Do Autistic people think they're better than everyone else?

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I was not talking about how it should be defined but how it often is. I defined Aspergers the way Aspergers has been commonly defined and diagnosed by clinicions and defined by reliable sources, not how I would do it. You should lobby whoever is the professional organization for psychologists or government where you live to strip the license from any cliniction that does not strictly follow the ICD guidelines. A no deviance policy here in the states would make this discussion moot and result in every Psychologist that diagnosis Aspergers losing their license to practice since the DSM is the "bible" here.

Certainly don't feel that way

The fu...? I've never been to a psychologist, but this guy sounds like a quack.

The context I made that comment in was responding to someone who said that above average intelligence was part of the diagnostic criteria for Aspergers and I was replying that it wasn't.

when my siblings, who are at least 18 years apart in age, surpass me in intellect, have a job, not scrounging off their parents like I am, i'm definitely not smarter or better than them and never will be, like saying they'll never be as old as me as I am also ageing.

I left behind thoughts of whether I was 'better' than others a long while ago, it's not really a flourishing fountain to drink and sit at. I'm just a screwed up human trying to perpetually progress somewhere further along in my constant daze. I am however worse than every other creature that has ever existed when I'm having a turbulent hour, I leave it up to others to judge my contribution to the world. I think I have done as well as I can and will continue to do so, no idea how many folks I am a better human than and in what capacities. I suppose I will accept that I have been considered valuable and worthwhile enough to be informed I have been a positive presence in others lives when I have been in the position to put myself around others, I'm only interested in trying to enhance and tint people's experience of life whenever I am alongside them and seek to improve myself and how I can affect and accompany folk and carry myself as nobly as possible in my own estimation of the concept. I never suffer the disease of superiority that is for sure, I can have strong feelings on what constitutes honesty and what holds depth in countless layers that we move through and encounter in life but I still see humans I disagree with as consisting of value and merit separate from these things. I grasp that I will not reflect ravishingly to many, but I hope that they will respect my right to live, probe and pursue how I choose. Nobody ought to be perceived as 'beneath' unless they commit sour things against another that stain their soul and leave a harsh, harrowing stench, but I guess many do not grasp and truly weigh the concept of 'beneath' in this stripped down stark way, being above someone is a very tall fence to poke your head over with a startlingly bright spotlight burning down on your flawless forehead. We are all made up of unique heaps of soil and shrubbery but we're all the same 'shape' of creature irrespective of complexity, we must try to get along on level ground, we must respect this first and foremost and adjust our gaze. In my eyes to raise yourself above so easily only lowers your own carving. I liked typing this out three times losing my train of thought because the website logged me off!

Studies have shown that the average person thinks they are above average, it's more a human trait than an autistic one

I don't think that way and honestly I did used to think i was better than anyone else because i got caught up in the negative stereotypes about NTs (thought they all did drugs and party and broke rules and always judged people and didn't accept anything different than them and if that was what being normal is, I didn't want to be normal and get pregnant young) but then when I realized aspies acted the same as NTs in this sense, we are no different. Aspies are human too and just as capable as being dumb as Nts and narrow minded as they are and judgmental and also can do drugs and smoke and break rules and have kids young before marriage and before they are even settled. It never occurred to me aspies can do these things to also be normal because they want to fit in and be accepted so they're "faking it" all. Same reason why NT kids do it, peer pressure they call it so I don't get how the autistic children don't fall for peer pressure comes from. Also some can reject their own kind because they don't accept themselves so they dislike whoever reminds them of them.

My first boyfriend believed he was above average but honestly he was just dumb to a point I started thinking he was below average and close to being mentally impaired. He thought he was so gifted because for one he was tech smart and could hook speakers up to his computer, regular speakers I mean. Everyone smirks at that when I tell them that because they say anyone can do that but I tell them "I can't." My husband thinks it was part of his schizophrenia because he had that false belief about himself. But yet lot of people think they're above average and they're not a schizophrenic.

If I might bring this thread back on topic... I think believing you are better than other people is not restricted to those with ASD but is a fundamental survival trait of the human race. We have to believe we are better than some one else because... or we give up.

My grandmother believed that she was better than the other children at school because she wore boots. My mother thought she was better than the neighbours because she was better educated... Hitler believed he was better than everybody and started a war. Stalin knew he wasn't and "removed" anyone he perceived as a threat to his own goals. Theresa May knows she is the best politician in the UK and Donald Trump believes he is the best President the US has ever had.

My friend Paul thought everyone was better and happier than he was and jumped off a viaduct. I was belittled because I missed a promotion at work and abused because my marriage was a failure until I believed I was worthless and tried to jump off a cliff at three in the morning. (Someone stopped me.)

Some people don't think and unquestioningly go with the flow of society. Sometimes I envy them. My mind never stops.

Last edited by Voyagergirl on 30 Apr 2017, 10:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

Yes, I am in that group.

NT people have lives, they go places, do fun things, have relationships, watch enormous amounts of mindless television.

While I spend most days reading and learning 8-10 hours per day.

Like reality tv 'cringe'

I used to delude myself into thinking I was better than neurotypicals because I wouldn't engage in small talk. But I now realise that I was jealous because I couldn't do it. ASD is a terribly isolating experience for me, and I won't deny that I do feel bitter and jealous of others because of the way I am. If I had an average or above average IQ, perhaps my feelings would abate. But alas, I fall into the low end of high functioning autism.

+1 good post

I think that all people are created equal and that nobody's perfect.

True, some even strive to achieve perfection not that its really possible.