[NT] Child's Play - portrait of an NT child

[Vildechaya]

There was never any doubt...

On my 8th birthday, my mom got me one of those cabbage patch dolls that everyone else loved so much. I went on a hunger strike until she returned it and bought me the microscope set that I had been begging for.

Around the same age, I gave a detailed presentation of how babies are made to a group of boys who didn't believe me. I backed up my thesis with articles from Good Housekeeping and pictures from Playboy.

When I was 10, I was "grounded for life" for taking apart the piano. I did this to prove to my doubting friend that it was not only a stringed instrument, but also a percussive one.

That was also the year that I became a "mathlete".
That was also the year I started copywriting my original music with Library of Congress.

At 12, I hated my step father and quickly learned to take the brakes off of his bike. After his accident, he caught me while I was dismantling the breaks from his car.

When I was 15, I had graduated from high school. My mother said I was too young to go to college and that waiting a year or two at home would be the best thing for me. I promptly packed my bags and left while my parents were at work.

You are magnificent!

 

[jenocyde]

You are magnificent!

Wow, thanks babe. I'm surprised by all this reaction because my life feels so normal, since I have nothing to compare it to...

 

[marmandahalf]

Wow, thanks babe. I'm surprised by all this reaction because my life feels so normal, since I have nothing to compare it to...

You're one of the cool kids on this playground, for sure.

 

[jenocyde]

You're one of the cool kids on this playground, for sure.

We're all bad ass, for damn sure!

 

[Vildechaya]

Wow, thanks babe. I'm surprised by all this reaction because my life feels so normal, since I have nothing to compare it to...

Because You are the NT RULER! Normal is not a turn-on, normal makes me wonder what's wrong, normal smells ! You are badass!!!! Muahhhh!

 

[roseille]

I was 5 when I first started using a computer.

Apparently, in kindergarten, I didn't talk to anyone at lunch. If someone tried to strike up conversation, I just stared at them until they walked away. I was told this 18 years later, by someone who knew me SOLELY because of that. Also, that continued to be a trend of mine until half way through college.

When drawing, there were several occasions that I started while in a room full of people, and when I looked up, everyone was gone and an hour had passed.

My first best friend and I played by creating word puzzles.

I tried to saw my nose off with the metal part of a ruler. When my mother told me that I was dark because of spending time outside, I replied that it was actually because of the amount of chocolate cookies I ate. I rationalized that I spent more time eating cookies than being outside.

At 10, someone gave me a bunch of Magic cards during Latchkey. After gauging the gullibility of other kids, I promptly started charging them $1 to play a game with me. Unfortunately, my mom came in and put an end to it. I, of course, argued that the money was well-earned, as I provided a service that would otherwise be unavailable to them.

At some point, I realized that immense knowledge of mathematics, as well as enough physical ability to perform a task, could allow a person to any task perfectly. Having come to this conclusion, I stopped caring about math. In hindsight, I wish I hadn't. I could be a video game developer right now.

 

[Apsaras]

Nothing too out of the ordinary, as far as NTs go...

I didn't really like playing with other kids. In preschool/elementary school, everyone wanted to "play house" - either with each kid fulfilling different roles in the family, or with all of us playing with a giant dollhouse. I thought it was stupid. "You already live in a house. You don't have to pretend. This is dumb." (I refused to play. Petulant child.)

I loved reading and read throughout recess and free periods. Our classes were divided - "learning" readers and "advanced" readers. I was beyond both of them, so I got to sit in a corner on a beanbag and read by myself. I was overjoyed.

I was a big fan of computers, even when I was very young. Magic School Bus software, Oregon Trail, etc. That was my form of 'play', and I loved it.

I hated - *hated* - being controlled, even as a little kid. We were told to journal, which I did - and enjoyed - but we were to write on each page in sequential order, as was the norm. For whatever reason, that felt stifling to me. So I wrote on random pages. This was fine until I was told to read one of my entries to the class. "Uh... let me find it..."

I was a little gymnast, so when I was bored I would practice at home. One evening someone put on a Winnie the Pooh tape in the basement and told me to watch it. I liked the solace of the basement, but there was a camera down there, so my stepmother could surveil my siblings and I. I hated the camera. Anyway, I was practicing my gymnastics on the couch (bad idea, in retrospect) when I did a flip, flew off and smacked my head on the corner of our coffee table. My immediate concern wasn't my injury (I was bleeding everywhere), but the load of shit I would be in. Between sobs I looked for the camera's blind spot and hid in it.

I was very imaginative and loved fantasy. At one point I convinced my friends that we were actually the Sailor Scouts. I was Sailor Moon, but regretted that when I realized that she was a bit slow and forever relied upon her friends. I would create these fantasy scenarios pretty frequently.

That's all for now. I'm sure I'll think of more.

 

[Gamine]

Onion News - Special needs boy who can spell words

This might just sum it up.

 

[marmandahalf]

I didn't really like playing with other kids. In preschool/elementary school, everyone wanted to "play house" - either with each kid fulfilling different roles in the family, or with all of us playing with a giant dollhouse. I thought it was stupid. "You already live in a house. You don't have to pretend. This is dumb." (I refused to play. Petulant child.)

