Do You Think Everyone Is Autistic?

Forgive me if I have misunderstood you, but being ambitious and being extrovert are two different things. Some people are ambiverts also. Arrogance and extroversion are also different. In my eyes anyway. 

And that's putting even more people into boxes. 

I think a lot of people probably don't realise or care whether are are introvert,  ambivert or extrovert. 

Daniel said:

"I sometimes say a metaphor, does that mean I'm a bit neurotypical?"

Oh blimey,  "a bit neurotypical".....    Is that treatable?

Ben

and as for arrogant.... it maybe close but i dont think it matches.

you see, i was always the runt, the weakest dumbest and most pathetic of my generation. i retained that view, but i judge others by that view.... it kinda makes me criticize weakness when i see it, for if i am the lower tier of absolutely everything and then see that society and everyone else suddenly isnt as hardy or as smart or as strong as i am, then i jump all over that stuff. im supposed to be the bottom rung, i hold society by that standard and expect it to all stay above me otherwise i consider society to be failing and collapsing and breeding weaker people than previous gens.

so i think arrogance is annulled by my position in my mind as the lowest rung of society, the runt. anyone that falls beneath me deserves a little contempt as theyd be falling beneath a very low bar.

thinking on this more, perhaps this is the phenomena and mindset of how the bullied eventually turns into the bully?

edit edit: on furthur thinking, no, this is a good trait to have, i wanna be a kung fu instructor and this is the exact expectancy of betterment that any fitness or martial art instructor would naturally need to have. shame im just crap at explaining things verbally lol

aye but what is that data on introvert stats based on? their claims?
if you go on pof and see the section where it asks "are you amibitious", you find everyone slides it to "highly ambitious".... they dont even fucking know what ambitious means.... if they think they are ambitious then what are they doing? .... stuck in a basic ass job doing nothing all their life? no partner or child at age of 30? ... where is this ambition they claim to have? 

the problem is people claim to be things that which they are not or have no idea of because they like the sound of it or think its positive, but when you analyse them they are not the thing they claim to be. for me if they are ambitious they need to be really goal orientated and targeted go getters in life with absolute passion and their eyes on any top spot they are going for. most people that lay claim to the trait of ambitious are in no way ambitious at all, therefore we can deduce that we cannot simply take a persons word for something for most dont even know what that word means in the first place lol i guess its more of a case that they want to be ambitious, they want to be seen that way as its a positive trait.... although i dont consider it positive because ambitious people can be arseholes that will easily toss you under a bus for their goals.

therefore all those NTs claiming to be introverts, i bet they were the same people breaking down and not coping in lockdown and wanting to break lockdown to get in with the crowds again lol we have to bear in mind people adopt these words without knowing these words. or not understanding themselves very much first.

also they could still feel a tiny bit introverted at times which will make them wrongly assume they are introvert mainly.... when they arnt.... for example, i could say im a extrovert because i now feel that i crave and am missing out on some form of friend circle or relationship and use that to now claim im a extrovert! lol which would be ridiculous but i guess that is a slight extrovert aspect. but.... we are all a little extrovert arnt we? lmao (totally using the topic and flipping it with that)

So, because you're lucky enough not to suffer bad headaches, they're not a thing? Just like hangovers? So people are only allowed to feel something if you feel it also, otherwise it's not valid? I'm glad you don't suffer from headaches. Really, I am. Because I wouldn't wish a bad headache on my worst enemy.  I get cluster headaches, which makes me WANT to rip my head off, I get migraines, which makes me unable to stand without throwing up, whilst also FEELING like my head is being ripped off. Both these ARE a big deal. They leave me debilitated and unable to function. I also get normal headaches, which, though not as debilitating, are b****y painful (and I have a high pain threshold). Just because you don't experiences them, that doesn't negate other people's experiences. Yet again, you're there with the over generalisations. When I was young, and I drank, I never had a hangover, but I was never arrogant enough to think that because I didn't get them, other people didn't either. I'd love to see the data that backs up your statements, such as "One thing that rules NTs, they do everything to get more social attention". This goes directly against research that indicates that approximately 50% of the population are introverts, and hate attention being focused on them. Just as in any section of society, NTs have attention seekers and hermits, and those in-between, as do NDs.

No! Because many, many people have said that I am different and weird.

