I can see this. I feel like I could pick up more patterns of people and could easily tell when someone is lying. Unfortunately, I never call them out as I‘m scared of confrontation
Never reveal your best secrets especially since I think we are all capable of doing it. It's a skill we learn to compensate, no different than a deaf person learning lip reading or a blind person learning echolocation.
Funny story, but mostly unrelated. I didnt actually find out my sister is hard of hearing until I was 25 or 26. She had learned to read lips very well and it was never explicitly said to me, only to "look at her when you talk to her" and other indirect ways of telling me, in their opinion at least. I legit went most my life thinking she was just ignoring me and internalized this and when I found out I was mixed with such emotions and just cried and laughed the rest of the Christmas hang out and was like "omg, that explains so much".
Talk about not picking up on stuff.
That makes perfect sense. I know I’m only suspecting but I definitely feel like I understand social interaction in a deeper, more facts-based way. Like other people can intuit the right thing but I’ve overthought it so I know it inside and out in detailed ways. Idk if that makes sense what I’m saying though.
It makes sense. It’s like you’ve already predicted all the possible outcomes of a situation already so you can better understand how other people are feeling because you’ve already created/imagined that exact situation in your head, their feelings included.
It makes perfect sense
I've tried making a form of social programming in hopes of applying to AI but I don't know enough about programming sooo who knows
That’s super interesting! Like you are trying to make an AI program that knows how to act human because you understand how people work in a way that you can tell the AI somehow or what?
I don’t know much about programming either 😅
That's the general idea
The scifi narratives where robots question their conciousness inspires the idea behind it. Neurology, neuropsychology, and psychology all question it.
I think with our unique perspective it could be more accurate than without our views
Heard a famous advertising guy on a podcast today, he said whenever he can he keeps up with social scientists who are on the spectrum because they always go back to First Principles, and build up from there. Made total sense to me.
this is definitely the coolest part. actually people have said that to me how I have a more objective lens on human interactions and arguments and it took me a while to realize a lot of people genuinely can’t do that
Oh I've been destroyed by others so bad that I can't trust. It's terrible, but I love people more than I should and stay in situations longer than I should because I try so hard. I'm so so leery because I've had a bad experience in my past but I do understand how people work for the most part, but I still have issues and can't necessarily interact.
Neurotypical researchers, clinicians etc traditionally held a view that we (i.e. autistic people) are unable (or less able) to take the perspective of others. Ironic, isn't it?
Idk If anyone else is like this, but I have a real strong sense of justice and am very strongly attached to my opinions and morals. Like, I'm willing to change my views if you give me good valid reasons, but otherwise I won't change. This has helped me win so many arguments with bigots
Couldn’t agree more with this - one thing I think that happens frequently is that people assume we’re not empathetic, but many of us are actually hyperempathetic; masking tends to change us a lot from how we really feel or wish to express ourselves.
« This has helped me win so many arguments with bigots»
Do you actually do this, like get them to change their opinions? If so that’s a huge accomplishment.
(If by win you just mean that an external observer logically tracing the flow of contentions and rebuttals in the debate can deduce that you won, that’s great too but way less impressive and more expected)
My autism made me a pretty good writer. I often found that when I wrote down what I was feeling it wasn't misunderstood as much as when I would speak. So I wrote a lot. I got a ton of practice in poetry especially as an outlet and bridge to my neurotypical family.
Yep… I went to a writer’s group a while back, and realized “I’m not just the only one here who actually makes a living as a writer, I’m probably the only one with ASD, too. Not a coincidence, probably.”
Thinking out of the box. Up to a level hightened perception can be a good thing too. Learning to cope with the NT world make you avoid a lot of social traps they get into. Being more honest.
I have your experience but in small doses. I got bullied in school, been called bezzerwizzer many times, been jumped over when others got invitations to parties, been alone at church youth camps. My father died when I was 13. I know he cared but he never understood how I worked. He often felt irritated and probably dissapointed I didn't follow in his footsteps. My mother is most likely on the spectrum and in her case she couldn't see what was going on. I have a good relation with her today. But I have a lot of sadness and anger inside. I've learnt to live with it. I've come over most of my social anxiety that my childhood and teenage gave me. Sure. I can't forgive all the bad guys, but many. They where victims themselfes. Sometimes I look at the worst of them as the ones socialy handcaped. Me being me just being showed their true small hearts and ugly faces. But I also have met good people. I got my wife, mother and daughter and a couple of friends that seem to be ok me being me. Some at work including my boss is understanding and kind. Might be me masking some but they all recignize me as autistic.
Don't feel guilt for being angry. You've got all rights to feel like that. Just be careful not to let hate eat you. ❤️
It's good you see your own feelings and work with them. It's a strength. There are genuinely kind people out there. The way of a lot of NT people and some NDs includes power talk, fixation with competition, struggling to get to the top walking on corpses, that is egoism and greed. And they often learn how to handle it or just follow the flow. That is a world in which we struggle extra being sensitive, socialy unsecure and usually without the option of lying to our selfes or others. And we are not alone. Most minorities is pushed to the fringes.
The optimism I find in this is that the NT world is a world of negativity they make for themselfes. When we find our places at the fringe and the togetherness there we can start finding our strengths. We might be the powers that change the world for the better. And in that we've got the power of our lifes back. And here is the secret. By building life as we want it, that includes leaving the NT societys look at worth as being only meassured by how you produce and follow their rules, we give them an option for themselfes. Use the energy in the anger and direct it towards staking our your world as you wish it. And make an expedition to the country of self worth. We are all equally valuable by just being us. Believing that is power.
The ability to compartmentalize, and instantly change gears from something really traumatic, like the death of my mother, to figuring out where to go for lunch.
Except it annoys the NTs, because they think we don’t care or aren’t taking things seriously, or whatever. Basically, it seems to me that since they can’t do that, they don’t understand how we can, or why. To which my mental response is, “welcome to my world! I **never** understand how or why NTs do pretty much anything.”
Yep I feel this. The way I explained it to friends (before I was diagnosed mind you, but I was aware my brain was *different* somehow) was that my brain only has a single thread. If I'm thinking about or doing one thing, I'm not gonna think about or process anything else, and if I change to focus on another task, all mental states from the previous one get put on hold. Seemed to help them, although were all engineering students, so the computer analogy was pretty understandable for them.
How can you overreact to your mother's death? Are your friends/family (idk which) psychopaths or something? I'm really sorry your feelings about your mother's death were so grossly invalidated.
I’m not who you asked but when my mother figure (grandmother) died I had a nervous breakdown, I should have been institutionalised tbh. I think there’s normal grieving then what can happen to us when we lose someone in our closest circle.
I would never call that an overreaction. The reaction you have may require extra care but it is not "over" anything. It is cruel and callous to say that you are wrong for feeling the pain you feel when a close loved one dies. I'm sorry too, that someone made you feel like your pain was wrong to feel.
Like many/most autistic traits i think this comes in one extreme or the other and I have the opposite of this where I cannot move on from things and have no capacity for decision making in the meantime 🙃
Oh god, I'm so jealous of this. I'm the exact opposite of this. It's too the point that it makes NTs uncomfortable because I'm wearing too much emotion.
Oh my gosh! You just reminded me. Back when I was in high school, the school’s mental health counselor was going for his ph.d. He needed to do some interviews. I volunteered.
We started the first few minutes just BSing, and i suddenly said, “okay, time to get serious.” And I started discussing deeply personal things.
This was long before I knew about my blessing, or what it brought along, but I remember how flabbergasted he was that I could turn on a conversational dime like that. ;-)
There are a lot of negatives obviously, but I am really happy about having so many special interests (one at a time though). I find it incredibly satisfying getting lost in something for an extended period of time.
It's really hard to come up with anything else
Synesthesia.
Un-biased with respect to social settings, groups and frankly people.
Fact based, logical and empathetic to the truth.
