Autistic Strengths/ The Best Things about Being Autistic

[Aspergers_Aspie]

I saw this post displaying autistic strength on an aspergers facebook group, what do people think, do you have these strengths?

 

[Mulder]

Any possible combination of course.

 

[Thinx]

Yep, I have all of those. And so many more...

 

[4na11]

all of them, yep, I have

 

[dragonfire42]

Not a visual learner, I learn best by actively writing things down (rather than just seeing them on a board or something) or by physically doing things.

Tend to be too focused on detail, not always a good thing.

Not particularly any more creative than the average person, can see things in different ways sometimes.

Yes on integrity.

Well, if you want to know about certain very specific things (such as anything related to Hellraiser, or non-stat-related info about a Pokemon), I suppose I have expertise, but not in anything that anyone else might possibly consider actually useful. I’ve always been jealous of those who have special interests they can actually put to use in some way, besides using up time and money.

Used to have the stereotypical Aspie memory as a kid, but lost it, and now can even be actively watching a show and forget what’s on during a commercial break.

Observational skills, I have to actually be alert and paying attention, which doesn’t happen a lot, usually either too tired to be alert or too overwhelmed to actually process everything.

Somewhat analytical, I guess probably more so than average.

Deep focus, only works sometimes and on certain things, not even reliably on any one thing, I have to be in the right mindset.

Critical thinking, I suppose, I need to have a reason that makes sense to me for everything.

Tenacity and resilience, absolutely. My mom says I’m very patient, but that isn’t true. I get plenty frustrated about things, but the difference is, I keep trying anyway. What I actually have is not patience, but perseverance.

Kindness, yes, and in fact several times more empathy than most NTs I know, I just either show it differently in ways they don’t recognize, or don’t know how to show it at all.



Usually it seems to me like I got the bad/neutral parts of autism but none of the good, but I guess I actually do have some of these, to some extent.

 

[AprilR]

Apart from creativity, yes to all.

 

[Aspergers_Aspie]

At school I struggled with a creative writing task

 

[Hylian]

I have pretty much all of these traits.

 

[Baaaaaaaaaa]

Yep, feels familiar lol

 

[Greening]

I was wondering what some of you might think is the best thing about autism / being autistic? You could call it the gifts of being autistic.

 

[jellyfish]

Always thinking outside of the box and having that offbeat slant, like we couldn't think inside the stupid box even if we wanted to

That might be a cause of misery for some autists, I know, but it's still a beautiful thing to be different like that

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Integrity is an important one in my life.

 

[Neri]

All resonate, except the good memory.

I guess because of the comorb ADHD and cPTSD, (ADHD, as yet, untreated) my memory is very spiky and strange.
Nice to see strengths focused on, for a change, instead of our deficits.

 

[Misty Avich]

And so NTs don't have any of those?

 

[Rodafina]

And so NTs don't have any of those?

This is an interesting interpretation.
I did not see that indicated anywhere.

 

[Misty Avich]

This is an interesting interpretation.
I did not see that indicated anywhere.

Well if all humans have at least a few of these then I'm like all humans, because I have a few of these.

 

[Lilacleia16]

I see how my five senses can both overstimulate me negatively, and have me in such awe of what our God has created. I see the good qualities of childlike faith that it brings out in me and the special relationship with God who is my friend when I have none. I see the potential for genius in every autistic person whether it’s right brain, left brain, or both. I see the innocence we cultivate and the clarity of heart. I see the grit we can muster. I am proud to be called autistic.

 

[tree]

See also>

'Autism Advantage Theory'

Autism may have had advantages in humans' hunter-gatherer past, researcher believes -- ScienceDaily What do you guys think?

www.autismforums.com

About your strengths:

Create lists of the things you are good at.

www.autismforums.com

Naming your strengths

I just had a meeting with my priest/boss and part of it was us coming up with strengths/weaknesses (she called it gifts and growth points, which was nice) and I had no trouble coming up with a few growth points that have been bothering me, but as usual I had a big mental block trying to come up...

www.autismforums.com

 

[MNAus]

To be fair this is a bit like the horoscope in the paper. It's a bit of a Barnum Effect. Let's have a look.

So there's a set of things that people would find troubling to say "nope, not at all". Examples: Integrity, kindness, resilience, critical thinking. Few people would say "Actually, I'm untrustworthy, nasty, weak or gullible. That gives 4 "hits" straight off the bat, which sets a foundation for the rest.

And there's a bunch of non specifics that can be interpreted to fit yourself, e.g.: Visual skills, observational skills, expertise which will give another 3 pretty much guaranteed. We're now at 7, and we haven't actually had anything that the vast majority of people would think doesn't apply to them

There's a set of things that are somewhat opposite, e.g. creativity vs analytical, so you would choose one by rejecting the other. That means a miss, but that's OK, it guarantees 8

The rest are hit and miss where 1, perhaps 2 will apply, but we've built up that 8 already so people will overlook those that don't fit and for the majority will walk away thinking "Yeah, that's me". ND stuff on the internet is packed with confirmation bias and Barnum Effect.