NT, ND, ASD...How do you know the difference?

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For those that don't know:
NT-Neurotypical

ND-Neurodiverse

ASD-Autism spectrum disorder

Just so all of you know, I am not trolling, I am genuinely confused. What is autism what is neurodiverse and what is neurotypical?

I have autism but then I met other autistic people here and now I'm confused. There are some that have problems(some severe, some not.) and there are also extroverted people with autism(I thought all were introverted.)

The new DSM now has no specific definition and even when it did it still was confusing! I was diagnosed my whole life and yet I am questioning whether this is real or not. I want to get help for myself but if autism is so broad and diverse how am I going to tell anyone what I need help with(or even know what I need help with to begin with.) and, if there is no definition then would someone even believe me...or even think it actually exist.

I don't mean to start arguments or be offending in any way but, I'm confused and completely lost now. How can you tell the difference? Honestly as my life has gone autism is starting to look like another term for incompetent or useless...

Neurotypical - Someone whose brain works more or less the way that society expects it to work.

Neurodiverse - Someone whose brain doesn't work more or less the way that society expects. This could be because of ASD, or it could be ADD, ADHD, OCD, Bipolar, or any number of other conditions.

I suppose it doesn't even necessarily have to be something diagnosable at all, because pretty much anything diagnosable has to result in clinically significant difficulties somewhere in your life. I would think that, if someone's brain works differently from others but it doesn't result in any difficulties, you might still call the person neurodiverse.

ASD - Autism Spectrum Disorder. I think your best bet is to look at the following link. It's on Autism Speaks, who we all hate for various reasons, but they do post the official definition of ASD, as well as a description of what it looks like at different severity levels:
https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autis ... c-criteria

I agree this is all confusing. Sometimes a person is impaired but they are not impaired enough by the doctors to get a diagnoses but they are considered impaired by their peers or teachers, etc. anyone who isn't a doctor. These are what we call difficult people. Some doctors will say some of these kids do get a diagnoses such as ADHD but they don't see them as having a disorder, just difficult. That makes me wonder about me.

To me difficult just means someone who is different and has problems but they are not impaired enough to get a diagnoses so they are basically between normal and disorder. These kids would be at a higher risk for depression and low self esteem and not being understood.

But where do we draw the line and how do we know if someone is actually impaired or just different? Are their impairments caused by people not accepting them or is it their own deficits they have that is causing them impairments? Do some of these people just get a diagnoses to get help so they are not abandoned by the school system or by society?

this is a controversial topic I know because these things will always offend someone and make them feel like they are being judged or attacked even though I never said anything about them. But I say that just comes from them being insecured about themselves and being too self conscious about how they look to others and come off as like do they come off as too normal. Then they see topics like this and will feel attacked.

It bothers me, too. I wish there were "subtypes" within autism to clear up the ambiguity when someone says they have ASD. Even beyond the "high functioning" and "low functioning" labels, the ASDs I've met have had varying levels of severity between traits, and two people with the disorder might suffer in completely different ways and on different levels. The definition is certainly broad - thanks, in part, to the fact that you don't need all of the traits to have it. I've seen plenty of Aspies who either don't have sensory problems or don't have special interests, and some who thrive in an average social setting. I've even come across Aspies who love nightclubs, and that's just astounding to me. Females, especially, are a constant source of personal frustration, as I don't understand them at all in relation to my own traits. I mean, how can you pretend to be normal? How can you function like a neurotypical when you're not one? It's part of the reason that I have trouble fitting myself into the mix. I like to categorize everything into absolutes, though, so maybe that's why the idea of a spectrum is hard for me to deal with.

I'm also little confused about it. When I first read about Asperger's syndrome, I didn't think it could be my problem, because I am very introvert and it does not happen to me that I would say something inappropriate, because I usually don't talk much and it's difficult for me to talk about everything, including my interests. The article described only something. I met various people with ASD, some extroverts, some introverts, with various problems. I also think those subtypes would clear up it.

Functioning labels are for me confusing too. I know one person, he is young adult, longterm unemployed and job offers he refuses. He lives with his parents. He didn't go to school and several times he was expelled from school. Parents do not even solve his situation. Maybe he has some debts. He has some friends, he could have fun with his peers, they accepted him among themselves. I think he is NT. Maybe he has some different problem, i don't know. His mother sent him to some psychologist, but nothing has changed. I think his greatest problem is missing effort. Why he should try when parents take care of him. It means that he is "lower functional" than me, when I work and don't live with my parents? How is possible distinguish if someone can't something or someone don't want something? Some therapist compared me with someone other with ASD. He told, I am "high functioning" and he "middle functioning". I don't want to question anyone else's problems. I do not want to offend anyone, I underestand a lot of people has much worse problems than me. But if I were in his situation I may have similar problems. I don't know, how can know it the therapist?

I can't pretend to be normal. I'm only careful, I'm watching people and when I'm not sure how to behave in any situation, I'm trying to do what others do. But I would not say I seem to be normal.

To me it's only NT and ND, because Aspies and autistics are ND.

I kind of know when a person is ND or not. For example, my friend has Fragile-X which affects her in most ways, and she was in the special needs group all through school, and wasn't as socially adept as her neurotypical peers. So I see her as ND.

My other friend has anger issues and is prone to depression, but I still class her as NT, because her state of mind is due to poor upbringing and having been in trouble due to drugs in the past.

So being NT doesn't necessarily mean well-adjusted, but moreso not being classed as 'disabled' or 'different' or 'delayed' or even 'insane'. I mean, a neighbour of mine has a grown-up son with severe learning difficulties, as in mental retardation, but not autism. But he is no way neurotypical. He would go up to strangers and start talking, and not realise if he's creeped them out or if they laugh at him, etc, and he needs to be guided like a child, he can't go out on his own or live an independant life. I feel that I have more life skills than this guy, and I'm on the spectrum.

I don't know, this sort of thing is so, so hard to explain. There is an invisible line drawn somewhere, but it's hard to know where. But I do know that ND doesn't just mean autistics.