Aspergers- the good and bad sides

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I would say that I had moderate aspergers when I was young and mild AS now (AS score of 101, and NT score of 111). Even this amount of AS made my life very tough. Yet another side of me values the AS, since it has been the source of a lot of creativity in my life.

I find that being able to hyperfocus on things has helped me a great deal academically and professionally. It's also caused no end of problems in other areas... for example, trying to clean the house, and getting obsessed with removing every speck of grease from the tiles on the kitchen walls. Three hours later, those tiles are spanking clean, but the dishes aren't done...

But I must say that academically it's been a great boon to be on the auty spectrum.

Interesting. My Aspie Quiz AS/NT ratio is something like 135/75 and I consistently score 36-38 on the AQ test. I think that there is a good chance I would have been diagnosed with AS as a kid (had they been doing it back then), but now I would probably escape diagnosis.

I consider myself to be very, very mild, especially when comparing myself to most here (which, to be fair, isn't necessarily an accurate representation of the spectrum as a whole). I never considered my life to be very tough. On the contrary, it's seemed easier in many respects. So maybe that is what makes me mild? I dunno.

I'd say one of the good sides is the special interests too. I'll admit, a lot of people who know the person with special interests will be worried about them, but the special interests come in handy when the person is bored.

Its like fire. You can use it to cook your dinner but every now and then you get burned.

I scored 160/50 in the Aspie quiz and 35 in the AQ test. As young I could have scored more. Never being diagnosed as a child. People usually focused on my intelligence (at 6 y-old I had the IQ of an adult) rather than my deficits.

Con:
sensible to intense light and sounds
sociophobic (but actually I don't care now)
unable to express my tough (no more)
stimming etc. (far less now)
thinks about being mad (no more now that I know what I have)
making people uncofortable (now I like it )
difficult to understand body language, etc.. (no more, but I do it with brain now and not with intuition).
Bad word memory (still present and I don't care now)
Sensible to hot

Pro:
Hyper focus
Pattern recognition
Visual memory
Able to connect different events
A far than average intelligence
A greater consciousness
A good night vision and heightened senses
Insensible to pain

I'm going to start with s few examples of the negative, because that will allow me to end this post on a positive note.

The Bad
-Being persistently bullied, ridiculed, belittled, marginalized and condescended to by others, in one form or another, to the point of frequently feeling like I'm somehow "less" than other people.
-The trauma and severely diminished self-esteem resulting from the above.
-The frequent uncertainty regarding what I'm supposed to be saying/ doing in a given situation, and awkwardness and feeling of being "lost" that results from said uncertainty.
-The tendency to become overwhelmed and flustered when surrounded by noise, people, and/ or movement; especially when I am trying to multitask. This is especially frustrating, because it causes my already impaired ability to "think on my feet" to be further diminished. The limited repertoire of social skills that I've belatedly managed to develop also tend to go downhill in these situations.

The Good
-Growing up a solitary social outcast, my imagination and my books were my best friends. My parents wouldn't hear a sound from me for hours when I was tucked away in my room occupied with one or the other. I like to think this has cultivated in me the thoughtfulness and creativity that has kept me somewhat intact through various shattering times.
-I have quite a rich fantasy life which has allowed me to write numerous poems and stories, which will hopefully lead to my becoming a published author someday.
-While many NTs can't stand being alone for five minutes, I am very adept at keeping myself occupied, and am generally quite content spending an evening at home alone with my books, my iTunes and my computer.
-I know all to well how it feels to be treated like I am deficient and/ or I just don't matter. Thus, I make a real effort to treat everyone with sensitivity and respect to avoid subjecting them to the pain I've known.