how has having aspergers made your life better in any way?

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I'm wondering, due to the fact that aspies happen to have high IQs and special interests that can be utilized for a beneficial purpose, has having aspergers helped you in any way? for example i know a kid with aspergers who happens to be interested in health and nutrition. he memorizes the nutrition facts for certain foods and can even name certain nutrients in certain foods. so anyways this kid was like the strongest kid in my class when i was younger, and the funny thing is that he has NEVER in his life ever been to a gym to workout, nor do his parents have any exercise equipment in his house, nor does he have access to any workout center or even a garage with exercise equipment. he became that strong by eating healthy and monitoring his health, so popular kids began to take interest in this kid. that makes me wonder, has having aspergers helped you in any way either make friends, get special attention, earn success etc. I'm just curious to know

It's helped push my enthusiasm for, and dedication to, watercolors ... http://fatal-noogie.deviantart.com/gallery/28637648

Nts could do that if they wanted

There is a serious delusion on this site or the asperger community that aspergers is a good thing, if they didnt have their parents to fall back on they would be homeless or in prison or a mental prison, PERIOD.

Just the fact that you said it that way, and not, "NTs do that too." indicates that you agree that NTs to do it less frequently than Aspies,
and that they don't even want to as much.

I learned to expressive myself visually to compensate for my inhibited conversational abilities that characterize my AS.
My categorical diligence regarding materials and knowledge visual design motifs are also typical of the Aspie traits.

So if you come trolling to hate on Aspiedom as inferiors, you can just suck my Higgens inkwell dry.

It has contributed to my special interest that I have in music. It's made me pretty good for a self-taught drummer.

I enjoy being an independent thinker who is not susceptible to social pressure and conformity.

I think that I owe my rather successful carreer in science and my ability for languages to my having Asperger's. I don't think I would have had the focus or the persistence or the curiosity to do either had I been neurotypical.

Last edited by Severus on 03 Jul 2011, 3:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

. There are many Aspies without a steady home life that aren't any of the things you said. Just because you believe in the mass philosophy of negative social graces. Many Aspies learn their social skills like a trade, but if the world had more Aspies, then the world would be a better place. I am not saying that NTs shouldn't exist, though.

I like your art.

I honestly don't know if I can judge very well how much better my life is for being what I've always been. It's like asking someone how much better life is with legs; most people just use them and never make comparisons to being legless.

Something like that old cliché about not knowing what you have until it's gone.

I need to express my frustration with the whole "NTs can do it too" response whenever anyone mentions any positives of being on the spectrum.

For any ability, there are NTs and Aspies who both display it. However, the amount of effort required may not be the same. There are many intellectual activities that are performed more easily by the autistic mind. NTs can accomplish the same, but usually with greater amounts of effort that a person may not choose to expend, especially if it diverts him from his need for social interaction.

For example, creative writing is one of my hobbies, and whenever I visit websites and forums for creative writing, I am always surprised that so many people have problems with writer's block. I can say that I have never ever experienced writer's block. I have never ever run out of ideas, because my autistic mind is an out-of-control idea generator. It can generate new ideas or new angles or new connections effortlessly. I don't have to try hard in this area. I don't have to sit down in a group to "brainstorm". My brain does it on its own. I am an associative thinker, and it's much harder for me to run out of ideas than it is for someone whose brain does not work this way. One can say that all kinds of people can think this way, and that is true, but not everyone is doing it as easily and joyfully as a natural associative thinker. From reading this forum, I can tell that many people here have this particular type of thinking that is a huge boost to any creative pursuit. I have rarely observed this same ability in NTs. I can tell because there are very few people who can keep up with me when we are going back and forth talking about an intellectual topic or just talking randomly. But I bet a lot of people on this forum could, and it wouldn't be difficult for them at all. If I were not autistic, then my brain would not work this way or would not work this way so easily.

"NTs can do it too" is just a statement to debase ourselves and continue to exist as if we are inferior. The statement is factually true, but it is not valid to say that all of one's individual strengths would still be there if one were NT instead of AS. In fact, that is extremely unlikely. NTs and Aspies have different profiles of strengths and weaknesses, and while cognizant of our weaknesses fitting into an NT society, we should not lose sight of our strengths. And for anyone who does not think they have any strengths, I will say that I didn't think I had any ability in creative writing until I tried it out one day and found to my shock that the ability was there for me to uncover and enjoy.

Sorry for rant.

interesting answeres, and a good example to specify my question is the story of jason mcelwain who made 6 3 pointers in a game, you know that cool stud im talking about right. well anyways i read a book called "the game of my life" and it narrates his story from his, his mother, his father and his brothers' perpspective of his life. it shows that due to his passion of basketball he spent hours practicing and playing so he became a legend in the NT and autism community. so even if autism causes lack of motor skills if he never had it he wouldnt have probably been able to accomplish what he accomplished. so thats 1 example and ill be happy to hear more

It has helped me to get my engineering degree and to be a better than average engineer (according to my managers). Too, as others have said here, it gives me the ability to think in ways that most NT's do not. I see problems differently, find different and unusual solutions to problems and I am not driven by political or social norms. My AS makes me a free thinker who is able to see things from a different perspective. I collect many facts over the years and am able to connect many of them at a later date to form patterns, to create chains of thought as it were, that lead to unexpected conclusions. I view my AS as a good thing overall, although it does tend to cause the usual social problems, but this is a small price to pay for all of the other advantages it gives me.

If I was born as a NT:

I probably wouldn't have had the patience to understand computer hardware, and build several computers.

I probably wouldn't have made a GPA of 4.75 in the past year without any effort.

I probably wouldn't have the natural ability to effectively troubleshoot problems with electronic and mechanical equipment.

I probably wouldn't have won the several academic awards that I have.

I probably wouldn't have creative and original ways of solving problems that most people don't usually think about.

I probably wouldn't be attempting to get an engineering degree right now.

I probably wouldn't be myself. I like who I am and I wouldn't change that.

I would probably have a social life of some sort outside of the internet.

I would probably need to have a social life just to make myself happy.

Well, it seems like a fair trade to me.

You're trolling or something, right? I haven't seen my mom in years, and she doesn't support me beyond the level of birthday presents mostly consisting of used clothes, my sister's outgrown shoes, and the latest nutritional supplement.

Having AS is a neutral thing, like being black, female, gay, Chinese, or thirty-seven years old. It is one of many characteristics that people can have, and is necessary for the world as a whole because diversity is necessary for the world as a whole.

Your pictures are wonderful. I particularly liked The Garden of the Gods. I'd buy that and hang it on my wall if I saw it in a gallery (and I had enough money).