What are your strengths?

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I was reading the introduction to a book called Shadow Syndromes, which is the first place I read about AS years ago, and the author posits the theory that for every deficit that a person has, there is a corresponding strength. And likewise, in order to have a special talent in one area, one must have other areas that are weaker (as in a math genius who has poor social skills, etc). He says this is true for everyone.

He writes:
"We may 'pay' for our talents, both cognitive and emotional, with relative deficits elsewhere. The idea of possessing a brain that functions optimally in all respects may simply not be a possibility in the real world. All brains possess their relative weaknesses."

That was always one of the things that interested me most about AS, that we may not be good at social interactions or dealing with overwhelming sensory input, but we make up for it by having other talents, like good reasoning skills, or mathematical ability, artistic talent, loyalty, guilelessness, honesty, or whatever it may be for each individual.

So what do you think are your strengths and do you think they are related to AS?

I'm good at analysing language and I have a good eye for detail.
I have a good memory.
I know how to be alone.
I'm sensitive to the natural world and its beauty.
I relate to the suffering of others and I can be a reassuring person to be around.

I think the first two are AS - the others are a result of how people have treated me because of it.

I don't buy it. I'm good at some things and bad at others, but they don't necessarily complement each other and I doubt there are as many things I'm good at as there are things I'm bad at.

What my strengths are? I'll let you know once I figure out what they are. Other than knowing how to spell, I mean. If taht.

Large knowledge of sports, especially MMA, football, and soccer
I'm pretty good at playing video games against the computer...
Video game modding

Most important is my faith in God, but that's not so much a product of my Aspergers as a byproduct of living with it.

I am a thinking fast, blazing fast (but not that well it seems so)

An interesting theory, but it needs LOTS of data to back it up. Yes, there are strengths and weaknesses, but they are not all equal in their magnitude or importance. Strength and weak are relative terms and not quantitative. A proper analysis would need to address this issue. My first impression is that this is a rather weak theory. Show me the data.

I have a good memory and I'm independant

I don't know that I buy the theory entirely myself, I just think it's interesting, because it implies that NTs have deficits where people with AS have strengths, and vice versa. No one is endowed with the perfect brain or the perfect skill set (that part I do buy).

For myself, my strengths are that I can see things more rationally and logically than the average person, and I also have the sensitivity (which cuts both ways -- it allows me to appreciate the arts but also makes me more vulnerable and easily wounded) and perception that give me some talent as a visual artist. I have been thinking about paying more attention to my strengths and to try to work on my skills rather than mourning the abilities I lack.

I thought it was worth talking about, since other people may also need to be reminded of their own strengths like I find I have to be reminded of mine.

My strength is my artistic talent. It's a gift and the deficits do very much seem to parallel it, by degree, or at least I have always thought of it that way. It's interesting that there's a book about it, which I have never heard of. I want to follow up and see if I can learn more about it. It's very interesting.

I'm a sensitive person.

The only strength I really have is writing & I don't think it's related to AS.

The whole book isn't about that, unfortunately. There are chapters on various syndromes that people can have that are not the full-blown condition but only have some aspects of it. One of the chapters is about autism, and I found it fascinating when I read it because it had not occurred to me at that point that it was possible to only have some traits of autism and have that wreak havoc on one's life, and I recognized myself in that chapter.

It does sound interesting and worth checking out, nonetheless. I'm glad you posted. I want to follow up on it.

It sounds interesting, nonetheless. Did it have sections on other conditions such as Depression, Bipolar, OCD, ADHD, BPD, Schizophrenia, etc...?

As for me, hmm...

- I balance emotions and logic fairly well when considering something. I don't think that his is completely due to autism, but part of it. (the logic part?) I believe that using both of those, I find the best answer. Along with this, I could say different viewpoints. That, would be mostly due to autism; We see the things NT's don't, and vice versa. That's a strength that, used right, could benefit soceity as a whole.

- Obsessions. They can drive me and without giving any effort I'll do something. Music. All day I wanted to play video games and watch anime (my two non-productive interests at the moment), but my superior obsession to music took control. I almost even felt enslaved, lol. I can't complain, accomplished quite a bit today. I just wish I had more hours in a free day.

A lot of my other strengths probably don't relate to autism that much. I have ADHD, Depression, and Anxiety also thrown in the picture, I'm likely the only INFP Male with Asperger's here, I find myself supporting peace among others, and I'm under the odd contradiction of how I can have both Hyperactive and Calm/Gentle traits. And all in all, I'm just a really peculiar person. Nothing defines me. xP

I'm pretty sure I could think of more, but I should really be getting to bed, I'm tired, waking up early... meh

Honesty.
Reading/Writing ability.
Focus on one thing at a time / determination.
Focus on details.
Hard-working.

I can't think of anything else. I'm mostly rather useless. For instance, my strength is with written words but I am only capable of reading at an average pace; I can't write fiction. I also notice that almost all of these can be turned around in a bad way.

Honesty
Ethical outlook
High level of conscientiousness with my obsessions
Wide horizons
Calm