Do you ever feel "normal" compared to others?

Post Reply New Topic

I know we're all on the autism spectrum and considered "disabled" by many, but do you sometimes feel "normal" compared to many others in the world? I suppose it's because I watch a lot of comedy shows (reruns on FX such as King of the Hill, Malcolm in the Middle, and so forth), but I always get the feeling that many of the characters in these shows are a bunch of freaks. I suppose I like these shows because they make me feel better know that, despite being autistic, there are far bigger freaks in the world than I.

Thats one of my survival tactics. I tell myself, "it's not me who's screwed up, it's everyone else." Over time, it has been quite effective. I don't have to tell myself anymore. I actually believe it, and for the most part, it's true.

No. Never.

I think that is one of the symptoms of being on the autism spectum is that we all feel 'normal' in our own actions even when others not of our mind see our behavior as bizarre.

I see people on TV care so much about things I have no interest in at all. I see product placement and it doesn't look like my home at all. I am always looking into a different world no matter what the name of the sit com is.

I do it to inculcate what others expect in my behaviour so I can mimic that behaviour that seems so normal to 'them'. that makes my life easier. Other than that, I have no interest.

Merle

Of course the TV characters are freaks. Who's going to watch a show about normal, boring people living daily lives?

In my experience, some people are freaks on the inside and not out. Many NTs fall under this category.

I think I was quite lucky, I grew up all these years believing I'm the most normal person on earth until I was a teenager. I had it figured out quite early, that there was a difference between myself and all other people I knew, but I was absolutely convinced and never doubted myself a second that it was everybody else who was... odd.

I do feel perfectly normal today too. I'm aware that I'm not normal in many respects, but maybe I'm just a bit oblivious emotionally, because I don't feel different or feel bad about it, until I get reminded by others that they consider themselves as normal as I consider myself normal by putting me down and limiting me.

Everybody feels normal about himself, unless they have some idea of empathy, a little theory of mind and all that so that they can relate to 'the un-normal people' and recognise their own differences, I think.

Maybe I'm just odd though and don't care enough about other people, I don't know. I don't have much of a emotional response to people, but I sure have them to animals. I prefer that, nobody thinks twice when he kills a dove with a car and somebody must feel bad for the dove after all, it can't even talk.

Middle school was when I learned I was not 'normal'(whatever that means), because before then, I had always thought I was well-liked. It was a very rude awakening when I discovered that the other children didn't like me and began telling me I was a 'freak' or 'annoying' or 'crazy'. (*edit: I had earlier known I was quite different from the other students though because they could do things that I could not in early grade school, but at that time I didn't suspect that others didn't like me or wanted to be away from me.)

On the spectrum or not, I feel 'normal' most especially during times when others are saying or doing something that harms themselves and without thinking logically(eg. observing people with an emotional need to spend money blow their entire paycheck on expensive cookware, only to ask their wife for cigarette money a week later when they earn 3 times as much as she does...). I keep asking myself why they do these things to themselves.

People can be very weird at times.

Last edited by scumsuckingdouchebag on 06 Mar 2008, 3:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

Well, when I was younger I had some motoric problems, so I was sent to the whole spectrum of therapies. So I knew I had a small handicap. They gave me a diagnosis of having something PDD, when I was eight, but was too young to realize the problem. Even when I was having emotional problems, I just thought everybody had them. Know I know that part of the visits of some therapists were probably for social training as well.

When I was twelve or thirteen, in second year of pre-university education (secondary education), I had problems fitting in. Then I realized I was different. Luckily my school had an active anti-bullying policy, and some supporting friends. Besides that I visited some support group.

Recently I found out that my PDD-diagnosis was probably Asperger. Luckily I learned to control my hands better, so my motor skills are better than they used to be.

Sometimes I feel normal, but than I realize the other person is probably just some strange person like me.

Normal 40%
Not normal spectrum 60%
Being myself 100%

That adds up to 200% but I don't care. I have a cold and had to go to stressful meeting at work today.

Z

I realized from an early age there was something different about me compared to my peers. I got better grades in school than most of them, but I know there were equally intelligent people who didn't have any differences.

I sometimes feel less f*cked up (pardon my french) than other people.

I feel that I'm more normal, than my NT family members.

Sometimes I feel more "normal" then many other Aspies out there, but then I have to give myself a reality check because I have a lot of hidden traits that aren't as obviously Aspie traits as others. (I do have Aspergers though because I was severely Autistic when I was younger, and you can't cure Autism)

That's not French, that's swearing...

With me it's the opposite: I feel normal because I can easily identify with characters on TV, but real people aren't like TV characters at all.