On the whole I think I do pretty well in defending myself, though it's a flaky skill, sometimes I'm magnificent, other times I let people get away with too much. I didn't vote because I don't know how to objectively compare myself to neurotypicals. Certainly I see myself as having problems with assertiveness, though I might just be being too perfectionist about it. I tend to feel I've wimpishly allowed myself to be walked over if I haven't shown an aggressor who is boss in no uncertain terms. Then later I realise that I probably struck a wise balance. But there are many times when people have done things I didn't like, and I haven't said. I guess that's normal social discretion.
The hardest challenges are when I'm trying to support my partner while she tries to tackle unhelpful service providers. She would likely get more help if she were more assertive herself, but she's much better at fathoming the complicated ramifications of some of these situations than I am, so I often don't fully appreciate what's going on at the time, and although I'm itching to wade in and punch some of these intransigent bastards on her behalf, I don't want to hit out at the wrong issue and risk a damaging counter-attack, and I don't want to end up playing the sexist white knight either. She can get frighteningly stressed out when these interviews with officialdom aren't working out, so it's really frustrating when I can't do more than put my hand on her shoulder and glare at the bureaucrats, and I feel like a broken record saying "keep calm, you're doing well." But in spite of all that, she does pretty well, and she insists that I'm very helpful, so maybe I'm just too hard on myself. Just once, though, I'd love to personally catch them pulling a fast one and successfully call them out for it on her behalf. It's all benefit / service related matters, and they've often treated her like dirt, like they do with most people, and often there's not a lot we can immediately do to fix them. We discuss battle tactics a lot, and I feel more helpful there, I point out things she hasn't seen.