Can you tell the aspies from the NTs on these forums?

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I can't tell. I have to look at profiles to know.

I can tell sometimes, but I wouldn't call myself an expert in NT-detection.

I can't really tell the difference because I suspect that this site attracts a specific type of NT:

1) The NT who has a genuine interest in Asperger's Syndrome, and thus will be on a quest for knowledge and understanding.
2) The NT parent, relative or significant other of someone with Asperger's Syndrome.
3) The NT who suspects that they might have Asperger's Syndrome.

Categories one and two are likely to be conscious of the fact that they are in the minority, and will probably modify their use of language in order to converge with the community and be better understood themselves. They may phrase things less phatically, for example.

Category three people are likely to exhibit some signs of Asperger's Syndrome themselves and therefore will 'fit in' better than an NT on the opposite end of the spectrum. To be honest I think that the autistic spectrum should not be a discrete one. I think of things in terms of a very long spectrum which includes NT people and severely autistic people, with the main variable being their reliance on and understanding of interactional behaviour in humans in practice. After all, it is easy to study human behaviour, but a lot harder for someone like me to apply that learning.

I can't claim to be able to tell the difference, even if I try, which I seldom do. If I am curious about someone, I will glance at her or his profile, and probably trust what they've put there. You're all just humans to me. (Well, most of you.) I view autism as a multi-dimensional (at least three) spectrum, and can find no clear delineation between the "end" of neurotypicalism and the beginning of autism.

I wonder if communicating through this particular medium obscures some things that might be more obvious in real life? The only person here who comes off as clearly autistic to me through her writings is KingdomOfRats. Possibly also syzygyish, though I wonder if the way he writes is more a compulsion, or a conscious choice of style.

There are several here who claim to be autistic (and I believe you), but I cannot tell just by the manner of writing used; e.g. LabPet and Danielismyname. I suspect a correlation between such "difficult to discern folks", and having a high intelligence.

I enjoy the company of and input by some of the so-called "neurotypicals" here; Phagocyte is a good example of such a person. I have a "neurotypical" friend who reads my ramblings here; I've often encouraged him to consider creating an account and joining in on the discussions, but he has not, to the best of my knowledge.

And, yes, there are some people here who aren't quite sure what the heck their "diagnosis" is, such as Aridarr, and probably myself (though I've marked myself as "Have Asperger's - Undiagnosed" [i.e. self-diagnosed]).

This site is autism soup.

Good fortune,

- Icarus is visiting the soup kitchen...

I agree that there is a continuum between NTs and people in the autistic spectrum. There are persons who are easily categorized as NTs But what does that really mean? For me NT or not, anybody should be sincere in what he says and in what he does. There should be no personality split, no back thought, no compromise in stating one’s own position. That should take out of the picture all politicians, people working in salesmanship or advertising, writers of leaders in the newspapers, and many authors of op-eds or even news items. Why they lie totally or partially? Why they compromise their souls for power or money? Acting and living in hidden corruption is not being sane, perhaps it is NT but not sane. And if we want to call this kind of insanity being NT, why attributing some value to NTism? There is an objective datum in people in the spectrum, that they suffer an horrible burden in interacting with other people, because they are blind-mind to interact practically. With some time elapsing they may understand others when it doesn’t help anymore. Perhaps we should communicate in writing, taking our time.

I can spot aspies in real life within a minute of meeting them. Spotting non-aspies here is way harder but i can do it if I read at least 20 spontaneous posts by them.

BTW i believe there is a big distance between aspies and NTs with no one in the middle ground.

I probably couldn't tell the difference.

Tim

I have a sense of gaydar that works better than most NT's that I know. Well, most of the straight NT's.

I think this is just because a lot of the subtle signs of being gay are meant to draw the attention of other gay people, a type of standing out (however slight and almost indistinguishable it is) in order to make it easier to find one another in the largely heterosexual world.

Of course some gay people have completely moved out of the shadow of denying who they are and can advertise their orientation with pride. These are the ones that my straight NT friends usually ask "is that guy gay?" To which I reply, "well, he's wearing a T-Shirt that says "Gay Fo' Life" and he's french kissing that other dude, but heck, the jury's still out on that one!"