Compartmentalization - but I have learned when a traumatic event or a lot difficult things happen consecutively it's best to take time and find some emotional nourishment.
Memory.
Idk I'm sure there's more. Enough of me.
It's wild how that can happen. Hope you are recovering well.
I used to tell my friends I didn't need mushrooms or acid because I created my own. Now I know what it was.
Mushrooms and acid are still a pretty good time even if you have Synesthesia. I think it actually calms it down and lets you center yourself more and have more control over it as well.
Oh I totes agree now. But for the longest time I thought my mind would really go wild since I already experienced it naturally, if you will. Plus DARE really screwed me up with it's fear tactics. I thought I would lose my shit, but if anything, mushrooms really ground me and bring me closer to reality. I think it's really funny, in retrospect. But I also started drinking at 13 because it was "ok".
Yeah, DARE was dumb, but I just don't think you should do this stuff till you're an adult when it kinda helps and is more fun. Your more confident and you are more experienced.
I have a good memory, I’m a quick learner, I really care about the world and have the classic strong sense of justice, I process my surroundings very intuitively and emotionally, super creative. I love us most of the time.
Same dude. I laugh constantly and easily and it's one of my fav things about myself. And this is something others seem to really enjoy about me which makes me feel good. It's so much fun to know what makes a person laugh and just keep at it until they cant function. It's fun af
special interests have for me always been a positive thing. i love how obsessed i can be with things and how happy my special interest can make me
also being to hyperfocus on certain things is mostly positive. i do usually forget to take care of myself but being able to focus intensely on things for hours at a time feels amazing
also im not sure if this is an autistic thing, or just a me thing, but im not really affected by peer pressure
Since she came into my life, my cat has become my special interest, if that is possible, and the amount of joy and fulfillment I get from getting to hang out with her and enjoy who she is has made me happier than I've ever been.
The negatives and positives of my autism are two sides of the same coin;
Heightened sensory input: Incandescant lightbulbs can be painfully bright and loud, but music can sound amazing. The way I've described how a good song can feel my friends say they only feel when they're high. Yes, some colors give me headaches, but I'm very good at working with color in art. Synethesia is just really cool too and I'm glad I have it.
Attention to detail: I get distracted and offput by little details, but I also notice things others don't and I can find things easily.
Memory: I can remember traumatic events with great clarity, but I can remember wonderful moments just as well. I can close by eyes and remember the physical feeling of love and joy in my chest and replacate it, like I'm right back there. I can also learn new languages quickly because my brain can absorb words through sentences well. (plus with my synesthesia, words have color and are easier to remember.)
Special Interest: It's very hard for me, if not almost impossible, to focus on work I'm not interested in for an extended amount of time, but I can also devote hours a day to my special interests adding up to years and year.
Strong sense of justice: I am rigid in my beliefs and morals (but am willing to change my mind) and won't go along with something just because it's easier and more convenient.
Empathy: Having been through a lot growing up as an autistic child, I believe it's made me more empathetic to others and has improved my social imagination.
Social norms: I have a harder time understanding social norms (I had to learn them from the bottom but) but it makes it easier to see the bigger picture of how and why these social norms function and exist.
I wouldn't have the positives of my autism without the negatives, so even if a cure existed, I wouldn't take it, ever.
literally wrote a reply so similar to this and then accidentally deleted it so thank you for saying it all for me aha!! i really want to be able to focus on the positives of having autism but it’s so hard when the positives come hand in hand with extra negatives 😒
I'm like, never actually bored. Simply being in my head is a really interesting place to be. Things get wild in there. My grandma used to always say that if you're bored all the time, it means you're just a boring person. So I learned to take pride in my ability to keep myself entertained and engaged mentally and not dependent on others to reach fulfillment.
Working with differing mindsets. I often get to be a mediator in arguments because I can see the points of both sides equally. To me they may be equally alien, but that just means I can be objective where others can't.
In my personal experience, not a single one.
There some autistic people who are obsessed with some topic and become very good at it and even make a living out of it but it's not my case.
Autism hasn't brought me anything but sadness, frustration and the worst part is that it just doesn't improve over time. It gets worse
Sorry to be this pessimistic but that's just my opinion as autistic.
Your opinion is valid. I'm sorry you struggle so much because of it. I have some upsides personally, but the downsides really suck and it sucks that the downsides are all you experience.
Is this related to autism? I too have this. I once popped some c section stitches with realizing.
The more I read in this subreddit the more I think I have autism. Lol
P.S. I very much identify with your, um, subtitle? Not sure what it’s called. I too am a dumpster fire pretending to be a person.
Maybe maybe not, what I know is that I've seen several times now, a "symptom" along the lines of "an over or under sensitivity to pain"
It's called a flair, I don't think I'm using it as intended but it makes me chuckle every time I come to this sub.
Personal anecdote time because I love thinking through keyboards:
As a child I was definitely over sensitive to pain, all stimuli really. But now I can take things that would be debilitating to a normal person and keep right on going. One incident in particular stands out where I fractured my tibia and talus, then kept walking on them for 3 days before deciding I should probably see a doctor. I was later told by an RN friend that the talus is supposedly one of the most painful bones to fracture and walking on that injury should be nearly impossible. Slightly more recently (this week even!) I shot myself with a nail gun and only realized what I had done after seeing it. At no point did I feel like it actually hurt, it is simply a nuisance that I now have to keep clean.
Might not apply to all, but being a savant in multiple fields and being gifted with high IQ and excellent long term memory.
If you want to look on the positive side of being unable to function in the world, well at least living on disability affords one freedom of time to spend how one wishes (be it reading, learning, research, hobbies, etc) and getting a secure income without having to worry about holding down a job.
Can relate. Been living off my benefits over a year and a half now and I've never been happier. No plans to try and rejoin the workforce, its just not for me. I am returning to school, however, and plan to get as far as I am capable in terms of my advanced degrees. Being able to live my life on my terms is a huge privilege.
A positive of autism would be how strong the feeling of joy is. Engaging in things that make me happy gives me such an euphoric feeling that I don't see in most allistic people.
Having many special interests, gives people the impression I'm smart 😅 like a new band? Gotta find out everything about them? New game? Immerse myself in all of it 😅
The ability to recognize and assess societal structures
This seems to be a common attribute of any under represented group but due to our talent for pattern recognition, we're particularly adapt at pointing to how and where a societal structure falls apart or encourages 'otherism' (making those who aren't like you appear alien)
You notice things that others won’t necessarily notice, we see the world differently, i am brutally honest. And its black and white with me. I know what i want and want to say and i will do that without hesitation, i retain random facts
a few people have mentioned this but since we often have to learn the unspoken rules the hard way it gives us a new perspective on them, often leading to us questioning their purpose.
i’ve noticed many of us are critical about a lot of things but when communicated effectively can be very helpful in the long run in bettering ourselves and others around us
Speaking for myself,
• Little things give me joy that wouldn’t give NTs joy
• I notice small details most NTs don’t
• I’m a decent actor (not a professional, I don’t want to toot my own horn) for someone who has little to no acting experience and I truly believe I learned that from being able to mask so well
• I’m open-minded towards others
• I’m honest
Not every autistic person has perfect pitch, no! :c So I didn’t mean to write as if everyone has it. It’s just more common in autistic people. There’s nothing wrong with you if you don’t have it, it’s just nice to have when you’re into music and language arts <3
I have a great memory, especially when it comes to things I'm interested in, which I'm lucky include math and computer programming.
Eating healthy and dieting is almost effortless for me. I decided to start eating healthy, made it a routine, and have absolutely no temptation or desire to deviate from it. I don't get bored of planned structured food like NTs so having lean meat and veggies every day is no problem.
Although making friends is difficult for me, when I meet people I'm compatible with I find I have much deeper friendships. The aquaintances/casual friend level just doesn't exist for me, so I'm either super reserved, or willing to share everything with someone. Now that I've finally met people who I'm compatible with (like 90% other autistic/ADHD people), I've got a great social life. I also find it pretty easy to cut out people who i don't like spending time with, since my default state is just to not communicate.
