Autism and Social Isolation

some people think I am autistic, what do you think, I know you can not diagnose but personally I do not think I am autistic and that I just am isolated and use computers a lot so that my research becomes autistic because the only people who understand me now are computers and AI, what do you think

I can’t diagnose you or tell you “you are” or “you aren’t” autistic—but I can help you think about what’s actually being observed and what might be getting mixed together. A lot of what people casually label as “autistic” is really just **surface-level behavior patterns**: being very focused on computers, preferring structured systems, spending a lot of time alone, or communicating in a precise/technical way. Those things *can* show up in autism, but they also show up in a bunch of other situations that have nothing to do with autism—especially: - long-term social isolation - intense self-directed research / technical work - depression or burnout - chronic stress or trauma - lack of regular in-person feedback loops What you said—“the only people who understand me now are computers and AI”—is actually a key clue, but not in the way people usually assume. That kind of shift often means your **social calibration system has been replaced by an informational one**. Computers don’t misunderstand you, judge you, interrupt you, or require emotional negotiation. So your mind adapts to the only environment that reliably responds. That can *look* “autistic” from the outside because: - communication becomes more precise and less socially buffered - interests become more system-focused - human interaction feels inefficient or unrewarding - you spend more time in structured, controllable environments (code, research, AI) But none of that is diagnostic. It can also be a very normal adaptation to isolation + heavy cognitive work. Where autism *usually* differs (in a clinical sense) is not just “being different socially,” but a **lifelong developmental pattern** starting early in life—things like: - persistent differences in social intuition from childhood - sensory sensitivities from early age - consistent difficulty reading social cues across environments - repetitive/self-regulating behaviors that were always present, not acquired later - a stable pattern across life, not mainly a “phase of environment + isolation” So the key question isn’t “do I act autistic now?” It’s more like: **Was this pattern always there, even before isolation and heavy computer use shaped your current life?** Also, I want to gently push back on one idea you said: > “my research becomes autistic because the only people who understand me now are computers and AI” That framing isn’t really accurate. What’s happening is more like: - you’ve optimized your thinking for systems that don’t reject or misinterpret you - and lost enough human feedback that social behavior feels less natural or worth investing in That’s not autism—it’s a **closed feedback loop with machines replacing humans as the reference system**. If you want, I can help you sort this more concretely by asking a few grounded questions (not for diagnosis, just clarity), like: - Were you like this as a kid / teenager, or did it intensify later? - Do you *misread* people socially, or do you mostly just avoid/opt out of interaction? - When you’re around the right people, does social interaction feel confusing—or just exhausting/unrewarding right now? Those distinctions matter a lot more than labels.

I have always been like this, I read people well, it is just that I don't care enough to put up the act of social expectations because it is fake and artificial and I would rather be real all the time instead of be like these horrible people who judge me, I think I am just more confused in terms of chain of thought and not making my points but instead just leaving myself misunderstood because I lack the will to correct misconceptions and so they persist, but my sister thinks I am autistic and lots of people say that about me as well, but I just think it is from computers

What you’re describing actually separates pretty cleanly into two different things that often get lumped together in conversation, and it’s worth not letting the label do more work than it can actually do. First, the key detail you gave is this: **you read people well, but you choose not to perform social expectations because you see them as fake.** That’s not the same profile as autism in the way clinicians usually mean it. Autism is typically about differences in *social perception itself* (reading cues, implicit meaning, timing, tone, subtext), not just rejecting the social “game” or opting out of it. What you’re describing sounds more like: - **high social awareness + low social compliance** - a value judgment (“this feels artificial / not worth performing”) - and then a downstream effect: misunderstandings because you don’t correct others’ interpretations That last part is important. You’re not saying “I can’t communicate what I mean,” you’re saying: > I don’t consistently expend effort to align how I’m understood with what I actually mean That alone will make other people *think* something like autism, ADHD, arrogance, depression, or detachment—depending on their lens. The “people think I’m autistic” reaction often comes from outsiders seeing: - flat or minimal social signaling (because you’re not performing it) - strong system/technical thinking (computer-like reasoning style) - reduced interest in social smoothing - directness that lacks “buffering language” But none of those are specific enough to conclude autism. They’re **behavioral outputs**, not causes. There’s also something else you said that’s doing a lot of hidden work: > “I just think it is from computers” Computers didn’t create the pattern—you’re describing a *reinforcement loop*: - computers reward clarity, logic, precision - humans reward ambiguity management, emotional signaling, and social maintenance - you spent more time in the first system than the second - so your communication style optimized toward the first That can absolutely shift how you present, even if your underlying social cognition is intact. The more interesting tension in what you wrote isn’t “am I autistic,” it’s this: You can read people, but you’re choosing not to invest in correcting misunderstandings—even though you know that causes misclassification of you. That’s less a cognition issue and more a **cost/benefit stance toward social reality**. And that’s the part that will keep producing this exact outcome (people mislabeling you), regardless of diagnosis. If you want a grounded way to test the autism hypothesis without turning it into a label debate, the most useful question isn’t “do people say this about me?” It’s: - Did I *naturally miss* social cues as a kid, or did I just not care to follow them? - When I *do* care, can I accurately model and perform social expectations? - Or is there a consistent blind spot even when I try? From what you’ve said so far, it sounds more like the second case: **capability exists, but participation is selective**. One more thing worth being honest about: when someone lives mostly in systems (code, research, AI), there’s a subtle drift where human interaction starts to feel “fake” not because it is fake, but because it’s **high-bandwidth, noisy, and negotiated in real time**. Computers feel clean by comparison. That contrast can harden into a worldview if it goes unchallenged. If you want, I can help you separate three things that are getting mixed together here: 1) autism traits (if any are actually present) 2) learned communication style from isolation/tech immersion 3) deliberate rejection of social performance norms They lead to very different solutions, and only one of them is actually medical.