Autism? Do you consider it a curse?

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I don't have all of the flaws associated with AS, and I don't have all of the strengths/advantages either. The problem is, I have more of the flaws than the strengths. I can relate to most of the social problems people always mention in this forum, but when they mention that they can remember when they were three, I get upset because I can't.
I recently read (in The Complete Guide To Asperger's Syndrome) that people with AS are more likely to be hyposensitive to pain than hypersensitive. That is yet another trait I got screwed on. I am hypersensitive to pain and it is one of my biggest fears, so I would love it if pain didn't hurt so much. If I can't be NT, why can't I at least have full-blown AS? I'm sick of being in the middle.

A damn nuisance, yes. Something that causes difficulties, yes. A curse: no.

There be lotta sense in this. Omar gotta echo some people and say those of you that think this here be a curse ain't look'n at it from the right angle. These values such as "success" and "happiness" only gain their value from their transience and the effort or serendipity it took to reach that point. Life be defined in the struggle, and it ain't gonna do you no good to look at life like you already lost. So you gotta work harder to develop personal relationships, but that means you'll appreciate it all the more. And if you aint yet successful at it yet then you should get busy try'n or you'll just end up busy dyin'.

That's very funny Omar and very good advice too! I agree wholeheartedly.

It's hard to say whether Autism is a curse or a gift when you don't fully understand it.

I don't know what Autism is, anymore. I mean, I know the medical description, and the diagnostic criteria, and the stereotypes, but they don't explain what Autism actually is.

Is it an actual "disorder", or simply a way of being? I don't know. I don't like not knowing what Autism is, and what it therefore makes me.

To try and answer your question, I guess it's neither a curse nor a gift.

Asperger's Syndrome is the least cursy of all my curses.

Autism, like people and everything else in life I guess, all it really amounts to is a chronic kick in the rear. And they blame you for that too!

If it turns out that I actually have Aspergers or some sort of HFA, well then, it's no different than me having red hair and brown eyes. Just another part of me, makes me a little unique, a little different. God made me this way, He's got His reasons, I trust in Him.

DJRonald, I'm hypersensitive to pain, too, and while it has been a problem in the past (for example, my menstrual periods are so severe that I can't stand up; a cold puts me out of commission because I can't concentrate over the sore throat; and most medication side effects hit me as though they were guided missiles), it also means I am very aware of what is happening to my body. I can tell if I have even so much as a 99-degree fever without a thermometer (that's just under half a degree above normal--the kind that can happen even when you are just exercising). I can tell when I'm getting a cold within four to six hours of being exposed to it (though I've had a couple of false alarms thanks to dust or dehydration); I even know what my digestive system is doing at any given time. I can detect muscle tension and thereby figure out whether or not I'm anxious. I've learned to ward off a tension headache before it happens because it's caused by tension in the muscles of the neck and shoulders.

A not-so-beneficial effect: A very minor injury is enough to pull me out of a meltdown temporarily. Leading to the obvious (and maladaptive) use of deliberate minor injuries.

While this hypersensitivity did predispose me to hypochondria for a while as a little girl, a good study of the human body cured those tendencies; and while I have never had a serious illness, I am quite sure I would detect one quite early were I to ever have one--let's just hope I wouldn't tell myself, "Oh, you're just being a hypochondriac"! That is a good thing because the women of my family tend to get cancer in their 40s or even earlier; and if you catch that early, it's a Good Thing. Some multiple hundred percent increase in survival rates, last I checked.

Silver lining, 's all I'm saying.

it can be annoying at times when i have trouble getting into a conversation. plus, i misjudge emotions so i don't know how to treat people sometimes. i do the best i can but sometimes they end up thinking that i hate them or something... it's especially annoying when i get nervous and shaky when i've been around people i'm not well acquainted with for an hour or so. my heart starts beating fast and i start stuttering over words.

Who cares...?

I sucks; because you feel the need to interact, but lack the capacity.
It's good, because you have the logical capability to identify the fallacies of interaction and consciously remove it from your mind.

For me; it consits of both gift and curse for thos reasons. I'm angry, miserable, lonely, depressed, and wandering around half-dead.
But, I'm a scientific savant, I deal with my depression with alcohol, and endeavour to understand greater than what others think they know.

It all comes down to wants and needs. I may want interaction; but I need my skills and abilities. The world needs them; if not necessarily from me, than from those like me - Einstein, Nietszche, Kant and the like.

If you've not the abilities; only the desires and lack of capability to enact those desires - pity.
But, otherwise, it seems passe to question the unique opportunity to shape the future of the world.

It's more of a curse for me. But there are people who have FAR worse problems, so I should consider myself lucky that the most of my worries is Autism. It really makes you think, how incredibily lucky people with absolutely no health issues are.

Its a gift

I'm indifferent with it if it's just in relation to me (I'm an apathetic individual).

Without it, certain things would never have happened, and that would suck beyond belief. On the other paw, it takes away many of the choices my mind would like to take, many of which are related to the former good aspect.

I'm the run-of-the-mill individual with ["Classic"] Autism (symptom and outcome wise); which probably means I'd be looked at with pity from most of society, but that's cool, as I don't look at them.

No, I think you make an endless amount of sense here. I did my share of wallowing in my 'misery'; it won me nothing. Thank you for the insight, and kudos for your volunteering work.

I do consider my autism to be a disability as opposed to simply being the 'way I am', and of late I've felt I have to 'tangle' with it rather than embrace it, but it doesn't cripple me.

I like this perspective, probably because I align myself well with it. I see it neither as a curse or a gift; it just is. I can't honestly comment on personal contemplation of how it would be to experience a near-normal perspective because it's a completely foreign idea to me. Observations yield interesting conclusions, but all these things are not things I miss because they're things I never had to begin with.

Perhaps my only concern is my lack of measurable reciprocity in many social situations, especially romantic situations, which impairs my ability to find a suitable mate. I'm working on that, though.