I loved reading and read throughout recess and free periods. Our classes were divided - "learning" readers and "advanced" readers. I was beyond both of them, so I got to sit in a corner on a beanbag and read by myself. I was overjoyed.

I was a big fan of computers, even when I was very young. Magic School Bus software, Oregon Trail, etc. That was my form of 'play', and I loved it.

I hated - *hated* - being controlled, even as a little kid. We were told to journal, which I did - and enjoyed - but we were to write on each page in sequential order, as was the norm. For whatever reason, that felt stifling to me. So I wrote on random pages. This was fine until I was told to read one of my entries to the class. "Uh... let me find it..."

Dude, I could've written this. I actually checked to see that it wasn't, in fact, me, late last night.

 

[Winds of Thor]

When I was a young child I cut out clothes for stuffed animals in the house..My mom said they fit perfectly.

I took apart my Dad's camera..which he got angry about. I wanted to see how it worked.

One time at Thanksgiving with some relatives I noticed a broken tape recorder.. I fashioned a piece of aluminum to cross a circuit for the tape recorder to work..The power switch was faulty.

 

[Haphazard]

I don't remember my childhood.

 

[Haphazard]

Actually, I just remembered a lot of stuff. And I sound nothing like most of the people here.

I never really liked dolls but I kept a few because a lot of friends of mine did, to be considerate. I guess. I realized very young that I didn't like toys and after that only really asked for my mother to buy me stuffed animals, art supplies, and books. Because a lot of these things one doesn't really 'outgrow' I've seemed to have acquired a massive quantity of these. o_o

I was never active but I did love to go outside because I loved plants, and it took me a long time to differentiate 'flowers' from 'weeds' (because weeds were just as pretty and interesting). I loved to take apart plants and get a feel for the texture (and sometimes taste). Animals didn't interest me much unless they were frogs or toads or silk worms or roly-polys. This mostly stopped once I got to middle school, though, because we didn't have recess anymore.

I journaled for a while until I realized that I really hated chronicling my life and that I was just doing it for the stickers. I still have a ton of unused stickers for that that I don't know what to do with.

I became obsessed with getting a penpal, too. This never really worked out but I did end up very interested in other senses of 'normal.' I read a lot of historical fiction not so much for the plots but for the tiny details about life in that time period that were tucked away in the corners. I'm still very interested in this, which probably explains why I am going to intern an ESL class this summer.

 

[Shaula]

I grew up in an SJ household. I got smacked around a lot. So, yeah... my antics weren't appreciated. But I got in trouble mostly for my constant stream of questions that they couldn't answer. At some point, they just gave up and stopped acknowledging me altogether.

That happened to me too! But I also got in trouble for touching things, having accidents, getting hurt, making noise, and etc... In fact, for most of my childhood I spent it by myself escaping the realities of my disfunctional family. My ESTJ grandfather was a theif (stole around $10,000), a filanderer, and very likely a pedophile. Thankfully he died early in my childhood. My ISTJ grandmother was very manipulative and always played stupid mind games. My ISTJ dad was an abusive alcoholic (who's actually a decent person these days and had made a complete turn-around). And my INFJ? mom was a paranoid schizophrenic. My family was weird in the fact that the douche-y you were the higher your 'rank' was. And if you acted like a decent person then something was supposedly 'wrong with you'. So I guess at least it was an interesting environment to grow up in.

Anyway, I don't know if I acted like a typical 'NT child'. I didn't like to read because I didn't have the attention span for it. Instead I watched a lot of TV and did activites that were 'hands-on'. My performance in school wasn't all that great. If it wasn't for my dad's temper I would have flunked middle school. I loved to climb on things and explore the unkown. Sometimes I'd spend hours in a tree watching/studying the leaves rustle in the wind. Then hop down to fashion crude weapons out of whatever I could find. I asked a lot of questions which irritated the crap out of my dad. (As using critical thinking skills was discouraged in my family.) But I actually liked to play with the other kids and loved to be included in their games. I especially loved to lead. However I was still extremely withdrawn from other kids and most notably after my best friend 'disappeared'. (Actually she was murdered.) I also liked to draw. Often I used to pause movies and copy certain scenes I liked.

When I was around 5 years old there was this boy in my neighbourhood who'd always pick on me and pull my hair. So one day I got so sick of the bastard that I decided to teach him a lesson. Since he usually came around my house by dinner time I asked if I could eat outside. Then I waited in the alley, nonchalantly eating my peas on my plastic plate, and right on schedule he showed up, shirtless as always. He took the bait, run up to me, pulled my hair, laughed, and triumphantly continued his way up the block. Thereafter I ran behind him and stabbed him in the back with my stainless-steel fork. Later his sisters showed up at my house complaining to my family about the damage I had done. When my dad asked what had happened I replied, "I forked him!" Then my grandma laughed. Probably one of the few times I made my family proud. Not to mention that kid never came around my house again.

