"I LOVE ASPIES" - from the expert's point of view

Post Reply New Topic

Hi there!
I'm not good with words so I'm going to let the experts I respect do the job:

I hope after reading, you will learn to focus and rely on your strengths and use them to compensate for your weakness.
There's a better and even longer list of AS good qualities!

I can't insert the link cos I was told by WrongPlant that they only allow users to post URLs in any form until they have posted at least 5 legitimate posts and have been with us for more than 5 days. So I'm going to just copy and past the whole message here. If you want to read or reply to the message, go goggle: "Strengths and advantages of being an aspie!"

Here's the article:
STRENGTHS & ADVANTAGES OF BEING AN ASPIE!

Asperger’s Syndrome is NOT all about dysfunction and disability etc. There are many good points and advantages to being an Aspie. Here’s a refreshingly different perspective from the medical profession, by Dr Tony Attwood…

From my clinical experience I consider that children and adults with Aspergers Syndrome have a different, not defective, way of thinking.

The person usually has a strong desire to seek knowledge, truth and perfection with a different set of priorities than would be expected with other people. There is also a different perception of situations and sensory experiences. The overriding priority may be to solve a problem rather than satisfy the social or emotional needs of others.

The person values being creative rather than co-operative.

The person with Aspergers syndrome may perceive errors that are not apparent to others, giving considerable attention to detail, rather than noticing the “big picture”.

The person is usually renowned for being direct, speaking their mind and being honest and determined and having a strong sense of social justice.

The person may actively seek and enjoy solitude, be a loyal friend and have a distinct sense of humour.

However, the person with Aspergers Syndrome can have difficulty with the management and expression of emotions.

Children and adults with Aspergers syndrome may have levels of anxiety, sadness or anger that indicate a secondary mood disorder. There may also be problems expressing the degree of love and affection expected by others. Fortunately, we now have successful psychological treatment programs to help manage and express emotions.

Tony Attwood

The following excerpt from a paper by Attwood & Gray called, The Discovery of “Aspie” Criteria, further details the strengths of being an “Aspie”…
If Asperger’s Syndrome was identified by observation of strengths and talents, it would no longer be in the DSM IV, nor would it be referred to as a syndrome. After all, a reference to someone with special strengths or talents does not use terms with negative connotations (it’s artist and poet, not Artistically Arrogant or Poetically Preoccupied), nor does it attach someone’s proper name to the word syndrome (it’s vocalist or soloist, not Sinatra’s Syndrome). Focusing on strengths requires shedding the former diagnostic term, Asperger’s Syndrome, for a new term. The authors feel that Aspie, used in self-reference by Liane Holliday Wiley in her new book, Pretending to be Normal (1999), is a term that seems right at home among it’s talent-based counterparts: soloist, genius, aspie, dancer. With fading DSM potential, the authors submit a description of “aspie” for placement in a much needed but currently non-existent Manual of Discoveries About People (MDP I) (Figure 1).

New ways of thinking often lead to discoveries that consequently discard their outdated predecessors. Similarly, the change from Asperger’s Syndrome to aspie holds interesting implications and opportunities. It could result in typical people rethinking their responses and rescuing a missed opportunity to take advantage of the contribution of aspies to culture and knowledge.

Discovery Criteria for Aspie…
A. A qualitative advantage in social interaction, as manifested by a majority of the following:

1. peer relationships characterized by absolute loyalty and impeccable dependability
2. free of sexist, “age-ist”, or culturalist biases; ability to regard others at “face value”
3. speaking one’s mind irrespective of social context or adherence to personal beliefs
4. ability to pursue personal theory or perspective despite conflicting evidence
5. seeking an audience or friends capable of: enthusiasm for unique interests and topics;
6. consideration of details; spending time discussing a topic that may not be of primary interest
7. listening without continual judgement or assumption
8. interested primarily in significant contributions to conversation; preferring to avoid ‘ritualistic small talk’ or socially trivial statements and superficial conversation.
9. seeking sincere, positive, genuine friends with an unassuming sense of humour

B. Fluent in “Aspergerese”, a social language characterized by at least three of the following:

1. a determination to seek the truth
2. conversation free of hidden meaning or agenda
3. advanced vocabulary and interest in words
4. fascination with word-based humour, such as puns
5. advanced use of pictorial metaphor

C. Cognitive skills characterized by at least four of the following:

1. strong preference for detail over gestalt
2. original, often unique perspective in problem solving
3. exceptional memory and/or recall of details often forgotten or disregarded by others, for example: names, dates, schedules, routines
4. avid perseverance in gathering and cataloguing information on a topic of interest
5. persistence of thought
6. encyclopaedic or ‘CD ROM’ knowledge of one or more topics
7. knowledge of routines and a focused desire to maintain order and accuracy
8. clarity of values/decision making unaltered by political or financial factors

