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How do neurologically typical people feel & experience life?

I'm done with Christmas Cards
over 4 years ago

I know this is pretty futile musing, although maybe some of the more neurologically typical people on here can help! (I shy away from using the term "NT's" because it feels a bit "them and us" to me).

I've found myself wondering, as I'm accepting, exploring and deepening my understanding of my own atypicalness & ASD diagnosis, about what it's like for others.

For every "aha!" moment I have about e.g. noisy restaurants, eye contact, lack of capability / impetus to maintain friendships, exhaustion in social situations, there is a corresponding "What's it like for others?" moment.

So for example, for typical people:

  • How does the world *sound*? Is it muted, filtered by attention etc?
  • How does eye contact *feel* when experienced as something that you *want* to do? Even with strangers?
  • What's it like to be drawn to want to be with a group of other people?
  • What's it like to enjoy a day out with friends, and not be exhausted (except in a tired & content kind of way)?
  • What's it like to be thrilled at the prospect of going out every single evening for days in a row?
  • What's it like to want to ask other people where they went on holiday, and be interested in what they tell you about where they went and what they saw?
  • What's it like to say the opposite of what you mean, because for e.g. you're being polite, and yet know that everyone knows what you actually mean?
  • What's it like to wish that you had more time for travel, seeing family members, more face to face meetings etc?
Parents
  • over 4 years ago

    Personally I have a belief that there is no clear-cut line between NT and ASD and that different traits overlap

    I tend to think of NT people as sailing through life in a more natural flow but not neccessarily getting anywhere efficiently

    On the contrast I imagine a typical person with ASD as being more introverted meaning social situations are a bigger challenge as well as overthinking everything trying to be as efficient as possible when in reality it might just be minor irrelevant issues causing more stress than they deserve

  • over 4 years ago in reply to NAS62563

    That's why it's considered a spectrum... and why I prefer to self-define as Neuro-atypical vs. the majority who are Neuro-typical.

    ASD is a diagnostic label that basically takes the negative impacts of being 'atypical' and if they affect a person to a certain degree and in pre-defined areas says "You're autistic".

    It's not helped by the fact that with great effort a lot of us can 'pass' as NT, for a while at least...

Reply
  • over 4 years ago in reply to NAS62563

    That's why it's considered a spectrum... and why I prefer to self-define as Neuro-atypical vs. the majority who are Neuro-typical.

    ASD is a diagnostic label that basically takes the negative impacts of being 'atypical' and if they affect a person to a certain degree and in pre-defined areas says "You're autistic".

    It's not helped by the fact that with great effort a lot of us can 'pass' as NT, for a while at least...

Children
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