The term 'Superpowers'

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Does anyone know who coined the term "Superpower" for an outstanding strength of an Aspie? Greta's use of it is the first time I heard it. And feel free to include any other of relatively new terms used here like NT, ND, etc.

Folks have used the term, usually sarcastically, for years here on WP. Long before I ever heard of Greta.


Prolly many folks have independently thought it up (either earnestly or in jest) and have used it on the Net. And it just merged and spead like a forest fire starting from separate campfires.

I've no idea who first coined the term. But I feel Greta’s reported use of it is often quoted out of context. I think it was in a tweet:

"I have Aspergers and that means I’m sometimes a bit different from the norm. And - given the right circumstances- being different is a superpower. "

"given the right circumstances" is often omitted and without that it sounds like she believes she is superior to mere NT mortals, which just comes across as arrogant.

"Given the right circumstances" my autism can give me an advantage, but much of the time its more like kryptonite than any kind of superpower.

We know what she meant. Others may take it all kinds of wrong ways. The most common criticism of her is she is a shill being used by some adults. I like to believe that is not the case but have no evidence either way. We do know that aspies have the capability for doggedly pursuing a cause where NTS wouldn't. I was at her rally in NYC where she gave a great speech. I am disappointed that we have not continued the protests. I won't be satisfied until we a protesting as unendingly as the HK protests .

I have long suspected aspies have this kind of superpower because our ND decreases the control instinct driven behavior has over our lives. I see NTs biggest disability is not seeing how their behavior is driven by obsolete "Paleo" instinct. Sometimes even leading them to ludicrous diet ideas . In this case, they would rather act tribal than admit the obvious need for globalism to solve this imminent problem. Like Greta says "The house is on fire".

I had no hesitation accepting the idea of our tribe being the next stage of human evolution, since I have long had that feeling. This is the first time I have never discussed it though.

....is patently stupid. We don't control the weather. That would be something actually "super" It, the weather, already does a bang up job wiping out 99 9% of all life ever known just fine, sans humanity. She, this Great beast, is just a kid who doesn't understand the serious repercussions of shutting of the fossil fuel supply. Namely every metropolis on the planet being unable to transport enough food daily (using Amish methods to replace trucks and planes is a true failure in understanding logistics) to sustain the dense populations. And resulting in a mass exodus to the countryside aka starvation and violence and realization that it's either use dead fuels our little humanity bubble bursts like the dot com boom and plenty of us die. She is a naive, a tool for socialist power grabbers to steer useful idiots (idiot in the true sense of the word not the modern insult). No we do not have superpowers. So I wouldn't put any stock in what kids say or the adults no more intelligent than children say for that matter.

One of Greta Thunbergs mothers books contains the claim that Greta can see CO2-emissions with the naked eye (which I'm sure is totally true), so that's something...

When I am forced to watch X-Men DVDs with friends I often think of Wrongplanet, because the super hero characters are all "mutants", who talk about normal humans as other. They all have superpowers. So folks in the aspie community may have gotten the idea that ASD folks (who are arguabley "mutants") also have superpowers from the X-Men movie franchise.

Pure nonsense.

If anything, the NTs are much smarter than us. Theyhave superpowers, not us.

Pure nonsense.

If anything, the NTs are much smarter than us. They have superpowers, not us.

I have to disagree.

We are not inferior to NTs.

We have strengths. They have strengths.

I'm not a particular fan of the term. In my eyes, it seems to imply a superiority complex.

This is an interesting debate, I had discussed this on my YouTube channel and since I am a new member I can't post any links to my video, you'll find my YouTube channel in my profile description down below.

"Aspie Superpowers"

It all depends on how an individual would describe "Superpowers".

It all reflects mainly on talent, many people who are on the autism spectrum will naturally be good at something and have a thought process in something. It all depends on how a person on the autism spectrum are hyper-focused on whatever special interest they have. For example, if a person on the autism spectrum obtain a special interest in buses, this person's superpowers could generally be knowing a majority of bus routes and the time of each bus service.

There's so much ground to cover when discussing "Aspie Superpowers", I had briefly had my say about this on my YouTube channel in Episode 21 back in September 2018 and in Episode 78 I've talk in my videos about Greta Thunburg in October 2019. I can't see why not gain more knowledge on the subject since it's cool to know and learn more from others about "Aspie Superpowers".

I fail to understand the use of the word, superpowers in this context. I don't see my being an aspie as a superpower and I certainly don't see it as being a curse. I'm proud of myself because I've proven my detractors wrong. I'm also happy to be alive.