Do you enjoy being an aspie/autist?

[x3n0]

I wonder what I'd feel like without Aspergers.

 

[Cellborne]

I enjoy being good at things. Not sure how much of what has propelled me to where I am today. I don't see myself as any different than anyone else, it is all subjective in the end. I am still learning my limits though.

 

[Dusty285]

When I tell people I am an Aspie, I tell them to think in terms of 'most people are like a Windows-Compatible running on a universal Windows OS. I, as an Aspie, am an Apple system running on a different kind of software and also my own OS is slightly unique to me. That seems to make sense to most of them.

I am seriously old and made it through life. Everything was tough but I believe life is tough for everybody. My Aspie obsessiveness helped me keep a job and to cope with the psychological jabs and pokes in the workplace. I saw a lot of the NT guys break and run (quit or do things almost deliberately to get fired) while I was obsessed with proving I was tougher than the people making problems for me. At the time I considered I just had my own objectives and the problem makers were irrelevant to my private world. I am sure now that I survived and reached retirement because of my Aspie strengths and Aspie perspective.

I am reading a book, "Gettysburg," about that battle. I am only into the first few chapters. The book is 'non-fiction' and so far it is mostly telling about the conflicts between the personalities of the senior officers. It all supports what I said in the paragraph above. I read a lot lately about wars. A trilogy of Non-fiction about WW-2 and the conflict between senior officers and among the politicians got a lot of attention, but not so intensely as this latest book. Winston Churchill wrote several books as he went along and I read one of his about war in the Sudan in the latter 1800's. More of how the officers and politicians ere always in conflict with each other. It must have always been worse in the general ranks of the armies. As Aspies, the conflict we feel is really part of the 'normal' state of things. We need to figure out how to get along as individuals and use our strengths to our own advantage.

 

[Keith]

I do enjoy my attention to detail.

On the other hand, I don't like how my disability affected my childhood education. I had to transfer to several schools during grade school alone and even ended up at a school for kids with behavioral problems until early into my freshman year of high school. I spent my entire middle school tenure there, with only one classroom for everything.

Of course, the one thing I wish had never happened is the seizures. They say that epilepsy and Aspergers are often connected.

 

[Max]

Yes, I do.
It allows me to focus on and excel in the things that I love.

 

[CristalViper]

Yes. Some things like being social are more difficult, but I like being "different".

 

[baz]

To all those that say they like having autism/aspergers, I say spare a thought for those amongst us that even a simple task like going to the shop takes a collosal amount of courage.
and if you do manage to go out on your own all you see are happy families and groups of laughing friends and it fills you with sadness because why can't you have all that.
You might gather that I'm bitter, it's because we only have one life and I for one hate this awful affliction. And I do get very annoyed when people say they enjoy it or that they are blessed to have it or that we should look at all the positives.

 

[CristalViper]

To all those that say they like having autism/aspergers, I say spare a thought for those amongst us that even a simple task like going to the shop takes a collosal amount of courage.
and if you do manage to go out on your own all you see are happy families and groups of laughing friends and it fills you with sadness because why can't you have all that.
You might gather that I'm bitter, it's because we only have one life and I for one hate this awful affliction. And I do get very annoyed when people say they enjoy it or that they are blessed to have it or that we should look at all the positives.

I actually agree. While there are some positives, there are more negatives. But still, some of us only have minor Aspergers. While I find it extremely difficult to order or buy food, there are things I like about it, like my (and I hope I don't seem like a show-off) intelligence. Aspergers has its good and bad sides.

 

[Suzanne]

I can't say I enjoy being an aspie. Ok so I am blessed with a long memory and can focus intensely on an obsession and have a deep sense of justice, but the question is, would I still be like this, if I were an nt?

There are more negatives for me, which I do not enjoy.

Another aspie said that if she was offered a pill to cure being an aspie, she wouldn't take it. I thought the same, but right now, I would take that pill. Perhaps another day I might not.

It is tons easier being an nt because they just get on with living; and there are more of them around.

 

[Harrison]

Can't say I enjoy being an aspie anymore than I can say I enjoy being a male, or old, or mixed breed. It's just what I am and I don't know anything different.

 

[Warmheart]

I am happy to be me. ASD comes with both positive and challenging aspects.

