What’s the difference between being austistic and just being socially awkward?
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Autism isn’t necessarily socially awkward. Autism is neurodivergence – that is, people *think* differently to most others.
Most people’s brains are wired to perceive and react to things a certain way. For example, a normal person will walk down the street and focus on where they are going. Someone who is autistic respond different to stimuli such as sight and sound, so they often will become hyper-focused on small details such as a sign, a particular noise, etc. When interacting with people, most people are wired to recognise that looking at each other’s faces is normal social communication, but an autistic person may feel more threatened and uncomfortable when looking at another face and will avert their gaze.
A lot of these quirks will manifest as socially awkward, especially when the individual hasn’t learned how to navigate through social situations. But autistic individuals are not inherently socially awkward – quite the opposite, many who are high functioning will be very good in social situations when they know what works. What makes it difficult is that they have to know what works, and that doesn’t come so easily when you overanalyse everything and social situations don’t follow sense and logic.
Someone who is socially awkward is likewise not necessarily autistic. They may have anxiety issues, come from a different social and cultural background, or have an underlying fear or trauma. What’s different is that these people will generally think the same way as most others, but there is something inhibiting how they behave, whereas autistic people tend to be in a whole different world – because in their minds, they are.
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