Social Divergence
under construction!!
One of the most well known autistic traits is social divergence, which is the neo-criteria parallel of the whole of criterion A, is social divergence. Criterion A describes it as:
Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive; see text):
1. Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.
2. Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.
3. Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.
Generally, this criterion can be rather vaguely described as simply that Autistic people do not learn and absorb social constructs in the same manner as allistics; Social constructs are not learned implicitly as with allistics. For Autistic people, learning social rules means making an active effort to observe, mimic, and experiment with social behavior. Oftentimes, Autistic people call themselves "people-watchers" and generally must spend much time thinking about people, relationships, and dynamics in order to try and understand them. Autistic people often fall on the extremes of social skills--that is to say, they either have little to no social skills, or are extremely insightful on the topic. Nonetheless, the "common-sense" logic of social etiquette is largely lost on Autistic people, and it is common for Autistic people to miss aspects of etiquette here and there and not know it until it is pointed out to them. In fact, this general disconect and misunderstanding of social etiquette by Autistic people often leads to "odd", "strange", or "weird" behavior. Oftentimes, the "quirky" and "weird" kids at schools are Autistic, often undiagnosed.