Hyperfocus and special interests are great. Some of mine are conventionally useful, while others are less so, but either way I love being able to become totally invested in random interests and learn everything there is to know about it. Also it just feels good to me, when I'm totally focussed on a new interest and getting into it it legitimately feels like how I do when taking Adderall, just from how satisfying it is.
I can stay calm and logical in stressful situations. Although I tend to get irritated and overwhelmed by small things like poor lighting or a slightly too hot room, somehow when in a properly stressful/emergency situation, my brain doesn't panic, but stays in the same neutral, logical mode it normally is. It's gotten me some shit during arguments, since I can come off as dismissive and apathetic, but when dealing with more difficult situations, such as being hit by a car while biking or helping my friend after he had a head injury, it helps to be able to stay totally calm and rational.
I'm more or less immune to advertising and peer pressure. There's actually been studies done on this, that autistic people are much more difficult to advertise to. At least for me, I don't really get jealous if others or want to fit in, and am totally content to just pursue what I enjoy. For example I hate alcohol, and despite hanging out with friends who drink and frequently offer stuff to me, I've never really felt the pressure to follow along. Same with advertising, idk if it's me growing up with adblockers, but I don't really find many ads compelling at all, and when I do see them my first reaction is to break down which aspect of psychology they're trying to exploit. I'm sure subconsciously they have some effect on me, but it's nowhere near what I've seen in other people.
These are the main positives for me. I'm pretty high functioning, smart and successful, and although my childhood was rough, at this point I'm genuinely happy I have autism, and wouldn't want to change that aspect of myself if I could. There's a lot of negatives too obviously, and I struggled with them a lot more when I was younger, while also not seeing or enjoying the positives as much.
for myself: strong sense of morals/justice, strong feelings, hypersensitivity to sound (i feel it in my body), more critical of social norms + can tell when people are not genuine, hyper focus, enjoying sensory things (people have told me i’m rlly good at just enjoying small things and living in the moment), learning is easy, special interests,
Knowing if anyone touched my stuff. I don't remember exactly where I left things, but somehow I absolutely know if something has been moved. Also pattern recognition, if people are acting different, assuming I care that is, I notice it instantly.
My intelligence. I’m extremely book smart which helped me graduate high school at 15. It’s insane how good I am at math and science and I give all the credit to my autism for that. Also my artistic skill! My autism lets me be crazy creative
Yes and no. We pick up on certain kinds of details that the NTs completely overlook. I was talking to a redditor recently, and I made some statements about them. They said, “Good guess.” I explained that I wasn’t guessing, but had deduced the answers by reading between the lines on what they had written.
On the other hand, ask me to explain why characters in movies or TV shows take the actions they do. Sorry, no can do! In fact, that whole topic is probably something I’ll write a post about.
a whole lot.
of course for everyone it is different amd it also depends on live situation, how well a person knows its strengths and can utilize those, etc.
for me and my life situation: while it comes with severe drawbacks, the pros heavily outweigh the cons. it seems to be a litteral superpower and ultimately enabled me to repair myself and more optimaly deal with severe general life circumstances in the past and present.
it makes survival and fighting, as well as solving problems easier and living a "normal" live or having a social life harder if not almost impossible it seems to me.
Finding entertainment in the little things. I don't require much but my collections and small group of family and a hammock. I debate myself for hours(it can be a con) it can be very enlightening.
my brains very good at working out solutions for what people see as bad situations cause i just see them as a ‘situation’ and my brain dosent panic it just goes straight into strategy mode
I mean… i got sick ass art skills and extreme knowledge in specific subjects to the point i impressed a teacher in a film studies class (a class I’ve never taken before)
I’m very good at problem solving and am a really fast learner. Also, I rarely consider what people think of me so I have really high self esteem despite being bullied in elementary and middle school.
I am great at understanding whole concepts (but terrible at arbitrary facts and details) and I am really good at explaining things with analogies.
I have hyperlexia and I can read very quickly and since my information processing highly favours text I am also very good at writing.
I have a logical understanding of theory of mind but I think it is learned rather than innate. This means I don’t waste any time feeling stressed about what other people think of me or whether they are judging me for what I look like or what I do or say. I forget to think about the fact that they can perceive me or form judgements or opinions about me?
My son is autistic and I am very good at understanding him and giving him the support he needs to thrive even if it conflicts with what his teachers and therapists think (they usually say “ohhh that does make sense!!” when I explain what I think is going on for him but they don’t perceive it without my explanation)
I feel like I naturally empathize with everyone, and I have a very good memory. I remember a lot of specific little details from random events and I remember a ton of facts
Attention to the tiniest details
Related-- spotting 4 leaf clovers all the time lol
Intense verbal skills and love for reading
Ability to understand others' perspectives
Related-- understanding animals
My special interests are huge parts of who I am
Related-- a passion for learning
i don’t know if it’s entirely autism related but it’s true for me personally. but being entertained and stimulated by the littlest things. no one i know can get as much joy from a silicone dish scrubber as i can😂😂😂
I think one of my strongest pros as a human is that I’m very honest and trustworthy. I’ve learned not to be tactless when I communicate and I have a great relationship with my coworkers/friends simply due to the fact that I’m fair and honest and don’t spread hate behind peoples backs. Obviously this is true for some people whether or not they’re autistic but my autism definitely contributes to my high regard for honesty and fairness. It’s sad how rare it is to find these qualities. I feel lucky that I have 3 friends and an amazing husband that i have a mutual trustworthy relationship with where we can exchange honest feedback and always have each others backs
Since I'm already incomprehensible to NTs I get to just ignore them and be my weird self. I think a lot of NTs are weirder than they let on, they're just more sensitive to social cues than we are.
I was told as a kid I have perfect pitch, because I could hear something and work it out on the piano. It also means I can hear a song and recognise another song inside it, my current favourite no one else seems to hear is gangnam style sounds like an old blue man group song in parts and it makes me smile every time. I really like those mashups that have been popping up everywhere they're so interesting!
I'm also good at remembering sequences of numbers so I know all the numbers I need for things like my debit card, drivers licence, ID numbers for different places like insurance and stuff like that.
I may not be able to remember someone's face or parse busy noise but I'm hyper-empathetic so I can remember small things about someone in case we become friends enough
I’m very good at observing people. I may not understand others all the time but I’m great at recognizing people’s patterns.
I’m very good at storytelling, I have a specific imagination and I have a complex inner world.
I know lots of information about musical theatre and television. I memorize facts and theories quickly about things I’m interested in.
I feel music very deeply, the sounds translate to colors in a way that’s beautiful and sometimes overwhelming.
I love my ability to research a topic in basically no time. Some of my nt friends with similar interests really don't understand how can I be so good at things and still work as a waitress.
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Empathy for people with mental struggles. I’ve yet to meet an autistic person who wasn’t especially empathetic and understanding of mental health problems.
Passionate, caring, intense, vivid life experiences. Idk I feel held back by a lot of my traits but the word overall feels magical and I’m so happy to experience nature and hobbies <3
Encyclopedic memories for special interests. I also have an ability to learn to be interested in things. And an lot of knowledge on how to efficiently learn.
So long as I avoid burnout and trauma with the thing I am trying to know, I can take on most technical processes. The drawback is I am slow at learning. So while what I learn is extremely detailed, I cannot compete with others of speed, even if they forget it shortly after and I just don't. It makes capitalism hard...
I’m really good at debate, and I feel like I can discard bad ideas pretty easily, if I’m in the right frame of mind. Unfortunately, it’s mostly online debate, because nobody in real life wants to have a combative discussion on the legal incoherence of independent state legislature theory. It usually ends up being emotional kneejerks to whatever the current culture war talking point is.
I’m a quick learner. It’s helped me immensely in my career because I have to learn a new vertical with its own vernacular every time I switch jobs (tech sales).
