Autism and mixed undertypes
Is it possible to have a mix of aloof type and active but odd in the same person?
Meaning that severe autism makes you distant and cut off from other people (in extreme cases the person is not even aware of the presence of others), but you still are able to act kind of extroverted/impulsive/talkative sometimes (having a drive to express your self and be active)? Like sometimes being indifferent and unaware of people and sometimes being "active but odd". Maybe at the same time?
I´m asking because i'm an neurotypical introvert, and i have heard the idea that autism is just extreme introversion, and i wanna find out
if the idea is right or wrong, because the idea is disturbing to me (I feel like they are saying my introversion is a disease state).
If the answer is yes the idea is wrong, because then the aloofness is another thing outside of normal introversion/extroversion with a different cause (because you cant be extremely introverted and act extroverted at the same time).
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Autism != extreme introversion
Autism != disease state
introversion != disease state
Maybe I'll add more to this answer...
An example of a mix between aloof and active but odd would be Narcissism and Schizotypal comorbid. True aloofness has nothing to do with whether or not you are introverted or extroverted. People may mistake aloofness in introversion but there is nothing in introversion that makes aloofness inherent.
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You mean autism with either narcissism or skizotypal or do you mean narcissism and skizotypal together?
I'm talking about the kind of aloofness you see in severe autism (and if you can be active but odd at the same time)
I would like if some could answer my specifc answer, so i could get the idea clarified.
Meaning that severe autism makes you distant and cut off from other people (in extreme cases the person is not even aware of the presence of others), but you still are able to act kind of extroverted/impulsive/talkative sometimes (having a drive to express your self and be active)? Like sometimes being indifferent and unaware of people and sometimes being "active but odd". Maybe at the same time?
This paragraph makes no sense to me. What, precisely, is "active but odd"? Autism does not equate to a vegetative state.
While introversion is common amongst people on the spectrum, it is not universal, and nowhere in the criteria is it stated that "autism is just extreme introversion". You have been misinformed.
As a side note, I find your implication that autism is a disease highly offensive.
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I disagree. I am introverted, but express in an extroverted manner. I speak openly (extroverted), but place great value on my privacy, inner thought process and solitude (introverted).
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Seph
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Meaning that severe autism makes you distant and cut off from other people (in extreme cases the person is not even aware of the presence of others), but you still are able to act kind of extroverted/impulsive/talkative sometimes (having a drive to express your self and be active)? Like sometimes being indifferent and unaware of people and sometimes being "active but odd". Maybe at the same time?
An example of this I see would be an autistic child who has echolalia. I don't see how one can be both withdrawn and socially active at the same time other than this. Not all autistics (even severe) are really withdrawn.
if the idea is right or wrong, because the idea is disturbing to me (I feel like they are saying my introversion is a disease state).
This is the reason why I reacted the way I did at first. Do you understand the logic of what you said?
If autism is extreme introversion
and introversion is a disease state
then autism is a disease state
And I'm ticked off. grrr. See the first part of my first answer for the answer to this.
I think though that people who are introverted still can be emotionally close to people so I don't think aloofness really relates to introversion.
I'm talking about the kind of aloofness you see in severe autism (and if you can be active but odd at the same time)
I would like if some could answer my specifc answer, so i could get the idea clarified.
Bleh, The Narc schizotypal example was when I read arrogance into aloofness but I think my definition was off. I wasn't including autism in it at all... Maybe this answer helps a touch more?
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severe autistics are not all introverted, introversion is not necessary in any area of autism, I've seen youtube video's about obviously extroverted low funtioning autistics who weren't verbal.
Anyhoo, of course you can be mixed, be both aloof and active but odd.
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I'm sorry. I understand it could sound like i implied autism was an disease state, but that was not my point. I personally just get a negative mental picture in my head, when i think of severe autism, and thats why i feel they are saying it is a kind of mistake. Of course the person with
autism overall is not a mistake, it is just that there are some problems, so it is completly inside of my own head the negativity about autism sits and i know it is wrong, but thats just how it looks inside my head and makes me feel the way i do.
