Write your 3 positives about being on the spectrum

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Oh and BTW I was not trying to be nice. I was just being honest, I do love these things about my son and they ARE largely because of his autism. These are the positives I take from my sons autism. As to whether they are positives for him, who knows? He's only 4 1/2 so I'll have to wait a few years before he can reliably report on that!

I have this feeling that I think more and I think deeper then everyone i've ever met
Being incredibly sensitive to the world around me, it feels like a super power
Stringent high morals that lead me in the right direction

I still give in to my "lack of guile" most of the time.

1) I observe things other people overlook. Especially really small details. My colleagues who are scientists ask me to look at their research material, and writers I know ask me to proof their work. I was walking a property line with someone the other day, and although they had been to the location many times over many years and I had never seen it before, I pointed out several details which indicated extensive human occupation in the past. And this past summer, I was walking over a property with a professional environmental archaeologist and identified several anomalies in the landscape he had overlooked.

2) I make unusual connections between things that other people would consider to be totally unrelated. This really helps when I am teaching students with diverse interests and backgrounds, because I can make analogies between the taught material and something else which is relevant to them.

3) I don't waste time and energy on things that aren't meaningful, and I don't waste words on sycophantic ramblings.

Have to agree with EvilRegion, especially the purity thing.

For myself, I can't see many good things that don't also have a significant downside, but here are the nearest things to "more good than harm" that I can think of:

1. Staying power. Once I'm started on a task, I rarely give up until it's done right, even if the process becomes long, repetitive, and tediously exacting.

2. Love of truth. All that hype out there has to be unhealthy. We need people to point out the elephant in the room and to just be straight about things.

3. Hyperfocus. (same as Naturalist) That deep grasp of detail that most people never get. Any machine that sees what most people cannot see is likely to be useful. We're walking microscopes.

Here are my top 3 positives about being on the spectrum:

(1) I'm perfectly fine with being the only person to do/ not do things where others seem to be compelled to participate or withdraw according to herd instinct. I'll be the only guy carrying an umbrella because it's likely to rain that day, even if it hasn't gotten cloudy yet. I'm the guy who will ask uncomfortable (so I'm told), pointed questions during a staff meeting at work. I'm the guy who still doesn't understand the factors that drive young people to endure hazing in the name of acceptance by a collective; if I don't want to do something, a roomful of 20 people cajoling me won't sway my opinion. I'm happy being an individual.

(2) As others have said, I find that written communication comes easily for me. I can communicate ideas clearly and forcefully in writing, even if I do have a harder time communicating in person. I may be less adept at spatial reasoning, but I do enjoy mastery of language.

(3) My passion for my special interest in the area of photography drives me to practice and learn continually. While my executive functions may be poor, I possess a remarkable tenacity when it comes to this one area and other special interests I've had over the years.

I wish I had Naturalist's affinity for detail.

Those are the people who prove that man was able to build pretty decent shelters during the time of Homo erectus. An "average" person wouldn't be able to deduce that based upon the evidence as presented--frequently, this sort of evidence is quite subtle: rocks have a way of looking very much like other rocks.

Peer pressure doesn't get to me
My special interest in weather leads to some very creative activities
I'm always honest.

DevilKisses, it was you from whom I got my first really useful piece of advice on WP... the one fact rule
Maybe one of your strengths is making really useful contributions...

I truly don't think of "quirks" as being part of a "sickness."

Please embrace your "quirkiness." It's only bad when your "quirks" harm you or others.

I happen to believe that being "too normal" is rather pathological.

My belief is that "quirks" should be channeled toward a useful purpose.

Without "quirks," frankly, we'd still be hunter-gatherers.

It's the people with the "quirks" who deduced that domesticating plants would be a better way of life than hunting and gathering.

It was the people with "quirks" who developed art and music.

I can name many other instances where people with "quirks" contributed to a greater quality of life for all.

It should be noted: I am one who believes in autistic people adapting to the "neurotypical" world.