Skills, Talents and Special Interests

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I thought that to go along with all these "elitist" critical threads, why not have a thread that allows people to say what things about their makeup that they think are special or gifts that bring pleasure and meaning to their lives.

Do you have any skills, talents or special interests? Is there some way in which some of your AS traits have not been entirely a curse but a pleasure?

You left out a "Just show me the results" category.

I voted "All of the above."

I have some 'skills' and so-called 'talents' that can be of benefit in certain situations. I have what is called a 'geographic' memory much like the aboriginies (sp) in Australia and I can make maps to places and things in ways that are 'abnormal'. This type of memory allows me to remember where I have read certain passages in certain books, newspapers or periodicals and then to find those passages decades later in an almost automitic way. I have a topographic and geopolitical map of the entire world in my head. For five years I did nothing but mapping work as it was my area of perfection but I do not have any special education in maps just photographically remember them.
I have a certain way of seeing mathimatical things and have been working for Lockheed back in the sixties on doing aerodynamic and hydrodynamic things.
The meta things are personal and I will share them whith some people as need be.

i like this thread topic.
i love what i do and am about to go and do it now.
i am in the middle of building a stretcher for a new 150cm x 150cm painting.
i am working on 15 smaller works for a show in melbourne.
i just finished a ten foot long work in yellow.
i just spoke to my art dealer who is ok and knows i have AS/am autistic. (i am starting to use the Big A terminology.) he couldn;t give a toss and there is no prejudice there against me. However, i do work in a field that is ful of crackpots, so i know that makes it easier for me.

Yesterday i sold a big painting which means i can live like a totally narcissistic autistic painter bum for another few months without worry. I can be happy. i am basically paid to sit here and play on WP.
that is VERY lucky as i cannot work with other people.

I happen to paint and am very, very fortunate i can make some money out of it. that is a strange blessing in my odd life. i know that is an extraordinary blessing.

I do not like to make value judgments about other peoples' talents or special interests or gifts. what is precious to one is fool's gold to another. Particularly with special interest/gifts. The two are synonymous - from the inside looking out.

the weird is what makes the world go round.

i pace and paint. i stim and paint.
i think about my work most of the time.

i am sickeningly happy for the first time in my life.
and this is quite a feat - considering i only felt the feeling of "happiness" for the first time in my mid 30's.

off to work.

I think that seeing the world as a unique, nonconformist Aspie is a talent or gift in itself.

I didn't see the 'show me' post so I was not prepared to show a whole lot but I will prepare some stuff if I can be allowed the time to do that. So far the only steady thing I do is build high performance Harley Davidson Chopper motorcycles. I have been doing this since I was around 14 years old. I also built dragsters and sports cars in the SCCA circuit but the Choppers were my main intersts. I have written four books on the subject but here is my liitle site about that small aspect of my endeavors.
http://64.172.168.34/neatstuff/index.htm
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Oh millie, I envy you so much.

I love painting but never got any real training until my very last semester in college. I was so overwhelmed with joy in that class that on one occasion I stayed up 2 nights painting round the clock for 48 hours. It was intense and intoxicating. I've wanted to start painting ever since.

I have a full set of oils and want to paint some more but don't know how to get started.

I loved the oils so much but the problem is that I'm allergic to a lot of heavy metals and non-transition metals and I had to wear some special gloves while painting because at first the skin on my hands burned and fell off when I started painting.

Without a good evacuation forced air exchange system, like they had in that studio, I don't know how to paint indoors without getting sick.

I do have a set of watercolors, but the watercolors are nothing compared to the intensity of the oils.

Congratulations on selling your paintings. Wow!

Do you have some works posted online?

My only talent is I'm very good at explaining things clearly. That made me an exceptionally good teacher, but I hated teaching. Another talent I have is I'm very organized, and that's good for my present occupation. Another talent is imagination, which keeps me entertained when I'm so much by myself.

I have special interests that I'm not particularly talented for: travel, Photography, novel writing, cooking, but I enjoy them very much anyway. I compete only with myself.

lovely post, millie.

I can play by ear. It allows me to learn new instruments without instruction (although, as a leftie, I play a lot of 'em backwards and upside down... Kinda prevented me from actually learning to read music, tho...

Oops, didn't see that 'all of the above' option.

I got mad skillz, haha. I should never say that again. I'm a very visual person. Can't learn well through listening, but can do much better learning with pictures and even having hands on experience.
I like to draw. I'm not as good as I once was. My hand gets a bit shakier when I sketch, but I'm still pretty good. I get this talent from my dad, who I sure (and my mum agrees) was autistic. He was even a photographer before me.

Everyone I meet says I have a gift for photography. Not really I just practice a lot. So, I have good skills.

I'm good at finding things. My mum asked me last night where her phone was and I sort of have this thing where if I pass an item she may lose I try my best to remember where it is, so she she asks for it I know, even if she hasn't lost it yet. So anyway I knew where her phone was. And this morning I noticed her keys were on the chopping board.

I also have a very good talent for overcooking my meals. Some would call it a gift.