How are autistic people fundamentally different than NTs?

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I'm interested in the community's view on this matter. What counts as 'fundamentally different'? I'm not sure A working definition could be: a type of experience or a mind / brain mechanism, which autistic people have and NTs don't have or vice versa. Or maybe, there are no fundamental differences, but a continuum of traits which most people have, just not so many and to a lesser extent? Are potential fundamental differences caused by autistic traits themselves or by interactions with (social and non-social) environment? And so on... Both personal experiences and scientific theories are welcome.

This is a broad question so I'll give my thoughts: I feel some people are scared of us because we are more intelligent than average and they can't figure how to relate to us. Also we don't mind and really prefer being by ourselves.

Its not a question that can easily be answered because autism genes, possible other causes of autism or biology of autism doesn't respect psychology or the 3 categories on a diagnostic bit of paper.

Some autism genes cause ID or epilepsy, tics, anxiety , schizophrenia, balance problems, co-ordination problems & physical health issues.

Others may just be related to social anxiety or communication.

Separating what is what is a work in progress, but for now its just the crude label "autism"

the definition of autism most accepted by science today is that autism is "unevenly developed neurology" .

It is to be assumed then, that NT folks' neurology is more evenly developed. There's the difference.

I'm just as human as anyone, whether 'NT' or autistic.

In terms of differences, these come to mind:

-More introverted
-Less comfortable in certain social environments
-Neurologically different

Being autistic is - in my view - a subjective medical opinion.

Remember, autism is a relatively new phenomenon. For most of human history, someone with autism
would still have to survive without any labels or medical understanding.

I am a NT sociologist. My research area, when I was doing research, was in autistic adults. I am married to a man with Asperger's and I have a son with ADHD.

Let's imagine there is a needed item on a roof.

Neurotypical people (excluding all major mind differences) have a innate herd mentality which helps us quickly gain skills or resources quickly in a group. We are less effective alone. NTs would naturally form a human pyramid and gain the item.

Autistic people would find an item or circumstance that would allow them to obtain the item from the roof. They would be less likely to need others for help.

Both methods are valid. A healthy society needs both kinds of people.

In that case I'm definitely not NT But isn't it a bit conflating autism with introversion? I think there are a lot of NTs who don't gain skills quickly in a group and are much more effective alone. And I heard there are some autistic extraverts out there

My brother is an autistic extrovert, and even he prefers going it alone when it comes to getting things done.

NT seem to be governed by their emotions and struggle to understand or utilize logic in their lives. ND seem to be governed by logic and struggle to understand or utilize emotions in their lives. I have been told I think too much, by a NT who I could tell could barely rub 2 thoughts together without getting a migraine.

Many NT I know seem to be unable or unwilling to be alone with their thoughts while most ND I know seem to be most happy and at peace when alone with their thoughts. Without their herd they are lost, with their herd we get lost.

Both seem to wear masks, but for different reasons and with different mindsets. Both seem to utilize masks to create the impression in others that we are different than who we truly are, but for different outcomes. Example, NT wears a suit because NT social rules say a suit says the wearer is an important person and they want to be perceived as important. A ND wears a suit because they see all the NT's around them wearing them and just want to seem acceptable.

NT's seem to have an inherent belief that ND's are strange and thus it is completely acceptable to treat them as less than human. Most ND's see NT's as strange, yet still treat them as a person.

I think that we autistic people have an interior world in which we prefer to remain, and the cable link to the social world is narrow, with very low bandwidth, so social data does not travel, or get processed as quickly by our brains. I think it is 100% genetic and 100% biological and has to do with brain development and how the brain is wired. I also wonder whether it is something like vestigial Neanderthal genes. Maybe one day we will know.

As a child, I was slow to develop social skills on par with my peers. Even though my parents and teachers regarded me as gifted, yet I had profound problems making and maintaining friends, and did not develop effective coping mechanisms for problems I encountered. I also believe that my parents both had Asperger's, both were on the spectrum, which should not be uncommon really. I believe my brother also has it.

