What’s the difference between being austistic and just being socially awkward?
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There is a difference between the way autism is observed in the autistic person, and the way the autistic person experiences their own autism.
Sometimes I come across as socially awkward and sometimes I don’t. It depends highly on the environment and circumstance. When I’m truly relaxed and not over stimulated, I’m not experiencing my own brain on fire and the other person can experience me as receptive and engaged.
Autism has three major components for its diagnosis. It is a neurodivergent condition. It requires someone with specific knowledge and training to identify it.
Being socially awkward is … subjective. It’s not a medical or scientific term (we could operationally define it but the word used in many clinics in this case is “atypical”). There could be some overlap in these two things: someone with autism *could be considered* socially awkward. But someone who is “just” socially awkward (remember, this is a subjective view) doesn’t necessarily have autism.
You really are asking about two different things here.
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