Is it bad that I don't view my autism as a gift?

[Full Steam]

I view autism as a gift, but don't mistake it as a shiny happy place full of smiling Facebook selfies! I am constantly exhausted by having to pretend to be an NT, and live in a state of pissed-off-ness.

It's more like this.

I feel like I live in the zombie apocalypse. Everyone around me is happy to follow the crowd, no one seems to be able to think independently. When I do point about the obvious, it's frowned upon.

So the question I would ask you is, would you be happier being a zombie? Would you volunteer to be bitten and become one of them? Or are you happier being gifted with insight and being apart from the crowd?

Exactly.

You chose this life for a reason.

If you could choose again, would you choose to be one of the herd, or would you choose to have open eyes and ears knowing it would be more painful?

 

[onlything]

I'd say that AS just is. It's not a gift, it's also not a curse. It just is. What you want to make with it - this is just your choice.

 

[SunnyDay16]

I'd say that AS just is. It's not a gift, it's also not a curse. It just is. What you want to make with it - this is just your choice.

I do try to have a positive look on it but it's really hard sometimes when it works against your favor.

 

[SunnyDay16]

No, it is not bad for you not to regard your Aspergers as a gift. It is, however, not nearly as fun for you.

I believe that every single person has a reason for existing, and I think that includes us Aspies and Auties.

I am working on a hypothesis that Aspies and Auties are especially significant to the world and it's future. The thing that made me start looking into this idea was my discovery that it is extremely likely that Moses was an Aspie.

Even if you regard the Bible as fiction, the idea of Moses is still really great as a role model.

It does not seem likely that such a high percentage of us have high IQs paired with ability for intense focus, is an accident. That combination is a tremendous engine for making the world a better place.

I agree that there are definitely strengths that come with Asperger's. For example, I am more detail orientated and task orientated than some NTs in my life. I also think more logically and notice things that most people around me don't.

 

[SunnyDay16]

I'd say that AS just is. It's not a gift, it's also not a curse. It just is. What you want to make with it - this is just your choice.

I do agree with you. It has the good and bad parts like everything. This was just more of a vent.

 

[Crossbreed]

The thing that made me start looking into this idea was my discovery that it is extremely likely that Moses was an Aspie.

I think that most (if not all) Biblical prophets were likely to have been Aspies.

 

[Judge]

Ultimately you just realistically make the most with whatever you perceive to have. And to recognize that life has its share of "peaks and valleys" rather than "gifts" or "curses".

And that for many of us, whatever successes we have may well be based on our failures. After all, you seldom learn anything when everything goes right the first time.

 

[Crossbreed]

And that for many of us, whatever successes we have may well be based on our failures. After all, you seldom learn anything when everything goes right the first time.

Now, you're going to make me break out in song...!

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Ultimately you just realistically make the most with whatever you perceive to have. And to recognize that life has its share of "peaks and valleys" rather than "gifts" or "curses".

And that for many of us, whatever successes we have may well be based on our failures. After all, you seldom learn anything when everything goes right the first time.

I have learnt a lot!

Translation :

I've never got anything right.

 

[Judge]

I have learnt a lot!

Translation :

I've never got anything right.

That was the only way I truly began to understand computers and operating systems. Failure after failure. Though eventually being able to establish patterns of those failures, and turn them into success.

 

[Lorelaine]

I think for me, it depends on the day. In some cases my ability to hyperfocus and a few of my heightened senses make me excellent at my job. However, I often feel it a significant burden when it comes to communication, especially at work. It alienates me from others, perhaps because they can sense I'm "different" (I've only told my boss I'm an Aspie).

 

[Suiseiseki]

I would accept a cure, I don't care how much of me it would change I don't exactly like who I am.
Being this smart or creative means nothing since it will never amount to anything, the only things I want in life right now are things aspergers has made very hard to get.
It is a thing I deem shameful and I have become very isolated since I find it harder and harder to cope with people and the rejection that always comes.
I'd heavily consider, say trading my legs for it or one leg, or a hand then I could get a robot hand.
Or a chainsaw hand, I am sure I'd still enjoy Army of Darkness aspergers or not.

 

[Full Steam]

Don't forget you've automatically got all of us too.

There are millions of us, and if your on the spectrum your part or the club.

NTs have to form groups around interests to enable any sense of belonging, whereas we are born belonging but the club is hidden at first.