Point is (yeah, I have one somewhere) that most of the time, we Aspies act in such a way as to blend in with the NT world as much as we can. The only things that we display are the things that we can't change or don't even know are a sign of our AS.

But no, I can't really tell the difference on this site. But then, maybe that's because these forums are text based and there are only a few give away signs that can positively identify that a block of characters on the screen were written by an Aspie.

It's far too easy to see those with the stereotypical presentation of Asperger's on this forum. It's easy to spot people with autistic disorder too.

Icarus_Falling,

There's another with diagnosed autistic disorder around here [that I know of], she doesn't post much, but she's very formal, pedantic and "educated" with her typing.



I'm a self-diagnosed-cum-official autie. :)

I can't tell the difference, but then again, I'm not looking for it either. Really, I could care less. Of either group, I can relate to people just about the same, lol. The only difference is I can talk about habits, things I don't understand, etc. with people who deal with it too, but that is never to say an NT has never experienced any of these things I have difficulty with, or that every other person on the spectrum has.

Ultimately, of both groups, there are people I get along with, and people I don't. I really don't know how anyone could pinpoint something of this sort through a forum... but then again, if I was looking for it maybe? I really don't know, lol. I just kind of tend to give everyone the benefit of a doubt, because I'm certainly in no position to be trying to figure out anyone else when I don't even understand exactly why I do half of the things I do the way that I do them. Besides that, I cannot read into anything at all... if I can't read people when they're standing in front of me, I cannot read someone who I cannot see either, lol.

I do not put much thought into who here is or is not an NT or an aspie.

It's different with people I know in real life. I observe ASD characteristics in some people. Some I suspect to be on the spectrum, some I suspect are not, and some appear to be in a gray area.

Although a lot of ASD behavior can be observed, there is also an exclusively personal component to it. Some of what makes one an aspie or autie has to do with patterns of private thoughts and experiences.

For example, if I say something in a loud or shakey voice, most people will think I'm an emotional NT. Only I will know that I'm an unemotional aspie who can't control the tone and volume of her voice.

I assume that the same concept applies here. Because I cannot hear the thoughts behind people's words, I do not attempt to guess how they really think and who they really are.

nope, i can't really tell.

I don't really try to notice because I kind of don't care. I'm decidedly Aspie about this - honestly, if you're not AS, if you're HFA, POS, NT, bipolar, OCD, whatever, I just don't care because it doesn't interest me that much. Sorry to be such an snobby Aspie about it, but I can't pretend to care about what doesn't really interest me.

Even though I realize the site maker has an open-door policy here - which I don't have an issue with - I tend to assume everyone's AS unless they say otherwise or talk/behave in ways that make it too obvious to ignore that they're not AS. In those cases, I just ignore the differences (unless it's just too obnoxious to ignore). As a norm, I talk to the forum in general as though everyone here has AS and knows what having AS is like. Likewise, I tend to gravitate to more AS-specific threads and discussions. That there's other people around here, fine, whatever, but I don't go out of my way to figure out who they are.

How about you Green tea?

What are your feelings?

I find myself curious about the issue in hand, simply because I have only recently been dx'd.

I find it a deeply interesting time for me. When I fist joined WP I was very insecure, feeling that because I find science, maths, computer games, star track and aliens stuff deeply dull and void of beauty, I felt a freak and a fraud. So in this time I learned a lot about the interests of people on the spectrum.

I also learned that there are many people like me who like poetry, aesthetics & the less rule based spiritualities (by-passing love in favour of sin and Judgment) and contemplative living.

I do observe that often people write really long sentences with no breathing space, so to speak, I get overwhelmed with this and tend to not read texts that are not broken up, thats a shame, as when I do struggle to concentrate (I have ADD as well) it is often fruitful.

Thank you greentea for starting this thread.
cx

I don't know if I can tell or not, because I don't know who is aspie and who is NT here. All I know is some people here remind me of myself, and some others remind me very much of the world that surrounds me outside.