I guess my first question was hard to understand. I did'nt ask if they can be withdrawn and socially active at the same time. It was more:
If you can lack emotional connection and still be active, but odd in the same person (maybe the lack of emotional connection makes the person seem withdrawn sometimes, but the person still is active, but odd, so it may show both sides in the same person??)
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I don't understand the question.
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'not only has he hacked his intellect away from his feelings, but he has smashed his feelings and his capacity for judgment into smithereens'.
Seph
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autism overall is not a mistake, it is just that there are some problems, so it is completly inside of my own head the negativity about autism sits and i know it is wrong, but thats just how it looks inside my head and makes me feel the way i do.
No worries. The more appropriate term is disorder.
If you can lack emotional connection and still be active, but odd in the same person (maybe the lack of emotional connection makes the person seem withdrawn sometimes, but the person still is active, but odd, so it may show both sides in the same person??)
Still clear as mud. Are you asking if people can be socially active without an emotional connection? I imagine so but the motivation would be different.
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Being Bipolar will propably make it possible to be both at the same time, actions can contradict a persons personality so "being" introverted doesn't necessarily mean you can't "act" extroverted
Last edited by kaiouti on 04 Jun 2011, 8:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Meaning that severe autism makes you distant and cut off from other people (in extreme cases the person is not even aware of the presence of others), but you still are able to act kind of extroverted/impulsive/talkative sometimes (having a drive to express your self and be active)? Like sometimes being indifferent and unaware of people and sometimes being "active but odd". Maybe at the same time?
I´m asking because i'm an neurotypical introvert, and i have heard the idea that autism is just extreme introversion, and i wanna find out
if the idea is right or wrong, because the idea is disturbing to me (I feel like they are saying my introversion is a disease state).
If the answer is yes the idea is wrong, because then the aloofness is another thing outside of normal introversion/extroversion with a different cause (because you cant be extremely introverted and act extroverted at the same time).
Autism is not extreme introversion. Some people with autism are extroverts. My daughter and I aren't diagnosed (daughter is being assessed currently and a diagnosis is looking likely). We're both extroverts; I developed extreme shyness, but I'm still an extrovert. If you think your introversion is a disease state, is it not possible that you're shy or have a social phobia (which isn't healthy). Introversion is a totally fine way of being and should not cause you to feel this way.
I guess my question does'nt make sense to other people, so lets forget about it.
And no. I dont experience it as disease state en any way. I'm just talking about the belief somebody has about it being extreme of introversion.
Maybe you can say that severe autism causes introverted behaviour, but not that introversion in itself creates autism.
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Autism is often mistaken for extreme introversion.
Yes, it possible to have a mix in the same person. I was very aloof as a child, because I didn't know that thoughts, needs, and desires could and should actually be communicated to those other things, big and small, whatever they were that approached me and made some noises that I didn't understand. But once I made the realization that this was a form of sharing what was inside their heads with me, then I became active and tried to express all the stuff in my head and the other things didn't seem to understand what I was saying and never displayed social and emotional reciprocity with me by expressing the stuff in their heads generated in response to the stuff in my head so I could generate some more stuff into my head to express to them.
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It was hard to understand your message.
By "to those other things" do you mean humans?
By "made some noises that I didn't understand" do you mean people talkning that you first thought was noise?
And then you realized that they were people that tried to communicate their thoughts?
The last part i did'nt understand at all.
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Yes, I meant humans when I said "those other things". As a child, I truly did not understand that people besides my parents were people as well, meaning that I could also communicate with them like I could communicate with my parents. No one ever explained it to me, because they assumed that I understood this point that is obvious to other children. But I didn't get it until very late in childhood development. Once I figured it out, I wanted to and did communicate with people, but by that time, my social and communication skills were far behind.
The noises were speech. A lot of autistic people have auditory processing issues, especially in busy environments like school where it's hard to process the speech of people in addition to all the background noises and non-auditory information. These issues were more severe for me in childhood, so I couldn't consistently understand what was said to me. Combine this with not realizing that people were people and that people were communicating with me through speech, and you get a very aloof child who does not speak or respond when spoken to. You might think the child is extremely introverted or shy but still knows all these basic things, but the real story is that the child is autistic and does not know these basics. As an adult, now that I know the basics, I have a balance of introversion and extroversion.
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