Can autistic people talk to autistic people better?
What is your experience with talking to other people on the spectrum? I heard someone say that it seems normal and that is why we should not be judged as having a disorder? I think she's very pro its a difference thing and doesn't have any problems if society was made for us person. I am not sure where I stand on that yet, but what is your opinion?
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Regarding talking to other people on the spectrum, I can't speak from personal experience other than I like the folk on WP. My diagnosis was relatively recent and I have not yet had the opportunity to meet other Aspies in real life...right after the diagnosis came:
holiday season
tax season
surgery season (I'm old)
pandemic season--and since I live in the U.S. it's still pandemic season
However, you might find these links of interest:
Autistic peer-to-peer information transfer is highly effective
Neurotype-Matching, but Not Being Autistic, Influences Self and Observer Ratings of Interpersonal Rapport
And difference vs. disorder? I think it depends. They've apparently identified more than 100 candidate genetic changes associated with autism--any one of which might or might not, by itself, cause autism. And each person might be affected by their own environment and circumstances. So I'm inclined to believe (1) they still don't understand autism very well, and (2) the Autism Spectrum might encompass many more "colors" than we realize.
In my own personal case, I'm going to say I think it's a difference.
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When diagnosed I bought champagne!
I finally knew why people were strange.
Pro:
- Unlikely to do mindgames
- Less walking on eggshells
- Understands how infodump works
- No stupid instinctive crap that the majority of people hold against towards anyone with any differences
- May accomodate another quicker while still being taken seriously or without being patronized
Con:
- Relative to both party's language and communicative skills
- Certain strict expectations towards another
- Relative to how common one another is
- Comorbidities
- Highly relative to respective references and interests
Disorder, difference, I care not.
While being able to relate or share something in common with contexts is important, it's also different with being able to connect or have connections.
Able to communicate, let alone express freely, intently and willfully is a relatively another area altogether.
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I actually believe it not haven't had the chance to talk to that many personally. Problem is, many I can't say with certainty (because they didn't reveal their diagnosis with me) what their diagnosis actually were, (if any), and I can only assume. A couple though I was able to confirm their diagnosis and there is doubt with that.
But short answer, I do feel I have a bond and connection with them, and I understand them better, because I come from a similar place, or the same place really.
When I was in Junior High/Middle and High School, I spoke to a few. There was this one guy I was friends with, and I would talk with him a lot. I remember, he memorized all the bus routes, and could name every single stop every Metro bus in Los Angeles operated in. I found this kinda weird and goofy at first, but now I find it kinda cute and interesting he did that.
Another guy I was friends with, he kinda kept to himself, and he was interesting. He would hack all the school computers, and every thirty minutes or so, all the computers in our building would have these pop ups that had a picture of Space Ghost smoking a cigarette, and there would be loud metal music playing in the background. So yeah, he was really talented with computers. I just found that funny and interesting.
Another guy I befriended, he basically memorized every single Bleach (the anime) episode, and could quote and episode and basically 100% everything from that series. Wow. That was pretty impressive to me.
When I was in college/university (before I dropped out) there was this guy that I would get into friendly political debates and discussion about. He had his vices and opinions, and I respected them, and he had a lot of things he stood by, and I felt it was easy for me to understand him.
I go to several functions and meetups, and some people have personally talked about their diagnoses, and I connect with them a lot, and understand their trials and tribulations. So it's easy for me to relate to them.
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Not really. Those tendencies to miss cues and talk past the other party are now doubled.
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I get along great with my friends' autistic teenage son. They say I'm one of the few adults he feels comfortable talking with.
The kicker here is I was diagnosed less than a year ago, and my friends and their son have no idea about it. I think on some level the son knew he had a kindred spirit in me so he was willing to communicate with me in a way he doesn't with others.
I can basically talk to anyone, if they are easy enough to talk to.
I do actually find some males (not so much females) with autism or learning difficulties harder to talk to. I have an autistic male friend and he's quite difficult to have a conversation with, even though he's nice and caring. But sometimes he'd just switch off, so I feel like I'm talking to myself. I know he doesn't do it on purpose though.
I'm actually quite easy to talk to. I don't interrupt or talk over you, and I don't steer the conversation on to a special interest (not that I have any), and I don't monologue. I'm more the type that likes to talk about feelings, mundane things and gossip - which is highly unusual for an Aspie. This is why I'm surprised that I don't have many female NT friends.
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When I went to support groups the conversations were information exchanges. That suited me.
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Asperger's High
Communication looks broken to me. I think I might have been happier there than at the high school I attended in real life.
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When diagnosed I bought champagne!
I finally knew why people were strange.
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I think on some level there might be a different type of communication but i think ultimately the problems caused by comorbids and varying levels of severity would cause problems. I also think its important to realize that theres a difference between irl and not. I dont think theres any sizable difference between how well they communicate especially if said person is familiar with whom they are talking to. I know from my brother and other autisitc people ive talked to irl that the conversation follows a different pattern. Not sure how to describe it but there is a difference. Now whether this is better or worse depends on who it is. There are alot of factors to consider. I think there might be more understanding of social communication problems. I notice generally the conversation isnt as back and forth and more just interjecting between monologues.
Also its good to point out just because you get along with someone on the internet doesnt mean you will irl. [/color]
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I am pieplup i have level 3 autism and a number of severe mental illnesses. I am rarely active on here anymore.
I run a discord for moderate-severely autistic people if anyone would like to join. You can also contact me on discord @Pieplup
In some ways, yes.
In other ways, no.
Yeah I can only speak from online interaction .. though I would like to have a face to face again with someone on the spectrum as previously I was probably taken a back with knowing other people are like me. weird. then i discovered WP.
happy days.
It's easier for me to talk to other autistic people than typically developing people. I think autistic people are just more understanding of my communication issues, and sometimes we have a similar way of analyzing things so I don't get the confusion/ridicule I sometimes get from typically developing peers.
I have experience talking to autistic people online and in real life, as most of my friends in real life were autistic/had autistic traits. The autistic people I was friends with I just "clicked" with and never understood why until recently.
cat303
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tax season
However, you might find these links of interest:
Autistic peer-to-peer information transfer is highly effective
Neurotype-Matching, but Not Being Autistic, Influences Self and Observer Ratings of Interpersonal Rapport
And difference vs. disorder? I think it depends. They've apparently identified more than 100 candidate genetic changes associated with autism--any one of which might or might not, by itself, cause autism. And each person might be affected by their own environment and circumstances. So I'm inclined to believe (1) they still don't understand autism very well, and (2) the Autism Spectrum might encompass many more "colors" than we realize.
In my own personal case, I'm going to say I think it's a difference.
You beat me to it! Dr Crompton's research is based on the double empathy problem by Dr Milton. Basically, ToM pathologizing suggests that autistic people will have the worse communication out of autistic/non-autistic pairs etc... but she found out that autistic pairs communicate just as well as non-autistic pairs. However, a huge flaw in this study that I had the pleasure of discussing with her the other day, is that they told participants whether they were talking to an autistic or non autistic person, which probably caused a ton of unwanted biases. She's trying to fund another version currently so hopefully we'll see more from the Edinburgh uni lot soon. I had hoped to do this for my phd but I haven't got the funding yet. We all need money!
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