NT's - Why do you come to this site?

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You sure have a bad case of aspie arrogance.

Uh, yeah, I am diagnosed autistic, and I just want to distance myself from Smorrow's statement. 'NTs', -much as I dislike to use the word, but since we're using it in this thread- are my family, my friends, my acquaintances, classmates, co-workers. I love them and they love me, and they have made me the man I am today.

I've always said it: the non-autistic perspective on this forum is invaluable for coming to a proper understanding of social interactions in general. If we just lock ourselves up in one big autistic virtual biodome, we run away from the problems we each individually face. Because deny if you will, those of us who are diagnosed were diagnosed because at one point in our life, be hit in childhood or adulthood, we ran into some kind of 'snag', to put it euphemistically. You don't get diagnosed with something that's in the DSM by filling in a personality test in a lifestyle magazine.

Dave I think what you're looking for is feedback to let you know that you're having an impact on people. I think you already understand that many people on the spectrum have severe problems with social interaction. You have to remember that people 'on the the spectrum' will often not know how to give what most people would consider normal feedback. They may not understand your motive. They may not be able to put themselves in your shoes. It may very well be that they do appreciate you but don't know how to tell you or, odd as it might sound to you, assume that you know how they feel. This might be a matter of faith for you- knowing that you are doing something good and continuing to do the right thing despite a seeming lack of appreciation. Just remember what kind of problems you are dealing with here and remember that at least some of the people appreciate you even if they are unable to tell you.

You offer two very useful perspectives--that of an NT and that of a parent of a child on the spectrum. We need that. Just put your two cents in, your viewpoint, your side of things. The more ideas we can collect, the better!