Do Aspies have NT episodes?

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According to online tests, I'm "very likely" to be an Aspie, but there have been times in my life when I've seemed to display such good social skills that I can't see how I did so well if I'm really Aspie.

I never even suspected AS in those days, though I did feel I must be an introvert, and it became something of an obsession for me to try to rise above my usual social limitations.

So my question is, have any Aspies here ever have such phases in their lives when the social thing really works for them, or not?

I technically do not have AS because of my speech delay history but I find myself to have a lot of "NT" traits as well.

From what I have read about AS, you are mostly "NT". I read AS is only slightly autistic and that AS is on the high functioning end of the spectrum and you must have an IQ that is close to normal to get the diagnosis. Average IQ or above, maybe a little below average. Someone with AS is considered to be pretty high functioning in the medical world.

I can look NT, as in, I can deal well with the general public. I can get and keep a job and even do very well at it. I can appear NT, a little introverted maybe, but perfectly normal.

However, this is an appearance. I am not NT. Eventually the difficulties with executive function and the rest come into play, I go into meltdown mode (on the inside), I quit job, isolate for a while, and then have to start over again. This seems to occur on a 2-3 yr cycle depending on the stress level.

I didn't know that there was a neurological reason for my difficulties until relatively recently. I was always trying to deal with the world the best way I knew how, almost getting there, and then falling back again when I was overwhelmed. I always felt like an ant in an ant lion trap. The harder I try the more likely it is that I will be eaten in the end.


For anyone who doesn't know what an ant lion is:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWkfAyfBDHE[/youtube]

I have a lot of NT traits, but diagnosed with AS.

i have lots of as traits but somethimes i really think im nt
(but eventualy its impossible to be nt if you would see me)

I agree with Magique, this happens a lot to me as well. I could try and count how many times already I tried to "start over" and usually it was great for the first 5-8 months but eventually I would become more and more introverted and isolated from others- usually because of some one person who made sure that I got alienated from the rest.

I can be very NT but only around my close friends, people that I trust and feel comfortable with. around most strangers I appear very aspie tho, especially when dealing with a group.

I'm fairly well-rounded, but just so. I've developed external apparatii and even have some intrinsic understanding of peoples' minds, but just so.

I'm intrigued by the question. On the Aspie Quiz, I get that I have both Aspie and NT traits. And, a lot of the time I feel like, yeah, I'm that nice grey mixture. But not always. It's as if I have an aspie/autistic side, and an NT side, and some situations bring out the NT, the socialable, socially adept me, and others bring out the aspie/austistic part.

I have acquired good social skills. I currently get along great with many kids and a few adults and older adults that I know from work.

Nobody uneducated about disorders and disability suspects I'm disabled, I think!

I even went from no eye-contact in any situation to 'normal' eye-contact in most situations in less than a year of therapy. I got told it looked normal, good and that there's nothing to correct. Can't hold it all the time, I forget it too often still and look away when thinking or am unsure in an unusual situation, but I am certain that I only get better at this in the near future.

I dont have very good speech skills but sometime i have that NT trait of looking for someone to talk to.

Wow! Thanks for all these posts and the interest you've shown

I'll read them more thoroughly over the next day or two. For now, it's already fascinating to see that some of you have been able to "be NT" for lengths of time. Even during the happiest times I remember, I also had that cravng for space, as if I were under water. I know that feeling of thinking I'd "got there" and then it slides. The ant lion trap is a neat analogy.

Art

Not according to my online test results. My NT score on the Rdos test was only 77 out of 200, and the only areas for which I scored normal NT or above were "perception" and "hunting," whatever that means. But all the questions were about the here and now, nothing about the past. As for IQ, I did well academically, and was viewed in the early years as very bright. The teaching methods just seemed to get worse every year, so in the end I had to find out most of it for myself from books, and that was just so time-consuming and boring that I chose not to try for university. I got jobs below my potential, no real problem keeping them, though mostly I hate them, not because they're too easy, but because of bosses running everything in a way that doesn't work for me.

I didn't realise looking for somebody to talk to was an NT thing. And once again, I match the Aspie profile - I've almost never sought anybody out, especially "chasing women." But for reasons I don't understand, there's nearly always been a serious long-term partner in my life, except when I was a young teenager.

That's very similar to my experiences - I once lived in a very friendly area full of artists, hippies, students, anarchists and other assorted odd-balls. Mostly they were warm, affectionate people, very kind and non-judgemental.

Anyway, I guess so far I'm beginning to see that Aspies can have a history of NT "breakout," even if it's short-lived or draining, with a depressing come-down when it's over. Therefore my memories of NT-like behaviour don't prove I'm not Aspie. And frankly I don't recall ever really knowing much about the feelings of others, even at my peak. I can often empathise when somebody shares the emotion of an experience I've also been through. I don't recall anything any more complex than that. Even little to-and-fro conversations with people, on the few occasions when I've felt that was working really naturally, it's been so rare that I've always been amazed it's happening at all. So I guess my history doesn't discredit the theory that I'm AS.

Thanks again for your posts. I'll keep trying to remember more detail about my breakout phases, in case there's anything stunningly NT that I've overlooked. Much of it is hard to access after all this time, but it usually comes back.

Last edited by ToughDiamond on 19 Sep 2008, 3:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

Some days I just get in this "zone" and I'm friendly outgoing and talkative. Right now trying to figure out what makes me tick and have more those days.

I get that sometimes but never for a whole day. If it lasts for an hour, I'm doing well.

Perhaps only when I get drunk