How are autistic people fundamentally different than NTs?

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If I'm neurotypical, then I want my life back dammit. The one neurodivergence and executive dysfunction stole from me.

Yes on different ! yes on brain wiring differences , in a majorly of cases IMHO

I have spent all my life having very little clue I was different. Now I see the differences. And it's horrible for my mental health-- but it was even before I knew, too. I first developed the social anxiety around age 13/14.

I wonder if there can be multiple, completely different neural / psychological causes of passing the criteria for autism. I’m not thinking only about people who have very different symptoms, but also about those whose traits on the outside / behavioral level are similar.

If there existed some sort of technology allowing to experience other people mental lives for a short period of time, how would it change the definition of autism? Could we identify if a person is autistic in an instant by experiencing what they’re feeling / seeing? Would there be some core component of experiences of all autistic people, like some common form of perception / thinking style fundamentally different from non-autistic people? Could I get to know if I'm autistic by comparing my inner experience with others?

Or rather, would it turn out that there are a lot of different variations of basic inner experience, with not much in common? And if so, what is autism? Some specific form of perception / thinking style (or wiring, or operating system, or whatever) causing these traits in some people? What about others then? Would it be possible to define specific subgroups of autistic people based on their inner life? Or would their experiences be so complex and confusing that no useful information could be taken from them?

So basically, does the question “what is it like to be autistic?” make any sense?

It's something very fundamental that few people seem to realise. The social difference in collaborative efforts versus a preference to do things alone is more of a consequence of this difference. The primary difference instead is in the relationship area, something few people appear to understand and instead struggle with dating and dating rituals in absurdum. NDs need a strong bond with a primary partner and to develop an effective communication system with their partner that far exceed what NT partners have. Until more autistics understand how to achieve this, they will continue to be depressed and have many problems in their lives.

^^^^ Well worded...^^^^^^

best settle for less..that way anything that appears better can make you feel better....?

A key trait of autism is things like not being able to read social cues. I honestly had no idea this was a thing for me until very recently. I thought I was doing alright.

But subtle s**t been happening with my psyche. I had social anxiety without knowing what that was or being at all conscious about it.

Now I have really bad RSD and it's impossible for me to ignore the issues my social problems bring about.

When comparing the functional connectivity of ASD brains and unaffected brains, researchers see that there are some networks with lower connectivity, especially in patterns where the distance between brain regions is greater.

But these connections are only as good as the neurons carrying the message through their cell bodies to other neurons. Neurotransmitters are those chemical messengers.

Most likely the result of these connections manifest into the signs and the symptoms that we see.


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