The NT spectrum

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People talk about the Autistic spectrum in light of the fact there's differing severities of several autistic traits that a given person possesses; this variation is embodied in the quote "When you've met an autistic person, you've met one autistic person". One could have any particular severity of the following traits:

Theory of mind deficits
Language awareness and conformance
Body language reception
Body language expression
Tonality reception
Tonality expression
Sensory Hypersensitivity
Mental Flexibility
Literal-mindedness
Imaginativeness

For example, one could be particularly adept at ToM but yet have sensory sensitivities. Or, I'd imagine, one could have ToM deficits and be a tad literal minded but have little to no sensory sensitivities.

And there's probably a couple of others. Well, when NTs are talked about, it's often treated as if there's an archetypal "NT person" who is sociable, outgoing and is able to talk to anyone and has many friends. But, guess what? It's a spectrum, too!

They also vary in...

Theory of mind deficits
Language awareness and conformance
Body language reception
Body language expression
Tonality reception
Tonality expression
Hypersensitivity
Mental Flexibility / Latent inhibition
Literal-mindedness
Imaginativeness

And they're further characterized in the NT world by terms like...

Creativity
Niceness
Intelligence
Funniness
Fun/Exciting (Versus boring)
Hotness
Confidence
Craziness
Worry-Wartedness

And if dig a little deeper into the psychological or academic realm, you get terms like

Introversion
Disagreeableness
Conscientiousness
Openness
Narcissicism
Schizotypy
Neuroticism

And, so, the NT world is a spectrum.

Of course it's a spectrum! ADD is a spectrum too. So is Depression, Schizophrenia, and all of human experience. All disorders are spectrum in nature. Those spectrums are, in turn part of an overall spectrum probably rightly called "The Human Experience."

"Neurotypical," if you didn't already realize, is a term coined within the Autistic community, to refer to people who are NOT Autistic.

In other words, "NT" means nothing more than that a person does not display any, or enough of, the symptoms required to qualify as Autistic. It doesn't necessarily mean NT's don't have ANY Autistic traits.

To both of you - exactly!

"In other words, "NT" means nothing more than that a person does not display any, or enough of, the symptoms required to qualify as Autistic. It doesn't necessarily mean NT's don't have ANY Autistic traits."

I have written in other posts that I believe all people are on the "Autism" spectrum. I stand by that. This goes some way to prove my point.



Though we may disagree whether there is an Autism spectrum and an NT spectrum or just one spectrum, as possibly allued to by poster #2.

Personality and function.

I guess a multidimensional scale could plot it all.

On one is the Meyers Brigs introversion to extroversion scale. This is an emotional scale, due to the rewarding of such behaviors, e.g. "Intros" are rewarded with isolation, or thinking alone.

Another is intellectual cognition. Everyone is aware of the limits of IQ testing, but imagine other compartments of cognition: creativity , ToM , executive function, musical, etc.

Out of these scales you have the human experience.

You can say 10 percent of extroverts are at one end, and 10 percent of introverts fall into the polar other side.

Getting away from the poles you have a more homogeneous mix of personalities-- less extreme.

Get someone with extraordinary visual-spatial ability, along with that arises mathematical ability.

If you get a brain that has universally strong intellectual components, then you have a William James Sidis.

Of course this is true. When you've met one NT, you've met one NT. I know an NT who has skin sensitivity, repeats herself over and over again, and is a very logical thinker, but is still NT. She is good at making and keeping friends, and is naturally chatty to a lot of people. Once she even made friends with a complete stranger by just standing 5 minutes in a queue, and next week they are going to meet up for lunch. I couldn't make a friend that quick for toffee.



''We all forget things at times, but that doesn't mean we've all got Alzheimer's''.

Yes, I agree that NTs are a spectrum too and vary a lot on the abilities listed.