14 Jun 2010, 2:59 am
In all probability because asperger's gives many of us an enhanced ability to focus on something and study it in depth. and that focus leads to insights that others might miss and that insight allows us to innovate ways to deal with our preferred interests.
I never thought of myself as particularly way above average but as an engineer and a college professor my depth of knowledge and innovation was often commented on by others and my eccentricities were also tolerated.
Engineer and College professor are high on the list of good professions for Aspies to get into. I found that college professor was easiest for me because of the iconic stereotype of the absent minded professor, That fits me to a T. However now that bureaucracy and departmental meetings and lobbying for research money are the prime attributes of college professors and teaching is about a 3rd rate attribute, that is changing.
Well that is probably close to the truth but it may be turned around backwards. I think that in my case it is my odd behavior that has aided my development of my intellect. At least the odd part of my behavior that gives me the ability to "hyper-focus" on what I am interested in. I am highly distractable and need a quiet place to think and work, however once I am in hyper-focus mode I become highly resistant to distractions and seem oblivious to what goes on around me. My time sense vanishes and I work for hours without much sense of how long I have been at it. What I am calling hyper-focus is probably the most outright autistic thing I do. On the other hand my ability to multi-task is abysmal, and my desk and filing system are what I refer to as "organic" (as in, "it looks like a compost heap
).Using the "Hyper-focus" in areas of less interesting things is quite hard. It took me at least 4 years to do that,with a few errors at that point. Now I can, and do, use where I need it. It comes as one of our best assests, but also one of our greatest flaws. Turning that flaw into an asset is a tough road. it took me at least 4 years to get it when i needed it. another 5 months and I had it perfected. Heck, that's exactly how I passed my foreign language classes.
Applying it where it's needed takes practice, but it's not impossible. I discovered I had the "Hyper-focus" Through video games, which at the same improved my hand-eye coordination. War games like Call of Duty can easily help with identifing the extent of your "Hyper-focus," which is a skill any hardcore gamer should have.
The ability to notice things others can't comes with good and bad reactions. An example:
They say they got absolutely everything, and you notice something wrong. They get mad because you are disagreeing w/ them. You point it out, and a wide variety of reactions occur (anything from confusion followed by a slap to the head, all the way to even more anger).
The way one reacts to something will tell you a lot about that person, or at least their personality.
As for me, things aren't always easy physically, but mentally I could easily be one of the best. A ton of people come to me for math and science, as those are easily my strong points. Math especially because i can map out quite a few shapes in my head and figure things out like that easily. Sometimes it's accompanied by a few motions of my pointer finger, but that doesn't always happen.
LuxoJr
Deinonychus
Joined: 2 Dec 2009
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 391
Location: a dance party on the moon
14 Jun 2010, 3:06 am
14 Jun 2010, 8:21 am
14 Jun 2010, 8:48 am
14 Jun 2010, 9:38 am
14 Jun 2010, 10:15 am
People have said I was both dumb and smart at the same time. Which I believe means my head can implode at anytime. 
kx250rider
Supporting Member
Joined: 15 May 2010
Age: 57
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,140
Location: Dallas, TX & Somis, CA
14 Jun 2010, 10:32 am
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14 Jun 2010, 12:29 pm
14 Jun 2010, 4:28 pm
14 Jun 2010, 5:33 pm
A friend of my sister told me the other day that I'm going to grow up to be a modern day Einstein. 
On the other hand, people in my class think I'm slow and stupid. I don't know who to believe.
14 Jun 2010, 6:59 pm
14 Jun 2010, 7:48 pm
Some have viewed me as ret*d....mostly peers in school.
Others have viewed me as quite intelligent.....including the psychologists who administered my IQ tests.
Personally I think i'm aspiring genius who happens to be ret*d by my own definition of the term.
This is the fundamental reason for all my unhappiness in this world.
I desired nothing other than the brillance of an Einstein.....and my brain won't even allow me to comprehend basic algebra. 
