NTs and coping skills

Post Reply New Topic

Do NTs have better coping skills with certain things than people on the spectrum?

Obviously NTs don't cope with everything, but they can cope better with loud noise, for example. Once I saw a girl about my age who was sitting at the front of a bus of seats that face sideways, and a woman came on with a kid in a pushchair, and had to put the pushchair right in front of this girl so that the kid was practically facing her, and the mother sat in the seat next to the girl (there was nowhere else to put the pushchair). The mother, being selfish, didn't fold up the pushchair and sit the kid on her lap, just left it in the pushchair, and the pushchair took up room and would be in this girl's way if she wanted to get up. The kid started yelling and screaming, and it's foot accidentally kicked the girl's knee, and the girl just grinned slightly. The kid was so LOUD that it made me feel ill with the noise, but this girl was sitting really relaxed at though there was no kid screaming and kicking right next to her. I knew that if that was me in that position, I would have got up, showing lots of non-verbal anger as I did so, I calling the kid the worst names under my breath (for example, the C-word). That's how bad my coping skills with noise are, but this girl just sat there happily. Even if she was feeling irritated inside, she was obviously excellent at not showing it on the outside. But the kid was too loud to even be able to filter out, especially being right next to you. Oh, I WISH I had those sorts of coping skills!! !! !! !! !!

Lets hope that word is "crybaby"

Anyways... I have coping skills when it comes to noise because I lived in a really noisy house all my life... but when it comes to certain sounds... like a high pitched beeping... or a telephone... it REALLY grates on my nerves... a little kid screaming in my ear would also make me move...

Like with pain... I can't handle it well... a kick would make me say "ouch", and make me move. I used to get hit by my brother a lot as a kid... and he never left a bruise... but it hurt like HELL!! ! well... not literally "hell", but I am sure you understand what I mean...

my older brother though has a higher tolerance to deal with noises, and extreme heat (although he refuses to swim in cold water... hes like a cat... he hates water...), and he does perfectly fine with pain, his friends leave bruises on him and he acts like is barely hurts... yet i get hit in the head unexpectedly (during that game where you get hit in the head when someone burps unless you put your thumb up to your forehead...) and I just want to curl up in the corner and cry...

so... yeah... to answer your question... yes, NT's can normally cope better...

I'm an NT and I am horrible at coping with loud noises. During fire drills at high school, I'd be the one kid in the hallway covering their ears; I can't stand repetitive noises, especially high-pitched, and people talking loudly in a room downstairs can wake me up even if my door's shut. So, this definitely doesn't go for all NTs. My boyfriend has AS and I think I'm more sensitive to noises than he is (he'll sometimes talk loud enough to hurt my ears, and I have to tell him to tone it down just a bit).

However, I'm far less sensitive to touch than he is, both good and bad. I've got a relatively high pain tolerance for most things and I can stand heat better than he can. (I don't know that many people with AS so I mostly can only compare myself to him.)

I hate loud kids screaming and yelling. It's a sound (and sight) I absolutely loathe. But I suppose I am able to keep a straight face and keep my emotions at a level when there's a loud kid screaming in front of me. By that, I mean I don't get those knots in my stomach from anger of noise, and my face doesn't go red. I suppose I am able to show a different emotion on the outside from what's on the inside.

I also go beserk when people keep yawning loudly, clear their throat loudly, have such a loud cough, and sneeze loudly. I don't really know how loud my sneezes are, but my coughs aren't very loud, and I don't do that stupid loud roar when I yawn. I have a lot of sinus trouble but I don't keep clearing my throat loudly.

My mum keeps clearing her throat a lot, and although it's not loud, it's really annoying and hard to ignore. And my brother yawns really LOUD, which drives me insane. And people on the bus cough and sneeze loudly, which agitates me.

I wish I had just enough noise coping skills to keep me from wanting to launch things through the ceiling, particularly small kids like the one you described!

No, I don't think so.

There's a difference between being bothered by something but coping, and simply not being bothered by something. NTs often don't find loud noises painful. Certain noises may be enjoyable (eg a rock concert) while others are just mildly annoying.

They look like they have better coping skills than autistics because our society is designed for NTs to be able to cope with, and so they're seldom pushed to the same extremes as autistics. When they are, though, they act exactly the same way as autistics in that situation.

Oh, and by the way, I find it offensive that you're calling a child 'it'. 'It' is for objects, not human beings.

A lot of people call babies ''it'', not in a nasty way. Sometimes you call pets ''it'' too. I don't really like toddlers and babies much - nothing personal - I just cannot cope with them. Yes, I know I screamed when I was little, and people probably called me ''it'' and ''brat'' too.
Actually my mum said I never really had violent temper tantrums in public really - not kicking and screaming ones.

I hate fire alarms but I'm to Shocked to notice and put my hands up .
Most, NTs know how to "tune" down their senses but not all. Us autistics never learn. Some, just don't know how to do that. Also, it has to do with ignoring sounds.. Generally, Autistics struggle with that. Do you struggle with this, to? I'd be pretty mad if that happened, I'd probably tell the parent to F**k of.

I hate fire alarms but I'm to Shocked to notice and put my hands up .
Most, NTs know how to "tune" down their senses but not all. Us autistics never learn. Some, just don't know how to do that. Also, it has to do with ignoring sounds.. Generally, Autistics struggle with that. Do you struggle with this, to?