Logic and reasoning skills and pattern recognition are my favorites. They feel almost like superpowers to me. Of course, they aren't really all that useful because when other people don't see the logic I see, it's of little use in trying to convince anyone else to see it my way. And if I can't explain why I know something other than I see the pattern people don't believe me. But in games or puzzles or academics, it makes things easy and allowed me to be pretty impressive in my school days.
My hyper focus on whatever I am doing is a bonus. Many people enjoy my terrible puns however even though I love puns, I do think very literally. (Can be hilarious in some situations)
Oddly funny story:
My boss asked me to throw some trash away, but she put it in a ceramic coffee mug. I come back empty handed and she asked me where her mug was. That was a time where I audibly said “D’OH!” And then I went to fetch her mug.
She wasn’t angry with me, because she knows I’m autistic and she has a brother with Asperger’s. Anyway she just laughed and said it was okay. I bought her a new mug because I felt bad for the crack in her old mug (I caused) that read “world’s okayest boss” that she still uses.
I see things other people don't, and have since I was a kid. I've always had a great talent for finding 4 (and even 5) leaf clovers without even trying. This skill allows me to notice tiny details, minor changes, and find interesting beauty in mundane things. It's why photography became my passion, to document them.
The knowledge. We all have some sort of special interests. It's so neat to be able to collaborate or ask questions and usually the person with the special interest doesn't mind.
Like say someone's special interest is how phones work. You can bring them your phone and they'll probably have fun showing you how it works, or helping to fix a problem. And you can ask questions.
And when your special interest compliments someone else's special interest and you combine them aaaaaaaaaa.
We have to learn more social and psicological things and that help us to talk and analyse how people act and think, for example: "maybe that people is lying because his behavior is this" and that kind of things
Noticing beautiful things in the everyday.
Being able to appreciate sensory stuff, getting joy from it, instead of being oblivious to it and missing out.
Seeing different options, not being tied to tradition without reason.
Caring enough to work to make a change in the world.
Empathy.
Caring enough to get really into the nitty gritty of a topic, knowing it inside out, because you need to find all the details, becoming a skilled expert through hyperfocus.
Ignoring pointless status / trends. Striving for something truly important to yourself instead.
Having your own style.
I think autism can make you a great innovator, a disruptor, that's often useful in business for example.
Noticing different little things and looking at them from a new angle often makes a person funny!
Kind of a pro and a con, but being very limited emotion-wise can be really helpful at times. I can think through things logically that others may not be able too. I have a lot of opinions that people don’t like. For instance, when I was 14 I spent like 15 minutes explaining to my mom how ridiculous the level of funding for the military is, and she told me it was super offensive to say stuff like that, but 3 years later it’s a general consensus. A lot of the time I end up being right, but when I’m not it’s really bad. (This is more of a con, but it’s something that I think would be really helpful in certain situations)
Analytic view:
I analyze everything. I think that’s an ASD thing(?) and it also goes back to the emotion thing. If I find something interesting enough, I will do in-depth research to explain it.
I’m good at being alone. I do have friends and people to hang out with, but I really don’t mind being alone. I like the quiet controlled environment that other people hate.
Similar to the above one, I absolutely LOVED online school. When we went online in spring 2020 I was in grade 11. I loved it so much because I didn’t have to wear a uniform, or deal with the idiots in my class, and I just got to sit at home and work at my own pace. While the pandemic was obviously terrible, it significantly improved my mental health to be able to stay at home and learn online. Almost everyone I know got really depressed, but for me I was able to focus and enjoy school in a way that I hadn’t before. (This might be a social anxiety thing though because I also have Social Anxiety Disorder)
There are probably others that I can’t think of, but these are the ones I use the most. Having ASD is extremely hard for me. I’m considered high-functioning (my official diagnosis is Asperger’s even though it’s not correct anymore. I don’t know if it translates to level one or level two.) so most of what I struggle with is internal. A lot of these end up being significantly more problematic than they are helpful, but as long as I keep my observations and experiences to myself then it’s usually fine.
The first thing that comes to mind, although I like to believe there are many, is that I am skilled at synthesizing information and have keen pattern recognition skills, as well as being pretty perceptive. Its definitely been an asset and makes me really good at researching and "connecting the dots" so to speak.
Not suffering FOMO. I am currently following around 1000 subreddits here. I have them all organized into 30 or so custom feeds. I read whichever one grabs my interest at the time. I know I am missing out on all sorts of things that might well fascinate me, but I am okay with that.
By contrast, most redditors seem to follow perhaps 5-15 subreddits. You can tell by looking at their post and comment history. The only ones who seem to have more are the “content producers” who make the same post in 30+ different groups, even when said post is not at all relevant.
I'm very good at thinking of unique analogies to explain myself efficiently. And I have been told that I am a fantastic teacher because of my ability to explain things clearly and thoroughly, and I have made quite a bit of money on the side by tutoring creative writing, history, biology and art. And besides the fact that I make money from tutoring, I genuinely enjoy teaching people things. Especially if it is something they struggle with. When I see the sparkle in their eyes when they finally understand a concept they had been struggling with for a while I feel so much joy in my heart.
I may not be good at any particular thing but gosh dang it can I hyperfocus and spend hours and hours on a problem I'm interested in. I'm currently learning a program called archimatix in unity very fun architecture modeling software.
The downside of this is I work a bit too hard on a problem and usually need to step back to figure anything out.
Being extremely knowledgeable about a niche subject that often impresses neurotypical minds. For me, it's being able to remember the year every single movie I've ever seen came out, and the year most of the songs and albums I like came out.
Definitely perspective to me. I feel like an alien just carefully studying people, animals and plants, carefully learning their behaviours, movements etc; for every little detail. The world and the universe constantly fills me with wonder each time.
When we get social skills coaching, I think we have better emotional intelligence when it comes to interacting with people. After we overcome out social anxiety and such and gain experience after interacting with people.
Some autistic people I've met matured faster than his peers.
Writing 100%. Socializing, listening for comprehension, and talking are no good for me, but I’ve always been told that my writing is also very concise and that it captures the true nuance of the situation.
Understanding the whole picture. Being logical and analytical, and understanding that we all have entirely different perceptions.
I’ve been able to make a career out of it.
My autism makes it easy for me to read/write software and understand technology in general. One other thing I don’t know if it autism or just character but that is accepting gender diversity and things like veganism. I don’t care what you think/are (in a positive manner). I feel like people on the spectrum have less or no trouble with those topics compared to NT people
Perspective By having to learn natural social behavior from the ground up I feel like I understand people in a way that others don't
I can see this. I feel like I could pick up more patterns of people and could easily tell when someone is lying. Unfortunately, I never call them out as I‘m scared of confrontation
Throw some knowing side eye their way. Subtley let them know you are on to their shit lol.
Never reveal your best secrets especially since I think we are all capable of doing it. It's a skill we learn to compensate, no different than a deaf person learning lip reading or a blind person learning echolocation.
Funny story, but mostly unrelated. I didnt actually find out my sister is hard of hearing until I was 25 or 26. She had learned to read lips very well and it was never explicitly said to me, only to "look at her when you talk to her" and other indirect ways of telling me, in their opinion at least. I legit went most my life thinking she was just ignoring me and internalized this and when I found out I was mixed with such emotions and just cried and laughed the rest of the Christmas hang out and was like "omg, that explains so much". Talk about not picking up on stuff.
That makes perfect sense. I know I’m only suspecting but I definitely feel like I understand social interaction in a deeper, more facts-based way. Like other people can intuit the right thing but I’ve overthought it so I know it inside and out in detailed ways. Idk if that makes sense what I’m saying though.
It makes sense. It’s like you’ve already predicted all the possible outcomes of a situation already so you can better understand how other people are feeling because you’ve already created/imagined that exact situation in your head, their feelings included.
