Do you think Autism is a gift?

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Me personally I think it's kind of not. But It's something I am really proud of and that I love having.

Sometimes it's a gift, sometimes it's a curse. I believe it's partly made me better at my hobbies and talents more caring and understanding around animals. It's when I'm forced to cope in a NT world without any of of the things that make me feel more relaxed and happier because they're considered "weird" or "age inappropriate" that things become stressful.

I don't feel it's a gift.

The way I see it, Asperger's is not who I am. It's a disorder that I've got.

For some it can come with a mix of gifts and challenges. But all lives have challenges, NT or AS lives and all the other lives too.

Autism can lead to giftedness—especially if the autistic person lives under conditions where all of their harmless idiosyncratic behaviors and actions are not seen as being “weird” in a negative sense.

Rather, these “odd” ideas are cultivated and respected.

I think it depends - I don't deny that it could be for some people. However, for me, it definitely isn't. I used to have the stereotypical Aspie memory, when I was a kid, but I think depression has permanently gotten rid of that (at least, I started having memory issues around the same time I had my first round of severe depression). Besides that, I don't think I've ever gotten any sort of benefit from my autism.

Looking at my family's AS history, I have no doubt at all that the enhanced ability in the fields of memory, music, maths, science and academic ability came from the AS part of the family, who evinced the same abilities and aptitudes. Also some physical conditions were passed on to me, which were gifts I could have done without, though as I have got older I have learned better how to ride the rough with the smooth.

Only one of the NT members of the family has the science, memory and academic ability in spades too, though not the music. None of the NT section has musical ability, all of the AS members do.

No.

If it's a gift, can I return it?

I think like all things it's a bit of both

Some days I am practically in love with myself and all my little talents and quirks and other days life is just sh***y.

Like someone already mentioned, having to be an aspie conforming to an NT world/way of life that can make us dislike ourselves even more than the natural standard.

I am a firm believer of everyone having their place in the world. Not everyone is going to be a CEO or famous or rich or ridiculously attractive but those things are rare even for an NT.

Life can be amazing and life can be sh***y. For everybody.

I don't think autism is a gift. I did think that before and praised it, but now I see where it goes wrong. When I think about it though, if it's considered a mental disorder then how can it be a gift?

It’s not considered a mental disorder. It’s considered a neurological disorder which affects certain aspects of development.

I don’t believe autism is a “gift”—But I do believe it can produce “giftedness” at times.

I don’t think it’s a gift. But, it’s something we can try to make the best of. And, with a lot of work, we can actually learn to be social and even have some advantages in certain situations. It’s taken me years, but I can now read body language etc. better than most neurotypicals. I can also even predict the ends of conversations because I’ve analyzed conversations so much.

I think the trick is to not give up, but to always try to learn more until you get to the point where you realize you are coping fairly well.

It varies. It depends on the person.
And many would've identify it with their respective comorbodities -- be it abilities, giftedness, and creativity. Or diseases, disorders, delays, dys-whatever, etc. that is possible to have or develop without autism.


To me, it's a gift AND a curse.
Not all a gift nor all a curse, but it's something I aim to master than just cope with in life.

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It’s not a gift, it’s a curse and being ‘gifted’ is just another variant of the curse especially when you fail to fulfill your potential. Perhaps for someone with purely a level 1/Aspergers diagnosis it would not be so hard but I have the super value bundle pack of diagnoses. On top of autism, I have MDD, C-PTSD, a panic disorder, sensory issues, a type of stutter that only appears when I’m stressed so it’s more of a processing disorder, selective mutism, social phobia, executive dysfunction, and a host of other problems, many of them genetic and inherited from my AS maternal lineage. So no, for me it is anything but. Dying however will be.

Sometimes it seems like just the most ridiculously torturous nightmarish set of circumstances. A blessing and a curse. A serious challenge. it seems like it's the root of the extremes in my life, the good and the bad.
It's like having a big, giant toolkit that I can't use. A dictionary written in the wrong language. It's beautiful but it's incredibly painful, too.