Do Neurotypical people identify with traits on this list too?

[mimblewimble]

Having sat through DS's autism assessment and seeing myself in a lot of his traits, I'm now in the process of seeking an autism assessment for myself. I've been spending a lot of time reading about autistic traits in undiagnosed/high masking women, and I really identify with a lot of them.

When I read some of these things though, I am surprised that this wouldn't be how a lot of fairly intelligent, slightly anxious people feel. The people I know well enough to ask are all some kind of neurodivergent themselves. So I thought I'd ask on here.

This is an example of a list I found. I read it and just thought well obviously, that sounds quite like me but would a lot of women not see themselves in a lot of this, autistic or not?

https://the-art-of-autism.com/females-and-aspergers-a-checklist/

I would genuinely love to find out I'm autistic at this stage, I'm probably overthinking it... 😆

I'm NT and I identify with a lot of those things from C onwards. However I had a childhood described as traumatic by multiple Psychiatrists. Plus the ability to "reinvent" myself with every new posting of my father's. So for example whilst the urge to overshare still exists, I've learnt how to encourage others to talk instead.

I think of you want to do that you need to use a proper source to begin with. This 'list' is a load of nonsense and also catches various other unrelated conditions.

The list is that long it could cover a huge amount of the population. Autistic people have is a triage of impairments which affect day to day life. Those traits listed are pretty wide and I think most both people both ND or NY can relate to them. Please don't screen yourself based on online tests most are not great.

This reads very much like an 'are you a goth/emo' checklist.
I hit a lot of these, but probably more when I was 15.
DS is somewhere along the lines of diagnosis. We have been given leaflets and links to websites to help him.

There are so many things on that list that they basically capture every single type of person. It's not a good tool.

I think the ND community has a caricatured version of NT people in their heads, like they don't have thoughts or feelings of anxiety, like they get every single social cue right all the time. This NT person is a Mary Sue, and belongs in fiction.

I think-and others (not professionals) have said that I am one of the most neurotypical
people they know. (this is not always a compliment!) I identify with quite a lot in section A-but not much in any other the others. I'm assuming that you'd have to tick quite a few of the boxes across the board to be "diagnosed"? Otherwise it does seem to cover most people!

Im nt. score 0 or very low on asd and adhd scores my nd kids and husband do. Looked at the link. Maybe one or two apply

I can't imagine that anyone wouldn't find at least one thing on that list that they identify with, it's so long!

e.g. "Imitates people on television or in movies" and "Switches behavior based on environment and other people" and "Feels significantly younger on the inside than on the outside"
Surely everyone does impressions/quotes from TV occasionally, acts differently with their friends compared to their manager, and doesn't feel their age!

I assume it's if you tick many of those you might be more likely to be autistic but personally it doesn't seem that helpful.

But then I've sat through multiple different training sessions on autism, apparently all delivered by specialists. One said "autism is a sliding scale, everyone is autistic or exhibits autistic traits to some degree" and another said "autism is a diagnosis, you either are or you aren't, it's incredibly offensive to say "I'm a bit autistic" or "I'm a bit OCD." So who knows!

I'm NT and identify with barely any of these points within any of the sections (5%?)

No. You'd know if I was being dismissive if I started discussing the damaging effects of enablism.

Do you not find the See Me, See My ND type of posts trivialising and dismissing of ND conditions when they focus on everyday problems and present normal patterns of thinking and planning as special?

I identify with quite a few, but I can also see that there have been external factors that will have pushed me to be more like that list and at time less. When I'm physically ill, for example, and lockdown - would have pushed me right up the list. I spent a year in hospital as a child and struggled socially to re-adjust, for example, when I think I'd hit most of the list.

My DD has an ASD diagnosis and is in such a good place just now that she wouldn't meet many of the criteria. I know if we took the "scaffolding," away, which for her is basically an awful lot of fresh air and exercise, she'd check them off fairly quickly.

It shows there has to be a consistency over time to get a diagnosis. There will also be links between traits where direction matters (finding life hard can make you tired, but being tired can also make life feel hard).

I do feel a lot of the adult ADHD diagnoses I see, often self diagnosed TBF, are too closely aligned with phone addiction to be able to fully separate the two things out. That's why your childhood matters too when you are seen clinically.

This.

Just because you identify with traits on a checklist doesn't mean you will be/ need to be diagnosed with anything. Most people will identify with at least some, if not many of these.

The key is whether there are multiple traits which are significant enough to impair your ability to function in life.

NT and identify with loads.

I have worked with NT teens who have many of these traits too. They use strategies, as we all do, to make life work.

I'm NT (with an ASD DH and DD) and I don't really identify with any items on that list. When we have done online tests I always have a negligible ND score.

I don’t understand what people can’t grasp about this.

An example being mess - everyone can be low level messy all time or tidy most of the time but have periods of being messy but if you’re constantly living in an utter shit tip to the point where you can’t have people in your house and genuinely would need to consider if you really needed an ambulance because the mess is so bad you wouldn’t want paramedics in your house … that’s when you’d tick a box.

OP I had a read through as I'm currently on a waiting list for ADHD assessment and I'm almost in tears. Pretty much the majority of every section could describe me!

I suspect NT will recognise SOME of these things in themselves. I imagine ND people will identify with something from each section, probably quite a lot in fact.

This has really helped to remind me I am doing the right thing by getting assessed.

In case it’s not clear I’m agreeing with you @BodyKeepingScore! Just realised it maybe looks like I’m not.

I did one of these checklists with my kids and myself individually. Only the child who is diagnosed with autism came out high.
There's a few points on there that I would identify with but for the first 30 odd not one!

That list is ridiculous. Of course there are loads of NT people who can tick yes to loads of things on that list.

I'd steer clear of all the millions of unofficial sources that seem to debase diagnosis into some sort of lifestyle quiz or neo-astrological classification obsession.

I’m female, diagnosed autistic, and identity with very few of those traits. It’s a very specific presentation and IMO overlaps a lot with introversion.

I would genuinely love to find out I'm autistic at this stage,

^

Can you expand??? Why?? Why do you want to find this out??

Barely on the scale 🙄