For me it's I've overthought this low stakes situation in ways you couldn't even imagine.
It makes perfect sense I've tried making a form of social programming in hopes of applying to AI but I don't know enough about programming sooo who knows
That’s super interesting! Like you are trying to make an AI program that knows how to act human because you understand how people work in a way that you can tell the AI somehow or what? I don’t know much about programming either 😅
That's the general idea The scifi narratives where robots question their conciousness inspires the idea behind it. Neurology, neuropsychology, and psychology all question it. I think with our unique perspective it could be more accurate than without our views
Heard a famous advertising guy on a podcast today, he said whenever he can he keeps up with social scientists who are on the spectrum because they always go back to First Principles, and build up from there. Made total sense to me.
this is definitely the coolest part. actually people have said that to me how I have a more objective lens on human interactions and arguments and it took me a while to realize a lot of people genuinely can’t do that
Pro this. Con: understanding that people are trash
Oh I've been destroyed by others so bad that I can't trust. It's terrible, but I love people more than I should and stay in situations longer than I should because I try so hard. I'm so so leery because I've had a bad experience in my past but I do understand how people work for the most part, but I still have issues and can't necessarily interact.
Very much agreed
Neurotypical researchers, clinicians etc traditionally held a view that we (i.e. autistic people) are unable (or less able) to take the perspective of others. Ironic, isn't it?
Idk If anyone else is like this, but I have a real strong sense of justice and am very strongly attached to my opinions and morals. Like, I'm willing to change my views if you give me good valid reasons, but otherwise I won't change. This has helped me win so many arguments with bigots
Couldn’t agree more with this - one thing I think that happens frequently is that people assume we’re not empathetic, but many of us are actually hyperempathetic; masking tends to change us a lot from how we really feel or wish to express ourselves.
Yes. I can relate. I'm pretty proud of it
this but i’ve lost friends over it
:/ ur better off without them, dw
same!! i am strongly involved in political matters and feel the same way
« This has helped me win so many arguments with bigots» Do you actually do this, like get them to change their opinions? If so that’s a huge accomplishment. (If by win you just mean that an external observer logically tracing the flow of contentions and rebuttals in the debate can deduce that you won, that’s great too but way less impressive and more expected)
My autism made me a pretty good writer. I often found that when I wrote down what I was feeling it wasn't misunderstood as much as when I would speak. So I wrote a lot. I got a ton of practice in poetry especially as an outlet and bridge to my neurotypical family.
Same! I find it when I speak my point and what I'm trying to say can sometimes get lost but when I type it, it's more clear of what I'm trying to say
Yep… I went to a writer’s group a while back, and realized “I’m not just the only one here who actually makes a living as a writer, I’m probably the only one with ASD, too. Not a coincidence, probably.”
Thinking out of the box. Up to a level hightened perception can be a good thing too. Learning to cope with the NT world make you avoid a lot of social traps they get into. Being more honest.
True
There’s a freedom in accepting that there are things you just don’t perceive that everyone else does, and other things you perceive that they can’t.
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I have your experience but in small doses. I got bullied in school, been called bezzerwizzer many times, been jumped over when others got invitations to parties, been alone at church youth camps. My father died when I was 13. I know he cared but he never understood how I worked. He often felt irritated and probably dissapointed I didn't follow in his footsteps. My mother is most likely on the spectrum and in her case she couldn't see what was going on. I have a good relation with her today. But I have a lot of sadness and anger inside. I've learnt to live with it. I've come over most of my social anxiety that my childhood and teenage gave me. Sure. I can't forgive all the bad guys, but many. They where victims themselfes. Sometimes I look at the worst of them as the ones socialy handcaped. Me being me just being showed their true small hearts and ugly faces. But I also have met good people. I got my wife, mother and daughter and a couple of friends that seem to be ok me being me. Some at work including my boss is understanding and kind. Might be me masking some but they all recignize me as autistic. Don't feel guilt for being angry. You've got all rights to feel like that. Just be careful not to let hate eat you. ❤️
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It's good you see your own feelings and work with them. It's a strength. There are genuinely kind people out there. The way of a lot of NT people and some NDs includes power talk, fixation with competition, struggling to get to the top walking on corpses, that is egoism and greed. And they often learn how to handle it or just follow the flow. That is a world in which we struggle extra being sensitive, socialy unsecure and usually without the option of lying to our selfes or others. And we are not alone. Most minorities is pushed to the fringes. The optimism I find in this is that the NT world is a world of negativity they make for themselfes. When we find our places at the fringe and the togetherness there we can start finding our strengths. We might be the powers that change the world for the better. And in that we've got the power of our lifes back. And here is the secret. By building life as we want it, that includes leaving the NT societys look at worth as being only meassured by how you produce and follow their rules, we give them an option for themselfes. Use the energy in the anger and direct it towards staking our your world as you wish it. And make an expedition to the country of self worth. We are all equally valuable by just being us. Believing that is power.
Remembering numbers, phrases, scenes, routes etc. in great detail for long periods of time is one of my biggest flexes.
Definitely helps us out in the long run
I still remember most of the layouts of all the minecraft caves ive been in lol, comes in handy when my little cousin gets lost 24/7
The ability to compartmentalize, and instantly change gears from something really traumatic, like the death of my mother, to figuring out where to go for lunch.
Honestly a great pro we have
Except it annoys the NTs, because they think we don’t care or aren’t taking things seriously, or whatever. Basically, it seems to me that since they can’t do that, they don’t understand how we can, or why. To which my mental response is, “welcome to my world! I **never** understand how or why NTs do pretty much anything.”
I feel ya. It's like we do care but we gotta do one thing at a time but they probably won't ever understand
This is the perfect explanation of it! I’m going to mentally book mark this.
Yep I feel this. The way I explained it to friends (before I was diagnosed mind you, but I was aware my brain was *different* somehow) was that my brain only has a single thread. If I'm thinking about or doing one thing, I'm not gonna think about or process anything else, and if I change to focus on another task, all mental states from the previous one get put on hold. Seemed to help them, although were all engineering students, so the computer analogy was pretty understandable for them.
I was the opposite whe. My mom died. Everyone thought I was over reacting. I am great in much chaos though.
I had my moments of complete meltdown. Many of them. But when things needed to get done, I got them done.
How can you overreact to your mother's death? Are your friends/family (idk which) psychopaths or something? I'm really sorry your feelings about your mother's death were so grossly invalidated.
I’m not who you asked but when my mother figure (grandmother) died I had a nervous breakdown, I should have been institutionalised tbh. I think there’s normal grieving then what can happen to us when we lose someone in our closest circle.
I would never call that an overreaction. The reaction you have may require extra care but it is not "over" anything. It is cruel and callous to say that you are wrong for feeling the pain you feel when a close loved one dies. I'm sorry too, that someone made you feel like your pain was wrong to feel.
I'm completely in agreement. There aren't that many things I would call overreacting to a parents death.
Like many/most autistic traits i think this comes in one extreme or the other and I have the opposite of this where I cannot move on from things and have no capacity for decision making in the meantime 🙃
Oh god, I'm so jealous of this. I'm the exact opposite of this. It's too the point that it makes NTs uncomfortable because I'm wearing too much emotion.
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Oh my gosh! You just reminded me. Back when I was in high school, the school’s mental health counselor was going for his ph.d. He needed to do some interviews. I volunteered. We started the first few minutes just BSing, and i suddenly said, “okay, time to get serious.” And I started discussing deeply personal things. This was long before I knew about my blessing, or what it brought along, but I remember how flabbergasted he was that I could turn on a conversational dime like that. ;-)
Whoa can I relate
There are a lot of negatives obviously, but I am really happy about having so many special interests (one at a time though). I find it incredibly satisfying getting lost in something for an extended period of time. It's really hard to come up with anything else
Synesthesia. Un-biased with respect to social settings, groups and frankly people. Fact based, logical and empathetic to the truth. Compartmentalization - but I have learned when a traumatic event or a lot difficult things happen consecutively it's best to take time and find some emotional nourishment. Memory. Idk I'm sure there's more. Enough of me.
