positive aspects of autism

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Post a random though or experience that made you think: wow, I'm glad I'm autistic.

The fact that I find it extremely difficult to be dishonest and have difficulty understanding why others lie, I think this is a good thing about being autistic.

autistics kick ass

I'm not very complicated - I think that other people have someone that they present to other people and someone they have for themselves and that sort of thing - and while I am disassociative, what you see is what you get - I'm not good at acting different in different sitations unless there is some REALLY good reason for doing so . . .

Oh - and I get along with cats much better than most people but can also tell people's basic nature upon meeting them . . . it is really amazing and not something I confessed to until recently - but so far I haven't been wrong . . . of course, most people come up as 'neutral' but I've met some people and thought 'wow! this one will be really important in my life . . .' or 'what a scary person - ewwww!! !!' and always been right . . . Donna Williams, I think, talks about being able to do something similar . . .

For purposes of interacting with people on the spectrum, I'm okay with calling myself autistic. In the real world, though, I think the term autistic may produce a different meaning. For example, I used to think of an autistic person as "a person who hardly ever communicates, or does so in incoherent sounds or unusual actions, a person who gazes at objects all the time even when spoken to, a person who does repeated odd things with his arms and hands." I used to go to school with many autistic students, and it wasn't until recently that I've come across the concepts of high-functioning autism.

Though we are on the autistic spectrum, I think high-functioning autism and asperger's syndrome and related conditions should just be called the asperger spectrum or something. I think, for many people, the term autism can be really confusing, especially if they don't understand it. I believe that classical autism is far more debilitating to have, though those who do have it probably don't even recognize it's debilitating, but to those that are around them, it can be far more harder to deal with.

I believe that having AS is a part of who I am. Reading about it gave me meaning to some of my differences, particularly those that would not be qualified as attention-deficit, and those that ended up having me misdiagnosed as schizophrenic. I've always accepted my differences, but there are those few symptoms that I wish I did not have. Other symptoms, if I should even call them symptoms, I do enjoy. Like, I can get extremely interested in things, more so than typical people, and I get excited over them, and I like the emotional high I get.

- Ray M -

A regular one comes when I'm still doing clear and cool thinking when others are getting all emotional and irrational around me. This can be triggered by something as simple as a newspaper story, apparently.

(Shades of the mob who chased a woman out of her home because they'd heard she was a paediatrician. "Against the madness of crowds, the gods themselves contend in vain")


The downside of that is not being able to feel the sheer joy that seems to appear on the faces of football supporters when their team scores (Australians shown on the news last night!)

the ability to hyperfocus. i.e. the deadline is today so I write all the things I need to get a decent grade.

thanks Emettman, I have experienced that but not been able to put it into words. (which seems stupid of me now).

I do like that about being AS. Helps avoid getting lost on long journeys.

and dito to Fiz, I like the honesty as well.

Thinking in pictures. This comes in handy when beeing tested in various subjects in school.

I met my two best friends because of autism, common intrests and common dxs, Its not all good but it is a part of who i am. +the good outweighs the bad

i don't understand lieing either, i tell storis, but thats just for fun, like when i write.
i have lied before but i always feel guilty afterwards and sometimes sick
I just don't understand how people can live with those feelings

I've always thought that NTs get some sort of perverse pleasure out of those feelings. I've thought 'Nice' afterwards because someone's told me I'm being amture afterward and I didn't let the people bugging me get in the way of my work and yadyadayada and I'm sitting there like 'What people?'. Yup. I didn't notice because I got so absorbed.

The times when someone asks me a question about the grammar homework and I'm able to instantly explain it coherently, because language is one of my strong points. Or the sheer joy that comes from editing a paper or a story and finding and correcting mistakes so it becomes better.

Or maybe the times when I, for lack of a better term, experience the glories of the world around me--the amazing unlikeliness of everything around me, the mind-boggling intricacies of the nearest tree or bit of fungus or, even more awe-inspiring, a chattering squirrell--and my NT peers miss out on all of that. How could you be willing to ignore the powerful beauty of everything around you to chatter about mindless social events?

i like the hyperfocus and i wouldent have the PHP/ MySQL skills i have without obbsessions.

jammie

I like the fact that at a dead rest, I have more brainpower at my beck and call than any one person that I have ever met has ever demonstrated to me at any time. To easily out-think, and achieve more than anyone I know with no effort comes so naturally I rarely remember that I am different. Instead I tend to think of myself as superior, which is correct, I don't know.

Some of the many good points
1. OBSESSIONS. ARE. FUN.
2. I can relate to cats.
3. I hardly ever get lonely.