What is AS?

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I know this sounds crazy, but in order for you to truly get what I'm saying, I'm going to take you all on a trip of circular reasoning that is crazy and off the wall for me to come to the question I have for you. My kids love Spongebob, and I do too honestly. So I've been thinking for a long time now which character on Spongebob seems most Aspie. Squidward first came to mind, but Spongebob acts Aspie a lot too. Then today, I'm like "PLANKTON! Ureka I found it," but then I realize that's only because I'm sitting here debating on topics such as Aspie Superiority Complexes. Then it dawned on me that we can all choose the type of person we are: the go with the flow optimistic nature of Spongebob, the lazy village idiot Patrick, the pessimistic artist Squidward, the greedy Mr. Krabs, the innovative Sandy, or even the world dominating failure Plankton. Autism doesn't cause us to be any of these things, just how we react to things and choose to be causes these things. So my question is, do you feel like Autism/Aspergers defines who you are? Or does it define how you interact with people only? Or does it play a role in defining how you are perceived by others? What does Autism define for you?

I really think it just really affects the way I interact with people therefore affecting the way people perceive me.

What do you all think? Am I missing variables?

There are other variables; e.g., senses, perceptions, and cognitions. It affects far more than social interaction.

The meaning of AS topic

This is interesting. Great analysis, Tantybi, and Outlier as well.

I have always stated that "my AS is not yours".

Remember, autism is inward leaning. I am so much inside my head and not outwardly oriented, so my individuality is going to be different from the next person, even AS, when I interact with that which is outside myself.

Autism affects everything I am or can be, on some level. Certainly my own naivete in apprehending the intent of others has gotten me screwed over and taken advantage of more times than I can count.

The difference between the way I think and the way most others do gives me a completely different lens through which to interpret the world around me. That, in turn, affects in every way the personality that I develop as I learn to cope with my environment, physically, psychologically and of course, socially. Having lived 45 of 50 years with no knowledge of why my differences were what they were, I can assure you that no part of my life or personality was ever unaffected by my (then unnamed) autism.

This is the reason I would never consider a 'cure'. It's not because it wouldn't be lovely to have certain aspects of my life suddenly become easier (though it seems a bit late for me at this point), it's because the changes effected by suddenly switching my lens to match everyone else's would be frightening and disorienting and would certainly alter the foundations of my personality, with no means of predicting what forms those changes might take. I don't know who I would be, so I'll stick with the devil I DO know, thanks.

BTW, IMHO there is no Aspie character on Spongebob. SB himself is far too socially gregarious (though granted, he does seem oblivious to others' social signals) and Squidward is just a curmudgeon. Patrick certainly has a mental handicap, but I doubt it's autism. Mr. Crab's business ownership would seem to display plenty of executive functioning. Sandy lives a life of separation from the community, although drop-in visitors don't seem to phase her. I do see arrogant superiority complex posts here on WP occasionally, so you may be onto something with Plankton, but...nothing as decisively obvious as Santa Claus...now there's a fictional Aspie you can't miss.

It definitely does not define who I am. I figured out who I was long before I had any suspicions that I might be on the spectrum. So therefore it does not define how I interact with others, and it does not play a role in defining how I am perceived by others.

However, I do believe that my alleged autistic nature (if that's what you can call it) is a large contributor to enabling me to fully pursue my interests without the judgement of others. I doubt I would be quite so into music, have absolute pitch, and be so passionate about everything I hear if I were fettered by what others thought of me growing up. I mostly grew up clueless to all of that, and once I was clued into the fact I wasn't exactly "normal," I had somehow acquired incredible determination to be myself no matter what others thought of me. And that has always worked out for me. That's what I base my optimism on: personal experiences and the demonstration that life has this uncanny ability to work itself out for the best. I've seen it time and time again in my life, and I am truly blessed to have been given this insight.

It's apparently very rare for someone on the spectrum to be as optimistic and as self-confident as I am. So that makes me think that I'm not really on the spectrum, or if I am, it's sort of in a hybrid kind of way. Or maybe ultimately the line is pretty darn fuzzy.

I don't think Aspergers can define your attitude in the sense of optimism vs pessimism. It can provide a sort of justification whichever way you go on it (like I'm optimistic because my autism blinded me from other people's judgments, or I'm pessimistic because my autism made me the victim of bullies). Somebody on here recently said in another thread that we make our decisions first and then use logic to justify it after the fact, and I can't stop thinking about that.

No, it's just one of the many factors, like the color of my hair or my education or my temperament or my past. All N+1 factors put together define who I am.