Autism camouflaging and late diagnosis

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You can learn a lot from a demon.

I taught myself to communicate by watching television. For years I would express myself by repeating obscure lines of dialogue.

My memory sucks in that regard. I can never remember dialogue verbatim.

I have a nephew who remembers quite a bit of dialogue. He has Aspie features, though he's undiagnosed.

I used to watch people having conversations, then I would practice having conversations with myself, with "small talk" and all. I did this in my teenage years mostly.

Nope not a stupid question at all! The only stupid question is the one you dont ask!

Fig: 1

Last edited by Uncle on 24 Feb 2017, 9:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

You should have been a professor, Uncle.

That's a phrase that professors always use.

Here's a really stupid question.

Seeing as there's now certain books, forums etc where aspies are explaining how it feels or how they react and why they react etc, isn't there some sort of book on what it is that goes on in an nt's brains, why they do what they do etc this sounds really dumb as I'm writing it.

LOL, Thanks Kraftie. Was probably heard from a professor as a child and stuck from that point!

The answer: Literature throughout the ages. In all languages.

NT's frequently have the "social dynamic" intrinsically and from birth.

People with autism frequently have to learn the "social dynamic" through conscious effort and "trial and error."

Firstly i refer you to Figure 1 above!

Secondly i dont think many NT's really want people to know what they truly think! lol

Thirdly. Despite most individuals looking the same, humanity as a whole has a number of many differences. Some hold stronger neanderthal DNA while others dont which in part makes them altogether another subspecies. We have all evolved for various reasons. however sometimes when those reasons become a little more apparent like with many areas of autism that can sometimes stand out, people often fear what they dont understand and rather than try to understand it they attack it. Sad truth of human nature im afraid. However if the message gets out to people with a more honest approach and understanding and that information is taken on by certain Alpha profiles then the likely hood of everyone else following said ideology will take hold.. Its the Human sheep thing. Its obvious even when people dont think it is.

I think if everyone actually wrote down or were able to write down said information. I think humanity would be amazed at not only how similar we all are but also how different we all are!

Polly bears the name of my father's second wife.

She's a nice socialite woman.

37 and diagnosed 6 months ago.

I had the coping & copying skillz of a ninja

You're in the same town as The Walrus.

What kind of place is Reading, anyway?

Thanks I somehow new I'd get that answer

I've never made a conscious effort to copy facial expressions. It's never crossed my mind to do it. There's always the possibility,though I doubt it, that I might at a subconscious level. However I don't think facial expressions register that deeply with me consciously or otherwise.

I am not by nature a copier. Nearest I came was when I got the evening taxi home from seeing my mum. I got into showing interest in the football programme on the radio and trying to engage in conversation via that.

I am as I am.Other people are like they are. Been on numerous forums and been respected more on some than others.
However even with the best of them have tended to see myself as a stranger whose welcome to some extent rather than one of the tribe.

I even get the same feeling here. Have sometimes thought of adjusting my behaviour to fit in better,but quite frankly wouldn't know where to start.

Is there a space between neurotypical and neurodiverse?

NTs also mimic people by watching other people and seeing how they interact and handle conflicts and their feelings and watching their facial expressions. They do this all from birth and then they start to do those things themselves and they also learn social skills from being with other kids so that is the purpose of going to nursery school and preschool. So in a way they are also doing what ASD people are doing, mimicking. They model after their parents. When children grow up in the wrong environment, it does impact their social skills and behavior which is what doctors try to rule out first before diagnosing autism. Especially if they didn't have very good role models in their life.

So my question is what is the difference between NTs and ASD people mimicking?

From my understanding when I did it, I always got it figured out wrong and it would cause me problems and trying to figure out the rules was very confusing because kids didn't always follow them and also because I didn't understand social cues so I didn't know when a behavior was appropriate and not appropriate. But some ASD people do such a good job at it they go under the radar and they are seen as understanding social norms and stuff. I was seen as understanding them too but was seen as having poor impulse control.

I wasn't diagnosed until a couple of months ago. I've spent the last 16 years as a carer to my son, who is also autistic. I've hidden behind him and largely inside my house. If I hadn't had him and had instead continued with my pattern of losing jobs, it might have been spotted quicker. Maybe.

I'm very good at masking in the short term but can't do it for long.