What will your whole life be if you don't have ASD?

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I was thinking about it in my sleep. How would your whole life have been if you do not have Autism or Aspergers? Like something you would have done in the past if you do not have ASD?

Ex: I would have done little league baseball while I was in elementary school, join clubs earlier, and hung out with my friends more often.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkvhe8okP8c[/youtube]

I would still have ADHD and SPD.

I would have looked at people as a toddler. I may have actually wanted to be around them. I would be an average school student and not be called lazy and stupid. My siblings wouldn't torture me because they thought it was funny when I screamed and cried. I would not be as close to my mum. I may have a job by now and be able to live on my own. I wouldn't have shutdowns every 3 days like I am now.

i think i would have been more outspoken. that's about it really. can't say i'm exactly gutted about being on the spectrum to be honest

I would probably drive more, have been more aware of what I was supposed to do when around other people, and been more comfortable at social gatherings.

However, I am generally fine with who I am, I like having the imagination and the talents that I have, and I don't wish to be a social butterfly nor a manipulative person, I like my honesty and I wish NTs were generally more honest, eventho I would prefer if I could be more aware of the consequences of what I am about to say when I say something that comes off as rude or inconsiderate (because I don't like hurting people's feelings), and I also wish people would understand that when I express myself (for example when I talk about a subject I am interested in) I don't think they are idiots or less intelligent then I am, nor do I assume that they know less then me about the subject, I just get excited about the subject and talk about whatever I know about it, and if they already knew what I said then good for them, at that moment I am not thinking "hmmm I'm sure they don't know anything about it so I will educate them". I don't even mind spacing-out as long as it is not in an unsafe situation.

I would have been exactly like my NT peers. That wouldn't be too exciting.

I would stop incessantly picking at my skin... a bad repetitive behaviour that I have. Also I would have had a much more tolerable (and less miserable )elementary school experience that would involve less bullying (I would hope anyway).

Other than that I can't imagine wanting to do things differently. I guess I would WANT to be more social (make small talk, go to noisy crowded places etc.).

Have more friends in my childhood. Not be an outcast and rejected. Not be picked on as much. Have an easier time at my friends houses. maybe I would have had a partner in my teens and I sure know I would have been with someone else than with my husband. I would have probably gone to college and getting a degree and be making more money. I know I would have never gone to London or even go to Spokane for my honeymoon. Heck maybe my family wouldn't have moved to Montana because of me. They did say that was the main reason why we moved there because of me mostly. We might have moved elsewhere instead for smaller schools for my brothers and I since the schools were so over crowded. And I sure wouldn't be out of school for awhile in 6th grade. I also might have been wearing make up in my teens and doing more stuff typical teens do than going home and watching TV and playing video games and surfing the internet. I might have done more sports, baby sat, going out on dates, and maybe having a job. My life would have been different and I would have taken different pathways.

Depends if as NT I had the same brain. If yes, I'd be probably more happy and social. You know, smart and friendly. We all know that friends are important. I'd be more in reality, less absent minded.

If I had worse brain, I'd be only one neurotypical idiots. Damn, never!

Hey, I like that song.
Funnily I do same off the wall things in my head with these associational references.
How did you get it to 'broken loop?

I could be wrong, but generically one would then be caught up in the local mythos over cosmos mental set. It's hard to extract the difference, but I believe I would have been emotionally involved with the 'social', as opposed to standing off at a distance as an intellectualising casual observer.

Mostly I get things 'not in real time,' and this would included in that difference. It's not directly intuitive.

I used to wish I was like everyone else because I thought life would be easier but everyone has problems. Normal people don't actually seem any happier. Nowadays I wonder what my life would have been like if I'd been diagnosed as a child.

This reminds me of a story I once heard.

Once there was a man who prayed to God for help, that the weight of his life was too much. He had just lost his job and his wife had left him. He felt he couldn't take it anymore, that his burden was too great, and that life was too unfair to him. God came to him in a dream, and brought him down a hallway into a large room. Inside the room were crosses, of various sizes. Some very large and other smaller, but all looked burdensome. God told the man "These are the burdens of all the people in the world; since you believe your life to be so much worse, you may take up the burden of anyone you want." The man, satisfied with this answer, thanked the Lord and went into the room to search. He looked for a long time and found what looked to him to be the smallest cross. When he brought it back God smiled and said "but that one is yours, the one you started with." With that, the dream ended and the man woke up.

I heard this when I was younger, probably from my mother or grandfather (he was a minister). I think it's from a sermon, but I've always liked to think of this when I start wallowing in self-pity. We all have our cross to bear. I suspect mine is no worse than anyone else. Most normal people aren't any happier than me. They have friends, partners, careers, and money but those things bring with them their own problems, their own burdens.

I don't think the original question is answerable. If I was different, I wouldn't be me, so of course I'd do things differently, but then I would be someone else entirely. The adversities we face define us more than our accomplishments. To remove them is to fundamentally change who we are.

well, I don't know what would have happened if I didn't have autism but I have a good idea of what wouldn't have happened. I won't go into detail of those things, but lets just say that if I could press a button that would let me live a life without autism, I wouldn't press it.

The autism specialist who diagnosed me said that even if I weren't autistic, I would have still struggled with panic attacks, OCD and depression, and that I would have most likely turned to alcohol and/or illegal drugs to "self-medicate".

I know I would have also gone on a lot more dates and possibly even be married by now, learned to drive, moved out on my own, finished high school, would be able to express and read emotions a lot better, wouldn't have to stim, would be much less passionate about my interests, would have less intense emotional ups and downs, would be able to "take a joke", wouldn't have meltdowns, and would dress, behave and have interests appropriate for my age.

You have a strange idea of NTs.

I honestly couldn't imagine myself without Asperger's.