All my friends are NTs and some of them are very socially adept. The difference is that they treasure me for being different and having substance. These are people who are very mature and while they can get along with the crowd, they really have no desire to join it. But since these are the sort of people I want to be friends with, it works out. I mean, who wants to be friends with shallow people?
You can see all the dysfunctional NTs on Elimidate, where people cut each other down for the most superficial reasons. These NTs are just as vicious to each other as they are to autistic people! I find myself feeling sorry for all of them and can't help thinking that everyone they cast on that show is deeply unpleasant and I wouldn't want to date them.
Some of the worst people I've run across were religious. They've been far more intolerant of my behavioral quirks than other people and I've had religious "friends" try to bully me into being more like them. I certainly was never accepted by them, though they lied to me for years, making me think I was, when all along they were laughing behind my back.
I've been chased away from my faith and I'm bitter about it. I know that I am not welcome in any synagogue. Particularly because since 9-11, all religious groups have become more intolerant and fundy even in the so-called liberal sects. If you don't parrot the party line, forget it. And I can't practice my faith because while one can be a solitary Christian, there is no such thing as a solitary Jew. Judaism is too communal.
If you stand out in any way, good or bad, you are not welcome in religious groups. I got attacked because my singing voice was too good.
lil
It's not groups I talked about (I agree that there's far too much fundamentalism religious groups and that a big deal of suffering in the world came/come from ppl who want to put their own believes on other ppls minds), it's only single persons/families. And as living in a Christian dominated country it's only been, well, Christians...
Sibylle
Good Lord, my dad is a classic, though undiagnosed Aspie. We fight ALL the time, but unlike fights with NTs, the fights don't leave rafts of bad feelings behind. It's as if we don't take our fights personally and as soon as it's over, it's forgotten.
And the reason why I fight with him: Well, he used to be really quiet so I never had to fight with him, but then when he turned 60, he came out of his shell socially only he completely lacked any social skills at all. I guess at 60, he stopped caring what other people thought, which is a good thing, but it is beyond annoying to have a conversation with him. I never get to complete a thought because as soon as I say a few words, he jumps in with all his enthusiasm and I never get to say what I want to say. And if I haven't had my B vitamins or I'm sleep-deprived, I have NO patience and pretty soon we're cheerfully screaming at each other, which can be disturbing to others, but I just say that's how we communicate.
And of course this must be an object lesson to how most NTs must have felt, trying to have a conversation with me when I was younger and lacking conversational skills (but plenty of enthusiasm!)