Explain your experience with Autistic people.

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I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder which has given me social problems as well since I excessively talk to the point where people want to beat me up, and I'm unable to listen to people in a conversation without dazing off. A side from these symptoms, I often come off as a 'spaz' or as being 'rude and disruptive'. After being told that I might be Autistic, I decided to look it up and I decided to look up ADHD as well (which matched me completely), and I was then diagnosed with that. This got me to want to work with Autistic people since I had social problems as well, and I felt that maybe I can relate to them. This made me volunteer in an Autistic care home with a friend of mine who apparently has Asperger's Syndrome as well.

This all taught me that Autistic people are often better friends than neurotypicals are (I'm not a neurotypical) which made me want to befriend more of them since these people are often brutally honest folks who would never steal, folks who aren't going to judge you on average, people who wouldn't hurt you or inappropriately laugh at you (unless they have laughing spells) and folks who just want to have fun and fit in. But they can't with how inconsiderate, intolerant, rock-like, arrogant and ill-minded society is today towards them (they are like this to me for having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder which is a pain in the *** in my opinion). Neurotypicals have issues socially as well, and it's not like they are mind readers. I have neurotypical friends, but my best friends happen to be Autistic since they are less likely to call me 'spaz' or 'ret*d'. I don't see why society resent Autistic people so much, and a lot of them would be perfect for jobs regardless of how flat their faces and emotions are. So what is your experience with Autistic people? I would personally prefer answers from people with Autism, Asperger's Syndrome or ADHD, but anybody can answer if they feel like it.

Same here (I have AS and ADHD). That really sucks.

You're right. ADHD sucks. People often don't realize how hard it can be, and don't know you must take meds for that.

About my experience with autistic people, I can say I've met some of them (9 or 10 until now, excluding myself), and others with ADHD, and I can say I can relate more to those with ADHD. I don't know, I feel like 60-65% ADHD and 40-35% Asperger's. I have a friend who has autistic traits, but she's obviously not completely autistic, she only has some traits. I've never became friend with those with AS I met, because when I met them I was too worried going on and on about my interests to socialize with them, but I also met autistic people that wanted to socialize with me, though I've never became really friend with them. Well, I saw them only 5 or 6 times, it was too little time for a friendship.

Tbh out of the few I've encountered I've never met people that I've so disagreed with lol. At least some can explain their opinions unlike a lot of NTs. The aspies I've met tend to speak from a more emotional base rather than a logical one. They may believe its logical in their own heads but you can hear and reason that its emotional. They need the emotional comfort their interests give them. I would also categorise myself as a more emotional aspie rather than logical. From meeting them its easy to see why they are not popular but its still hazy to know why I am not popular lol..

I get along really well with LFAs. They often seem fascinated by me, noticing my autistic mannerisms and such. And I get them better than most people. It can also be quite relaxing to forget about speech and focus entirely on nonverbal communication.

An NT family friend has a four-year-old LFA son whom I really like. He's nonverbal, but just a lot of fun to be around. I don't get that way around small children in general - in fact, I tend to dislike most children. I get the feeling he's going to be very interesting as he gets older.

On the whole, though, I've met aspies or suspected aspies and other autistic people I've disliked intensely, and others I've gotten along with exceedingly well.

Same!

Like everyone else, some non-neurotypicals can be insufferable and illogical, believing only their opinions can be valid, dismissing facts and logic when it's presented. Some can be among the most logical people one has ever met. Some are perverts, while others are disgusted by crude jokes/behavior. There are spectrumites who lie, cheat and steal (yet deny it on the basis that their condition makes it impossible to do so), and those who are extremely honest (even to their own disadvantage). I've met Aspies/Auties who are in synch with current trends and mainstream culture and I've met those who are not. Like normies, we are not a homogenized population.

I've met some very nice people with AS from WP, luckily enough! But before that, there was one person with AS who I would consider kind of creepy and didn't really get along with him - me being an aspie made me feel like they were more interested in me as a romantic partner than as a friend, which was hard because I was not interested in dating him. He made inappropriate jokes and was basically harassing me and stalking me for a while. I don't think that he understood what behaviour was appropriate.

