In the process of trying to understand myself better, I started to wonder how I was different to people not on the autism spectrum (known as neuro-typical or NT) and wanted to know whether they had problems and if so what they were.
I Googled "neuro-typical problem behaviour". The results included a couple of amusing sites parodying "neuro-typical disorder" but I also came across a book called "A field guide to earthlings - an Autistic / asperger view of neuro-typical behaviour".
I downloaded the book onto my kindle and have just finished reading it. Wow. Fascinating.
These are a few things the book has told me: Apparently, NT's know babies are sensitive to loud noises and strong emotions, but by adulthood, NT's have become mostly desensitised to sensory inputs. They enjoy socialising in loud clubs to "turn up the volume" - it can make them feel energised.. We don't enjoy it because it overloads our senses.
NT's can hold a conversation, listen to music and avoid an obstacle in the road while driving! This is because they're not overwhelmed by any of the stimuli in the environment like we can be.
But despite this they're not exactly "super-heroes". Their need to be accepted and adopt the identity of the groups they belong to means they have to adapt their beliefs to those of the group. They also have to accept a "pecking order" where ideas are not accepted unless put forward by a powerful member of the group.
Example - Group "leader": "Let's get pizzas!" ( everyone else in the group says "yeah!")
Lower ranking group member: "Maybe we could go and get pizzas?" (testing if the idea will be acceptable to everyone else)
Autie/Aspie: "I'm going to get a pizza - does anyone else want one?"
Their brain's filtering out process and their need to all learn things together as a group means they will not hear new ideas put forward by someone not in authority.(Ever been frustrated by people not listening to your ideas?) We tend to judge ideas on the data presented.
Their idea of friends is probably quite different to yours. They get what they want from others by forming alliances. If you do something like give out signals they interpret as vying for power or expressing an opposite opinion, an NT may interpret this as you being an "enemy".
It also seems that they don't feel emotions as strongly as us! Apparently they are able to display the emotion they decide to, in order to affect the behaviour of others. Words are accepted as emotions too - saying sorry is supposed to heal the hurt feelings of the offended person as it's accepted as real sorrow, rather than a response we've all been trained to do since childhood.
There's a final chapter to help you find your way among the earthlings too. It puts forward the idea that diagnosis can make us doubt our own competence and over-estimate the competence of "experts".
There is lots more. After sampling quite a few books written for people on the autism spectrum, I would highly recommend this one.
