ASD trait anomalies

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I'd like to hear about your positive skills/abilities/one-off achievements/etc. that don't fit with an ASD* trait you generally conform to.

So for example, I'm somewhat clumsy and just, well, a bit unco(ordinated) when it comes to sports, catching and throwing things, walking around on a moving train, etc etc... BUT I am pretty good at playing squash, and I get compliments on my form. Someone at comp tonight told me she enjoys watching me play because she likes the way I move. It inspired me to create this thread.

Another example...I am hopeless at style. I can't match tops to trousers to shoes, even if I wanted to wear lots of make-up I can't apply it so it looks good, and I try to have a basic haircut so I don't have to attempt to do fancy things with it...BUT my hairdresser once showed me how to put bobby pins in my hair to help while I was growing it out, and I was really good at creating a particular look with the pins and others would often ask me how I did it. (Just the one look, mind you...I couldn't use the pins for any other style!)

What are yours?


*or at least something vaguely related to ASD

Your mention of co-ordination made me think of my own lack of co-ordination. I seriously cannot do mirrors, trip over my own shadow and feel like I'm on a boat when I look at a video game. But, I can dance, no problem. Show me a few steps and I pick it up right away.

Also, style. Normally I dress very plain and practicality is much more important than looks. As a full-time mum, I really have no need to dress up. I don't bother about co-ordinating, if it goes against weather conditions. But, I can really scrub up. When I worked, I used to get complimented on my choice of clothes for work. My husband works in the same building. He says his boss was always going on about my great clothes and quizzing him about where I got this or that (not in a sarcastic way). I don't go anywhere fancy or expensive, in fact most things I buy are from the sales. I'm just pretty good at picking things that flatter and putting outfits together.

I can't do anything fancy with my hair. I can do a reverse French Braid, just one down the middle of the back of my head or I just do a ponytail but that is about it. I can match clothes well though and even though I don't dress to impress I can look good and I can dress my husband pretty well. I shop sales and discount stores too so I can dress us pretty well without spending much.

I can play table tennis with both hands, but can't seem to kick a ball hard enough. I can throw a tennis ball far with my right arm, which was useful in a game called "stingers", similar to dodge ball but with tennis balls and the children would run around like free range chickens.

I am so shy, so awkward, an constantly faltering in my speech and never know the appropriate response to say to anyone. But, when I see a person who is obviously feeling out of place, I feel a compulsion to make that person feel better about being where they are, and feeling at ease,and I am super good at it.

I know that's supposed to be an NT trait, but I am better at it than any NT I can think of. I think it's because People can tell I really care.

I have horrible fine motor skills, but i am a competitive gymnast.

I am good at banter.

I can walk into a place with florescent lighting and loud music* and it does not bother me


* If I like the song or genre of music

My fine motor control is such that I have difficulty doing things like cutting shapes out following the lines, and my manual sewing never holds up, and yet, unfathomably, I can look at and re-create images through drawing with considerable accuracy and precise detail. I've never understood the descrepancy, especially considering that, without a picture to reference, I can barely manage stick figures and am right back to being clumsy and uncoordinated.

I'm the opposite of a literal thinker.

I'm as clumsy as anything and my fine motor skills are pretty unreliable. However, I can play any instrument I try.