There was this other time when I was say about 7-8 when coming home from school I noticed this other boy rummaging through the the trees and bushes on the edge of my neighbour's yard. He had found a knife that had been left there by one of my friends (my neighbours). I soon met up with him and started to interorgate him about his 'odd behaviour'. I accused him of stealing the knife and demanded that he give it to me. He refused saying that he had only found it (which was probably true). Then I formulated the argument into a win-lose situation. Finally I chased him across the street and pinned him against a church wall and took the knife into my custody. Now here's where it gets weird. I took the knife to his throat and vowed to slit it if I caught him again. I mean WTF? But after a bit of begging for mercy I let him go. (Gee, aren't I nice?) Today I find this story to be entertaining because of the absurdity of it.

 

[CJ99]

I think this thread should be made a sticky!

 

[INA]

I never really liked dolls but I kept a few because a lot of friends of mine did, to be considerate. I guess. I realized very young that I didn't like toys and after that only really asked for my mother to buy me stuffed animals, art supplies, and books. Because a lot of these things one doesn't really 'outgrow' I've seemed to have acquired a massive quantity of these. o_o

I was never active but I did love to go outside because I loved plants, and it took me a long time to differentiate 'flowers' from 'weeds' (because weeds were just as pretty and interesting). I loved to take apart plants and get a feel for the texture (and sometimes taste).

I became obsessed with getting a penpal, too. This never really worked out but I did end up very interested in other senses of 'normal.' I read a lot of historical fiction not so much for the plots but for the tiny details about life in that time period that were tucked away in the corners. I'm still very interested in this, which probably explains why I am going to intern an ESL class this summer.

Never got the appeal of dolls, either. I had one stuffed toy for years until it mysteriously disappeared during a period of neglect.
I wasn't outdoorsy, either, but liked spending time in the garden barefoot and experimenting with the plants and insects there.
I had several penpals! One for nearly a decade whom I eventually visited.

 

[Aleph-One]

When I was very young (preschool), I wouldn't play with other children. I'd just stand there watching them.

First grade was boring me to death, so they put me in fourth grade instead.

They sent me back to second grade the next year for no reason at all. When I complained about this, the principal and teacher told me that "Jesus was a carpenter." If I had to pick the point when I developed contempt for stupidity, this would be it.

While in second grade, I started getting bullied. My methods of retaliation got me more detention than the bullies. I talked one into sticking a knife into a wall socket, and also [censored -- not sure if the statute of limitations has run out on this one yet].

In fourth grade (the second time) I started taking top prize in science fairs, all the way up to regional and state.

 

[jenocyde]

If I had to pick the point when I developed contempt for stupidity, this would be it.

the best line of the day. thank you.

 

[Aerithria]

I remember being an absolute smart-ass when I was younger. I argued with absolutely everybody, and usually won, which prompted many iterations of "You should be a lawyer". I refused to let my parents use "because I said so" as justification for telling me to do something, instead I made them come up with an actual reason, and if they couldn't, I refused to do it. Their usual punishment was to put me in a corner for a while, but they stopped once I figured out that if I hid a small mirror and a bouncy ball in my pocket, I could usually bounce it off the wall where I was and whack them with it.

I also had this fascination for foreign languages. I think over my childhood I'd invented about seven different languages, and I believe two or three of them actually had the beginnings of grammar rules, though I stopped once I began to confuse them all and was unable to decipher anything I'd written.

As I got older, I remember having this weird thing for balance. I used to try and figure the center for balance of practically everything. I used to stack things on top of each other, and would end up creating towers with the weirdest stuff on them. I don't really remember what ended up happening with that.

I also used to run off into places I wasn't allowed to go and map things. I'd take road maps and mark where the oddest things were, such as boulders, garbage cans, hornet's nests, and the like.

That plus the usual attempting to build crap, mostly out of cardboard, none of which turned out well. I was never a decent builder. I remember at one point I tried building a TV out of cardboard, and eventually got frustrated when I couldn't understand why it didn't work. I ended up giving it to my sister and her friends, who I believe used it as a dolly playhouse.

Oh, and I owned a rock polisher.

 

[Orangey]

I also used to run off into places I wasn't allowed to go and map things. I'd take road maps and mark where the oddest things were, such as boulders, garbage cans, hornet's nests, and the like.

That plus the usual attempting to build crap, mostly out of cardboard, none of which turned out well. I was never a decent builder. I remember at one point I tried building a TV out of cardboard, and eventually got frustrated when I couldn't understand why it didn't work. I ended up giving it to my sister and her friends, who I believe used it as a dolly playhouse.

Me too. I actually have a story which combines these two things. When I was in the fifth grade, me and my friend went into this wooded area that we had been expressly forbidden from entering. He brought the equipment and I mapped out the route we took upon entering. I had all kinds of weird landmarks on that map like "shopping cart," "spider tree," and "rocks area." We were bringing equipment to this spot near the river in order to build a fort. Well, being neither of us handymen, our attempts to construct this fort routinely failed. But we had a blast doing it all!

 

[Aleph-One]

I grew up in a shitty neighborhood. When we went exploring, we found meth labs.