are we different?

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how different do you think you are from most people?

people say you are not different when it seems we are.
because if we were not we would not be be having these issues.

or they mean the symptoms are not noticeable.

do you feel like everybody else?

Pretty damn different. For I'm very very smart, also I carry around a Piplup plushie which I mean makes me seem younger but is not very acceptable for the stereotypical, 12-13 Year old. I'm considered the smartest person in my class, which is common among Autistic people. I also look rather abnormal. I think strangers Stereotypes are influencing the way they see me, which would make me seem younger. Also I have a vivid imaginary World complete with a Entire Character cast. Also it is very Autistic like, so there is less normal people the main characters are generally shiny pokemon. I've always been like this, That is the thing through all of my special interests which had to do with the see. I also have quite the talent for making characters and stories, though they are based on my special interest, Pokemon and also Penguins though obviously since I'm piplup. I'm Obsessed with penguins to. I've always like Penguins.

My friend first approached me because he noticed that I acted very strange and I was always alone. I am definitely different, enough so that I stand out.

I have always been different. People made sure of that because of how I was treated. I often felt I walked around with the words different written all over me. My parents have always insisted I'm normal but how can that be with my medical records and how kids treated me? And the fact I had to be on medication to get my brain to work right. Yeah that would convince a child they're normal. At age 10 I knew it was all BS what they were telling me and trying to convince me what I am going through it all normal and all normal kid stuff.


But I live a normal life. I have children, I'm married, I work, I don't have living skill problems. I can go to places on my own, I drive, I can go on trips by myself. I have flown alone. No one picks on me so I feel normal and I can do my job and I don't need a life coach or a job coach for my work. The only thing that is different about me is not going to college and getting a degree because I'm a concrete learner and have a hard time with abstract things and school work is pretty abstract and I don't have any friends in real life and I deal with social anxiety and anxiety because lot of things stress me out. I have my parents living with us and I get help with the kids and I feel like a burden. But at least they have their own lives and I don't need a babysitter. Plus I don't dress my age and I haven't bought any clothes in years and I am very forgetful and disorganized I often forget to do things. I am glad my son is going to public school next year because I won't have to deal with school uniforms anymore, I am horrible with that.

I feel pretty different from others. I struggle with social interaction. Sometimes I feel like I'm bad at socializing even for an Aspie. I feel like my own inner world is more important to me than interacting with others. Also, a lot of things upset me that wouldn't upset other people.

Well, I was different enough to be excluded and bullied by my peers throughout my time at school. I suspect it was a combination of lack of social skills, monotone voice, lack of proper body language, not grasping their trend-chasing behaviour and perhaps some kind of "aura of weird" they witnessed.
All that made clear to me I was different and lead me to want to fit in better just so I get some rest from bullying, peace, whatever you wish to call it. So I spent time analysing and copying others' behaviour to practice seeming as normal as possible, but honestly, I stopped caring nowadays.
I know who I am, I just am who I am and I've had enough of wearing a mask most of the time. With my diagnosis came another boost in self-confidence that manifested that stance even more, which I suspect I was lacking a bit due to these experiences. I'm just different, that's me.

Of course a mask can be still useful when asking someone for something (time/way/whatever else) in order to get an answer and not risk to repulse that person, but I still suspect that the person I deal with then will still find something odd about me.

So yeah, because I don't bother with that anymore and don't practice being normal, I guess I'm back to being "more different" than previously overall as well.

I think I am profoundly different to most other people as my brain activity is startlingly inactive the majority of the time. It's remarkable how much of my life I have spent in a type of trance where there's a complete absence of thought. Even though I attended a grammar school, I believe that I belong in an institution of some kind because I am alarmingly absent-minded. It's frightening for me to think how low my IQ must be.

I am different. At least I FEEL different from just about everyone I've ever met. I submit for your review:

1. Have you EVER IN YOUR LIFE won an argument? I haven't, and I would love to know what that feels like. As soon as I sense that I've entered an argument, I hit Meltdown Mode within about 0.3 seconds, and I'm a babbling mess from that point after, and the verbal mess continues until the moment I shut up. My wife knows this, AND TAKES FULL ADVANTAGE OF THIS EVERY SINGLE CHANCE SHE GETS. It just happened for what it feels like the 197,845th time in our relationship last night , whereupon an argument manifested out of nowhere over my inability to hear/comprehend something she said (while poorly multi-tasking between reading wrongplanet.net and watching a hockey game), and the fact I haven't sought an otologist or hearing specialist before. As I expected, she expended little effort in making me feel like an ass in less time than I could say "I'm sorry," and is still to this very moment giving me the silent treatment.

