If you could be non-Autistic for one day, would you try it?

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dwoolridge
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17 Jan 2011, 11:55 pm

Me I thought about it one time and I realize that i would be a diffrent person. I would of be mean to the nerds and the unpopular person and dont care about other peoples emotions so i would say no. But I do want to see how it feels to not struggle as much with the acadimics and my cofidence talking to people in real life again



wavefreak58
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17 Jan 2011, 11:57 pm

No way.

What if it was the most amazing thing you ever experienced and then you knew afterward that you could never experience it again?


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Kai_Bliss
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18 Jan 2011, 1:02 am

wavefreak58 wrote:
No way.

What if it was the most amazing thing you ever experienced and then you knew afterward that you could never experience it again?


I agree.



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18 Jan 2011, 1:08 am

I wouldn't want to do that. I'm too much of a Pride Mite.


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18 Jan 2011, 1:32 am

I actually think I see the world better this way then if I was to be the other way. I don't think I could see the world through anothers eyes.



Verdandi
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18 Jan 2011, 1:36 am

I don't think I would.

I'm not concerned about whether it's better or worse, but it strikes me as pointless to try something so pervasive for a single day, and I wouldn't want to try it for longer.



irishwhistle
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18 Jan 2011, 1:43 am

That way lies madness...

Think about it. For me, at least, becoming NT (which, while I am undiagnosed would certainly be a change!) would mean my head would be clear and my interests might cease to interest me, the conversations that once bored me would make sense, I would make small talk and not bother to wonder why or what it all means, I'd look at the chaos of the day before and likely not be able to stand it, might even throw some things out... Try to organize all the important things, which would be different than the day before... Might even look with envying eyes at a minivan. 8O

Then I'd change back, find stuff missing, try to resettle into things, and wonder whether it's worth it to feel my uniqueness so richly at the expense of a clear head.

But as I am now, I mostly accept myself, and many times almost tremble (in a bad way) at what I could have been had I been like my sister. I wonder if she even draws anymore... she used to... she is decidedly a member of my very peculiar family, but she was always NT, within it all.

I find a couple of media items best illustrate what it means to me... The Christmas episode of iCarly in which she wished that her sculptor brother Spencer had been "born normal" after his magnetic metal sculpture Christmas tree catches fire and burns some gifts that she made and had placed underneath. He (after the inevitable angel shows up) becomes a desk jockey, with boring hair and an exaggeratedly dull mode of speech and a lovely home. She screams when she sees him. Who wouldn't?

And the song "Mission" by Rush. It's about art but it speaks to me about my whole weirdness. I've bolded the parts that are especially apt:

Hold your fire
Keep it burning bright
Hold the flame 'til the dream ignites
A spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission

I hear their passionate music
Read the words that touch my heart
I gaze at their feverish pictures
The secrets that set them apart

When I feel the powerful visions
Their fire has made alive
I wish I had that instinct
I wish I had that drive

Spirits fly on dangerous missions
Imaginations on fire
Focused high on soaring ambitions
Consumed in a single desire

In the grip of a nameless possession
A slave to the drive of obsession
A spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission

I watch their images flicker
Bringing light to a lifeless screen
I walk through their beautiful buildings
And I wish I had their dreams
But dreams don't need to have motion
To keep their spark alive
Obsession has to have action
Pride turns on the drive

It's cold comfort
To the ones without it
To know how they struggled
How they suffered about it
If their lives were exotic and strange
They would likely have gladly exchanged them
For something a little more plain
Maybe something a little more sane

We each pay a fabulous price
For our visions of paradise
But a spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission


I don't actually know what that line means... A spirit with a vision is a dream with a mission... but the lines about how people without artistic inclinations (I think) would be alright with it if they knew how difficult it could be to have it... I love that and it works both ways. If I could be NT for a day I might never want to return, remembering how strange it could be... Not being what is considered NT, I'd hate to be what I perceive them to be, without what I have, being an artist myself, and able to soar with the imagination I've been given.

I apologize if that bothers anyone. I know for many there seem to be no compensations for not knowing how to get along with other people. I know I am fortunate. And it's a toughie... and if I was faced with the choice, I'd probably just go insane.


