Which autism sub-type do you have?

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Obvious stimming/hyperkinetic
insular (although it comes and goes)
awkwardness
>130 IQ (meaning I'm good at taking IQ tests, not that I'm especially smart)
Sensory overstimulation, shutdowns (although I also parodoxially crave overstimulation)
Emotional regulation, meltdowns.

Exactly. As much as we might hate the comparison to tantrums, it's a fairly accurate one. Part of the problem comes from people liking to believe that tantrums are intentional and manipulative.

When kids first demonstrate tantrum behaviour they're not being manipulative because they haven't seen results of any sort yet. Kids might engage in the behaviour to manipulate once they've seen it works, but that doesn't mean they're always being that way. They need to develop the insight that it modifies the behaviour of those around them before they can consider using it as a means to manipulate others.

Kids with ASD are likely to be less able to understand a tantrum can potentially manipulate, but even if they do develop that understanding, the deficit in regards to emotional regulation is likely to leave them prone to meltdowns that aren't intentional/aren't planned with a goal in mind.

As they mature the label for the behaviour might change but it's the same thing, they're just bigger.

What makes the one form of emotional breakdown different from the other, except for the average age of the person involved?

Now, generally speaking NT adults tend to have longer fuses (or less sensitivity) to the sorts of stresses that can cause meltdowns and/or shutdowns, but that doesn't mean they won't ever reach points where they're so emotionally exhausted that they're also at risk of shutdowns or meltdowns.

Beyond that, some emotional burdens are so immense they're impossible to process all at once. It doesn't matter who you are, that's a situation that might trigger a meltdown or shutdown.

I have good enough (natural) social skills that doesn't exhaust me when I use them. My social issues are more about nervousness, showing signs of weakness (being too nice and being afraid to assert myself), and lacking in confidence (I know the right social cues but I suddenly become too shy to respond, for example asking others questions about themselves in a conversation when I know is appropriate). This has always been my social issue, which isn't much compared to what autism is described as.

I find it hard to contain factual information, which can make me look dumb or unable to join in certain conversations. Talking about feelings and gossip and and mundane things such a small talk is easier for me than talking about things that have more in-depth knowledge, although I enjoy that if the other person is telling me the facts. Yes I know you're probably thinking "but isn't that what Aspies are supposed to find uninteresting/difficult to talk about?" You're probably right but my social difficulties seem to be less typical of autism. Despite that I'm still crap at making friends with my NT peers.

My social difficulties when I was a teenager seem more typically Aspie though (but not as a child).
I felt socially disassociated from the others, like I wasn't on their wavelength, and I got socially excluded because of it. I was just seen as the "ret*d kid" who "didn't understand anything". Sad, but true.

This is really relatable and autistic communities aren't always that much better.

It's like there's a lot of different wavelengths that people can be on and often it's hard to find people of the correct wavelength.

This is true. Children under 3 years don't have theory of mind fully developed yet, so how are they to know what to do to get the adults to give them what they want, especially children under 2 years?
Usually tantrums are an expression of emotion that they are too young to control. I remember when my (NT) cousin was 2 we got on a bus and she wanted to sit on the seat but her mother kept her in the stroller because it was only a short bus ride. My cousin started crying and screaming, but probably not because she thought that would get her mother to let her out of the stroller, but because her young mind didn't understand about time and distances and she just thought her mother was being unreasonable so she was feeling angry, but was too little to understand that screaming and crying isn't the right way to show how she's feeling. She was also at the age where such trivial, petty things were catastrophic to her because of being inexperienced, meaning that there are worse things to be upset about than sitting on a seat instead of a stroller.
It's just normal immaturity.


I was prone to tantrums after the age of 3. I had a few occasional tantrums at school when I was 4 or 5, but grew out of making a scene like that when I was 6. But before then, I thought I could scream loud enough to break the sound barrier to get the adults to give in to me, which they didn't. Like when I had trouble sitting still and behaving during storytime one time, and the teacher told another child to fetch the teacher's assistant to come and take me out of the room. As soon as she said that, I immediately sat still so that they'd say "oh, she's being good now, we won't remove her from the room". But that tactic didn't work, so the frustration began and I kicked and screamed as the teacher's assistant picked me up, hoping it would make them give in and let me sit back down. That didn't work either.
I think that's how I learnt that screaming at school is just bad behaviour and won't give me what I wanted.

