Aspies, do you ever wonder what it's like to not have AS?

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People with other autism spectrum disorders can answer this too.


I sometimes wonder what it's like to not have AS. If I could go for a day without it or for a week, I would do it just to see what it's like and see how different I'd be and see what I was missing.

yeah sometimes when I see others socialise so easy, then I wonder how they do it....

never

Sometimes.

Yes. Frequently.
Prior to my dx I wondered what it would be to be more like other women. I felt so different and disconnected from others, in spite of learning some masking social skills later in life.
Since my dx, I have wondered what it would be like to be more like others who do not have an ASD. What would it be like to not cringe at things other people barely notice? what would it be like to not have mild synasthesia? what would it be like to work with people on a daily basis and to work through things and not be a whistle-blower?
what would it be like to be half as smart but more able to 'cut it" in the mainstream workforce and world?
What would it be like to not have such a weirdly plastic face that makes weird expressions out of keeping with those of others?

what would it be like to not be whispered about by some of the mum's at my son's new school?
What would it be like to be touched more easily, to experience intimacy more easily and to converse as frequently and lightly and easily as others WITHOUT being a bombastic monologuer once i get going?

Unfortunately the closest for me would be socializing on second life, I have terrible social
anxieties irl, the problem for me is that its become my only outlet to try and fit in somewhere.

Sometimes and always go out screaming in my head. I don't want it.

Never thought about it til now...
I guess I wouldn't be as tolerant of other aspies or socially challenged people. And my friends would be different, like I wouldn't have the same friends...
Honestly, I think it's better that I DO have AS. IMO most neurotypicals are mean to aspies and other socially challenged people because they think they're weird. And they may find them frustrating to be around. However, I don't mind because I can relate to them, or I don't find them weird, or at least because I can tolerate them. However, this creates an unfortunate bias or prejudice towards NTs... which is one of the reasons I dont ever think about wanting to be one.

Yes, I wonder. I don't envy, but sure, I wonder. I wonder how they can stand it. I wonder how they can be so boring. And when I do envy a little (yeah, alright, in a way I do) I wonder how they can find it so easy to parrot back those simplistic phrases and mesh with such ease. And I wonder how anyone can go through life not questioning everything they do, certain that they are doing the right thing most of the time. Or so it seems. I understand these days how ignorance can be bliss.

I don't think I'd feel like me any more - I would feel alien. It would be quite interesting, but I'm sure I'd want to switch back again.

It must suck, being a mere vessel to society, where you can never have your own true opinion on fashion.

The autism spectrum disorders are not defined as disorders of "too much awesome free thinking".

To answer the OP's question, yes, I do, but as part of my normal "I wonder what it would be like to be not me?" thinking.

I guess I wonder what it would like to be able to work out when on earth you're "supposed" to speak and to be able to keep up with all the conversation around me and still have room in my head for my own thoughts.

I understand the interest many of you have with seeing the world through the NT perspective. But I must answer honestly, I would not want to do that for I have no desire to imagine this. It has taken me over 40 years to discover myself and accept who I am---now I am at peace with the knowledge of being on the spectrum. For 40 some years, I thought I was a defective NT (though I had not heard of that term until the WrongPlanet). So basically, I was quite surprised when I learned of AS and read the criteria. I asked myself the question, "Could I be autistic? Is this the reason for my eccentricities?" After being officially diagnosed with AS, I found peace with myself. It took me a long time, but I found who I was. ASDs may be a label according to some, but it does give me an owner's manual of my life.

I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer this question, being that I am most likely a subclinical "Halfspie" if you will...

Sure, there are always times here and there, but they are rarely accompanied with a longing for it. When I was in college, I sometimes wished that going to bars was more enjoyable and that I could strike up conversations with women I didn't know. But I never let these things bother me. I accepted the core parts of me years before that, probably before I was a teenager, and when you do that, this kind of thinking doesn't happen often.

I suppose you have to try to accept that you have Asperger's Syndrome and that can be hard. I get down and feel depressed.
At the moment I off work because of stress and I should find ways of coping and say to myself "even though I am struggling I will manage and I have coped before".
My Mum suggests that I have a mantra to help myself.