What might it be like being part of the NT collective?

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Are both your parents "in the deaf culture," in the sense that they use sign language, and don't speak orally?

No.

My stepdad's just old. When you're his age it's normal to be a bit deaf.

My mum's got a rare disease (I'd name it but I'd stop being anonymous if I did) which led to a tumor on her ear. She had to have her ear canal removed to save her life. So she only has one ear canal and understandably that makes hearing really difficult.

I do know they're both hard of hearing/deaf and both mishear things by accident a lot, but it's 'interesting' what they hear and what they don't. Some of it feels deliberate like I'm not being listened to.

Mum works in the community (or used to, her work's expanded into helping other sorts of disabled and neuro divergent kids too). We tried to learn sign language but struggled with it and she doesn't use it outside of work.

Do you feel, once you're "cleared" to work, that you will work with neurodivergent kids as your mother presently does?

My part-time job is as a library clerk.

I sense that this Brexit thing is going to be long and drawn out.

Yeah, I think so too.

Job hunting/rejections/trying to fit the 'social norm' made me ill.

If I was put into the work category, they'd find me the work they thought was appropriate but at the moment they don't think any work is appropriate, and I think that's an ongoing thing. I'm on medicine for it.

I don't mind because I agree with them based on how ill I was.

And even when I was at uni, I was hyper aware of how I'm not helping people the way mum is. I feel deep down she's a better person than I am. I'm more self driven, she's more 'helping people' and 'saving animals' driven. She says that first one isn't true though, that she just enjoys her job.

I know what you mean. I’m pretty “self-driven,” too.

My wife is more the social type. She cares more about her family than herself.

Is anyone really "neurotypical"? It's not like any two minds are exactly the same. I think our thought processes develop according to our experiences, which vary constantly. Human life is a vast archipelago of isolated, private worlds in which no two people can truly know each other. We try to understand our fellow man by observing his behavior, but there is so much room for error in this method that I often throw up my hands and quit trying. At best we may form tentative bonds through our relationships, but even these are strained and broken with regularity. In my opinion there is no collective, and if people really could connect with each other enough to warrant the term, we would get along much better than we currently do.

All I know for sure is myself, and that I have struggled to comprehend any bigger picture I was encouraged to fit into--be it academic, political, or communal. I don't understand what it means to be a part of something, only that there are certain concessions I must make to others in order to be accepted without an overt hassle, and I prefer to concede only as much as I have to. Any more, and I'm essentially lying to myself by going along with something that doesn't make sense to me. Do people without autism have that problem? I don't really know, and I never will.