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Yoshie777
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28 May 2007, 4:20 pm

I know that this is going to sound weird, but if you could, would you ever make a bet with any certain NTs on how to understand AS? Here's the thing: The NT is to go one week without speaking to or looking at his/her peers at all. Not only that, but they can't communicate with their peers in any other way, including by phone or by internet. They can talk to family, teachers, supervisors, and anyone else that is essential in his/her daily life. However, they can't communicate with their friends of any age or even speak to their girlfriend/boyfriend. The hardest part would be that they can't tell any of their peers about it before the week begins. Now at the end of the week, they are to answer the very question from the beginning: Do you know what it is like to live with AS? Unfortunately, this experiment could lead to devastating results for the NT, as certain circumstances during that week and the abrupt miscommunication can lead to true isolation in their life.

There were times where I thought of doing it to those who didn't really seem to understand me, one of them being my 14-year-old sister. However, I knew I could never pull it off and I knew that the consequences could be devastating. So, I would just leave it alone. But, have any of you ever felt like you wanted to do something like this? Challenging a NT to be totally alone for a whole week? If you have any thoughts, feel free to respond.



Scramjet
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28 May 2007, 4:34 pm

Heh, sounds like something you could pass on to TV stations as a whole new "ballgame" in reality TV...!

On a more serious note, I've read something about a way to "zap" an NT brain with an electromagnetic pulse, so that for a few hours thereafter, that NT would exhibit some quite Aspie-ish symptomes. This, I think, would give the NT's a somewhat broader understanding of what it means to be on the spectrum...!



greenblue
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28 May 2007, 4:38 pm

I haven't thought of that, but it sounds very interesting, after the end of the week they would have feel depressed and emotionally uncomfortable, maybe a few could end up really disturbed and very desoriented, must of them would be responding on how they really understand AS now, and that they didn't before, even if they heard of it.

Next experimenht should be of what is like to be missundertood by people around you and to not be able to understand them. Putting a NT person in a house for a week with a few people who would act in a way that this person won't understand them and they would not understand him.



kiki3
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28 May 2007, 5:43 pm

I think it's a good idea that would work best if the NT person were placed in a new environment (ie: a new school, workplace). They should be able to tell their real life friends that they won't be having any contact with them, until after the experiment is over. That way, it won't have any negative effect on their relationships. They shouldn't be allowed to have much eye contact with any of the NT's in their new environment, but they should be given a few pat phrases that they're allowed to say to them.



willem
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28 May 2007, 5:47 pm

You'd have to tweak that "game" a bit, because what you propose doesn't quite seem to hit the essence of the social differences between Aspies and NT's. You'd have to tell the NT to go for a week making no assumptions of any kind with regard to what other people want or think, other than based on the literal meaning of what they explicitly say. So the NT "player" must disregard any social instincts present in him or her, as well as any observed "body language" and non-literal meaning of words. It probably isn't possible for the NT player to do this, because his/her social instincts are largely subconscious and not subject to control.


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