Are you proud to be an Aspie/Autie?

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It took me a while to accept my diagnosis and the fact that I'm not neurotypical even though I have some blatant difficulties and neurological differences to most people. Did anyone else take a while to come to terms with their diagnosis or are you Aspie and proud? Also, what are your strongest Autistic traits?

It wasn't until I was 45 that I discovered I had Asperger's while I was reading Temple Grandin's book Thinking In Pictures and realized for the first time that my severely autistic daughter came by her autism honestly (before that I thought her autism came out of the blue and some birth trauma) I accepted the diagnosis instantly, but it took me several years to work out the implications.
Instead of this little thing and that little thing and oh, yeah, something else along with anger at people for calling me weird, I had something that was coherent and understandable, a whole, if you will. And through reading articles on WP etc, I came to figure out what things were my problem and what things were other people's. That allowed me to figure out work-arounds for the problems that were mine, and forgiveness for the problems that were others'. I can't help giving off the vibes that make Neurotypicals uneasy, and Neurotypicals can't help being made uneasy by the vibes.
Am I proud? No. But I do like some of my aspie traits. Some traits I would cure in a heartbeat if it were possible. My daughter I would definitely cure and hand her an easier and better life. But both she and I deserve a space on this earth. God loves all of us. Some people would call me a curebie for that. But I don't hate the autistic person, I want people to not be in constant pain. Where there is no pain, there is no need of a cure.

I’m not proud of something that wasn’t my choice—hardly can it be any merit on my part.

I'm not proud of having AS because it's not something I've chosen, caused or asked for. I'm not ashamed of it for the same reason.
I didn't have to "accept" anything, I was diagnosed when I was 6 and my mother told me when I was almost 14, and my reaction was "ahw well, this won't change my life" and I moved on.
My life have been the same life it was before my mother told me I had AS, and would have been the same even if my mother hadn't told me that.

I guess I have a few autistic traits that are quite strong, but don't know exactly which ones.
The worse for me are sensory issues; if I could, I would get rid of them.

I only discovered that I had Asperger's last year. While I accepted it imediatly, I'm still learning what it actualy is. I guess I am a little proud, I could also just be a proud person. I've achieved a great deal in my life. Anything I put my hand to with effort I can achieve. Examples; surfing, martial arts, love of old cars, oil painting, computer programming, engineering diploma via correspondance, job in engineering, music production, currently learning the drums, and next year I'll be learning keyboards. Is that not something to be proud of.

You may have noticed there is no mention of wife, kids and friends.

"what are your strongest Autistic traits?", determination and concenration. An "I will not give up" attitude. It's tough some times, but I will and do succeed.

Hope all goes well with you.

Not "proud", I just accept it most of the time. I don't go around telling people I have it or anything, since that would be yet another thing that makes it hard for me to fit in.

I'm actually proud of being an Aspie. I've always been trying to be genuine and unique because I didn't like how people said I was weird and non-cooperative. I was never interested in people but ironically, I had the fear of knowing that my mother was right about how people can influence your succeeding in life and that without social skills you weren't going to be taken seriously so I was trying helplessly to make friends against my will most of the time.

When I was diagnosed last year I had the priviledge to know that I was different for a specific reason. I stopped trying to be different or forcing myself to befriend everyone. I didn't worry anymore about how I was not appealing to people. Now I have a way to tell people I get to be with most of the time like classmates and tell them 'hey I have Asperger's so excuse me if you feel ignored or if I do something weird, it was not my intention' so people will have more patience and I can make friends easier!

And my strongest autistic traits are perfectionism and dedication, also photographic memory and love for numbers.

I wouldn't describe it as pride, but I feel it gives me an advantage over NT's in the fact that I don't ever lose my focus due to the distracting dramas which they love to create. I also feel that being an aspie has given me a super power. Discipline.

I'm not extremely proud, but I like being an aspie because it makes me unique. I might not always fit in, but thankfully I have friends and family who accept my differences.

I was just recently diagnosed, at age 50. Before I was diagnosed, I tried to live a neurotypical lifestyle with neurotypical aspirations. I had many issues understanding why I couldn’t be more “normal” (like my peers and role models). This led to a variety of problems (sadness, dysphoria, etc.).

When I first learned about Aspergers (~ 6 months ago), I had one of those “Aha” moments. It seemed like it explained everything. Once I was diagnosed, I felt a bit of relief.

Am I proud to be an Aspie? No. I have accepted it. I could have been born with a much worse disorders and/or disability.

What are my strongest autistic traits? Visual thinking, Logical, Focused, Independent Thinker, Detailed Oriented, Honest, Loyal.

As I come to realise, being an Aspie is just simply nothing more to me than a tag, so I'm not proud of having it and I would never give it up for anything. Yes, there are some things that I do differently and struggle with but I was never one to stand behind, I learn more and more about myself everyday, especially in the annoying western world where I reside currently. Recently, I got major depressed and wanted to go back to a suited foundation, but in the process of discovering this site and some lovely people, I don't feel so bad now and hopefully, this is the start of something beautiful.

lol no f**k this s**t

I have accepted myself dispite being in the proccess of getting a diagnosis for ASD and if i knew i was an aspie during my childhood it could of been a lot easier to accept because i sometimes doubt i have Aspergers at times but i can accept it alot easier if their are other family members who accept i am an aspie.

I don't get why you people feel so awkward with being an Aspie. There's nothing wrong to it.

Don't let doctors convince you of having disabilities or anything, it's just part of life.

We are different, so what? We get to focus more than NTs, but we have issues when practising something that requires a lot of attention. It's not that bad, it's just a new lifestyle. I'm relieved that now I know why I act like I act.

I look at some NTs at my school and I think I don't wanna be like them yuck!! !