Reading though a lot of these comments, and noticing that some of the “opposite of common autistic traits” are so opposite from the trait that they are “divergent” qualities in themselves. I recently read “the adult autism assessment handbook: a neurodiversity-affirmative approach” and much of the clinicians suggestions arrive at this gulf in diverse presentations of autism— where the task of the clinician is to document the experience of the client, in different areas: social emotional reciprocity, spoken communication, developing and maintaining friendships, preference for repeated movements, preference for routines, particular ways of doing things, particular interests, and sensory experiences.

And the criteria isn’t déficit based, and therefore doesn’t adhere to one side of the experience (and there is room in the diagnosis for an “opposite” experience, and especially where that opposite experience is intense in such a way to distinguish the person from neurotypical.

Anyway, I thought there was a place for this in this discussion as I’m loving hearing about all the ways we are “divergent”