Creative/Artistic/Imaginitive Aspies

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Hi guys,

So, a number of years ago, when I first came across descriptions of AS and other autism spectrum disorders, I always ran into things like this:

People on the autistic spectrum...
...lack imagination
...struggle to create imaginary games, instead having a tendency while playing to examine objects and re-enact scenes they have seen
...have a preference for non-fiction over fiction books
...are very literal and therefore struggle to understand literature and literary language
...and so on.

While the other descriptions described my difficulties well, this business caused me to decide I couldn't possible have an ASD as I am extremely imaginitive - I am an artist, and an illustrative artist at that (i.e. I draw from imagination, rather than representing objects in front of me). I have always had a rich imaginary world and characters inside my head where I spend the vast majority of my time (if I have one special interest more pervasive than the others, it would be my own imagination). I also spent my entire childhood with my nose in a (fiction) book.

However, more recently, I visited the UK National Autistic Society and noticed that the definition there seemed to have changed or been clarified from the one I saw years ago. It said:

"People with Asperger syndrome can be imaginative in the conventional use of the word. For example, many are accomplished writers, artists and musicians. But people with Asperger syndrome can have difficulty with social imagination." (they go on to define social imagination, which is very specific and very different to the things listed above).

Wait a minute, thought I, that is something completely and utterly different. Are you telling me that the people diagnosing ASDs weren't able until recently to make this distinction in what imagination meant?! That's completely ridiculous! And having arrived in this forum, it seems that creativity and imagination is not remotely lacking in ASD people. I wonder why they thought it was.

Anyway, ranting aside, I want to hear from other imaginitive and creative people on the spectrum! Have you been imaginitive and creative from childhood? Did you play imaginary games? How does your imagination work? Do you spend most of your time living in it? Do you think there are differences between the way your imagination works or manifests and the way it does for NT people? Do you love fiction, or even write it?

And anything else about imagination and creativity that you want to tell me. I want some help breaking down this "unimaginitive" stereotype!

I exsist in both really wierdness and really strong imagination - I am an over achiever and an under achiever - my special interests put me beyond the norm or NT. I become the best at those areas and on the other hand in none special interest areas a moron. I sometimes look at the normal people around me and think are you just a zombie and then when I am out of my world I can be completely unfunctionable

Can I just say how glad I am that Jinks made this thread!

I read my first novel at the age of 5. I haven't stopped reading since then. I most definitely prefer fiction to non-fiction, unless the non-fiction book happens to be an area of interest. Even then, my interests tend to lean towards the creative, philosophical and the intuitive. As for what subjects, they vary widely.

I find my imagination invaluable. It's the place I retreat to when reality gets to be too much. I would live in mind 24/7 if I could. I'm not that adept at expressing my imagination in a concrete way, at least not in away that does it justice. I think that it's so vibrant and vivid in my mind that it's impossible. I find it frustrating to try, because I'm not skilled enough to be able to achieve it in a way that satisfies me.

As for what creative areas I dabble in...I paint and write.

But just because I'm a creative Aspie, doesn't mean that I'm not awed by science. I find biology and chemistry absolutely fascinating. They even inspire my artworks. But I find it interesting in a different way to someone who'd work in a scientific field.

My imagination, gives me a tendency to literally look at the world differently. I love detail so if I'm told to take a photo of a tree, I'll zoom in on the bark or the pattern on a leaf or even a particular arrangement of branches. Or if I'm told to paint a still life, I'll look at it upside down and paint it that way. Which isn't always appreciated.

Anyone else find they can get so absorbed in a creative work (artwork, literature, music, etc) that it's an intense serenity or completely overwhelming emotionally?

My special interest has always been fiction, since I was 6 and started reading my mom's books, ignoring the pile of kids books of my own. The specific focus has changed a hundred times since but it has always been some type of fiction (be it movie, book, or TV show... most recently Supernatural) but often just fiction in its self. I can tell you anything about any character in Stephen King's work, possibly more than King himself can.

