The ASD Riddle

[janie]

New member Quinny posted a lovely introduction.

Once again, warm welcome, Quinny, hope you find cool sand and safe breezes here.

Quinny shared a great observation from an insightful therapist yesterday when diagnosed.

Thanks, Quinny!

I thought could be presented here as a thread topic for discussion and sharing helpful strategies:

How do you engage healthy coping mechanisms to leverage being "neurodiverse" as a gift?

 

[Quinny]

I'm so happy that my post could provide some inspiration! I'm excited to see some of the insights on this topic. In speaking with my therapist yesterday, we made the revelation that being "neurodiverse" can actually be an advantage, as I have a completely different perspective on ideas and situations than the people that I typically interact with. I hope that I can share more as I continue my therapy sessions.

 

[stringer]

"How do you engage healthy coping mechanisms to leverage being "neurodiverse" as a gift?"

I'm a scientist in my day job, and I can usually cope with quite complex concepts. But after reading and re-reading that sentence a few times I still can't figure out what it means. Could someone explain?

 

[Quinny]

"How do you engage healthy coping mechanisms to leverage being "neurodiverse" as a gift?"

I'm a scientist in my day job, and I can usually cope with quite complex concepts. But after reading and re-reading that sentence a few times I still can't figure out what it means. Could someone explain?

Maybe a little background on this will help. To try and summarize, I received a diagnosis of ASD just yesterday and had a session with my therapist. I have been seeing her for quite some time for my other disorders (GAD and OCD), so she's familiar with my personal and professional background. Basically, she told me that if we can find healthy coping mechanisms to deal with the negative aspects of my diagnosis (anxiety, repetitive behaviors, etc.), I can actually learn to use my autistic tendencies in a positive way. For example, at work I get a lot of compliments from coworkers because I am able to look at a complex problem from a completely different perspective and sort out the details in order to find a solution. I believe, at least in part, I can attribute this to my ASD in my obsessive nature and attention to small details that most "neurotypical" persons would overlook.

So, to conclude, I think this forum is an exploration of how ASD traits can actually be a positive thing for many people. It's something that sets us apart and provides new and interesting perspectives that many people wouldn't think of, which we can use to our advantage. Maybe this doesn't apply to everyone, but I hope that all makes sense and provides some insight.

 

[stringer]

...

So, to conclude, I think this forum is an exploration of how ASD traits can actually be a positive thing for many people. It's something that sets us apart and provides new and interesting perspectives that many people wouldn't think of, which we can use to our advantage. Maybe this doesn't apply to everyone, but I hope that all makes sense and provides some insight.

Thanks! Now I understand! A very good observation, too!

 

[Quinny]

I'm glad I could provide some clarity! In my experience, ASD is not really something that most people would think has any beneficial aspects, so I feel very lucky to have a therapist with this view.

 

[janie]

"How do you engage healthy coping mechanisms to leverage being "neurodiverse" as a gift?"

I'm not a scientist in my day job; that must be really interesting and so cool.

I'm familiar with people thinking the way I express something is unclear, so I do apologize what made sense to me was unclear and appreciate you asked for clarification.

Quinny, thanks for the recap, context and super translation of thread topic!

As I have experience with people not understanding my idea when I communicate, this prompts me to use one of my coping strategies:

1. I remind myself that if a person with whom I have spoken/texted to signals to me that I have not made sense/person does not understand, I recognize that transactional communication challenges me.

2. I take a minute to remember that it's not an emergency and doesn't mean the other person is mad at me, making fun of me, or that I am broken because I tried to express a though/idea and tanked it.

3. I thank person for telling me that I was unclear and try to express myself more clearly if so invited.

4. If there is something new I learned during the process that I want to remember like a phrase that I should avoid, a trigger word for another, etc. I record it in my journal.

 

[Quinny]

This is a really helpful approach for me. Sometimes I have a difficult time rephrasing ideas, and I just seem to get flustered and end up just saying "oh, nevermind!". It's a little easier for me when it's text, rather than verbal conversation. Your method really speaks to me because I do really well when I have a list of steps to follow.

 

[janie]

Your method really speaks to me because I do really well when I have a list of steps to follow.

A list of steps helps me too.

When I journal, I record similar process streams with arrows like a flowchart.

For more complex transactions, this allows me to branch process stream. For example, "if yes, if no, if mad, if triggered, etc.