Tony Attwood's different autistic people

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Dear_one
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09 May 2019, 11:43 am

I regard all "types" as rather arbitrary boundaries. Sometimes I compare the brain to something like a big sound mixing board. If a lot of the sliders are against their stops, someone is non-verbal, but if only a few are, we can re-wire around them to some extent, and may have some keen special effects. However, the variety among the selection of which are "off" is enormous.
I have no trouble seeing you as a fellow aspie, even though the last time I designed a processing facility, I had to do it all mentally because I was driving. I usually sketch a bit, and may leave out extraneous details to the point of being unidentifiable later. The drawings boost my short-term memory, and may highlight problems.



Pepe
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09 May 2019, 7:41 pm

BTDT wrote:
Diagnosing autism accurately is expensive because everyone on the spectrum is different,


True, but there are characteristic tendancies.
Without these tendancies, we couldn't be classified as being on the spectrum, no?

I have no trouble looking people in the eyes, but many, perhaps most autistics do.
Yet there is no question I am autistic due to other characteristics I share:
-Not having an inherent "Theory of mind".
-Not having an intuitive understanding of body language.
-My compulsive honesty.
-My excessive valuing of truthfulness.
-My abhorrence of indiscriminate lying.
-My affinity with animals.
-A conscious, rather than intuitive, orientation of life/living.
-Executive functioning disorder.
-Co-morbid ADD.
-Preferring solitude to social involvement.
-Extreme individuality.
-Disgust at groupthink.
-An inner, involuntary moral compass.
-An intense interest in detail.
-A tendency to specialise on certain topics/activities.
-My perseveration.
-My (slight) difficulty with coordination.
-My intellectual bent. :mrgreen:



IstominFan
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10 May 2019, 9:03 pm

I am a verbal rather than a visual thinker. The term "walking dictionary" applied to me, too.