It's possible that a NT can show few autistic traits?

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When i went to school, one of my classmate showed traits like stimming, special interests and a bad insomnia. But his social skills were normal, and he seemed pretty NT to me. So i am curious if it's possible that a NT can have some traits of autism without being autistic or aspie.

Yes. I have a couple traits but am NT. I am pedantic and don't like change.

Yes. Not only is it possible, but its true.

I suspect that there are a number of traits which could be considered "autistic". And I suspect that many of them are independent of each other; that is, just because you have traits A or B doesn't mean you're necessarily more likely to have traits X and Y.

If we knew which traits those were, we could then put everyone on a spectrum, from "very NT" (with 0 traits) to "very autistic" (with all of the traits).

Somewhere on that spectrum, based on things like ability to cope or function in the world or other measures, we'd draw a line, and say "OK, on this side of the line you're NT, on that side of the line you have some type of autism."

If that model is true (as I suspect it is), then yes, there are NT's with autistic traits. Not enough to "qualify" for a diagnosis, but perhaps just a few here and there.

Yes. But insomnia and special interests aren't necessarily aspie traits.

All of us aspies here have some NT traits.

All NT's will have some AS traits

Society's norms create that line in the continuum, where diagnosis criteria dictates which side of the line you are.

As criteria changes, the line moves to either end of this continuum.

Add to this the variability of a developmental disorder, and an individual could cross that line, maybe many times as their brain function changes with episodes of neurological health

robertyknwt, great way to explain your answer!

Me, I think I'm over the line (like Joey in Friends sais, "the line is a dot to me" )

Lots of people who don't have autism show traits of it... stimming comes to mind as a common one. Or poor social skills. Or a speech delay. All kinds of things. But a few traits does not autism make.

From what I understand, autistic "traits" are common in the human species. Those with ASDs have the traits in excess and do not possess other traits the rest of the population has, like how to build successful relationships while interacting with others. We can do it, but it takes a lot more work.
It's a trade off of what comes naturally and what doesn't.

I would say yes since I believe I ride that line. As a psychologist put it, I am not robotic enough to be an Aspie. But I am not NT enough to understand body language or inflection. I am Aspie enough to have mild auditory problems, enough to make me overload. But I am NT enough to do fine in social situations where the relationships are defined (Just don't ask me to "read between the lines" or not take everything literally). So which side of the line do I fall on? And is it relevant? I believe in the idea of a spectrum and any demarcation line is arbitrary.

It is possible. Both of my parents show acouple of traits and they're both NT.

I'm sure it is. I myself would probably fall into this category, and I had a friend I know would as well. Like some others have mentioned, I think everybody can show some traits of AS but that doesn't mean they have it.

Lots of disorders can give rise to autistic traits, even if those traits were not always visible. When I was diagnosed with AS with co-morbid anxiety, they had to get to the roots: which one came first. They told me anxiety can cause some autistic-like traits in some people even though they do not have autism, unless the autistic symptoms were there first, of course. There are other conditions that many with ASD have; however, not all people with these other conditions have ASD (ie. hyperlexia, sensory processing disorder, etc). I don't know if those people qualify as NT, but anyway, they are not all autisitc. Also, I am sure there are some people out there who have no diagnosable disorders, yet they have a few autistic traits, like stimming or liking stability. These traits might be autistic-like, but they are not identical in their roots obviously.

My wife is not on the spectrum, but has some traits common to the spectrum. The source of the traits is not biological, but due to certain circumstances in her formative and teen years. A correlation from a different cause.

All of us have personality traits and features of various disorders. One of the dangers of self-diagnosis or casual diagnoses seeing too much that can be related to our observations and knowledge of self. There are things in every disorder to which we can relate.

I have a history of being on the borderline of NT and AS. My social skills are mostly fine, but I stim, have supersensitivities, intense interests and all that fun AS stuff.

I just say, forgoe all the scientific names, I'm just an eccentric artist.

Hell yeah it's possible, just like someone who may be a bit of a germ fanatic may not be OCD. I get annoyed actually when people say so-and-so has Aspergers or is autistic just because they are a little shy or geeky. It's a spectrum, as we all know, and I think the label of ASD should only be applied to people who have significant affectations and disability.

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