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18 Jan 2011, 2:08 am

Absoluckingfutely I would!

Given the chance, I would even go one day with down syndrome, and maybe have schizophrenia the next day, etc.
(preferably on vacation days)

I believe the philosophy from the book Siddhartha, that living different lifestyles is good for the soul, it gives the benefit of perspective.


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DandelionFireworks
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18 Jan 2011, 2:09 am

Of course. I'd like to understand them. So long as it was only for a day, I'd love to experience all sorts of different ways of being! I'd really especially love to be ADHD, primarily hyperactive.


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TeaEarlGreyHot
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18 Jan 2011, 2:13 am

Yes, I would. I would finally understand the people around me.


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18 Jan 2011, 2:15 am

For me, personally, being Neurotypical for one day would not mean significant change. It would mean enhanced sociability and the ability to converse informally, and several other enhancements. However, I view AS as a disorder that enables an insight into NT behaviour, as well as Autistic.


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TeaEarlGreyHot
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18 Jan 2011, 2:18 am

Helixstein wrote:
For me, personally, being Neurotypical for one day would not mean significant change. It would mean enhanced sociability and the ability to converse informally, and several other enhancements. However, I view AS as a disorder that enables an insight into NT behaviour, as well as Autistic.


For the most part, I am capable of small talk. I just don't understand the need for it and many other social rituals. I want to understand it.

Also, I would love to know what it's like to not be afraid to touch something due to tactile issues.


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18 Jan 2011, 3:02 am

My Asperger's makes me who I am and I wouldn't give up my inner mindscape for anything, but I'd also do it just to get a sense of what life is like with ordinary sensory integration.

I went through a stage in my mid-twenties when my auditory and tactile sensitivity started decreasing (but didn't go away), and it was a real epiphany. I was diagnosed tactile defensive early, but I didn't even know I perceived sound differently - for the first time I understood how people could think playing music in restaurants was a good idea, or why people were confused when I asked them to turn the TV down and, to them, it was playing quite softly. It's made me more tolerant and considerate.

My sensory sensitivities have come back good and hard, but I have a better understanding of when to extricate myself from situations. If I want to get out the house and go work in a coffeeshop, I pick one that isn't playing music.



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18 Jan 2011, 3:19 am

BluePuppy wrote:
My Asperger's makes me who I am and I wouldn't give up my inner mindscape for anything, but I'd also do it just to get a sense of what life is like with ordinary sensory integration.

I went through a stage in my mid-twenties when my auditory and tactile sensitivity started decreasing (but didn't go away), and it was a real epiphany. I was diagnosed tactile defensive early, but I didn't even know I perceived sound differently - for the first time I understood how people could think playing music in restaurants was a good idea, or why people were confused when I asked them to turn the TV down and, to them, it was playing quite softly. It's made me more tolerant and considerate.

My sensory sensitivities have come back good and hard, but I have a better understanding of when to extricate myself from situations. If I want to get out the house and go work in a coffeeshop, I pick one that isn't playing music.


Interesting. When I was 7 I really couldn't understand how sock seams didn't drive everyone else crazy all day.



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18 Jan 2011, 3:29 am

Chronos wrote:
Interesting. When I was 7 I really couldn't understand how sock seams didn't drive everyone else crazy all day.


Wait, you mean they don't? :D



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18 Jan 2011, 3:35 am

Lao Tzu wrote:
People of the Tao
conform to the Tao.
People of Virtue
conform to Virtue.
People who lose the way
conform to the loss.


People of autism
conform to the autism
People of neurotypicality
conform to neurotypicality.

The truth is that I couldn't live as a neurotypical, even for a day. I am autistic, and that's all I could be.

Jeez, didn't Freaky Friday and all the other things with the exact same storyline teach people anything?

Edit: It's like y'all don't even read my blog. :P

Edit2: Aside from that, it's been shown that it's impossible for the human mind to actually predict what will make us happy. You may think that being neurotypical would make you happy, but the only thing that can really make you happy is being happy with who you are.


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Last edited by MrLoony on 18 Jan 2011, 3:51 am, edited 1 time in total.