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There comes a time in every person’s life when they are forced to reconcile the fact that, actually, what they think is entirely normal doesn’t represent how the average person operates. If one happens to not be neurologically typical, then this might be the list for you.

Someone made a post stating “Neurodivergent folks, what’s a symptom you thought was normal until you realized it absolutely wasn’t?” and people shared their best examples. Note, many of the things here can be attributed to neurodivergence, but are not exclusive to it. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to write down and obsess over your own examples in the comments below.

#1

Clearing my ENTIRE day to get ready for an event at 7pm.

#2

Time blindness. I zone out and look at my phone and 2 hours have gone by.

#3

Listening to one song on repeat for hours.

#4

Reading for 30 minutes and having no clue what I just read.

#5

Hating obligations, they stress me out. Even fun ones.

#6

Constantly googling things when I don’t know. iIt boggles my mind that people don’t know something and then just keep moving through life not knowing…..

#7

Object permanence, I don’t miss anyone or anything, is a struggle 😩

UnclFredstr:

Object permanence, especially with people. I can go months without communicating, and yet to me, when I do, it feels like just yesterday.

#8

I can’t listen when I’m making eye contact.

#9

Having to do two things at once in order to pay full attention to one of those things. Example: playing a game on my phone in order to be able to pay attention to a lecture or meeting.

#10

Having full conversations with myself in my head…

#11

Not hating showering itself but hating the task initiation.

#12

Intellectualizing emotions instead of processing them.

#13

Coffee. I thought people were lying about their need for coffee in the morning because caffeine does nothing for me.

#14

Instantly recognizing patterns.

#15

Brain radio! I thought everyone else was hearing music on repeat inside their head. 😭

#16

Being able to hear electricity.

#17

Countdown clock for everything. Apparently “getting ready to get ready to go” is not a normal thing.

#18

I can’t stand still, I have to rock side to side.

#19

Extreme sensory issues. Have to be wearing socks 24/7. The air itself is a sensory issue.

#20

Saying exactly what I mean but then being called rude when I was being legitimately neutral.

#21

Going down creative rabbit holes and not being able to sleep until I “get the itch out”.

#22

All or nothing mentality.

#23

Always needing to know “why” and doing extensive deep research about random things only to completely lose interest a month or two later.

#24

Wanting friends but unable to keep them bc I can’t ever seem to truly like a person once I get to know them.

#25

Inability to sleep before any event the next day no matter how unimportant it is

#26

Getting overwhelmed by environmental noise but always needing the right background noises.

#27

Perfectionism. It slows me down with every task, job etc.

#28

Constant overthinking, ruminating, worrying, intrusive, racing thoughts. Until my 30s I thought everyone had the same & were just sailing through life not bothered by it.

#29

Captioned speech. I thought everybody spelled spoken words in their head???

#30

task initiation. 1. i cant do a task just by thinking i want to do it. i have to have an actual external push/drive. like cleaning my house, i mope around all day thinking i will clean i will clean. but tell me you be dropping by in 45 mins, and i can clean it all up. 2. I cant do anything alone, i need a body double to just be there with me even if they aren’t doing the same thing im doing. 3. i cant just start and stop a task by my own. i could literally work all day with no breaks if no one tells me to do a bathroom break, or a meal break. so yeah. when I learned about that, I’m like, this is too complicated.

#31

I replay conversations I have with people in my head.. to try to determine if said the appropriate thing and I totally over analyze it. It can be exhausting…

#32

Postural sway. I didn’t know it was not normal.

#33

Being able to know instantly when a new person is a not safe person.

#34

When people tell me a story, I tell them a similar story to try to relate. Ppl don’t like that they think I’m trying to make it about myself when I’m trying to empathize.

#35

Eating the same option for 3 weeks…then hating it for years 😭😂

#36

Over explaining 😭😭 I need to keep everything short and sweet but then I feel like I’m not getting my point across good enough.

#37

Organizing my shirts in the color of the rainbow with matching hangers.

#38

Having to train myself to make eye contact with people in conversation.

#39

Maladaptive daydreaming, specially how it affected my memory.

#40

Behavioral pattern recognition and intuitively knowing what decisions people will make before they act. Also, having entire conversations in your head about hypothetical situations that could occur before you attend an event or have the actual conversation.

#41

Over analyzing every interaction I have with another person. Rejection sensitivity. Extreme reactions to any type of music that tickles my brain and gives me a dopamine release.

#42

Getting genuinely obsessed with something for a period of time only to then drop it and start the process all over again with something else that caught your interest.

#43

I don’t know if there’s a word for it but just thoughts ALL the time about seemingly everything. If I’m interacting with someone I’m thinking about the way I’m sitting or standing, what they think of me, if I’m responding normally, eye contact, that random thing that happened 10 yrs ago and made me feel bad, am I nodding too much?” It takes me out of the moment. Makes me wonder how ppl genuinely enjoy things for a prolonged amount of time.

#44

Predicting the end of movies, shows, conventions. Being human lie detector and not being able to put into words why I don’t like someone immediately.

#45

Not wanting to brush my teeth!

#46

Needing a plan for every single plan so i know what and when i can do my routine for getting ready and if there’s no plan im extremely confused and don’t know what to do.