I've been imaginative as long back as i can remember and love to read fiction, also non--fiction, depending on the topic. However, i don't have even a bit of social imagination and skills because what's happening on the physical level is so much different from fiction. Fiction needs to describe what people do and how they feel, and a smile described in a story leaves enough for my imagination. Moreover, there is just this smile, not a dialogue or backdrop noise simultaneously. I'm lost in "real life" situations that require parallel processing of impressions. Same applies for movies. I can use audio books but a movie is basically too much input and leads to a shutdown.

In many respects, my imagination is much more realistic and intense than physical reality. For instance, i don't like physical sex, consider it dull and blunt and think it isn't worth the effort, but i enjoy fantasy sex very much and quite frequently. Furthermore, my vivid imagination allows me to repeat and change scenes again and again.

But just like reading i experience one detail at a time, can dwell there or move on to the next one. Possibly, it's a matter of linearity.

I have always been very imaginative, and when I was diagnosed with AS at age 39, the specialist said in the report "has no trouble imagining things."

I used to love playing pretend games when I was a child. I currently hold a B.F.A. (Honours), and a B.A. in music. I do many different types of art, have played several instruments, and have been writing poetry since the age of 10. (That was something I started doing on my own-- my parents were not even aware of it.) In high school I was involved in musical drama, was a member of a 12-person jazz vocal ensemble that performed in a wide variety of venues. Everything I was involved in, I did so of my own volition: my parents were not saying things like, "You should try this, it is good to have a broad range of experiences." I was always in the middle of anything creative. I have been a voracious reader of fiction ALWAYS.

I have always excelled in visual art, music and writing and was at the top of my class in terms of marks (including studio work in university) and that is still the case today. I have no problem getting into "the zone" when working in studio, or on the computer, and can do these for 12 hours at a time, but the key for me is that I must be interested. I am currently taking courses in archaeology, astronomy and computer science.

The point I am making is that I would agree with the lack of social imagination: I find it very hard to discern, a lot of the time, a person's motivations, intentions, and the correct interpretation of what someone is saying. Also, the older I get, the more difficulty I have connecting/relating to my peer group. At this point, I have no friends close to me in age, and very few outside that group. In fact, I am pretty much a loner right now, but I am still interested in connecting socially-- it just gets more difficult, it seems, to have the courage time and time again.

The other point I would like to make is that almost all of the information collected scientifically about people with AS and their traits, has actually been a collection of information about males with AS, and how it manifests for them a lot of the time. (I am not suggesting that males are not imaginative/creative, just that the cluster of symptoms researchers focused on did not include this aspect for the most part, and this might have been what lead to the stereotype.) If anyone is interested, I wrote a paper about this for an abnormal psychology class 2 years ago and put it online: You can google "Asperger's Syndrome: Are females an underdiagnosed population?" to read it, if interested.

As a child, I spent more time pretending than living in the real world. If I hadn't struggled with dysgrafia, I would've invented fan fiction. I also imagined my own fantasy worlds, too.

I wanted to immerse myself in other cultures and historical times that I got interested in--wear the clothes, live in the homes, learn the history and mythology that shaped their culture. I was a serious costumer as a little kid. I played dress-up every day until I was an adult.

Like another poster said, I mostly read fiction. I only read non-fiction if it relates to a special interest. I studied Creative Writing at a fine arts high school and wrote a lot of poetry. In college one of my instructors told me I had "the potential to write excellent literary criticism."

I think you all are right on. I never ever ever lacked imagination or creativity, but only in a social sense. I grew up reading fiction, putting together stories based upon fantasy worlds (which I retreated to in times of heavy stress), Started reading music at age 6, been singing since I could utter my first note, took up violin at 10, and I have been writing music since age 12 (music has also been another special interest place of retreat when stress becomes too much), been drawing and painting pretty well since around then too. The arts are some of the only places I tend to excel at .