While I will say that the non-verbal shutdowns, physical meltdowns, Zombie strolling, executive functioning struggles, and disassociation are all challenging, I appreciate, and cherish, the many gifts ASD brings me. My special interests bring me passion and delights of such intensity others miss, and some twirling stimming makes me feel as if I could almost fly with relief and pleasure. I love my loyalty, strong sense of justice, captivating, beautiful inner world, and the quirky way I have of seeing things.

Autism is a part of my general cuteness.

 

[deathgrip]

i have sensitivities to light, noise, smell and emotions, on top of not being able to speak well. Goibg to the store is a big deal. i cannot drive either so i need help getting there and the bus ,and public transportation is overwhelming. the smell, think of severely unwashed bedding, then any human smells of the passengers additionally.

i feel intensly sad most of the time that i cant live in the same world as others. i am a parent and i feel like the only one with autism that exsists. it seems like the other way around is more commonly talked about so it leads into more lonely feelings. i guess thats why i jioned this partially.

i still wouldnt change who i am. the thing i like about being autistic. hehe. i like having an IQ, and the things that follow. again with parenting, i am always able to explain how things work and help with any academics ny kid asks about. i like the few friends i have, theu all think because im autistic that i am a genious lol, stereotype but works for me.
i get very emotuonal but its not always bad. i cry a lot when i am delighted but i love it. it makes me feel like i am a person, somehow.

 

[Streetwise]

For me, it is half and half, there are days where I will enjoy having it and then there are other days where I will not enjoy having it, but without that, I wouldn't be the person who I'am today and this site would certainly not exist either. :lol:

Also I'm feeling grateful for having it because it has also gotten me really far in life.

I don't enjoy discrimination that NTs think is their God given right

 

[Gift2humanity]

I would have if I had responded to adverse experiences in childhood more and if I had made use of my talents instead of trying to fit in.

 

[Katsuragi]

For the most part i would actually say yes as i feel that i have some advantages within reason to the rest of the non autistic population of the world. I've seen how the people of this world live and i find it bizarre how it is that they live the way that they do. There lives seems sort of boring to me within reason just lacking in adventure. Though i envy how it is that there able to navigate this world and it's trial better then i can so in conclusion it's a 60/40 split.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

i have no complaints being an Aspie.

 

[Gift2humanity]

I would have if I had not given up reading at two years of age. It would have prevented my intuition from being dumbed down, keeping me safe, given me wisdom to prevent my boundaries being breached, and it would have given me courage to slay my dragons, more it would have helped me know the real meaning of a true friend.
I had a meltdown today, it scared me, they used to just involve biting my wrist and leaving a minor red mark, plus hair pulling, now my arms are scarred, my face has been bruised black and blue and my head cut, plus property broken.

 

[Christian]

I cant say that I enjoy being an Aspie, since my teenage years having Asperger was more a nightmare to me than a gift, more if you ad that I had the unfortunate to born with a facial deformation that took four surgeries to correct, even that I enjoy learning, being hyper focus nearly obsessive about things that interest me, having a good memory, focusing in little details that other people miss.

But for other people, I was an alien, hell, I even seen other people as alien, because I didn't understand jokes, take them literally, I am socially inept, incapable of sustaining any kind of relationship, even with my own family, love is a foreign concept to me, sure I can worry about them, I can have some sort of affection, but love, every time that someone in my family say to me "I Love you", I stare at them with a blank face, in high-school I wanted to be more like the dumb jocks than how I was, even that excelled academically in High-school I was the outcast of the outcasts, and that was the reason of my lower grades, and that always put a huge weight in my final exams, because not matter how good at was, I was so anti-social because people treat me like crap, that the professors only give the minimal score to pass, even that I had high grades in their classes.

And the worst part, I never, ever, not matter how much I try could have a romantic relationship with a girl, ones a girl fall in love with me, but I never understand the concept or I not think that she understand me, maybe she should have talk to me before announcing to her friends that I was her boyfriend, but that was a very confusing and hurting period of my life, my parents were separated, and my head was totally blank, I really confuse because I didn't understand what the hell was happening to me, I wanted to be normal, I wanted to have lasting friends, I wanted to be popular, but everyone look at me like I was from another planet. No one shared my interest, so since then Asperger always have been a curse, no even my own family understand what I have, when I say something inconvenient, they dismiss me, treat me I am dumb, even if share data and all, that frustrate me and anger me, and of course there is the fact that my family is very dysfunctional, not a very stable environment for someone like me, sometimes I wish to be alone, not be bother my anyone.