Link between autism and introverted intuition Ni

[Cone]

Has there been a link made? I think autism is a disorder caused by pure Ni in the absence of Te or Fe. And somehow, I think I can prove it.

[Scrummy]

That actually does make sense to me. I read up on autism a while back and even heard some first-hand accounts of what it's like to be autistic, and it really did seem like Ni in overwhelming quantities. Not sure how to prove it, though.

[mimisor]

But, Cone, why Ni?
Could you develop your idea, please

[Artemis]

I used to babysit an autistic boy, Cone. I can tell you all about it. Of course, Herzblut <--- edited . . . would your best source.
How old is your brother, Herzblut? <--- edited! Sorry.

[Rocky]

My Mom works with Autisitc people, and I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with Ni.

I eat lunch at the cafeteria with an autistic kid and he seems about as SEE as you can get.

[discojoe]

Aww, thinking of those little autistic INTps brings a tear to my eye...

[Cone]

By autism, I meant showing some or all of the following traits:

- Insistence on sameness; resists changes in routine.
- Severe language deficits.
- Difficulty in expressing needs; uses gestures or pointing instead of words.
- Echolalia (repeating words or phrases in place of normal responsive language).
- Laughing, crying or showing distress for reasons not apparent to others.
- Prefers to be alone; aloof manner
- Tantrums -- displays extreme distress for no apparent reason.
- Difficulty in mixing with others.
- May not want cuddling or act cuddly.
- Little or no eye contact.
- Unresponsive to normal teaching methods.
- Sustained odd play.
- Spins objects.
- Inappropriate attachment to objects.
- Apparent oversensitivity to undersensitivity to pain.
- No real fear of dangers.
- Noticeable physical over-activity or extreme underactivity.
- Non responsive to verbal cues; acts as of deaf although hearing tests in normal range.
- Uneven gross/fine motor skills. (may not kick a ball but can stack blocks).

Like Baby had said, I see all of this as extreme Ni in the absence of Te or Fe.

My theory may still hold for the other forms of autism. Note that persistence of routine and sameness is NOT the same as a strong J preference.

[Joy]

My INTj husband has Asperger's Syndrome.

[Heimdallr]

Can we even type the truly autistic people? Perhaps, and the idea that we could link this to socionics is interesting as it might further our understanding of "normal" people.

Remember to separate "genuine" autism from Asperger syndrome as it is less severe, but as it is a part of a continum, it should show similar tendencies. If we can use the MBTI here, the highest corralation is between INTP and Asperger if I am not wrong.

[Cone]

Can we even type the truly autistic people? Perhaps, and the idea that we could link this to socionics is interesting as it might further our understanding of "normal" people.

What I'm advocating is that we cannot type autistic people according to Socionics' definitions. What I am thinking is that perhaps an autistic person has certain sections of a normal personality cut out or severely repressed. For example, it would seem obvious that an autistic who has much trouble with verbal/non-verbal communication and who is very self-absorbed would correlate to an INTp/INFp with pure Ni and without Te or Fe. Taking from the above description of autism, the following traits are partially characteristic of dominant Ni:

- Insistence on sameness; resists changes in routine.
- Prefers to be alone; aloof manner
- Difficulty in mixing with others.
- May not want cuddling or act cuddly.
- Little or no eye contact.
- Sustained odd play.
- Inappropriate attachment to objects.
- Apparent oversensitivity or undersensitivity to pain.

[Ms. Kensington]

people used to call me autistic. it was just a joke though about being quiet and socially averse.

interesting about there being many types of autism. Herzblut, could you say some more about that?

[lotterose]

I thought I should comment here. As my first post, even...

I have Asperger's Syndrome (high-functioning autism). I'm also an INFP (or INFJ according to socionics, I can never get those two straight and it just confuses the living daylights out of me. The one with Fi dominant.)

(EDIT: I really don't need an explanation either, I could probably find that out myself. I mean, I pretty much know the difference. I waffle.)

It's strange, really. I don't really feel much kinship with other people who have it. I remember once, when I was six years old or so, I was in "group therapy" sessions. Mainly group playtime with a bit of those social skill building exercises added on. And I felt very, very out of place there. I'm sure you've all heard the statistic about for every six (or seven, or eight, or maybe five - something like that, too lazy to go looking it up and besides 67% of statistics are made up on the spot) males with Asperger's, there is one female. And yes, the session reflected it. Three boys, one girl - myself. So the boys would all be off talking about their shared mutual interests (Babylon 5 was one of them, I remember) while I'd be off playing with the dollhouses or toy cars or whatever they had in the corner.

I remember the two-way mirror fascinated me. My mother made the 'mistake' of showing me how it worked so I remember spending an entire (solo) session just peering into the glass trying to see them. I think I could see them vaguely. As if it was just barely translucent.

And then over the last year I've paid visits to some of the online Asperger's communities and my first thought was honestly "Uh...what? ...Right. That's nice. *backs away*" I mean, I think it's interesting that they have this entire subculture around them, but it just isn't appealing to me. It's like it was built up around me without my knowledge and then suddenly presented to me: "Here! Take our subculture, you'll love it!"

Everything else is in place though. Aversion to eye contact, a general social ineptitude, a higher-than-average IQ, etc. The 'fixations' although by now they can probably pass as passions. (Pass as passions. Heh.)

I think I just composed an entire post of nothing. Hrm. Inauspicious start...

[Zeia]

I was thought Autistic as a child if that helps you.