Is Being Neurotypical all it's Cracked Up to Be?
What would you say are the real tangible benefits?
greencompass · 36-40, F
Speaking just within a school context, especially in university, I had a hard time with timing and scheduling and executing study plans or 'what we're supposed to do'. I got really good grades anyhow, so you wouldn't know how difficult it was for me to get those grades just from grades alone. I often wondered how come others could do the same work in less time, with less effort, less challenges. Turns out the others didn't have the mental kinks that I have.
When there's a typical, prescribed way of doing things - such as how to do well/succeed in a structured environment like university, it's usually designed with neurotypicals in mind.
Tldr: if you care about school, school would be easier if you're neurotypical. Looks that way to me anyway.
When there's a typical, prescribed way of doing things - such as how to do well/succeed in a structured environment like university, it's usually designed with neurotypicals in mind.
Tldr: if you care about school, school would be easier if you're neurotypical. Looks that way to me anyway.
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SomeMichGuy · M
@GerOttman Really? I found it to be quite different.
SomeMichGuy · M
@GerOttman I went to public school in the 1960s - 70s.
I realized that my own attitude, including my thirst for knowledge, helped me learn from even teachers who might not have been the best, but who seemed to like my engagement.
But one in particular--a guy who seemed very hard, but who simply wanted every pupil to think, to use his or her mind--alwayd had a notice on his bulletin board which said something like this:
People nearly never took him up on this.
I myself had independent studies in English, math, and history; I also attended the local junior college while in high school.
I realized that my own attitude, including my thirst for knowledge, helped me learn from even teachers who might not have been the best, but who seemed to like my engagement.
But one in particular--a guy who seemed very hard, but who simply wanted every pupil to think, to use his or her mind--alwayd had a notice on his bulletin board which said something like this:
If you find that you are having trouble learning the material with my own approach, please come and see me about doing extra credit to better match your needs.
People nearly never took him up on this.
I myself had independent studies in English, math, and history; I also attended the local junior college while in high school.
PicturesOfABetterTomorrow · 41-45, M
Impossible to say. Everyone's "normal" baseline is different.
To someone who is neurotypical and someone who is on the spectrum I am pretty sure both feel like their default state is "normal" even though their experience of the world around them is very different.
I also think the very concept is flawed because it assumes there is a baseline called typical.
That is not really supported by much of anything.
I prefer to see everyone as a collection of traits that we inherited from our ancestors that facilitated survival at some point in the last 10 000ish years.
What combo is optimal for survival in the current dumpster fire is not particularly special to me.
To someone who is neurotypical and someone who is on the spectrum I am pretty sure both feel like their default state is "normal" even though their experience of the world around them is very different.
I also think the very concept is flawed because it assumes there is a baseline called typical.
That is not really supported by much of anything.
I prefer to see everyone as a collection of traits that we inherited from our ancestors that facilitated survival at some point in the last 10 000ish years.
What combo is optimal for survival in the current dumpster fire is not particularly special to me.
Ferise1 · 46-50, M
@PicturesOfABetterTomorrow I think most people are very normal, they think fast and answer fast to questions and criticism. They have something that I lack. I’ma bit slow. Well, not all the time.
SunshineGirl · 36-40, F
It is all part of being human, which of course is a benefit in itself. So long as folk understand and accommodate, there need be few downsides to being neurodivergent.
CrazyMusicLover · 31-35
GerOttman · 70-79, M
@HootyTheNightOwl I wonder if there's a Saffir scale like for hurricanes?
@GerOttman Yes, they do have a scale.
GerOttman · 70-79, M
@HootyTheNightOwl and I don't want to know where I am on it...
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Ferise1 · 46-50, M
I don’t know what I am, if I was young today, maybe I would be called on the spectrum, but maybe I’m just a tiny bit weird and slow. I’m not as efficient as a normal adult. But I try to talk a lot and bring up interesting topics. And be kind to people and smile and have fun. So I get by.