how can someone be proud of having aspergers?

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all it is is the lack of being able to communicate and having obsessions, NTs can easily do that if they want

I guess it's the stuggle and the fact that you're different.

What you lack in actual qualities, you make up for in pride.

thats nothing to be proud about, thats just stress a burden

I think my counselor said out of the box thinking is one benefit.

It's also sensory sensitivities, repetitive behavior, a lack of instinctive social perception/imagination, and consequently a different way of thinking and perceiving. It's not "just" any one or two particular things, and not everyone experiences these things negatively or only negatively.

Pride in this context is meant to be the antonym of shame. There is no shame in being disabled, of being autistic. That's all it means.

Some take it more literally and either reject or embrace it on those grounds.

Last edited by Verdandi on 05 Jun 2011, 10:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

I think part of it is just being proud of who you are and finally knowing that there are others out there who share similar experiences. Not everyone sees AS as a disability. Some see it just as a difference. As with any difference, there are benefits as well as disadvantages.

I'm not proud of having AS, but I am proud of overcoming the problems it has caused, and is still causing.

I'm not "proud" of being aspie per se however I am proud of the abilities it has given me. For example, I can hyperfocus on something. I've been making electronic music for a year and soon I'll be out DJing at festivals.

Don't know if I am really proud? of it. But I would not change the fact that I have HFA as it made me the person I am today.

I'm not proud of it (if I finally pass as one). Learning about it is an exciting experience though, and I'm proud of myself if I accomplish something I've longed for. However, I'm not that productive so I can't be much proud of what I've achieved, because it's fairly common among people with higher intelligence than average.

We have other things that NT's don't have, to be proud of.

First os all, I enjoy celebrating my differences. Second of all, I see AS as a fun challenge, instead of as a life sentence.

You remind me a lot of Corp900.

AS has some advantages to it like not minding being alone or see things different, being more logical and not having emotions get in the way, noticing more details than others, the ability to know lot of stuff when reading on things you're interested in, the ability to see patterns. That's something to be proud of there.

AS is a lot more then the disadvantages listed on the several information websites; there are a lot of advantages and 'powers' granted by AS that you normally dont hear about, the sensory sensitivities are one of them, if applied correctly, such as hyperfocus and the ability to retract in your mind and overanalyze.

this still doesn't make it something to be 'proud' of per se, but it does make it something a lot more then just a social disability

There's a lot more to asperger's than communication problems (not total lack) and having obsessions.

Even looking at these two in particular, NT's cannot turn-on obsessions or 'special interests' to match that with which people with asperger's have - we can absorb information on a particular topic easier, we can have different or better understanding of that chosen subject and pursue it with more passion. There are countless examples of where having asperger's is an advantage such as thinking outside the box, we are above average intelligence, attention to detail, individuality, etc.

People with asperger's are no better or worse than NT's - there are after all many things that NT's are better at that us, but we are often thought of as inferior rather than equals. Pride in having asperger's shows we are not ashamed - it's like being proud to be black or proud to be gay, there are benefits in being that which you are proud of, but primarily pride is about not being ashamed.