D. Additional possible features:

1. acute sensitivity to specific sensory experiences and stimuli, for example: hearing, touch, vision, and/or smell
2. strength in individual sports and games, particularly those involving endurance or visual accuracy, including rowing, swimming, bowling, chess
3. “social unsung hero” with trusting optimism: frequent victim of social weaknesses of others, while steadfast in the belief of the possibility of genuine friendship
4. increased probability over general population of attending university after high school
5. often take care of others outside the range of typical development

From my point of view, this really just is an immense sugar coated thing.
You make it sound so good, while it isn't.
Well then again, it is ALL a matter of perspective.

It's like that saying bill gates has said once, I can't really remember it in detail. As I personaly havnt read it ( only heard from others )

Something along the lines of "Be nice to the geeks/nerds, because some day you will be working for one"

Geeks/nerds do NOT have any strengths. They are made fun of by others.
But it's thanks to exactly those geeks/nerds that we have the technology we have.

So in short, those "strengths" you talk about is our weaknesses in our everyday life.

Seriously, if we were such gifted people, why have so many suffered and been exploited and what not?
You just see our weaknesses as our strength.
I don't know if I wasable to explain anything at all to you

Well that is a rather dumb thing to say. You just contradicted yourself within your own statement. If they don't have any strengths, then how could they have invented useful things? That sounds like a strength to me.

Besides everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Being bullied does not prove that you are worthless, just that perhaps you are weaker in some areas than those bulling you. But you certainly have your own strengths just as the bullies have their own weaknesses as well.

I think perhaps you need to work on your self-esteem, Tias.

This is the same list of characteristics from another site: http://creative-minds.info/index_files/ ... istics.htm

I like it, because it helps to show that it's possible to see the same thing from more than one perspective. I can either moan & groan about how hard everything is for me, or I can look at how I might use my special characteristics to improve my life.

Strength? Well me rephrease it.
Their so called strength is their weakness.
Extremly interested in computers and what else, usualy different looking, strength? No, it's a weakness to them when they are young cause they are being bullied and made fun of, there chidlhood could us e been way different I'd it would not have been for their so called "strength"

And now bout my "self esteem" I prefer to think it is fine the way it is.
I'm just a pessimist and sceptic.
Getting hopes up just to see them crushed isn't exactly the way I want things to go.
If I'm optimistic and think posetiv, bad stuff usualy happens to me and it puts me down and makes me dissapointed. However being negativ and sceptic, it's like this " I whont be able to do that" then if I really whont be able to, it goes " see? I was rigth" and if I AM able to do what I thougth u wouldn't be able to do, it's "oh, I really could" as it cones as a surprise.

Don't know if you understood what I meant, in short it's making a "sucess" out of a loss, and a win out of a win

I do understand what you mean, I'm actually not very optimistic myself. I just don't think it's fair to say that they have no strengths. Being bullied in school is not the end of your life.


There's a whole lot of life left after school is over and it is quite a different atmosphere.

i would trade anything in the world not to have AS, its awful, and it annoys me when people try and tell me i am "gifted"
if i was, i'd probably be happy

That is a thought distortion. It is not your abilities or posessions or anything else that makes you happy. It is only your thoughts. Only your thoughts and your reactions to things that create your feelings.
Sounds like BS, I know. But it's true. If you can learn to control your thoughts and reactions, you can be happy even though you have AS.

ohh i know, but it would be easier to be happy if i didn't lol
i just don't see a whole lot to be happy about right now (this minute)
on a whole-i am alright with my life
it hasn't f****d me over lately lol

Yeah, I'm with you there.
I'm not too happy myself, today.

I don't love that the bad side of my AS characteristics have made things difficult for me (especially when I was younger & didn't have a clue that there might be a name for what I was experiencing.) But I'm also strong-willed enough to look for ways around those difficulties.

I'm gifted in math & music - whether or not those gifts are directly related to AS. My gifts don't always make me happy - sometimes they set me apart from the people around me in a way that isn't pleasant.

AS is not all good - but it is not all bad. It is what it is - good and bad are simply relative terms, depending on the situation.

^ Bingo. There's a balanced man. Balance is to be envied.

well i hope you feel better
i am a little sick so pretty much lost my voice lol

AspieFan911, I order you to date me and to do everything I want (ie. Cooking some hummus!). I am a god after all (since I am ass-pie) so you should obey me, mortal.

But you're a female unless....

*sigh* can't a woman dream?