What are the positives of Aspergers?

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Could anyone share some of the positive implications of Aspergers?

In a few threads round here - notably the 'how do you feel about 'curing' autism' and 'would an Aspie-run society be better?' polls - people have spoken of AS as a difference rather than a disability, and of appreciating the upsides of the syndrome.

So, what are they?

Tonight I feel like a walking-into-doorways socially inept lump. Who's too dumb to actually do a successful search of whether this has been asked before. Sorry.

*Ability to focus intensely (on obsessions if nothing else).

*Ability to notice details.

*Good memory.

*Being visual thinkers gives us a unique mind.

*You get to post on WP.

being single minded, totally devoted to ones interest

no need for human interaction, this could be interesting when staffing a moonbase

not so emotional

able to think unusual thoughts

visual ability

discover patterns in a system

Although I think some of the social aspects of Asperger's is difficult I would say that;

My honestly has been valued in the workplace and in my personal life more times than not.

I am dependable.

I will stand up for those who I think work really hard.

I have an inner child within that I can tap into at any time.

Even though I don't have a bucketload of friends, the ones I have chosen I know I could ring at 3.00am and they would come running (even though I would never do that, it reassures me that I could).

I am practical.

I can think very fast on some issues that NT's struggle with...like directions!

I can be organised when the rest of the world around me is falling apart.

Sensitive senses - I can 'detect' and sense what is going on around me by sound / sight / smell etc a lot more quickly than NTs.

I am able to think both logically and laterally

I am learning to see through NT 'mind games'.

I am good at focusing and concentrating for very long periods.

Aspies often have above average IQ

Aspies often have good creative and expressive abilities.

I am often able to see things from different points of view to NTs

We are good at finding 'new' or 'different' ways of doing things that our AS prevents us from doing in the 'conventional' way - so in this respect we are very adaptable.

We can have very good memories.

We can be very observant and notice things in great detail.

We are generally good with learning about new technology.

We are good at research.

Yes, yes, yes!

I also think because I try to anticipate things (in order to control an outcome) that helps me to see what could go wrong in the future with projects etc.

Grimbling,

YOU READ MY MIND! I was thinking about starting up the SAME kind of thread! I'm heartened to know that at one point I was almost the epitome of any of the above descriptions. I'm going to have to work at getting back what I lost, but most of it does remain.

Anyway, I was only going to say SOME of those things.(Honesty, diligence, attitude, memory, obsession with interests, patterns, other ways of thinking) Maybe someone else can come up with lots more.

Steve

My own positives are:

A good memory
A good vocabulary
Ability to accumulate a lot of factual material and store it in memory (long-term memory)
Empathy towards animals and the people who love them
Ability to use my skills to perform my job well
Good research skills

The number one thing for me is Aspies usually dont play the game of emotional blindness. People accuse us of not being empathetic, but thats BS. What we do is not get caught up in individual emotional games that NTs create with their ego's and play to keep from seeing their true nature of being desperately in need of something.

When it comes to real emotions, not purely selfish lower based emotions, we are much more empathetic than others.

IMHO

Creativity and originality are two others that haven't been mentioned. Most aspies are very ethical and don't break their internal rule set.

I love what I call my "passion" for things and don't think I'd give that up for anything. And I love being able to soak up information like a sponge. They call me the 411.

Other great things:

I'm always fair, just and objective
Dependable hard-worder
Ambitious and motivated
Honest and trustworthy
Tend to finish what I've started (to the extreme)
Very Intelligent and knowledgable
Very inclusive, accepting and non-judgemental
Not bogged down with preconcieved notions
Non-biased and non-prejudiced
will research everything exhaustively to come to well-rounded, factual based opinions

I think if when I were a child, if there would have been a fix for my weirdness I'd have taken it, but now as an adult don't think so. I would only like to learn more how to connect with the right kinds of people cuz I would like to have friends and a healthy stable relationship with those other than the ones out to take advantage.

Yes, AS can lead to creativity and original thinking. And yes, it does seem that AS folk tend to be very ethical and have a rigid internal rule set. Just don't try explaining your rules.

Here's a quote from an NT professional who totally gets it;

Professor Bernard Crespi from Simon Fraser University, Canada explains: "Indeed, individuals at the highest-functioning end of this spectrum may have driven the development of science, engineering and the arts through mechanistic brilliance coupled with perseverant obsession."

It's true, just think how many people who are suspected of being/having been on the spectrum who have changed the world. Think where we'd be without Einstein, Isaac Newton, Bill Gates, etc...

There are qualities in myself that make my life enjoyable that I know come from AS. I don't think I'd be as fascinated as I am by music, or as good with it. I can pick out songs by ear and can learn a new instrument quicker than most people (so long as it's not a stringed instrument, my fingers don't cooperate on those!)

My favorite thing though is my ability to relate to kids with special needs. Even if they're not autistic they often have sensory issues, need to stim, have problems with social skills, etc. I am able to work with them and understand their point of view SO much better because I am on the spectrum and have experienced these things myself.

Without those two things, I'd be devoid of purpose in life. So I'm very, very glad I have AS, even if it makes some things harder.

Last edited by chairbreak on 13 Apr 2007, 12:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Dedication, so long as I care about it, I'll put in a fair amount more of effort into something to make it good.
Also, Left-field humour. As our boundaries are different, our humour is too, and it can be quite good! ("Would you like this pie sir? My mother made it using the finest lobster beans and cooked it in a spoon to perfection!")
Fairness, I will always produce a fair and justified opinion based on what I know. It sucks when NTs don't believe you when you say your opinion, which was deemed unfair because they knew something you didn't and they didn't know you did, and they don't believe that you didn't know that piece of information!! (did that make sense?)

YEAH, Without Bill Gates, Computers would be 12 times as fast, stay up 100 times as long, and word processors would be basically FREE! We would have CONSISTANT standards on the NET, which would itself be more stable! Everyone could get by with C/C++, JAVA, and PASCAL! (Basic was the ONE thing M/S may have had a hand in popularizing, but even THAT was basically wiped out!) OH YEAH, computer Memory would not have skyrocketed in price because of ONE "explosion", and it wouldn't be needed as much.

Steve