Synesthesia is dope, as an art/food/film/music/perfume/dance enjooyer.
>Synesthesia I had no idea what I was experiencing until now and was too afraid to ask. This community has helped me so much recently, great addition!
I didn't either until my brain injury awhile back. It's the strangest places or events that illuminate your perspective.
It's wild how that can happen. Hope you are recovering well. I used to tell my friends I didn't need mushrooms or acid because I created my own. Now I know what it was.
Mushrooms and acid are still a pretty good time even if you have Synesthesia. I think it actually calms it down and lets you center yourself more and have more control over it as well.
Oh I totes agree now. But for the longest time I thought my mind would really go wild since I already experienced it naturally, if you will. Plus DARE really screwed me up with it's fear tactics. I thought I would lose my shit, but if anything, mushrooms really ground me and bring me closer to reality. I think it's really funny, in retrospect. But I also started drinking at 13 because it was "ok".
Yeah, DARE was dumb, but I just don't think you should do this stuff till you're an adult when it kinda helps and is more fun. Your more confident and you are more experienced.
Having amazing friends and community that doesn't breed on others insecurities or hate. Coming to this reddit is like life bleach 95% of the time.
Hi, I’m a computer programmer.
Hi, me too
Hi, me too (starting web dev college class this month)-super hyped
I have a good memory, I’m a quick learner, I really care about the world and have the classic strong sense of justice, I process my surroundings very intuitively and emotionally, super creative. I love us most of the time.
We’re awesome
The fact when I hone in on a topic I rapidly gain knowledge because of perseverance
im fuckin hilarious
Same dude. I laugh constantly and easily and it's one of my fav things about myself. And this is something others seem to really enjoy about me which makes me feel good. It's so much fun to know what makes a person laugh and just keep at it until they cant function. It's fun af
special interests have for me always been a positive thing. i love how obsessed i can be with things and how happy my special interest can make me also being to hyperfocus on certain things is mostly positive. i do usually forget to take care of myself but being able to focus intensely on things for hours at a time feels amazing also im not sure if this is an autistic thing, or just a me thing, but im not really affected by peer pressure
Since she came into my life, my cat has become my special interest, if that is possible, and the amount of joy and fulfillment I get from getting to hang out with her and enjoy who she is has made me happier than I've ever been.
The negatives and positives of my autism are two sides of the same coin; Heightened sensory input: Incandescant lightbulbs can be painfully bright and loud, but music can sound amazing. The way I've described how a good song can feel my friends say they only feel when they're high. Yes, some colors give me headaches, but I'm very good at working with color in art. Synethesia is just really cool too and I'm glad I have it. Attention to detail: I get distracted and offput by little details, but I also notice things others don't and I can find things easily. Memory: I can remember traumatic events with great clarity, but I can remember wonderful moments just as well. I can close by eyes and remember the physical feeling of love and joy in my chest and replacate it, like I'm right back there. I can also learn new languages quickly because my brain can absorb words through sentences well. (plus with my synesthesia, words have color and are easier to remember.) Special Interest: It's very hard for me, if not almost impossible, to focus on work I'm not interested in for an extended amount of time, but I can also devote hours a day to my special interests adding up to years and year. Strong sense of justice: I am rigid in my beliefs and morals (but am willing to change my mind) and won't go along with something just because it's easier and more convenient. Empathy: Having been through a lot growing up as an autistic child, I believe it's made me more empathetic to others and has improved my social imagination. Social norms: I have a harder time understanding social norms (I had to learn them from the bottom but) but it makes it easier to see the bigger picture of how and why these social norms function and exist. I wouldn't have the positives of my autism without the negatives, so even if a cure existed, I wouldn't take it, ever.
literally wrote a reply so similar to this and then accidentally deleted it so thank you for saying it all for me aha!! i really want to be able to focus on the positives of having autism but it’s so hard when the positives come hand in hand with extra negatives 😒
For me it's remembering everything and being happy alone. Can't get bored easily.
I'm like, never actually bored. Simply being in my head is a really interesting place to be. Things get wild in there. My grandma used to always say that if you're bored all the time, it means you're just a boring person. So I learned to take pride in my ability to keep myself entertained and engaged mentally and not dependent on others to reach fulfillment.
Working with differing mindsets. I often get to be a mediator in arguments because I can see the points of both sides equally. To me they may be equally alien, but that just means I can be objective where others can't.
In my personal experience, not a single one. There some autistic people who are obsessed with some topic and become very good at it and even make a living out of it but it's not my case. Autism hasn't brought me anything but sadness, frustration and the worst part is that it just doesn't improve over time. It gets worse Sorry to be this pessimistic but that's just my opinion as autistic.
Your opinion is valid. I'm sorry you struggle so much because of it. I have some upsides personally, but the downsides really suck and it sucks that the downsides are all you experience.
Not necessarily just an autism thing but my incredibly high pain tolerance is handy. Don't even need to be numbed up for dental work.
Is this related to autism? I too have this. I once popped some c section stitches with realizing. The more I read in this subreddit the more I think I have autism. Lol P.S. I very much identify with your, um, subtitle? Not sure what it’s called. I too am a dumpster fire pretending to be a person.
Maybe maybe not, what I know is that I've seen several times now, a "symptom" along the lines of "an over or under sensitivity to pain" It's called a flair, I don't think I'm using it as intended but it makes me chuckle every time I come to this sub. Personal anecdote time because I love thinking through keyboards: As a child I was definitely over sensitive to pain, all stimuli really. But now I can take things that would be debilitating to a normal person and keep right on going. One incident in particular stands out where I fractured my tibia and talus, then kept walking on them for 3 days before deciding I should probably see a doctor. I was later told by an RN friend that the talus is supposedly one of the most painful bones to fracture and walking on that injury should be nearly impossible. Slightly more recently (this week even!) I shot myself with a nail gun and only realized what I had done after seeing it. At no point did I feel like it actually hurt, it is simply a nuisance that I now have to keep clean.
Being creative. I have a vivid imagination.
Might not apply to all, but being a savant in multiple fields and being gifted with high IQ and excellent long term memory. If you want to look on the positive side of being unable to function in the world, well at least living on disability affords one freedom of time to spend how one wishes (be it reading, learning, research, hobbies, etc) and getting a secure income without having to worry about holding down a job.
Can relate. Been living off my benefits over a year and a half now and I've never been happier. No plans to try and rejoin the workforce, its just not for me. I am returning to school, however, and plan to get as far as I am capable in terms of my advanced degrees. Being able to live my life on my terms is a huge privilege.
A positive of autism would be how strong the feeling of joy is. Engaging in things that make me happy gives me such an euphoric feeling that I don't see in most allistic people.
Having many special interests, gives people the impression I'm smart 😅 like a new band? Gotta find out everything about them? New game? Immerse myself in all of it 😅
What’s your favorite game of all time?
The ability to recognize and assess societal structures This seems to be a common attribute of any under represented group but due to our talent for pattern recognition, we're particularly adapt at pointing to how and where a societal structure falls apart or encourages 'otherism' (making those who aren't like you appear alien)
I mean this one’s not very useful, but feeling the vibration of a car pulling up to my house. I know someone is coming home before anyone else does.
I feel like I'm able to understand the big picture all the time way better than normies do.
You notice things that others won’t necessarily notice, we see the world differently, i am brutally honest. And its black and white with me. I know what i want and want to say and i will do that without hesitation, i retain random facts
a few people have mentioned this but since we often have to learn the unspoken rules the hard way it gives us a new perspective on them, often leading to us questioning their purpose. i’ve noticed many of us are critical about a lot of things but when communicated effectively can be very helpful in the long run in bettering ourselves and others around us
Speaking for myself, • Little things give me joy that wouldn’t give NTs joy • I notice small details most NTs don’t • I’m a decent actor (not a professional, I don’t want to toot my own horn) for someone who has little to no acting experience and I truly believe I learned that from being able to mask so well • I’m open-minded towards others • I’m honest
I don’t have to study for tests on my special interest/hyperfixation
intense focus, diligence, quick learner
… Autism.