It was all very puzzling to me for decades, until all these online tests became available for Asperger's, and then, as I was searching for answers, a light bulb went on. A-ha! Though it was a case of too late, for me, still it is pleasant to have insight into my life and not feel like I failed. Instead, I just feel like I did great, in light of what might seem to be a handicap, certainly in the social sphere.

The NT introvert would be on the inside of the pyramid.

The autist extravert might go about on the street asking for ideas about the item on the roof.

If I had to guess at a fundamental difference, I’d probably choose this.

NT: in social situations, “what other people think” is the number one priority
Autism:in social situations, “what other people think” is not the number one priority.

NT people like to be around people during their free time. We like to have alone time during our free time.

It's hard for me to say what the most fundamental difference is between my Aspie self and NTs.

To take a stab at it, I'd say it might be my slow, thorough thinking style. It's often too slow for NTs, and too in-depth for them, but if I'm allowed time to complete my thinking process, I seem to understand the topic in much more depth than NTs would. I find it quite frustrating to have conversations with anybody who isn't deep, because they always change the subject before I feel it's been exhausted, as if I'm being shut down.

It's not necessarily a strength. But I do find it very satisfying to figure things out in such depth. But it might be too much to claim that all Aspies have the same capacity for such intellectual rigour. It's possible, but probably doesn't happen so much if the Aspie hasn't been educated in science and rewarded well for good performance in critical, objective thinking like I was. In other words, if the Aspie did arts rather than science, or did little of either, the potential for science might never be realised. Hope that makes sense.

Neurological differences can be hard to reconcile with behaviour. I once saw a man with some kind of brain lesion who was very perplexed that he couldn't draw a clock face any more. Every time he tried, he was baffled as to why he couldn't just draw the damn thing. Unlike the effects of a broken leg, the behavioral changes were anything but obviously related to the physical, neurological change.

That’s interesting. I guess, many NTs are able to think deeply and thoroughly and do it e.g. at work, but don’t like to think this way in free time. I, on the other hand, can’t think VERY deaply, because I face some mental barriers, but like to think or talk QUITE deeply about one topic in all circumstances, including free time conversations. But it is still an ongoing internal debate for me if I’m NT or not

Many of your posts so far say about preferring being or working alone vs in group. It seemed to me more of an introversion vs extraversion distinction rather than NT vs autism, but then, the notion of introversion is quite imprecise. So, I entertained myself with a bit of overthinking and thought up different, not always overlapping, meanings of the term.
• Introvert type A: prefers being alone rather than with others (even in 1:1 settings); is interested more in one own’s interests / thoughts.
• Introvert type B: works and learns better alone, but likes to hang out with others in free time.
• Introvert type C: socialising drains energy rather than gives more energy, but can still be important; for extravert type C meeting others is a form of relax, for introvert type C it’s more like exercising – worthwhile, but exhausting in the long term.
• Introvert type D: likes to spend time and works/learns well in small groups in quiet environments, but is overwhelmed by large groups.

Different combinations are possible, e.g. one can prefer to work alone, but recharge batteries by going to parties; or one can drain batteries even on 1:1 meetings in a quiet place, but still prefer it over being alone etc.

I guess, among NTs different types are normally distributed (maybe with avarages being a bit more on the extravert side), which means there are quite a few “totally introvert” NTs. Extraverts of types A-D at once are these mythical social creatures, NTs are often compared to (sociosaurs). Certainly, there are people like that, but I don’t think they’re a majority. In autistics it’s probably much more skewed to the introvert side and likely there are no “total extraverts”.

But it’s only my rambling, so don’t believe me.

I really like this, very well thought out and needed. I've always struggled with the all or nothing type of definition of introversion. I feel that when I was young I was probably a type c or d, depending on surrounding circumstances within and without. As I've gotten older and dealt with a series of emotional and psychological trauma, and PTSD, I find myself trying to slowly crawl myself from a type a to type b style existence. I love and sometimes absolutely need time by myself to be alone with my thoughts, but I also love and occasionally need to have human interactions to keep my sanity and emotional balance.