Is Asperger's Syndrome a curse or a blessing?

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katienate_89
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10 Apr 2010, 9:35 pm

I say blessing as well

With a bit of a curse aspect

But for me, like I explained to my friend when she asked how I cope socially, I said well I don't know life WITHOUT it so I wouldn't know the difference anyway

I, personally, am happy being quirky

And I value some of it's traits, I'm happy with my obesessions and I'm comfortable in my own skin so..*shrugs*

But it can be a curse as well because it makes things awkward and difficult when they shouldn't be

budgenator
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10 Apr 2010, 9:59 pm

Moony wrote:

Thomas Edison never invented the light bulb. He bought the patent and claimed credit. He was actually a rather unscrupulous inventor, but few Americans want to hear that becuase they have so little history that they fly off the handle when anyone says anything against their so called "American Heroes."

I agree with the rest of your post though.

I actually live a few blocks from where he lived in Port Huron, but your right about the light bulb, at least as far as his invention of it. When we read our history books, it was described as inventing the first practical light bulb, but most people don't notice the practical part.

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ProfessorAspie
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10 Apr 2010, 11:27 pm

Lesson I took from _The Iron Giant_:

"You are what you choose to be." Within reason, of course.

Choose to be what you are. Find those aspects of yourself that are your gifts, Cultivate them.

The parts that are a curse, work on.

riverspark
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11 Apr 2010, 8:02 am

ProfessorAspie wrote:

"Within reason" is the main problem. Things I had truly come to believe could be "within reason" are turning out not to be. I am doing a little better since I've started focusing more on cultivating my strengths instead of beating my head against a wall trying to fix my weaknesses.

ursaminor
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11 Apr 2010, 8:12 am

They are like Natures with Pokemon.
Most people are Serious or Quirky, which means they have their base stats.
But some are Modest or Bold, which gives them higher Sp.Atk or HP with lower ATK.
If you do not know about Pokemon this is confusing because most NA's are usually not serious or quirky.

leejosepho
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11 Apr 2010, 8:34 am

stratify wrote:

Do you believe there are advantages to our condition? Is it strictly a bad thing?

I look at all of this in a different light, I think ... kind of like it is good that *no* single human being ever has *all* of the most-desireable pieces. All human beings need each other, and those of us who need others more are actually quite necessary so the others have something to do. I do not see AS/HFA as either good or bad, and neither as a blessing or a curse. AS/HFA is merely a label, and so is NT. Our problem is not that we have AS/HFA, but that we have somehow bought into the idea we are somehow sub-standard because we have it.

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MONKEY
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11 Apr 2010, 8:50 am

Neither, it just is. It's just a thing that happens to be there.
But it does lean slightly more towards curse. But it can be quite a funny curse when I look back on things I've done/said in the past.

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Mysty
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11 Apr 2010, 8:50 am

One of the curses is having a hard time finding role models.

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leejosepho
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11 Apr 2010, 9:48 am

Mysty wrote:

One of the curses is having a hard time finding role models.

I take things too literally to see that as an actual curse, but yes, that is definitely a problem in the world at-large ... and that is at least one reason WP is so important for me. Some folks here have some good coping skills, and I would still be clueless apart from being able to observe and at least try to mimmick them.

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Eggman
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12 Apr 2010, 2:27 am

blessing

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Asp-Z
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12 Apr 2010, 11:36 am

stratify wrote:

I believe that if 100% of the population were perfectly normal, our technological and cultural advancements today would not have been possible. I believe that the deviants and the eccentric people are the ones who progressed humanity to what it is today. Without Thomas Edison, an addled genius, we would not have the light bulb. Without Einstein, we wouldn't have nuclear power.

Although I feel that I am cursed with the inability to socialize, I progressed more academically and financially compared to my friends and classmates. Because of my poor social skills, I spent most of my time thinking and contemplating about the world and my future. I knew exactly what I needed to do in order to make sure I lived comfortably.
Would my socioeconomic status still be the same if I did not have AS? Better or worse? I'm not too sure, I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Do you believe there are advantages to our condition? Is it strictly a bad thing?

I agree with you completely. I certainly see my Asperger's as a good thing, if I didn't have it I'd be mugging people on the streets just like most other people my age, when instead I'm starting my own business, and I'll be rich in the future.

Skyknight
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17 Apr 2010, 12:15 am

{weary sigh} I don't think I want to be around when the primitivists (e.g. Zerzan) hear the idea of autistic traits being a catalyst for going beyond cave-dwelling. It's bad enough that autism is quickly regarded as a bane nowadays; I don't think I want to hear anyone literally demonizing us on top of that...

Still, I would not mind finding a way to imbue all of humanity with Asperger's Syndrome (social skills? Overrated.). Maybe if we looked at the situation that way, we could discern whether to regard the syndrome as blessing or curse...(Me? Blessing. Full-bore.)

Francis
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17 Apr 2010, 7:03 am

I can't say whether it's a blessing or a curse? I have never been on the other side to make a comparison. So I couldn't make an educated answer, just a wild guess.

My best guess would be is that it is a mixed thing. Sometimes its a blessing, sometimes its a curse.

other_guy
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16 Oct 2010, 3:08 am

it is what you make of it me personally i look at it this way i am a person who lives with aspergers not just a person who suffers from it. its like when people say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it varies from 1 to the other.
Personally i've been told i'm way to naive with people, i say no i'm not i just don't look for the negativity in people cuz if you always do that thats what what others will do to you in return. It takes something to get over all the bad experiences i've had with friends but that only made me a better person cuz

PHISHA51
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16 Oct 2010, 11:55 am

It is a blessing and a curse, but everybody in life has a blessing and a curse. Theirs are just obviously different then ours.

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dreamwalker
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16 Oct 2010, 12:39 pm

By now it's been mostly a curse to me (if I actually have Aspergers).
My mother noticed early that we (me and my brother, although my brother has certainly no Aspergers) were a little strange compared to other people, and that especially I tended to be alone. She was afraid that we might be bullied and become extremely lonesome, so she took great care to get us to socialize with others and keep these relationships going.
She certainly meant well and after 19 years managed to imprint "I must socialize" in my brain.
Which, actually, is a bad thing, because even if I'm together with other people I tend to be the fifth wheel. They try to intergate me, but somehow I always drop out, and I know that this is a majour reason for my depressions... I desperately want to socialize and can't.
Since I know that I might have Aspergers I became aware of this paradox amd right now am trying to compromise with my desire to be with and like other people and my inability to do so.
But I think that the reason for this "curse" is not only my Aspergers (or at least poor social skills), but my upbringing as well...

Apart from that I don't see why it should be bad to be someone who's thinking outside the box, honest, unconventional, questioning of probably a little strict social rules...

Whether you see it as good or bad depens very much on your perspective. I think that social skills are taken for granted by NTs, something like eyesight or hearing for most people, and that thus it is something they absolutely rely on in their everyday life and, more important, can't think away. So it should be pretty hard for them to imagine that some people have to live without, and, even more, can live without.

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