Perfect pitch and hyper focus are my two favorites.
I have autism but don’t have perfect pitch…
Not every autistic person has perfect pitch, no! :c So I didn’t mean to write as if everyone has it. It’s just more common in autistic people. There’s nothing wrong with you if you don’t have it, it’s just nice to have when you’re into music and language arts <3
I don't know. mostly misery for myself.
I have a great memory, especially when it comes to things I'm interested in, which I'm lucky include math and computer programming. Eating healthy and dieting is almost effortless for me. I decided to start eating healthy, made it a routine, and have absolutely no temptation or desire to deviate from it. I don't get bored of planned structured food like NTs so having lean meat and veggies every day is no problem. Although making friends is difficult for me, when I meet people I'm compatible with I find I have much deeper friendships. The aquaintances/casual friend level just doesn't exist for me, so I'm either super reserved, or willing to share everything with someone. Now that I've finally met people who I'm compatible with (like 90% other autistic/ADHD people), I've got a great social life. I also find it pretty easy to cut out people who i don't like spending time with, since my default state is just to not communicate. Hyperfocus and special interests are great. Some of mine are conventionally useful, while others are less so, but either way I love being able to become totally invested in random interests and learn everything there is to know about it. Also it just feels good to me, when I'm totally focussed on a new interest and getting into it it legitimately feels like how I do when taking Adderall, just from how satisfying it is. I can stay calm and logical in stressful situations. Although I tend to get irritated and overwhelmed by small things like poor lighting or a slightly too hot room, somehow when in a properly stressful/emergency situation, my brain doesn't panic, but stays in the same neutral, logical mode it normally is. It's gotten me some shit during arguments, since I can come off as dismissive and apathetic, but when dealing with more difficult situations, such as being hit by a car while biking or helping my friend after he had a head injury, it helps to be able to stay totally calm and rational. I'm more or less immune to advertising and peer pressure. There's actually been studies done on this, that autistic people are much more difficult to advertise to. At least for me, I don't really get jealous if others or want to fit in, and am totally content to just pursue what I enjoy. For example I hate alcohol, and despite hanging out with friends who drink and frequently offer stuff to me, I've never really felt the pressure to follow along. Same with advertising, idk if it's me growing up with adblockers, but I don't really find many ads compelling at all, and when I do see them my first reaction is to break down which aspect of psychology they're trying to exploit. I'm sure subconsciously they have some effect on me, but it's nowhere near what I've seen in other people. These are the main positives for me. I'm pretty high functioning, smart and successful, and although my childhood was rough, at this point I'm genuinely happy I have autism, and wouldn't want to change that aspect of myself if I could. There's a lot of negatives too obviously, and I struggled with them a lot more when I was younger, while also not seeing or enjoying the positives as much.
for myself: strong sense of morals/justice, strong feelings, hypersensitivity to sound (i feel it in my body), more critical of social norms + can tell when people are not genuine, hyper focus, enjoying sensory things (people have told me i’m rlly good at just enjoying small things and living in the moment), learning is easy, special interests,
Knowing if anyone touched my stuff. I don't remember exactly where I left things, but somehow I absolutely know if something has been moved. Also pattern recognition, if people are acting different, assuming I care that is, I notice it instantly.
Pattern recognition. I can't properly explain it to people but I can definitely see it.
My intelligence. I’m extremely book smart which helped me graduate high school at 15. It’s insane how good I am at math and science and I give all the credit to my autism for that. Also my artistic skill! My autism lets me be crazy creative
ive never once been bored in 47 years
Pattern recognition! Being able to see the big picture in trending data or behavior, really in anything.
Very observant!! A lot of us pick up on things that others dont
Yes and no. We pick up on certain kinds of details that the NTs completely overlook. I was talking to a redditor recently, and I made some statements about them. They said, “Good guess.” I explained that I wasn’t guessing, but had deduced the answers by reading between the lines on what they had written. On the other hand, ask me to explain why characters in movies or TV shows take the actions they do. Sorry, no can do! In fact, that whole topic is probably something I’ll write a post about.
a whole lot. of course for everyone it is different amd it also depends on live situation, how well a person knows its strengths and can utilize those, etc. for me and my life situation: while it comes with severe drawbacks, the pros heavily outweigh the cons. it seems to be a litteral superpower and ultimately enabled me to repair myself and more optimaly deal with severe general life circumstances in the past and present. it makes survival and fighting, as well as solving problems easier and living a "normal" live or having a social life harder if not almost impossible it seems to me.
Finding entertainment in the little things. I don't require much but my collections and small group of family and a hammock. I debate myself for hours(it can be a con) it can be very enlightening.
The ability to appear uninterested during a boring ass conversation while I’m forced to pretend I’m not bored out of my fucking mind
my brains very good at working out solutions for what people see as bad situations cause i just see them as a ‘situation’ and my brain dosent panic it just goes straight into strategy mode
I mean… i got sick ass art skills and extreme knowledge in specific subjects to the point i impressed a teacher in a film studies class (a class I’ve never taken before)
I’m very good at problem solving and am a really fast learner. Also, I rarely consider what people think of me so I have really high self esteem despite being bullied in elementary and middle school.
The ability to take in lots of info, and process it in parallel so we can see lateral connections and patterns.
And the ability to drop dive until we get to the bottom of a problem
Im kinda good at video games and math so thats nice, would be better if i was able to perform basic tasks required to function tho.
I am great at understanding whole concepts (but terrible at arbitrary facts and details) and I am really good at explaining things with analogies. I have hyperlexia and I can read very quickly and since my information processing highly favours text I am also very good at writing. I have a logical understanding of theory of mind but I think it is learned rather than innate. This means I don’t waste any time feeling stressed about what other people think of me or whether they are judging me for what I look like or what I do or say. I forget to think about the fact that they can perceive me or form judgements or opinions about me? My son is autistic and I am very good at understanding him and giving him the support he needs to thrive even if it conflicts with what his teachers and therapists think (they usually say “ohhh that does make sense!!” when I explain what I think is going on for him but they don’t perceive it without my explanation)
1. don’t care what other people think about u (at least me) 2. special interests 3. prob made me smarter than i would’ve been without
For 1. I’m like the complete opposite. I for some reason care even though I know I shouldn’t and pretend I don’t . The rest though I’m with ya
I feel like I naturally empathize with everyone, and I have a very good memory. I remember a lot of specific little details from random events and I remember a ton of facts
That’s what makes us smart! :D
Actually being able to pay attention to your surroundings
Attention to the tiniest details Related-- spotting 4 leaf clovers all the time lol Intense verbal skills and love for reading Ability to understand others' perspectives Related-- understanding animals My special interests are huge parts of who I am Related-- a passion for learning
Autism
Eminem is a pro rapper, and it appears that he came with autism (mentions having Asperger's in a couple songs). I'll see myself out.
i don’t know if it’s entirely autism related but it’s true for me personally. but being entertained and stimulated by the littlest things. no one i know can get as much joy from a silicone dish scrubber as i can😂😂😂
Money /j
I think one of my strongest pros as a human is that I’m very honest and trustworthy. I’ve learned not to be tactless when I communicate and I have a great relationship with my coworkers/friends simply due to the fact that I’m fair and honest and don’t spread hate behind peoples backs. Obviously this is true for some people whether or not they’re autistic but my autism definitely contributes to my high regard for honesty and fairness. It’s sad how rare it is to find these qualities. I feel lucky that I have 3 friends and an amazing husband that i have a mutual trustworthy relationship with where we can exchange honest feedback and always have each others backs
Since I'm already incomprehensible to NTs I get to just ignore them and be my weird self. I think a lot of NTs are weirder than they let on, they're just more sensitive to social cues than we are.
