cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/12320962
Neurotypicals, what do autistic people look like to you?
Trying to get an idea of how NTs see us. I know that when I see autistic people, I see someone that’s like me. Obviously, that’s not how NTs perceive us, so what do we look like to yall??
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People?
six feet tall, skin-colored, wiggly ?
yup, that’s it.
What do colorblind people look like to you?
I’m colorblind (like I struggle with reds and greens), it’s a “silent” thing that’s different about me.
I try not to think in these boxes… If I meet you, you are who you are, nothing more nothing less.
They have a funky fashion sense because they can’t see the colours
/s
Outside of extreme cases, they just look like anyone else.
They look a lot like humans. I’m suspecting they might be humans, who just act a bit different sometimes.
There isn’t a single degree of “autism”. Some people have it way worse than others.
One of my good friends has an autistic kid who is just one step away from having to wear a helmet to keep him from banging his head on walls. Pretty much non-verbal. Poor kid, I feel sorry for him and his own family.
My kid is a high functioning computer programmer making more money than I do creating those AI systems everyone is freaking out over. You’d likely never guess he had been diagnosed.
This is the problem with questions like this - you won’t notice the people who ‘pass’. If you ask someone to point out a specific group, you’re only going to see the people who stand out.
I’m in a similar situation to your kid, in that I’m a high functioning computer geek (in the best way :D ), and if it wasn’t for the fact that my kid was diagnosed, I would have thought that I was neurotypical, but with a few quirks. For the people answering questions like this, I probably wouldn’t be on their radar.
Exactly. Most people won’t notice my wife’s autism because she masks extremely well unless she’s very comfortable with someone. My gf on the other hand you may not notice her autism because she doesn’t look like what most people associate with autism, but she’s terrible at masking and just comes off as blunt, over focused, judgmental, and bad at or uncaring towards people.
A wife and a gf? Are y’all poly?
No just midwestern.
Yeah we’re poly
Ah, didn’t know you were midwestern. Down here in Texas, our intimate relationships are only between ourselves and the sun.
Up here you need to pack all the bodies you can together in the winter. Or at least you used to back when we had winters. Also it’s just far more frugal to make a casserole for several people.
Not really all that different. I have had multiple autistic friends and coworkers. Only two things really stand out and they’re absolutely generalizations that are untrue for some people and exist on a continuum for the rest.
First, I find the autistic crowd interrupts people more, sometimes a lot more, and some ramble quite a bit without getting to the point. It can be frustrating for the NTs and I’ve had to implement conch shell protocols and thought mapping so we can get through meetings and conversations effectively.
Second, the autistic folks tend to be blunter in speech but also often can take things straight. I don’t have to dance around issues as much. We put everything out on the table, work through it, then move on.
Edit: I should mention that I’m neurotypical but have CPTSD due to parental abuse. Those with CPTSD can have significant behavioral overlap with autism. Before getting a lot of therapy, I displayed multiple traits often associated with autism, including alexithymia. Thanks Dad!
Sometimes I wonder if all of us spectrumy people carry some kind of personal or deep family trauma.
I’ve seen the theory that autistic traits are just PTSD from the constant sensory overload trauma.
I can relate to that
Plus the trauma of being dismissed, not taking seriously by parents, teachers, doctors, etc becuase your reality doesn’t match theirs. (You’re too sensitive/ it is for your own good/etc)
