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?