#47

I am a synesthete – I feel different sounds in my body (pressure/vibration/pulling/…), which I only became aware of when I put on noise-cancelling headphones for the first time and all these bodily sensations suddenly stopped. The sensory overload caused by AuDHS therefore has a double impact.

#48

High emotions for everything and having a hard time getting over things… I’d mad for days if you let me.

#49

Remembering EVERY. THING. I was well into my thirties before I realized that most people do not remember every single detail of most situations. 😅

#50

Having a particular order to eating foods and making sure to have ideal bites.

#51

Having to listen to something to stimulate my brain so i can go to sleep, otherwise ill just be up thinking about any and everything.

#52

Randomly thinking “touch that object or something really bad will happen.”

#53

Having to read someone’s lips to understand what they are saying.😭😭😭

#54

Avoiding showering because I don’t like the feeling of wet hair. But I love being clean.

#55

Derealization/depersonalization. Literally thought everyone had those, until I randomly started to ask around and everyone started to look at me like “???” when I described it.

#56

Feeling like I’m watching myself live in 3rd person.

#57

Needing lists of things. If I don’t have my checklist then i’ll probably forget half the things i was supposed to do.

#58

Ruminating to the point it keeps me up at night and I make myself physically sick, avoiding eating certain foods altogether bc I don’t like the texture, safe foods or “fixation meals”, non-linear grief, lack of maintaining a self care schedule and lacking time management… I could keep going but yeah.

#59

Not actually “missing” many people or feeling the urge to talk to friends or anyone besides the people you’re around everyday. People are like out of sight out of mind.

#60

Being able to automatically identify other neurodivergent people.

#61

I don’t like lights. I want the house dark no lights. My bedroom is very dark. That’s where I want to be

#62

Hating ice breakers. For some reason people genuinely like those.

#63

Forgetting a person’s name straight after they’ve told you.

#64

I hate being in the kitchen doing anything if someone else is there😭

#65

The constant second guessing of everything I do or feel, making things harder than they are, being able to feel what others are thinking and assuming they hate you, completely underestimating how long it takes to do things.

#66

Chatter in my mind, always thinking always ruminating making up scenarios, making up entire new worlds, navigation skills, time anxiety and being soooo prompt, taking things literally, pattern recognition to point I can tell the future based on it 😅 ocd but messy too.

#67

Pattern recognition, re-reading the same sentence/question 10 times and still not understanding, reading a whole page in a book and not even knowing what i read, food hyperfixations, rumination, hating showering because it’s a “big task” for me, not doing anything before a work shift (even if it’s at 4pm) because i’m afraid i won’t have time, listening to the same song over and over, overstimulation by crowds/loudness, getting overwhelmed/frustrated REALLY easily, over analyzing, i could probably think of more.

#68

Never being able to remember people’s names, forgetting words in the middle of speaking, losing track of what I was trying to write because I couldn’t write fast enough and my brain won’t slow down, forgeting appointment is, forgetting homework. Basically everything that has to do with working memory. I am very lucky to live in a time when supports are readily available and culturally acceptable.

#69

Justice sensitivity to the extent of self detriment.

#70

My pedantic speech, everyone says I’m “well spoken” no, I have a large vocabulary and speak like this mainly because it brings me comfort knowing nothing I said is left for interpretation. Any misunderstanding is entirely the other person’s fault.

#71

Being gifted. I could read early, learn multiple languages from library books, do advanced college classes in middle school, and I was a speed reader.

#72

I did not realize people genuinely do not see an issue with things being moved/touched. I tell my coworkers constantly “if you use my stuff, put it back EXACTLY where you found it” but they just toss it on my cart instead. it makes me irrationally upset. It’s MY STUFF, why are you touching it.

#73

Listening to a song 5000 times until you find a new fixation. Repetitive actions (I twirl my hair into a pattern repeatedly) without even thinking about it.

#74

Trying to understand why some people did what they did almost obsessively is so bad learnt to only care about WHAT HAPPENED not WHY it happened.

#75

Immediate and severe 2nd hand embarrassment even though it has nothing to do with me. Intense and complete full conversations in my head before speaking. Pacing while on the phone. Needing to do everything in order ie there are 3 houses- have to go to house 1, first house 2, second etc., watching the same movie, shows, or books that I know every word to on repeat., unable to wear mismatch socks without anxiety, cutting every nail and filing them because one nail broke.

#76

Always counting 😭😭😭why am I counting how many times I typed A😭😭5 btw

#77

Loading the dishwasher in a very certain way.

#78

I thought everyone was aware of how loud they were crunching when eating crunchy things.

#79

Moving from room to room and cleaning it my mind was blown when I found out people don’t actually clean this way. I thought it was a flex now I’m cleaning paralyzed.

#80

My extreme mood swings.

#81

CONSTANTLY misplacing/losing things and then consequentially having a full blown meltdown over not finding it as a full grown adult.

#82

Limerence 😭

#83

When people are talking interrupting to ask questions. I thought I was actively listening… turns out you have to let people finish their sentences?

#84

Not ever having an agenda book or planner work for me longer than maybe three days😂

#85

Anxious body spasm/shivers.

#86

Getting irrationally upset and not being able to comprehend when someone doesn’t like the same things as me.

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