, thoughtful conversation

Things that were different
- She had good social skills (eye contact etc) and connected with a wide range of people. I connected with her
- She needed far less downtime than I did
- Although she didn't like noise it didn't stop her doing things or tire her out - in fact she has a busy life and successful career
- She didn't fidget, fiddle or stim in any way.
- She wasn't clumsy
- Although she was much younger than me, she was more sophisticated, assured and probably seemed older.
- She was interested in a wide variety of things and wasn't compulsive or obsessive about it.
- She very rarely made faux pas.
- She did have quite low self-esteem but she shouldn't have had, she was brilliant - oh she knew how to compliment me and make me feel better about myself, I was very clumsy at complimenting her in return.
- In the end it felt like she grew up whereas I was stuck where I was.
- She was a great hostess whereas I am rather awkward and never failed at social graces like knowing when to give a card etc.

I realise that a lot of what I've written is about the difference between people with ASDs and NTs in general but I guess that's the point, introverted NTs are still NTs. I had introversion in common with her (and other things like politics) but I think our friendship failed because of my ASD.

Yes. I'm an introverted NT and it is as you say. Much is emotional and shyness-based. I can socialize at length with people I know very well but get drained more quickly with people I don't know well. I do well in small groups but poorly in large groups. This is not because I get overwhelmed by sensory input but rather because I get overwhelmed with shyness. In a large group of absolute strangers who are not really interacting with me (such as at a carnival) I do just fine. I would also do just fine if I visited this carnival with a small group of very close friends or with family. But not so well if I visited it with acquaintances. The amount of downtime I need to recover from socializing is in direct proportion to how well I know the people. The less I know them, the more downtime I need to recover. Thus I don't go travelling in tour groups because those are necessarily all slight acquaintances (you meet them just to travel).

How well or poorly I do with sensory input is in direct relation to how well rested or tired I am. If well rested I have zero sensory sensitivities. If tired I get annoyed by sounds and lights.

And even when things go poorly- for example if I was tired and travelling with a group of acquintances so started getting sensitivities and fatigue- I still wouldn't be as derailed as some describe. I get irritable and grumpy and simply cease interacting much (single word answers to questions) but never all-out mute or melting down.

I compare myself to my autistic daughter and sometimes she seems to be like me but very, very much more so. I like things to be in order. She gets undone if they aren't. I like people I know. She needs to know people for months and months before interacting. (Needs to be around them without interacting). Sometimes watching her it's like seeing aspects of myself under so much of a magnifying glass that small things become disabling. If you make any trait extreme it will become disabling.