Is fearlessness an AS/ASD trait?

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I was told it is, but with no further details. Does anyone know T or F?

It has been in my experience.

In another thread somewhere it says that spectrumers feel more fear than NTs.

I'm not fearless by the way. I'm scared of everything.

I wish!

I'd say it depends what it is. If it's connected to a special interest - for instance a woman in the local autism spectrum group helps out at the local snake park, handling as many as she can and also has pet snakes at home.

In my experience some of us are pretty fearless while others are fearful of many things and have similar phobias to the general population.

There are times when I am scared of my own shadow

I spent my life in fear. Still anxious every day at 70. I have heard of a certain type of fearlessness described with autism. It is when people can't see the risks or don't understand the danger of something. Especially in kids. Trying to fly like superman by jumping out of the barn loft got my cousin's arms broken at age 5, for example. My brother and my son both had experiences when they were new to piers on a lake, running to the end and going right off without knowing how to swim years apart, children under 5 years, same thing happened. Maybe it happens to NT kids and adults too, I don't know? Probably. Sometimes it can happen to older people too.
I think we learn more about danger as we age, but still might not be as able to recognize certain kinds of danger until we have experience (learning what not to do!) and until we are older with more life experience in general. I have heard this described as "lack of common sense". It kind of conflicts with the reports of rigidity and highly controlling our environments and experiences due to worry about unexpected trouble and feeling like we lack competence or tools to use when presented with new things. I don't know if the same individual can experience both, or if one is lack of experience, the other response to such experiences.

I was scared to even go on the monkey bars from the time I was a very young child.

Nope....I wouldn't have jumped out a window pretending I was Superman when I was 5 years old.

I have fears of spiders, vomiting, fires, death, and social humiliation. Probably not uncommon among the general population.

I don't have a fear of heights, reptiles, rodents, etc (unless they are a threat, but I'm talking about fears with things that don't pose as a threat). Like some people have a fear of snails or other things that they know won't harm.

Not really.

Some people think it is because sensory and attention problems can make some autistics, especially children and more severely impaired people, miss danger cues and do dangerous things unaware of the risks. But it's not that they can't feel fear, it's that they don't realize they're in a situation where fear might be appropriate. Eg walking out in front of a moving car, not because they're not afraid of getting hit, but because they didn't notice the car.

I read somewhere that having a sense of danger is a form of theory of mind skills but I don't know if it's true or not. If it is, I guess a lot of autistics that lack theory of mind skills can be less aware or cautious of danger or threats.

I actually have a good sense of danger even as a young child. I wouldn't wander or run out into the road, and if I was outside playing and I saw a shifty-looking man about I would run straight indoors.

This reminds me of when I was about 7 or 8 I was playing in some trees outside my house, and this car drew up with two men in. I didn't know them, and one of them rolled the window down and said something to me. I didn't hear what he said but I knew it wasn't wise to go right up to the car and answer him, so I just turned around and ran home. They never came back again. I didn't want to play outside my garden alone any more.

I agree with this assessment. I tend to be fearless. It is part of my nature. For me life is an adventure and I live it to the fullest. It may be due to the fact that I came to the point of death as a very young child and survived. It may have destroyed part of the left side of my brain and my right side took over. The right side of your brain is fearless.

i had no sense of danger when i was a child
being so i never had tantrums or meltdowns and never spoke till i was 8 i was still a challenge for my parents because i always had to be watched otherwise i could have easily killed myself by accident


now im a well trained bus driver and I have a talent for recognising danger

My personality tends to be drawn towards dangerous situations, conflict and other high stimulus situations. Generally those situations tend to make me feel very mentally engaged and often like everything is unfolding quite slowly with lots of time to respond as things unfold. I'm usually too interested to consider that it might be incredibly dangerous; I've also been quite self-destructive through-out most of my life so often high risk is an additional draw.

I am full of fear and I am full of courage. I'm terrified walking through a parking lot, but I will jump off a cliff. I don't want somebody to raise their voice at me, but I will confront leadership of Fortune 500s regarding integrity, quality and fairness. I'm scared to assert myself, but I won't go away until my goal is met...

Similarly my ASD mom was the first women this and that, got herself into law school, met with mayors, but she couldn't sustain it. My ASD daughter is also fearful and brave. My sister says my ASD niece is courageous and without fear. I'm not so sure. If so, good for her.

I have had unusual fears, anxieties and scary thoughts ever since I was a young child.

I have suffered badly from dentophobia (fear of dentists), emetophobia (fear of vomiting), agyrphobioa (fear of crossing streets), cynophobia (fear of dogs), and hypochondria.

When I was little I was afraid of drawing beards and mustaches and hated even drawing Santa Claus until I was around 9 years old.

I had a really bad fear of using public toilets except the girl's bathroom at school until I was maybe 10. I would rather pee on the ground than use a public toilet. I really don't know why exactly, maybe because they often had strange noises or weird chemical odors.

But then again female people are statistically more affected by anxiety disorders and phobias than male people. I don't know if it's because guys are still generally taught that being afraid is "wrong", or if it's genetic, or both.

And yet I've never had a fear of water or swimming. I learned to swim at an early age and I loved it. Supposedly we're all afraid of water and don't shower often and smell and look gross as a result. Supposedly we don't know or forget that water is wet. But that's not it at all, some of us just hate the feeling and pressure of the shower water hitting our skin. When you take a bath or swim it's different.