I spent a decent amount of time by myself as a kid, or with one best friend. We were super imaginative, pretended we were characters from movies, had our own language together. when I played with GI Joes I would create fairly complex stories and worlds for them. I started writing in 8th grade, that's when I got into it, short stories and poetry.

I worked as a writer for a long time, but I dont do it anymore....career change....


Yeah, I'm not sure if I've met any AS types who aren't creative in some sense....maybe my dad......

I pretty much exist within my own world the whole time. it is filled with good bass/guitar riffs, lyrics ideas, pictured created in my head, distortions on the experiences around me, etc. Most of my reading is art/humor related these days as well.

I grew up re enacting battlebots/robot wars battles using Hot Wheels and Imagination related to video games I played. Pretend play was always very goal focused for me rather than completely about the experience though. I did it alone almost always.

I was very artistically inclined my artwork was passionate but lacked hand eye co-ordination...a problem I still sadly have to this day. Art is the only thing I truly have much variety within. In ceramics though my teachers always loved my high use of textures/color along with good form. My case is the opposite even; my form is worse than my glazing/textures!

Some influence comes from science, but most of it form art. And I loathe art critics...they are arrogant, pretentious people that have little logic...They like Rothko and Pollock but hate most independent art. They spend more money on damaged originals than independent nice paintings. it's lunacy.

And same for art history. I can understand using it to get new art ideas (I did it with expressionism and modernism,) but to use it to claim you understand art better than others is pretentious elitist BS. true art is pure emotion flowing out of a mind, not a few paint dabbles or repainting things like they are in real life (Andy Warhol.)

As far as us aspergians having poor imagination it is completely full of crap. Social imagination, yes, myself included; but not artistic creativity. The people I've met on here often have more imagination than those I've met off here. The ideas are fresh and well synthesized ideas to make something new. It makes for evolution of an art form.

I am very creatively inclined, I am happy to say.

It mostly involves what I love: Sports, MLP, comedy, 80s music, that stuff.

This is one aspect of me I am VERY proud of.

A lot of Aspies are creative and imaginative. The problem is how NTs look at us. They keep trying to judge us by their standards, which don't really work/fit. When they take the time to look at us as our own people, they find that we are a lot more than the standard definition.

Unfortunately, the definition of what an Aspie is and what we're capable of is a sliding floor, and will keep changing based on what different NTs think about us.

Have you been imaginitive and creative from childhood?

Yes

Did you play imaginary games?

Yes. By Myself. Quite Often.

How does your imagination work?

Not sure. I can put images and ideas into context within creative pieces, more so than being able to draw or write specifically what I see, but I am not the most original of thinker.

Do you spend most of your time living in it?

Not really, but I do spend a lot of time being oblivious to others' ideas regarding the world.

Do you think there are differences between the way your imagination works or manifests and the way it does for NT people?

I think that NT's that I know can imagine things differently than I. Or are not as captivated by certain things of my interest.

Do you love fiction, or even write it?

I like certain genres of fiction and I used to write it, but the written version never came out as well as in my head and my character interactions where very difficult to write and ended kind of empty =/

I was like this. And I wanted to be like this. But I don't think that I am. Apparently I have a balance between my right and left brain, I am good at everything. But my logical sense usually pushes its way through. I think it is a strange mix, I haven't figured it out yet. But I definitely was like this before.

while my drawing sucks, my chracters are so full of life and very brilliant.
personally, I don't think there's a soul in this world that can match my level of creative imagination. (with a few exceptions)
I've seen only a few "Normal people" who can think up the sorts of things I do, and do so in very imaginitve way.
although some of those people aren't necassary normal, but they don't have Aspergers as far as I know...
anyway, I'm always supportive of most forms of Art, writieng and so on. I don't see why aspie's can't have great imaginations.
honestly I belive that NT's are the ones who lack imagination, and creativity. (not to mention compassion, but thats a different story)

I think in general the disabled tend to make better art because they often have more pain or more intelligence or life experiences to draw concepts from. Bipolar art seems to be the best, and it has been linked to Asperger's in development.