There were a couple of people who I knew who I suspected had AS as well in university. I also couldn't get along with them because the conversations were very one-sided, and sometimes I felt like they didn't think that I was smart enough to contribute meaningfully to the conversation (I was in the same program - I thought that it might be a gender thing) because they didn't listen when I talked. They seemed to only talk to the men in my group of friends and avoided eye contact with me.

I've met nice people, bad people, jerks, and people who were completely out to lunch, and that's usually before lunch.

People are people, while the processing style is different, and the social exclusion really screws things up, Aspies are no different than anyone else in that regard. "If you've met one Aspie, you've met one Aspie".

I too like the straightforward communication style of autistic people; and they always seem to know about things. You can get them started on their favorite subject and get a free lecture about it. I like that.

It's really just a preference, though. There's nothing wrong with NTs and I've had NT friends. I don't think they're bad people. They're just more complicated to interact with.

yup that's us, that brought a tear to my eye.

I have no experience with autistic people except myself. But it sounds nice and I would love to be around people as honest and full of information as me!

*Looks around* oh yeah! hi guys!

Sorry you're wrong about that. Autistic people are not immune to the vice of theft. I know an Autistic guy who is high school age who has been caught at this more than once. And yes, he knew what he was doing.

Also, while some autistic folks are brutally honest they are also not immune to the vice of lying. Some autistic folks have lying behavior to the point that it's a problem that negatively impacts their relationships.

I am not bashing, I am simply challenging some of your assumptions.


I am not sure whether you are saying that the treatment you receive from NTs is a pain or whether you're saying that having ADHD is a pain. Or both?

As for having ADHD, I sympathize. It must be truly tiring to need to monitor your behavior moment to moment and needing to be on meds presents it's own complicated problems.

Interpersonal behavior is a two way street. It's not even possible for everyone to be always making allowances for the intrusive, disruptive behavior often foisted upon them by suffers of ADHD; even if they understand the problem and sympathize. I'll give you an example:

A guy at work with ADHD used to interrupt me often when I was working with customers and during financial transactions. Interrupting when I was working with customers was rude and it was bad customer service for another employee to interfere; costing everyone time and loss of focus. Interrupting in the financial area was flat out bad; I believe he was trying to trip me up; to make mistakes because he was so competitive. And, he thought it was funny; when I told him to knock it off he always said he was just joking. Eventually I had to tell him that he'd used up all his chances with me and that the next time I would go directly to a manager about it. Was I intolerant? You bet I was. He was interfering with my job.

His behavior toward me was inconsiderate, intolerant, rock-like & arrogant. I never called him names; I only ever asked him to not interrupt me when I was working with customers and he never honored my request until I threatened him. And yes, I understood that he had a very hard time controlling his impulses. Understand, however, I never interfered with him when he was working. He did not offer the same respect as a co-worker doing the same job that I offered him.


Correct.

P.S: We have probably @ 10 folks with autism in my workplace. I like and get along with 9 of them. And while I am not close friends with all of the nine, I suspect that all of them are quite capable of being very good friends.

Could you please elaborate? I'd be very interested in knowing what you mean by that.
Edit: Not the least offended or anything, just curious what you observed

I've never met another person with autism that I knew was autistic other than from my own family. My cousin has been diagnosed, but she lives in another country and I've only met her twice, both briefly. She seems nice, though. My dad has traits and I get along really well with him. In fact, I tend to get along really well with people who aren't necessarily autistic but have a few oddities.

It would certainly be interesting to meet other autistic people.

I think the same roles of society affect autistics too, and so I just find as much valueable relationships with a NT as an ADHD or ASD given that they have the same interests, the same world view (or respect and understanding for it) and the same/nearly the same kind of personality. My best friends are NT's. and that I think is just a coincidence; they was at the right place at the right time.