I didn't seem to learn that at home though. I often had tantrums at home around my family. A spanking usually snapped me right out of it but other times my parents would give in to me. Like one time when my mum wasn't there so it was up to my dad to put me to bed, but I threw a tantrum that he was unable to handle and so he let me stay up, which I was pleased about. I think I went to sleep eventually. Another time when I didn't want to go to bed when my mum wasn't there, I got my dad to read me loads of stories so that I wouldn't have to go to sleep yet. In the end he got the message and wouldn't read any more. But luckily by then I was tired so I fell asleep.

Yes, I was a misbehaved child.

I have an adjustable wavelength online, it's not adjustable IRL.

I'm not even sure if I can adjust it online.

I don't see that as a flaw.

I'm more on people's wavelength now, but when I was like 12-14 I seemed like I was out of touch. I caught up when I was 15, but before then I seemed very behind and clueless. Just temporarily. I done weird things when I was 13-14 that I knew better not to do when I was half that age, like when I had it in my head with no evidence that this random group of girls wanted to be my friend and I followed them around the school trying to become a member of their group they always hung out in. It wasn't from misinterpreting some sort of body language or anything, it was just some weird fixation I suddenly found myself having on them that just came out of the blue, and I acted on impulse without really thinking. It was very embarrassing and to this day I don't know what the f**k I was thinking. Even at 6 years old I knew better than to follow a group of kids I barely knew around the playground thinking they'll be friends with me.

If I could speak to my stupid teenage self now, well, I think I would punch some sense into her. Weirdo.

I voted for high intelligence (never took an IQ test, though), obsessive interests, and emotional regulation/meltdowns (which are more related to comorbid conditions such as anxiety in my case).

I dont.

You don't?
That's interesting, it seemed such a commonality.

Do you think that is your nature or your environment? I mean, are you naturally resistant to stress / overwhelm, or do you have very good control over your life, such as living alone in your own home and deciding your own schedule? Or both? (Ignore if I'm being too nosey)

In addition there are a greater variety of triggers for NDs > NTs

Most NTs thrive in public places, for a lot of NDs public places are a sensory minefield

My own house is a sensory minefield if I'm not careful.
Even when it's clean and sensory-adjusted to my liking.

i chose iq, perseverative interests, social awkwardness, and would have also chosen sensory oversensitivity if i could have. i can't handle nasty sharp-edged loud noises or even nasty sharp-edged quiet noises, there is no masking for those. i can't easily handle phonographic clicks and crackle and analog tape hiss above a low threshold. my new WP friend kindly reminds me of my many occasions where i will commit some social faux pas such as walking around with my mouth open [will start a thread about that ], slouching, having vacant eyes [especially when tired]. i spend inordinate amounts of time researching obscure topics on the web and in reference books i find, and can devote a solid day and night's worth of energy restoring the sound of a worn and damaged phonograph recording. i don't believe i am especially intelligent but many people i know have told me otherwise so i have to give them some credit. my spotty grammar does not [IMHO] betray a superior intelligence.

I'm not good with tech, hope this image works.
This is my highly advanced scientific analysis of results so far, haha.

(Image should be here, gah!)
OK here it is:


Preliminary findings:

1. Taken together, autistics look like someone strapped up with knives like Diego from Umbrella Academy.

Only kidding.

1. Most voted is "poor social skills / awkwardness" unsurprisingly. But if you combine votes for shutdowns and meltdowns, I would say these are up there too. (My personal opinion is that these issues should be included in autism research studies even if not in the diagnostic criteria).

2. Autistics with intellectual impairment are clearly underrepresented here on WP, again, not a surprise. There weren't even anonymous votes for this one.

3. Some interesting results around stimming. Possibly, there may be a connection between frequent/obvious stimming and sensory issues. Non-verbal or minimally verbal issues look like they may be connected to sensory sensitivities as well. Also, autistics reporting insularity or lack of interest in others did not report stimming as an issue (so far). Anonymous voters were typically not stimmers (so far).

4. Those reporting high IQ seem less likely to report social awkwardness, but are still subject to sensory and emotional issues (shutdowns/meltdowns).

That's just for starters, I hope people will continue voting and responding.
Please try and limit yourselves to 3 principal traits if you can, it helps with analysis.

P.S. anyone know how to put in a photo showing my analysis drawing? Done, thanks Recidivist

Last edited by MrsPeel on 08 Apr 2023, 7:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.