glider18's Wonderful World of Autism

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Perfect pitch is definitely a gift. Something like 1 in 10000 folks have it. And you don't have to be musically educated at all to enjoy your gift, either. Some of the best musicians in the world, in fact, haven't ever taken a formal lesson.

Post deleted with apologies to anyone offended.

Greentea: On a practical note first: as you are good with languages, can you get a job as a translator? I know people can do this and work from home, or on the internet. (Some people have asked me if I would do it, but I don´t feel confident enough about my language ability). I know some translating jobs pay well, and it may be the ideal thing if you can do it on your own. I´d check into it, at least...

I think fiddlerpianist gave some excellent advice. I can´t top that, but I thought I´d at least add my 2 cents....

I don´t know if it makes you feel better or worse, but I´ve been in your predicament many times before. I know what it´s like to worry about your very survival, and it´s a terrible feeling! I wish that nobody ever had to go through that, I think it´s one of those basic things that all humans should be taken care of- (ok, maybe I´m an idealist, I don´t necessarily like this dog-eat-dog world). I wish you the best, and I hope things look up for you soon.

One of the problems I had when I was in your situation was that it was easy for me to get into a downward spiral of negativity, and it was also hard for me to comprehend that the situation could change. In other words, when I was in a bad situation, it felt to me like a permanent state rather than a temporary one. I don´t know if that´s another trait of AS, or if it´s just my personality, but it sounds like you may be going through something similar. Try to focus on the fact that things can change; in fact, even if you´ve never had a good job in your life before, that could change tomorrow! Life is full of surprises and anything can happen. It´s important to try to stay positive, otherwise you could go into this downward spiral, and lose energy. A positive thought does much to keep one focused and energetic.

It may be a good idea to write down all of your positive traits and talents...(in fact, you can do it here on this thread... ). This may help you to feel good about your talents- something which is very important while going on a job search- and it may also give you new ideas, seeing it in writing, about what sort of work you may like to do. It may take some "out-of-the-box" thinking to find the perfect situation for you. But I´m sure you can find it....

Good luck to you!

Firstly I'll second Morgana:

I think the translator thing sounds like a good idea. Do you play any musical instruments/sing? I know when I need extra funds taking on music students is always a good option.

Have you ever considered starting a business from home? I'm not sure what the laws are about that were you live, but my mum started a secondhand baby goods business from our house (by buying good quality baby goods and equipment from garage sales, and also getting people to sell to her, the reselling from home) and that flourished. My mum also has friends who have started successful ebay businesses from home - ebay's always a good option cause you don't have to pay rent for premises.

Wait a moment, when I can't play music because I never had lessons, how should I use this ability and enjoy it?

If I had had lessons then sure, it would have been gift, but I grew up miles away from any instrument and any musical expereince.

And the many people screwing pitches and singing off-key are frightening to listen to somehow in a strange kind of way.

surely perfect pitch would require you to at least have hear 1 tuned note, otherwise how can you possibly state a note is a C if you've never heard a C beforehand..? i have relative pitch, which was learned.. so i can tell you the note you played is a D if you play a C (that i know about) then a note one tone higher as i can (almost always) recognise intervals

I've been confused about that before too. Perfect pitch is supposedly something you have or haven't or that you must have trained or else you lose it like everyone else, but the ability to recognise what a note is called is an ability everybody (except me haha) learnt in school alongside anatomy and the explanations of English grammar.

I can't name notes because I never had musical lessons, I can just identify and replay melodies accurately. You know if you play a what's-it-called I can sing it, if I know the keys of keyboard for example I can play it back to you, I know immediately when someone plays or sings a note or a sequence wrong if I heard the melody before.

I can certainly see how an autistic whose autism doesn't prevent their basic survival has the leisure to focus on the positive aspects of AS. Autism can and does prevent basic survival in many (if not most) cases. So those not affected so badly should consider themselves lucky, rather than consider it a personal achievement of positivism.

The reason I'm offended by this thread is that it implies that the masses of autistics living in desperate, hopeless conditions in institutions are in fact a bunch of pessimists. How dare you. Not even the toughest of social security services in the toughest third world countries would believe this.

(And no, of course living from translations is not an option I have)

I'm glad to hear that you are not a pessimist.

Perfect pitch (also called "absolute pitch") is the ability to distinguish whether someone starts that melody that you recognize on the exact same pitch frequency that you are familiar with. It's the ability to take any pitch you hear and, without another context, say what the note "is" (i.e. you hear an A and can immediately go find the exact note on the piano). You don't need to be able to understand music or musical notation or note names to be able to do this (although it helps to have a reference point).

Relative pitch is very important for musicians to develop, but that simply means being able to understand how various notes relate to each other. Most everyone can learn how to do this. I believe that perfect pitch makes this easier somehow.

It is time for me to defend my "Wonderful World of Autism." I can focus on my positive aspects, but yet my survival is far from easy. I have been at the mercy of some understanding bosses and family, and I have had some good luck---that I have always admitted. But I have come home from my job before in tears. I have come home from my job before and wanted to hide in the darkest cavern of depression. I have no friends. I can't even play with my sons because of the awkwardness. All I can do is talk with them and be there for them. Literally, the amount of time I have spent passing a ball with them (as most fathers do) is around 5 minutes---seriously. I have major issues that make me miserable. But---I refuse to focus on those negatives. I have to focus on the good. I have never considered my positive approach a "personal achievement." I have only used positiveness as sincere heartfelt advice from me. I rarely find people criticized for trying to be positive in life---and especially when they are trying to help others find positiveness in their lives.

My advice is that if you are offended by any certain thread---stay away from it. It will only harbor more resentment. But if you remain here, it must mean you are looking for positiveness in your life because you believe this philosophy just might be true. I have never implied the pessimissic nature of fellow autistics in the manner you have stated. And I will return the "How dare you" right back. You have no idea the love I have for my fellow autistic brothers and sisters here at the WP. I know what if feels like to feel the pain of autism. I have it. But---we can all do a little better in life---and I believe that that starts with trying to see the good.

So, if you want to try to learn to focus on good things, stick around. There are plenty of people posting to this thread that are sincerely trying to adopt this method of thinking---me included.

[quote="glider18]My advice is that if you are offended by any certain thread---stay away from it.[/quote]

Is that your advice or your wish?

And all points I've made on this thread remain as yet unproven wrong.

It is my advice. This thread is for people trying to see the good aspects of autism---by trying not to focus on the bad. If you want to focus on the bad, I would suggest find a thread involved in the negative. You claim that the points you have made on this thread are unproven. I would like to state that they are unproven to you Greentea---not to others of us who have found happiness in our positives (or believe we can find happiness in positives). For us, it is proven.

Greentea, I don't see any point in arguing with these people.

The world's full of people whose circumstances are different from mine. If what they're talking about helps them, that isn't hurting me.

glider, you seem to have forgotten that you expressed in the first page that whoever wants rid of their autism is NEGATIVE while YOU are POSITIVE. At least you're not claiming that anymore, which is good. It means you've realized you were VERY wrong.

I looked on page one and don't see to which post you are referring. Are you referring to this?


In my opinion, you are inferring something that he is not saying nor implying here.