 

[megacomic]

It's your autism. Key word be "your". You get to feel about it however the hell you want. I feel the same way sometimes. Watching peers get married and knowing that's probably not in the future for me and constantly be ostracized and laughed at. I also enjoyed never being invited to parties and not being able to make friends because I was that weird kid. It's sucks because socially aware enough to acknowledge I'm different but I can't do anything to change.

However I see the world in a more logical lense than most people. People lie , cheat and manipulate, they never show their true feelings, and they constantly live in a facade. Once you spend enough time around NT's normalcy almost comes off as indecent. We Auties and Aspies tend to stay true to ourselves and often make loyal friends and partners.

Sometimes our NT allies can do more harm than good. Like when someone finds out I'm an Aspie and feel the need to tell me a story about their distant cousin who knows more than 30 languages. The thing is most Aspies aren't gifted supergeniuses and that's ok too.

 

[Pariah Dog]

There is nothing wrong with thinking of being aspie as a gift. I like being gifted with logic in a way. In another way as stated before it can be exhausting in a mad world that doesn't seem to value logic very much.

I've heard it put before that successful people will take a look at their circumstances and think "How can I turn this into an opportunity." The cliche of making lemonade when life gives you lemons.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

There is nothing wrong with thinking of being aspie as a gift. I like being gifted with logic in a way. In another way as stated before it can be exhausting in a mad world that doesn't seem to value logic very much.

I've heard it put before that successful people will take a look at their circumstances and think "How can I turn this into an opportunity." The cliche of making lemonade when life gives you lemons.

Life also needs to give you sugar or that drink will be disgusting.

 

[AuBurney Tuckerson]

Many people have said how they view their autism as a "gift" and how they would never want to change it. I don't think that way of thinking is bad, but I just don't understand it in my case.

Asperger's has been mostly a giant pain in the ass. It has impacted my ability to socialize and has made me come off like a huge jerk sometimes. It has gotten treated to the point where I can mimic NT pretty well to a point, but at the end of the day I feel exhausted for mimicking. It's also affected how other people treat me. Some people don't treat me any different, but others either treat me like a complete inept baby or are just unsympathetic assholes.

This is mostly just a vent and I'm not saying it's bad to view autism as a gift. Far from it. In fact, I am envious of people who view it as such and are able to not let autism affect them so much. Don't get me wrong, I don't see autism as an illness or a disease that needs curing either, since that is just pseudoscientific jargon that Autism Speaks wants to feed us. But, I certainly don't view it as a gift, because all it's done is make life harder for me.

Well, I wouldn't blame being an Autistic mind. I would blame the Neurotypicals for failing to understand you. The world was built upon a neurotypical society, and people with different neurotypes will have a hard time adjusting because a lot of them either assume that "weird" or "different" is bad or they are just unsympathetic. So it's not your fault, and don't let them make you like your autistic mind any less. I mean, ad much ad I HATE my sensory issues, I would rather stay autistic than become neurotypical any day! I wouldn't want to lose my quirks or special interests.. Despite having depression, I don't wanna change. Being autistic isn't a walk in the park, either. BUT that's only because of the way neurotypicals built society. If society was built around autistics, we wouldn't have to pretend to be something we're not just to try to fit in or look acceptable. We wouldn't be suffering the world because every place would be sensory-friendly. The way we interact would already be socially acceptable without us having to "act". Hopefully, we will live in a world like that someday..

 

[Kalinychta]

I view autism as a gift, but don't mistake it as a shiny happy place full of smiling Facebook selfies! I am constantly exhausted by having to pretend to be an NT, and live in a state of pissed-off-ness.

It's more like this.

I feel like I live in the zombie apocalypse. Everyone around me is happy to follow the crowd, no one seems to be able to think independently. When I do point about the obvious, it's frowned upon.

So the question I would ask you is, would you be happier being a zombie? Would you volunteer to be bitten and become one of them? Or are you happier being gifted with insight and being apart from the crowd?

Does having autism gift you with insight and the ability to think independently? Autistic people don’t strike me as being any different from non-autistic people aside from our autism symptoms. Not at all.

 

[Crossbreed]

Does having autism gift you with insight and the ability to think independently?

Yes. Since we are not particularly sensitive to society's mores, we are not constrained by their prejudices, either.

 

[Kalinychta]

Yes. Since we are not particularly sensitive to society's mores, we are not constrained by their prejudices, either.

I don’t believe I’ve ever met an autistic person who fits that description. And in my experience, no one ever thinks that they’re constrained by prejudice. We all, autistic or not, want to believe that we’re special, unique individuals with superior insight.