Are "right brained' Aspies considered to be gifted?

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I don't really know how to word that question any better. I was talking with my husband about this the other night, and he brought up a really interesting point. He is intellectually gifted in math and science. Not surprisingly, he's now an engineer. I'm right brained however, and while I'm not "intellectually" gifted, it seems as though I've been given the same measure of ability in the areas of art and writing.

Is there any significance to this observation? Do you think that "right brained" abilities are related to AS in the same sense that "left brained" abilities are?

Yes, I'm a fellow 'right brainer' and judging by your posts we have a lot in common. I am now realizing that I have some amazing abilities but they weren't easily recognizable in many school subjects. For example, I can map out large cities after only visiting once and have designed highway networks by using art, not math or science. To my surprise, one of my childhood designs is not only feasible, it's superior to what our city engineers did by a significant margin. It even planned for the future growth that our bonehead engineers didn't and now that area is a nightmare to navigate and I never did any calculations: just drew out what came to me naturally.

My brother on the other hand is a classic 'left brainer'. Therefore, he got all the jobs, awards, etc because he had high marks to go with it even though he has a terrible work ethic. To compare, we used to design 3D video game levels as teenagers. He used to carefully plan and calculate every wall, texture, etc meticulously. He even had elaborate blueprints made. I on the other hand, just 'went with the flow' and did what came naturally. I just threw a bunch of random things together and saw what worked. In the end my designs were vastly superior and I am still amazed at what incredible designs I came up with using no math or calculations at all.

That was probably the number one reason I doubted I had Aspergers at first. I have high IQ but my math and science abilities are only above average at best. Like I've mention previously, my brother has all the basic Aspie stereotypes but I'm the one with almost all the symptoms.

Wow, it's been a long time since I've felt understood! I can relate very, very well to what you wrote here. My husband is just like your brother. I'm a graphic designer, and a couple of years ago I was offered a web design contract that I really wanted, but nearly declined because I'm mostly incapable of web coding and didn't have a programmer. My husband stepped in and offered to LEARN how to code (just for "fun"). He proceeded to teach himself HTML & CSS in about a week, and coded the entire site flawlessly. My client was thrilled, I was thrilled, even my clients IT guy (who works for Cornell University) was impressed. I guess he figured that since that went so well, he would learn to code in JAVA - so he did, and now his company has him working with the software engineer's, just because he can. (he's supposed to be a systems engineer). I just sat there scratching my head trying to figure out how he was capable of naturally picking up on these things that take professionals years to learn, in only weeks...but he claims to view my abilities in the same way. That's when we made the connection and realized that I probably am operating on the same level, but it's not measurable or typically recognized as easily.

My husband also has all of the stereotypes, like your brother...where as I, like yourself, am the one with almost all of the symptoms. I was feeling like I "got the short end of the stick" so to speak, until now. Now I'm starting to realize that I'm probably way more capable than I give myself credit for. I always acknowledged that I have amazing abilities, however, I never saw there being much of a place for them in society - and it's probably because my capabilities are subject to interpretation. Someone who doesn't like my "style" could view me as having no talent at all, where as, it's difficult to argue my husbands intellect.

What part of the brain covers those like myself, with no talent or gifts? About all I can do good are read and daydream--lifelong--many "universes", but no talent for writing stories.

I am a lefty with some ambi ability.

Yes, I'm not exaggerating when I say you almost sound like a female version of me. That's an excellent observation: my brother (and your husband) deal with very hard, objective facts while we deal with subjective things which are no less valid. In his line of work, lives will be lost if he and his team is wrong with his calculations. With me, the city designs in my head are nothing short of outstanding but I simply cannot prove it to anyone, just as a cannot prove I have the ability to occasionally predict very short term things that happen in the future at times. That's part of the reason why I get so angry sometimes. I KNOW the best way of doing things at work but I can't put it in concerete terms that are undeniable and get instant results and my poor verbal communication skills don't help either as I'm struggling to even write this paragraph in a way anyone can understand. Rest assured you are not alone in your troubles as I can relate to you very well as you come across as a very intelligent and caring person in your posts.


I obviously don't know you but I am certain you have talents nobody (not even yourself) are aware of. I had someone at work display a talent that NOBODY thought he had and perhaps it was my lack of understanding of social orders or 'boxes' that helped highlight it. I'll never forget one rough and tumble kid (into drugs, drinking, gangs) in high school ended up showing he had the soul of a poet thanks to the support of one teacher. It was a shock, to say the least.

Hm, left-handed here and by far my greatest talents are in music and pencil art so I guess I fit the mold. That said though also excelled at science and the visual aspects of engineering...math was definitely my weakest subject and although I took honors classes, I barely made it through which was an interesting juxtaposition for people who knew how well I did in other classes and then saw me struggle on a test that even more average students did well on, ha. Gosh dang mathematics! I agree about doing things 'by feel' too; for the life of me, I don't have the patience to look at something and draw it (any kind of reference)...I can do it, of course, but I hate it and always have - instead, almost all of my art (primarily landscape) comes from mental imagery.

I'm left handed, but my strongest subject is mathematics. Does that make me right-brained?

Probably. I'm right handed with dyscalculia and I've been asked if I'm tone-deaf. And I can't even draw connect-the dots or paint-by-numbers.

Heh - same here I'm very much right-brained to the point where I consider my right hand basically useless for tasks that require good dexterity. I've been writing and drawing for years. I have a very creative mindset. But on the other hand, I'm very analytical. That's why I'm going into psychology in college - it comes easily to me. I guess this is the abstract part of me coming into play. Abstract ideas are much easier for me to understand than those that require concrete thinking, like math. I failed high school algebra miserably, mostly due to the fact that I have a hard time learning stuff I'm not interested in.

I can relate - but wait a second...are right brainer's supposed to be left handed? I'm right handed, but I recently did this weird "cover your eye and look at an object" test that told me that I'm actually supposed to be left handed! That explained why I've always been ambidextrous (switch hitting in baseball, goofy style snowboarding, left handed hockey stick, etc.) ... but anyway, I very strongly considered going into Psychology in college, and I took a bunch of Psych and Sociology classes just for the fun of it. In retrospect, I now know that it's because psych is one of my obsessions. While I'm very naturally skilled in the visual arts, I've never been obsessed with art/design. I guess it just seemed like the obvious choice. To this day I still consider going back to school for Psych, but the concept of having to deal with people always scares me away.

Oh, I also struggled in high school math...to the point where I had to audit the 10th grade class when I was in 12th grade (on my lunch break!) in order to graduate.

Well, maybe you're my long lost twin Same with my husband, lives depend on his work as well.





I agree, I've always believed that everyone is gifted/talented in some area and that if they honestly aren't aware of this, it could simply mean that they haven't discovered what their talent is yet. Maybe you just need to explore some new things

I always thought right brain was supposed to correspond to art and math (and all spatial things), while writing and all things linguistic or sort of... step-by-step... were left brain? I also heard that the whole thing was basically bunk.

At any rate, I always was supposed to be "right-brained" when it meant what I said above, and I was also labeled gifted as a kid. I don't think we're talking about the same thing with right/left here, though. Can you clarify what you mean there?