Are we more than our Autism?

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I have been wondering lately are we realy more than our Autism. For me personaly it seams my intire personality is formed by my Autism I am brutily honist I am obbssesed with racing I think even my best skil is formed by my Autism I am realy good at virtual racing Because I have this feel for the car they say should not be pausable in a game.

I would imagine so...obsessing over things may be a trait, but autism certainly wont determine what you obsess over.

We are definitely more than "our autism". Maybe we should think away the entire notion of "autism" and think of it as a completely different personality because of a different neurology, i.e. wiring of the brain. Autism seems to incline that it is a disease/illness. It's not autism that causes you to have interest in cars or racing, instead it's yourself who causes it. The personality traits that we call "autism" just makes you that little bit more focused on your interests.

On a personal note, I hope that you also discover an interest (perhaps the same one) outside the virtual world of gaming. One needs to get some fresh air from time to time or if you prefer some air blended with gasoline smells.

We are much more than our autism--unless we allow our autism to take over our whole selves.

So if I am understanding you curectly you are saying my personality and interests are my own my Autism just amplifies them?

Autism does different things to different people. There are times when it actually does nothing.

Sometimes, your personality and interests could be amplified by your autism.

At other times, the autism serves as a necessary force which restrains harmful impulses.

Yes, your brain is human, though you may not feel that way.

I feel underneath my autism I'm someone much better, can't speak for all. I don't think it defines me.

Maybe your interests and behaviors are from your autism but your thoughts and feelings and you as a whole person doesn't have to do much with autism.

I was diagnosed with Asperger’s. From my perspective, all this means is that my brain is wired a bit differently. This “different” wiring impacts how I interact with the world. It impacts how I think and process information, how I sense things, what I say, what I do. Everything.

I would guess that my personality is simply an adaptation to this “different” wiring.

Yes, SO much more! Why should any of us allow ourselves to be defined by what is, ultimately, just one aspect of our personality?

If you look at tests such as this:
http://psychcentral.com/personality-test/start.php
you'll see that it attempts to measure quite a few things that have little or nothing to do with ASD traits. I just took that particular test, and it confirmed to me that there's more about me than my autism. I can't particularly vouch for its accuracy or thoroughness as a personality test, but that's not the point. It's easy for an Aspie to get too focussed on Aspie traits and forget that the mind has lots of other parameters. Thanks for starting this thread, it made me realise that I've been rather guilty of that since my diagnosis.