I don't believe so, no. I hate it when people say that! It's true that many NTs will have some 'autistic' traits, but I believe the difference is in the amount of traits they have and the impact they have on their lives. Some may dislike noise, some may stim, some may have social problems, but unless they're actually autistic, they won't have traits across the board, with the same level of impact on their lives, that someone with autism will have. It's like saying that every cake is a little bit cupcake because they share a similarity. No, a cupcake is a cupcake, and a fruitcake is a fruitcake. Just because they're both sweet and baked in the oven does not make them the same. 

I mean I suppose when we socialize a little bit, we could say that "Well, everyone's a bit neurotypical." 

Thank you for for such a thoughtful explanation which broadens the issue but which also explains why there should not be trivial dismissing of what autistic people have to go through.

nuff havent seen that for a while not since my Comic days

That’s it. Right there in a pithy nutshell. ‘Nuff said.

Daniel said:

Do you agree with the people who say everyone's a bit autistic?

H.E.L.L. NO!

I presume lots of us aren't eligible for PIP though? I don't claim and haven't claimed but I assumed that I wouldn't qualify.

This is exactly why I realised I am autistic - I loved the lockdowns and felt in my element. 

Maybe they're just looking to claim PIP. :)

Mantra said:

NT does not mean they find life easy or don't have difficulties.

Agreed.

What Martin said is as I understand it from studying some related topics.

Anyone can have any set of characteristics, pretty much.

The autism diagnostic process that us humans have created has to have that cut off which makes it binary, but the reason assessments need to be carefully done is due to wide human variety. This helped me to understand why someone could have an autism diagnosis at some earlier point in their life, then become 'sub-clinical' later or vice versa. Our brains also have neuroplasticity, so it's possible to change to some degree, too, which makes this idea of a binary system less applicable.

Someone on this forum joked that if autism is defined in diagnostic manuals then neurotypicalism should be, too. I actually agree - not as a jibe or defensive retort - but because not everyone is functioning all that well. NT does not mean they find life easy or don't have difficulties. I love how autistic people have the ability to cut through the cr** and speak truths, such as about how silly it is to have strict 9-5, Monday to Friday working routines for everyone as if it's going to work for everyone... Everyone seems to be exhausted and stressed, though. I'm glad the pandemic has helped lift the veil on this somewhat, open some serious convos about flexible working for all, for e.g.

Caelus said:

having a tiny bit of isolation and no one could take it and they all mentally collapsed

Can I LOL at this...?

Who says you don't need a medical diagnosis? I think human behaviour is all somewhere on some sort of continuum (more of a 3D shape than a line). So that most people will somewhere or other have some autistic traits whether they are mild or severe. I think when people say "we are all a bit autistic" they are trying to show you that they have problems too and are empathising. I think one of the main things is anxiety, so where someone might have an autistic trait, it might not actually bother them or give them anxiety, whereas it could be the opposite for someone on the spectrum. Or they might not feel fundamentally different from other people.

I think these sorts of comments are usually in reference to people who are "high functioning" / Aspergers types. I'm not sure the same sort of comments would be made about someone who has more obvious problems.

I do agree, it can be a bit........invalidating when people say it but I think it comes from a place of not understanding. And then if I ever have to explain myself that's where it gets tricky.... I find it hard to get my point across that "yes we all do that but for me it's a bit different because...."  ...then it just looks like I'm being dramatic and wanting special treatment.

I'd also like to look at it from another point of view. The language used by some autistic people... talking about "stimming" and "shutdowns" / "burnout" etc.... everyone experiences these sorts of behaviours. I think the autistic community has kind of got hold of these phrases. Sure, they're helpful in order to explain experiences but they don't just belong to the autisitic community (although are probably used less by non-austics people because they are not aware of them). I don't like using these phrases myself because I have got by for the past 30-odd years without knowing about them.

Edit - I feel a bit sick in the mornings and I've put on a bit of weight. It doesn't mean I'm a little bit pregnant.

Sometimes I get headaches. It doesn't mean I suffer from migraines.

This is why I wanted a formal diagnosis. Because otherwise I'd just come across as being a bit dramatic.

I have a friend who never has a cold. She always has flu. It can get into a bit of a competition with these types of people - who's got the biggest "illness"? Sometimes when your problem trumps theirs, they don't like it and that could be why they say "everyone is a bit austistic"?  Just a thought.

I’d genuinely love to see how those people would cope with autism for a day, I suspect not very well!