What is the opposite of autism?

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I'm not able to think details, I just see things very globally. My way of thinking is always zooming out of systems. I Just think i terms of directions. My brains refuse to go in details and specifics. What do I have?

From what you say, you are simply "whole picture oriented". It's just a learning/thinking style, not a specific condition. Then autism is not only being detail oriented.

The opposite of autism is psychosis if you consider the perception (autists are hyper-perceptive and psychotics are hypo-perceptive) but I don't think it is your case.

I'm not sure there is one. The term NT, which many people think of as "normal" encompasses too much, and by the definition some use as being "non autistic" someone could be in sociopathic and still be considered NT . William Syndrome has been thought to be by some because of the hyper social aspects but people with Williams Syndrome have some of the same problems as those with autism. You speak of problems with paying attention to detail which could be accounted for by severe ADHD (possibly?)

That's interesting. I never knew that. Why aren't autists hyper perceptive then, when it comes to non verbal cues? My nephew is paranoid schizophrenic and he finds meaning in insignificant details.

Actually it's not we don't *see* the non verbal cues in terms of not being able to notice that the face has moved; we do see them, but just as we see lots of other details; we have troubles at interpreting them, that is to say filtering that e.g. your facial expression is more important than that pattern on the wall paper; plus we have issues at linking the cues to the correct state of mind; we take the details objectively instead of mentalizing them.
Psychotics on the other hand tend to "fill the gaps" even when there is no gap; that is why they attach a meaning to details with e.g. paranoid implications; actually it is not that they don't see details either, but they interpret too much; they are hypo-perceptive in the meaning they do not stick to perception but see intentions where there aren't any.

Thanks for clarifying that for me, Tsukimi. I certainly see facial expressions, if I'm looking at people. I'm often looking off to the side. I probably socially paranoid enough to over interpret them though. I remember talking to a therapist and telling her I thought I would be good at something. She glanced away and I was sure that meant she thought I was kidding myself.

My boyfriend's mom, rather than not being able to read facial cues or body language, picks up every tiny detail - she's highly sensitive to everyone else's emotions and stories, to the point where it can be stressful to be around large groups of people where they all have a story, because she gets how they're struggling.

I'm curious whether someone at that extreme is prone to be related to autistic people - the current theory is that two of her four kids are autistic (both AS, neither diagnosed).

I once read in a magazine that it is something called William's Syndrome.

Neurotypicalism.

Heh may you be right, but the fact that I spent my whole like trying to figure out what wrong with me because I suck at everything I do. I would be a very untypical neurotypical. Heh

I never had hallucination so I don't think so, but it is true that I have a tendency to paranoia. (quite rightly besides )

heuuuu I just google that but it's some physical issue right? I look normal so I don't think it's that.

I have diagnosed AS and schizophrenia and I don't really agree to be honest.

I think the opposite of autism is plethism, what we call neurotypicalism here.

Plethism: being naturally tuned into people as social beings in social groups
Autism: natural lack of plethism

In terms of visual perception, the autistic brain tends to see thing as physical details devoid of social meaning. An autistic person looking someone in the eye may notice the iris specks, iris ring, iris color, sclera color, veins, eye shape, eyelid creases, eye corner wrinkles, eyelash length, eyelash curl, eyebrow shape, eyebrow thickness, eyebrow length, single eyebrows that are much longer than most other eyebrows, etc, while not mentalizing about the person's state of mind behind the eyes. A plethistic person may mentalize extensively, including reading way too much into what is not there or projecting themselves onto the person, while missing the physical details of the eye region.

Firstly, mini-rant - NT does not mean non-autistic! A DS kid with an IQ of 50 and a relative strength in social skills is not NT, but they aren't autistic either!

OK, now that I have that out of my system...

According to the EQ SQ, you can be an 'Extreme Empathizer'. That's probably the closest I've seen to an opposite for autism. Incidentally I've heard that many Extreme Empathizers end up marrying autistics, because they're impressed by autistic talents and the autistic partner is impressed by their social skills. Many such marriages can be rocky because the partners are so vastly different, but some make it work.

Nope, psychotics can be hyperperceptive and autistics can be hypoperceptive. Many schizophrenics struggle with sensory overload, which can be both exacerbated by and a trigger for hallucinations. And some autistics will hurt themselves without feeling any pain, or act like they're deaf because they don't notice sounds, etc.

To a removed and disinterested (valid and objective) observer, the signs of the opposite of autism would be classic sociopathology, with the canonical theoretical model being the character of Iago from Shakespeare's "Othello".

Tadzio