'We are all somewhere on the spectrum'

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It's even more embarrassing knowing that there's a spectrum where everyone stands somewhere. It makes harder to explain it clearly. I'm used to saying that if you score medium on 5 traits, but the other person scores high on 20 traits, it means there's a difference. Quantitative difference becomes qualitative.

But the point is that you can draw the line in any point that you will end up with some "NT" that is almost identical to some "autistic".

My friend keeps saying this exact thing & to be honest it annoys me so much, because she has no idea really.

What a terrible way to trivialise our problems, it's like "oh well we are all a bit weird in our way!"..lady, I'm actually weird, so why don't you go talk about the weather with your NT friends.

The light spectrum is continuous and infinite (at least in theory). All kinds of electromagnetic radiation fall under it, even the ones we can't see. I see the autism spectrum as being very similar: everyone is on it. The fact that the spectrum is continuous doesn't mean that every kind of radiation is similar: in fact, there is a multitude of groups based on the different interactions of the specific radiations with matter. And such it is for autism as well: it may be a continuum but we can still group people based on how they interact with other people. Many of my completely normal friends have some characteristics which I recognise, be it bad eye contact, fondness for particular noises, special interests, sensitivity to loud noises or blunt honesty. This does not qualify them for diagnosis, but it does mean they can understand some parts of autism better than we might think.

So, basically, what Callista said, except that I had this beautiful radiation metaphor I'd been saving up for weeks and I finally got a chance to use it. >.>

Had a doctor said this to me there would have been a very intense diatribe about the ignorance and condescension of many health professionals issuing forth from my pie hole.

And a fine metaphor it is

My understanding of abstract concepts is done almost entirely by metaphors. So I really appreciate it when posters use metaphors to explain things.

Regarding the opening post, my response to something like "Everyone is on the spectrum" would depend on the context. It might range from a blunt "That is such a vacuous statement it's not worth the energy it took you to speak it", to a more subtle "By definition, a spectrum lays out a range of extremes, a maximum and minimum, severe to barely perceptible. It is the placement on the spectrum that matters. Are you suggesting that your place on this particular spectrum is the same as mine?"

I would be very unlikely to let it slide by unchallenged.

Spectrametamorphosis topic

It is valid to understand that everything is connected, even if by infintesimally tiny hooks (metaphor), but this does not mean that everything is basically the same thing. False inclusion fallacy. Not everyone is on the same page, though we are all broadly in the same human species.

If everyone had autism why would they put it into the DSM I mean if everyone is on the spectrum...lol that is ridiculous. It is like when I mention I am depressed and people are like 'oh I've sunk into depression before so I know how it is, but I got better."...and when they really want to frusterate me they might add. "You can to." without understanding I have freaking chronic depression and its existed ever since I can remember...its not a normal little depressed mood I fell into its how I've felt in general.

Nobody's saying it's "basically the same thing." People are saying that everyone has some symptoms (or genes or whatever) which are also included in autism.

I guarantee you that you will find no one who scores completely NT on the various online tests (the AQ test and the big RDOS Aspie test). While these may not be the be all, end all of diagnostic tools, they still measure a number of symptoms which correlate to AS. The NT average on the AQ test is 16, if I remember correctly. That means that really, everyone is a little bit autistic. That they do not suffer from it so much does not mean that they cannot relate to some of the issues.

There is a difference between objective placement on a spectrum based on assessment instruments and the flippant "Everyone is a little autistic" attitude that crops up with all too much frequency. If someone uses that particular phrase as a way of marginalizing the very real symptoms of someone with autism, it is only showing ignorance and is offensive.

Clearly, from a clinicians view, everyone has a range of behaviors, some of which correlate to some degree to the criteria of the DSM/ICD definitions of autism. So, while sloppy, it isn't inaccurate to suggest that everyone displays bits of autism. But clinically, mildly manifesting a few autistic like traits is NOT the same as being autistic. The intellectually lazy will fall back to the "Everyone has it to some degree" rubric simply because they haven't the desire to become informed and would rather be dismissive. Becoming informed requires effort and carries risk of change. It is easier for far too many to persist in false ideas than change them.

Well according to what I have learned in psychology, there are no behaviors that are related to a specific mental disorder.....so yes everyone at one time or another experiances various symptoms of various disorders. But it only becomes a disorder if someone has a specific group of symptoms that interfere negatively with their life.

Like with depression everyone feels depressed at one time or another, but it is only considered a disorder if it persists and interferes negatively with fucntioning.

I have a hard time believing that my parents and my sister are somewhere on the spectrum with the way that they treated me up until 5 years ago.

Okay, if that's the issue here, then I agree with you. My parents are a bit like that, always saying that everything I do is normal and that everyone's like that. But there's nothing wrong with the attitude in itself. Everyone is at least a little bit autistic would be a bit more accurate, I guess. I personally see this kind of attitude as a possibility to breed some much-needed understanding between Auties and NTs.

With opened minded people, absolutely. Commonality, even if not extensive, forms a strong foundation for communication.