What having Aspergers has done in your life. (Good or Bad)

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The good is that Im obessesed with dogs and can tell you almost any breed there is because I memorized them. I also train service dogs. And the bad? Where do I start? I have not friends because I dont like most people and I cant keep friendships with the ones I do like. My boyfriend broke up with me tonight because he thinks I love dogs more then him and that I am unable to love someone. I offend people all the time when I dont mean to so I am not well liked. I act like a child so my mom tells my younger sister to baby sit me while shes gone. This list could go on forever. Whats Aspergers done for you? Or to you?

You sure seem to be taking your breakup pretty easily. Most girls would be in tears. Shows a lot of maturity.

I think both lists could be a little bit longer, but I chose only to list significant items of which I have conscious awareness. Plus there are items that have relation to my autism that are not very beneficial but that I do not mind, either.

The good:

I am very artistic (no I may not be the next savant artist, but I am artistic)
I have a talent for making relationships (as in correlating items events or data, not like people relationships).
I am a visual thinker

The Bad:

Little grasp of social rules
Little grasp of body language
Aversion to eye contact
Aversion to changes in schedule not planned by self
Need constant reassurance of state of plans
Sensory Overload Issues
Loose track of time while engaged in special interests

Hard to say.
I could try to petulantly blame my problems on my AS to extricate myself from personal responsibility,
or I could dedicate the sum of my positive actions and attributes to my AS with zealous pride.
But my cautionary skepticism forbids either approach. I have never lived a NT life, so I have no frame of reference.
I know of no alternate reality ME for comparison, so it's hard to draw conclusions.

What mediums? I dabble in a few.
http://fatal-noogie.deviantart.com/gallery

When I was into dogs I had no boyfriend. And I don't have one now. That could be an issue because of autism but I basically just don't care for that stuff any more.

I'm writing a science fiction trilogy. Science fiction is my special interest so every time I read or watch some sci-fi I put it down as 'research.' Even video games are research. So are all these things: the air force, astronomy, solar physics, all physics, neuroscience, research on autism/ADHD/bipolar/synaesthesia, watching people talk, practising my art and learning new skills, the news, reading novels, etc.

It's very much a special interest of mine. I don't really have to give it up to spend time on work because it is my work. I do need some break time to spend some time socialising. Building and keeping social skills can be useful.

My logical/literal mind makes me good at science fiction but also because it's so different than the world, which might be because I'm so different and disconnected by people in this world.

Now the bad.

My sensory issues are severe so I have to work around them sometimes. I must be on medication and wear protection for my eyes and ears. My fear of change makes me unwilling to try new things, including travelling. Though I have developed some social skills I still freeze up in some situations, and my very black and white thinking gets me in a lot of heated arguments.

Because of my lack of showing any enthusiasm and poor social skills no one ever gives me a job.

Focusing on detail can make me get stuck on one thing and not see the bigger picture. This isn't always in interests but in everything. Sometimes it gets me in bad situations.

My very poor emotional regulation. I do my best to keep in meltdowns but sometimes I don't get that lucky.

I hope you're just talking about yourself and not meaning to be as offensive as you are coming off.

The reference I'm using is the symptoms.
How is it the person's fault if their brain makes them do those things?
Sometimes we need to speak ourselves up, because of all the crap we have to go through.
That's my I talk about my writing, otherwise I'll give up and then probably kill myself. That is attributed to a hormone disorder.
Look at the brain to see why these symptoms are even happening and then you'll be able to understand.

Aside from making me socially inept and all the things that come with that, not much. Life has been more difficult than some, but others have it far worse than I do. At the end of the day, I'm content with my unique perspective on life and people and I wouldn't change it for anything.

I only paraphrased those options in a negative demeanor because I used
to apply them to my life and I now consider that a mistake I made.
It's none of my business to scrutinize the conclusions other people make about their lives.
... so no offense was intended.

Last edited by Fatal-Noogie on 25 Aug 2012, 1:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I have focus to fix electronic things and make a decent living doing it-have trouble making friends and getting hurt and feeling like I am thrown away like trash-sometimes not a feeling I have been disposed of and dismissed like trash over the years by many people and remember it all-my long term memory is great-another aspie characteristic-sometimes blessing sometimes curse. I am a very literal thinker-I have meltdowns and shutdowns when overwhelmed a lot-I get depressed from my unrelenting loneliness much of the time.

Last edited by Radiofixr on 25 Aug 2012, 1:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Good:
given me the skill of being a fast worker on computers with low error rate
having a great memory
being very intelligent
being good at studying
being fast at reading
made me good at research
made me detail oriented
because I make lists and organise things I am efficient
given me a degree of photographic memory

Bad:
given me lots of stress, anxiety and depression
given me phobias
given me hypervigilance
given me socialising problems
made me talk too much and for too long
made me one-track minded
made me focus too much on details when it bothers others
made me feel different in a way that can make people mean
given me sensory difficulties
the list making I do is because my mind is too full and busy to focus
possibly given me difficulties in personal relationships
made me not let things drop, on principle
made me too honest for my own good
made people take advantage of me
given me sleep problems
given me digestive problems
given me clumsiness and poor balance
possible executive dysfunction

I would say that i have good knowledge about different types of trains including maps and can memorize flags around the world also my sports knowledge is good too and the bad side is my social skills are not good at all often get anxious and have difficulties managing my anger.

pro:
i have an encyclopaedic knowledge of insects
i also enjoy and know a reasonable amount about animals ..
i also have a good knowledge of illnesses/parasites

cons:
my job is as a butcher so the loud noises get me very upset(as in stress me out not crying upset)
i have struggled always to find friends who are still my friends when i am not there.
i also have had trouble trying to get doctors to realise i have aspergic/autistic symptoms.
(i mask it well but it exhausts me).

this article is good for explaining it http://www.aspiestrategy.com/2012/05/hi ... dults.html

It gave me nothing good, everything about having AS is negative in my life.

I started mainly with charcoal, soft pastels and graphite but I was worried about my consumption of materials and got a bamboo tablet, which is what I am using predominantly lately. I post my work within the art section regularly. http://tempertempest.deviantart.com/

I only ask if you check it out that you do NOT mention wrongplanet or as please my friends and family see my site and I do not talk to them about AS. It would cause me a lot of pain and grief at home.

Good:

-Ability to be great at anything I set my mind to (special interests mainly.)
-Good imagination (which lots of people say people with AS don't have, for whatever reason )
-Good concentration skills (haven't always had this like )
-Good memory (not sure if this is an Asperger's trait or not?)
-Good sense of humour (also not a particularly good AS trait apparently.)
-Good computer skills.
-Good literacy skills.


Bad:

-Being bullied, which furthermore caused about a year and a half of depression.
-Social skills, though improving, aren't great (not that I'm too bothered about this to be honest, it comes with the AS package )

Everything? Is there truly not one good thing for you about having AS? Not one?