Are many autistic people introverts?

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I have read about introversion and I see so many similarities with them and us. For one introverts also need time alone to recharge and their energy drains in social situations and they also get exhausted from socializing. I have read this a lot with aspies as well. Introverts also hate small talk and see no point in it. Introverts also don't interact just to interact and they only say something if they have something to say. Introverts also prefer a few friends, they don't need a lot of them.

So are most autistic people introverts? Is there really a difference between an introvert and an autistic person about these traits? Or have these just been mistaken as being part of autism when in fact they were just introverted?

I know there are autistic people out there who are extroverted because they love to talk and will talk to anyone and be friendly and they love people while it seems like lot of aspies are shy because they don't go talking to anyone and seeking out people like the way my friend did.

I am thinking I am introverted but I am not sure because being shy doesn't make you one nor does social anxiety or if you want to be with people but can't because of sensory issues or because you have PTSD or if you are just anxious. It just means you need help in that area while introverts don't need to be fixed. Also introversion isn't even considered a medical condition. It's considered a personality even though they're the minority and it does impact their lives because society is designed for extroverts so they are misunderstood so them trying to be extroverted also exhausts them. They are still considered normal. But yet they are more prone to depression and anxiety IMO because of being misunderstood and not accepted. I mean wouldn't you have anxiety if you felt pressured to fit in so you were forcing yourself to be "normal" and you were always being self conscious about how you came off as and then you are depressed because you don't know what is "wrong" with you? That is something introverts can relate to about us.

Based on my experience, most autistic people are introverts.

This would make sense, since the nature of autism involves people going inward: going into themselves, rather than outward--extending themselves to other people.

I believe if one looks up Eugene Bleuler's definition of autism, as well as Kanner's, one would get a decent idea of an "autistic" type nature.

I am so introverted. Sitting in the corner of the office all day talking with no one. Often going through a day without exchanging a word with anyone. Bliss. They think I am weird. It's heaven.

As far as natural introverts, I'd say we're probably about the same as the baseline but our issues create social problems that train a lot of us to become introverts.

It's amazing how there are so many components of autism but yet some people can have those components and not be autistic but would it mean they have autistic traits such as being an introvert? I am also convinced that you have to have so many conditions to have autism so the doctors just put them all together and make it autism rather than diagnosing every single condition and problem. Think about it, OCD, anxiety, depression, language impairment and communication, cluttering, dyspraxia, sensory processing disorder, body movement disorder, Einstein syndrome, social anxiety, behavior issues. It might also depend on what kind of support the person needs so the doctor might diagnose autism or something else and that child could be under Other Health Impairment instead of autism for the IEP despite the diagnoses. Maybe this is what everyone means when they say many people have autistic traits because they have something else? It could be OCD, it could be anxiety, etc. because of overlaps?

I'm an ambivert (between extrovert and introvert). I enjoy being around people and feel energized, but it also depends on who I'm with and if I'm around them for too long, my energy will start to drain. I like to be alone sometimes, but find it boring and draining after a while.

I do have trouble socializing even though I enjoy it though, though I have doubted that I have autism since I'm not an introvert. People that know I have autism assume I'm an introvert. I am also quite socially anxious, which may come across as introversion.

I hear this from a lot of other aspies, but it sounds horrid to me.



Wow, I'd never heard of ambiverts! Thank you so much for sharing this, after a little examination I'm quite sure I'm an ambivert as well.

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I just find talking to people hard. I don't know them so well, I don't do chit chat/small talk well and I can feel that I come across as odd. I am happier just left alone for the day not talking. I am able to talk to people about football though, and even enjoy a bit of casual 'banter' about that sort of thing but I have had a lifetime around it so it is easier. I am aware though that they will follow a top team and have an interest in that, I respond with 'I have been researching the Italian 3rd division and have some interested stuff on it....'as their eyes roll and look all 'wtf is this guy on?'

I'm an extreme introvert.

As far as I can gather, people on the AS can be variety of personality types because everyone is an individual. One of the main things about being autistic is the problems experienced in social interactions and 'reading' other people. Some individuals on the AS are extroverts but the trouble is, although they want to be friendly and outgoing, lack the social awareness to pull it off and can come over as 'odd' and awkward to NT's. This is why such people shy away from social situations and give the impression of being introverted.

Ambivert checking in here.

I'm only forced into the 'introvert lifestyle' and may come across as one even when I'm not.

I have no friends nearby so this is the only reason I wouldn't be spending time with other people.

I do have severe anxiety disorder including social anxiety, but I'd say anxiety has nothing to do with introversion.

I greatly enjoy outdoor activities, alone or with others but unfortunately have Agoraphobia (fear of the outdoors and open spaces. Secluded spots in nature however I am fine as I enjoy nature, it's just civilization of cities and streets that gets me).

I've also hear social skills and introversion aren't necessarily related either, but do see a correlation, but correlation does not equal causation.

I've heard Introversion is more of an attitude, and it is entirely possible to be introverted and not shy or extraverted yet shy.

I am simply quiet, not shy, and choose to be quiet. Not because I lack social skills, but pure disinterest. I can also act completely normal and N.T. but it takes a lot of effort so I simply don't a lot of the time.

I greatly enjoy social events.

High school graduation dance I was very confident, extraverted and full of energy. I am quite a good dancer and spent hours on my feet, no break, only going back to the dining tables for more drink and danced up on stage to many songs (there was a dancefloor, and then there was a stage if you wanted to show off your moves). I had fun and didn't care what others think.

Either way, I'm an ambivert and know it, have a mix of both intro and extraverted traits. I do not relate well to introverts at all, nor extraverts for that matter. They both feel like extremist's to me and I feel more balanced.

Being an Introvert isnt a diagnoses and doesn't present in a specific way like autism. Introverts simply enjoy alone time and use it to relax and recharge themselves, while extroverts use socialization as relaxation and get energized by socializing. Introverts crave alone time frequently and extroverts feel this way a lot less.

I am an introvert but it didnt always seem this way. As a kid i really really craved approval from my older cousins and school mates but always came off as too awkward. I loved spending time with them and was always trying to hang out with them. I still needed alone time and some of my best memories are me playing by myself. Today im more reserved and enjoy being alone much more.

Some people have a balance of both and dont feel strongly either way.

well i certainly am one, i just had a friend over for a couple of hours, im exhausted haha, and it was only 1 person too

I think many of us behave as if we were introverts, but I don't think it's quite the same thing, though clearly there's a lot of overlap. I think autistic aloneness is more a result of brain-wiring than it is a personality thing. I've known a good few Aspies and / or likely Aspies, self included, who have fairly strong social motivation. In some cases they have a fairly extensive social life. I've read that many of us have a fairly normal social drive at first, but then we experience so much failure that we tend to give up. I've also heard of a type of Aspie who appears to have no social drive at all from the start.

In my own case, I'm a mixture. I've never been a complete outcast but it's often got pretty close to that, my social circle has usually been quite small. I went through a phase in my 20s when I lived in a friendly district, and had lots of friends and was hardly ever alone. I really enjoyed that. I never quite got back to it after moving out. With sexual partners, I had a slightly late start - not through want of trying, because having a partner has been extremely important to me since my teens - but after a few years of rejection I somehow managed to turn the situation around and have hardly ever been partnerless ever since, though every relationship I had became stormy and bit the dust until my current one which is doing very well. I'm fairly reclusive these days and would prefer more friends, but I'm rather picky and would rather be moderately lonely than fill my life with people I don't relate to or feel safe with. So I certainly wouldn't say the introvert label fits me, though there have been times when a casual observer might have thought that it did.

I am an extrovert who is beginning to become a misanthrope.