2. I am the only person at every place of employment I've ever been who is "that person" who sits and watches in silence as everyone else in the group interacts and appears to enjoy it. If there's more than one person around me who is talking, I am that one person who can't figure out what to say in a timely fashion,and the longer I stay with the group, the more disoriented I get. It feels like there's a big spotlight on my forehead the whole time that flashes "loser" in bright lights to everyone around me.

3. I have had friends, but never ever a single "best friend" -- someone I'd feel is MY best friend, with that same person acting like I was THEIR best friend. The depth of my friendships always has felt quite shallow.

4. I feel that at most, I'm only about 80% "there." Meaning, when I'm at my most aware, I'm still not as aware of my surroundings as normal people. Sometimes, I'll zone out in public, and feel like a ghost who's only about 50% "there." I feel no connection to anything around me, and I can't imagine that normal people have ever felt as disconnected as I can. Everyone compared to me appears to be so sociable and comfortable talking to anyone else all the time, including complete strangers. Sometimes I'll try to join them, but I can never figure out how, and I feel like I'm always on the sideline of life.

5-to-Infinity. Everything I've ever done makes me feel like an outsider, but at this point of my life, I've stopped letting it bother me that much, and since my diagnosis last month, I've felt much better about myself. I indulge myself in my horticulture job, my gardening at home, listening to music, watching hockey, and I just try to forget how everything else around me appears to operate completely independent from me.

I'm now 46 years old, and nothing has ever truly changed as far back as I remember. I can't and won't speak for anyone else, but heck yeah, I'm different.

As a human, no. But as an individual, all humans are.

Collectively speaking, it's different. It's just that autistics don't conform, that's how they stand out. And even if they conform, that's just the surface.


Personally? I'm aware that I'm different, but not necessary inferior nor superior. Yet not as equal either...
Felt that kind of realization when I was around 7. I constantly sense betrayal and denial.
In an odd dillema since first diagnosis at 10 - between 'it makes sense' to 'that's not supposedly true'.
At 13, I got sick because of it. So the acting, the 'trying-hard' phase. But I got too tired of it. At sometime or so, I got my 2nd diagnosis.
So at 14, I sort of gave up out of anxiety and depression. Stop going to school, stop going out at all. So stop the acting and the coping, then start with the internet life.
Yet, at 16, I made a leap of a decision that puts me into this present - Got out, went back to school and finished it. Backtracking and exploring what makes someone's utopia as someone's hell. Starting AT myself.


Right now, I just barely give a damn how different I'm at this present. I'm aware that I'm, and I'll just take advantage of it when chances let me.
There are good ones, bad ones, annoying ones. I'm just waiting for time to run out than rushing on the said time.

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Oh geez. Even when people actively like me or get along with me or want to protect me or help me (for whatever reason) they call me bizarre and different.
Like they cant get over it or reconcile it.
I have little NT children come up to me all of the time and they generally like me depending on their disposition, but they all seem confused by me.
Autistic children(verbal and non-verbal) always like me, and I can understand where they are coming from more so than the NT kids- MUCH easier to understand.
People just stare at me all the time and say things like: "You're just a bit strange aren't you?" not in a malicious way (not anymore I'm too much of an adult for that lol) but in a confused way.
Always confused.

I feel so profoundly far away and different from people. But when I meet people that are also "different" from the vast majority of people (even if we are different from others for dis-similar reasons) there is a great solace in that.
I love meeting others that are "different" even if they aren't like me- just knowing makes me feel less alone.

I felt different my whole life but I was born with some physical disabilities & dyslexia in addition to my Aspergers.

I'm different from most people because I'm autistic. I'm different from the rest of my family because I took after the Germans instead of the French or the British. I'm different from my mum and my sister because I'm Transgender. I'm different from my dad for the second reason that I've stated.

I know I am different and I hate it when other people insist on telling me that I am not. That makes me very angry because if they don't understand that I am different and if they don't respect that I am, they put expectations on me that I can't meet and then they get angry or upset at me for not meeting their expectations. And especially because I look normal and I am what people would like to refer to as very high functioning, they don't realize that in many areas I am actually low functioning so they expect me to be able to handle situations and respond as they can and do and I can't because I am very different. This puts a huge stress on me and sometimes makes it very difficult for me to be around people.

But almost everything about me is different except for how I look. The way I understand and process things, the way that my chronological age matches my intellectual age but not my mental or emotional ages, the way that I process sensory issues, the proprioceptive issues that I have, the executive functioning issues, the communication issues. All of these things are very different from a typical NT. Now, in many ways I am the same, I walk and talk and eat with a fork and knife and have a smartphone and drive and all that superficial stuff, but yes, I am very different.