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Autism and mixed undertypes

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Signals
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07 Jun 2011, 7:04 am

So i understand it this way: Severe autism causes you not to be able to see the meaning with other people, wich then causes
them to be aloof, indifferent, not making contact to others and so on.

Understood this way it is not just introversion, but some other thing that causes something that looks like introverted behaviour.

Is it right to say that?



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07 Jun 2011, 3:54 pm

Signals wrote:
So i understand it this way: Severe autism causes you not to be able to see the meaning with other people, wich then causes
them to be aloof, indifferent, not making contact to others and so on.

Understood this way it is not just introversion, but some other thing that causes something that looks like introverted behaviour.

Is it right to say that?


Yep, I think that is fairly accurate.

I am not even severe on the entire autism spectrum, but I was very aloof as a child and never had any period of normal development, so this aloof behavior may be observed in HFA/AS as well.


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07 Jun 2011, 10:14 pm

Signals wrote:
Is it possible to have a mix of aloof type and active but odd in the same person?

Meaning that severe autism makes you distant and cut off from other people (in extreme cases the person is not even aware of the presence of others), but you still are able to act kind of extroverted/impulsive/talkative sometimes (having a drive to express your self and be active)? Like sometimes being indifferent and unaware of people and sometimes being "active but odd". Maybe at the same time?

I´m asking because i'm an neurotypical introvert, and i have heard the idea that autism is just extreme introversion, and i wanna find out
if the idea is right or wrong, because the idea is disturbing to me (I feel like they are saying my introversion is a disease state).

If the answer is yes the idea is wrong, because then the aloofness is another thing outside of normal introversion/extroversion with a different cause (because you cant be extremely introverted and act extroverted at the same time).


Yeah... I guess. I notice that I fall under each type in some way. It's really hard to explain but I've noticed that at times I can sometimes be aloof... other times I am passive or active but odd as well. It depends on my mood I guess... if that makes any sense.


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07 Jun 2011, 10:32 pm

I've heard of active and odd, aloof and passive groups within the autistic spectrum. And I read that someone can be one behavior in one situation and different in another.

I didn't read this book but I came across this page before and remembered and found it again. If scroll up you can read some about the groups and if you scroll down under "The need for flexibility" it says something about behavior in different environments.
http://books.google.com/books?id=r6z7CT ... ve&f=false

(I didn't read this book, and I don't really remember what I did read of it. I'm only giving a link which discusses what I thought the OP seemed to be referencing in regards to "aloof" and "active but odd".)



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07 Jun 2011, 11:47 pm

Introversion and aloofness are not the same. Aloofness would be a lack of emotional need to connect with others. Introversion I think of as more of a cognitive style. Introverts spend more time reflecting while extroverts spend more time communicating. Very young children or people with severe cognitive deficits are hard to classify as either introvert or extrovert since they don't really have the ability to either reflect or communicate. Introversion that often develops later on in life for high functioning autistic people isn't really related to an early childhood non-communicative / aloof stage that may also have been present. I'd say the majority display the following evolution through life...

infancy / very-early childhood --> aloof, non-communicative
early to middle childhood --> active but odd
pre-teen to adult --> introverted

The later introverted stage is probably more a result of increased self-awareness and/or intellect. People stop socializing when they fully realize that others do not share their interests or connect to them. This stage is also the onset of depressive illness in most.