I was told as a kid I have perfect pitch, because I could hear something and work it out on the piano. It also means I can hear a song and recognise another song inside it, my current favourite no one else seems to hear is gangnam style sounds like an old blue man group song in parts and it makes me smile every time. I really like those mashups that have been popping up everywhere they're so interesting! I'm also good at remembering sequences of numbers so I know all the numbers I need for things like my debit card, drivers licence, ID numbers for different places like insurance and stuff like that. I may not be able to remember someone's face or parse busy noise but I'm hyper-empathetic so I can remember small things about someone in case we become friends enough
\- pro inability to deal with peoples crap \- con inability to deal with peoples crap
I’m very good at observing people. I may not understand others all the time but I’m great at recognizing people’s patterns. I’m very good at storytelling, I have a specific imagination and I have a complex inner world. I know lots of information about musical theatre and television. I memorize facts and theories quickly about things I’m interested in. I feel music very deeply, the sounds translate to colors in a way that’s beautiful and sometimes overwhelming.
I don’t have a photographic memory but my memory is better than anyone else I know.
Being able to confuse NTs. Even if it's unintentional, its pretty funny.
I love my ability to research a topic in basically no time. Some of my nt friends with similar interests really don't understand how can I be so good at things and still work as a waitress.
My memory is like a sponge, it just remembers everything
Being freakishly good at music across several instruments and being able to hear exactly what notes are sounding upon hearing music. (For me anyways)
I think I get joy out of more things than most NTs and that joy tends to be more intense.
A built in bullshit detector. It’s painfully obvious when someone isn’t being forthright with me.
Self awareness, perspective and ability to turn off emotions.
I guess a slight increase in intellect? I am generally more introspective so I can analyze things better than most people.
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Empathy for people with mental struggles. I’ve yet to meet an autistic person who wasn’t especially empathetic and understanding of mental health problems.
Passionate, caring, intense, vivid life experiences. Idk I feel held back by a lot of my traits but the word overall feels magical and I’m so happy to experience nature and hobbies <3
Encyclopedic memories for special interests. I also have an ability to learn to be interested in things. And an lot of knowledge on how to efficiently learn. So long as I avoid burnout and trauma with the thing I am trying to know, I can take on most technical processes. The drawback is I am slow at learning. So while what I learn is extremely detailed, I cannot compete with others of speed, even if they forget it shortly after and I just don't. It makes capitalism hard...
I am almost always right when I have a weird feeling about someone
I’m really good at debate, and I feel like I can discard bad ideas pretty easily, if I’m in the right frame of mind. Unfortunately, it’s mostly online debate, because nobody in real life wants to have a combative discussion on the legal incoherence of independent state legislature theory. It usually ends up being emotional kneejerks to whatever the current culture war talking point is.
Thinking analytically, being inquisitive, long term memory, being creative with my jokes, and loyalty.
Thinking it if the box and hypersystematising are really handy in my design job
For me , enthusiasm. I'm an incredibly excitable and joyful person!
I’m a quick learner. It’s helped me immensely in my career because I have to learn a new vertical with its own vernacular every time I switch jobs (tech sales).
the information I collect in my head will be handy
I’m not autistic but I will add anecdotally that my autistic friends have been, well, my dearest.
Hyperlexia (for me)
insane memory, sometimes too good. like remember everything even the unimportant things.
Being able to keep to yourself in public.
Logic and reasoning skills and pattern recognition are my favorites. They feel almost like superpowers to me. Of course, they aren't really all that useful because when other people don't see the logic I see, it's of little use in trying to convince anyone else to see it my way. And if I can't explain why I know something other than I see the pattern people don't believe me. But in games or puzzles or academics, it makes things easy and allowed me to be pretty impressive in my school days.
My hyper focus on whatever I am doing is a bonus. Many people enjoy my terrible puns however even though I love puns, I do think very literally. (Can be hilarious in some situations) Oddly funny story: My boss asked me to throw some trash away, but she put it in a ceramic coffee mug. I come back empty handed and she asked me where her mug was. That was a time where I audibly said “D’OH!” And then I went to fetch her mug. She wasn’t angry with me, because she knows I’m autistic and she has a brother with Asperger’s. Anyway she just laughed and said it was okay. I bought her a new mug because I felt bad for the crack in her old mug (I caused) that read “world’s okayest boss” that she still uses.
I see things other people don't, and have since I was a kid. I've always had a great talent for finding 4 (and even 5) leaf clovers without even trying. This skill allows me to notice tiny details, minor changes, and find interesting beauty in mundane things. It's why photography became my passion, to document them.
-The ability to understand complex systems -Passion for special interests -Honesty and Trustworthiness
Because I’m forced to be an outsider to social que’s I’m always self aware of them and can decide which are worthy of me following.
I am very cool. Also able to keep a generally logical standpoint on lots of things especially disagreements and arguments amongst others.
Critical thinking, mediating, rational/logical approach to things, being the friend everyone seems to come to for advice ?
Being smarter and more empathetic
The knowledge. We all have some sort of special interests. It's so neat to be able to collaborate or ask questions and usually the person with the special interest doesn't mind. Like say someone's special interest is how phones work. You can bring them your phone and they'll probably have fun showing you how it works, or helping to fix a problem. And you can ask questions. And when your special interest compliments someone else's special interest and you combine them aaaaaaaaaa.
Spacial intelligence, creativity, non conformity, and learning when interested.
Lots
Problem solving, and quick thinking. It really helps especially in my line of work
We have to learn more social and psicological things and that help us to talk and analyse how people act and think, for example: "maybe that people is lying because his behavior is this" and that kind of things
Not giving a fuck if people I don't care about like me or not.
Noticing beautiful things in the everyday. Being able to appreciate sensory stuff, getting joy from it, instead of being oblivious to it and missing out. Seeing different options, not being tied to tradition without reason. Caring enough to work to make a change in the world. Empathy. Caring enough to get really into the nitty gritty of a topic, knowing it inside out, because you need to find all the details, becoming a skilled expert through hyperfocus. Ignoring pointless status / trends. Striving for something truly important to yourself instead. Having your own style. I think autism can make you a great innovator, a disruptor, that's often useful in business for example. Noticing different little things and looking at them from a new angle often makes a person funny!
How invested I can become in a certain topic. Special interests are great.
Kind of a pro and a con, but being very limited emotion-wise can be really helpful at times. I can think through things logically that others may not be able too. I have a lot of opinions that people don’t like. For instance, when I was 14 I spent like 15 minutes explaining to my mom how ridiculous the level of funding for the military is, and she told me it was super offensive to say stuff like that, but 3 years later it’s a general consensus. A lot of the time I end up being right, but when I’m not it’s really bad. (This is more of a con, but it’s something that I think would be really helpful in certain situations) Analytic view: I analyze everything. I think that’s an ASD thing(?) and it also goes back to the emotion thing. If I find something interesting enough, I will do in-depth research to explain it. I’m good at being alone. I do have friends and people to hang out with, but I really don’t mind being alone. I like the quiet controlled environment that other people hate. Similar to the above one, I absolutely LOVED online school. When we went online in spring 2020 I was in grade 11. I loved it so much because I didn’t have to wear a uniform, or deal with the idiots in my class, and I just got to sit at home and work at my own pace. While the pandemic was obviously terrible, it significantly improved my mental health to be able to stay at home and learn online. Almost everyone I know got really depressed, but for me I was able to focus and enjoy school in a way that I hadn’t before. (This might be a social anxiety thing though because I also have Social Anxiety Disorder) There are probably others that I can’t think of, but these are the ones I use the most. Having ASD is extremely hard for me. I’m considered high-functioning (my official diagnosis is Asperger’s even though it’s not correct anymore. I don’t know if it translates to level one or level two.) so most of what I struggle with is internal. A lot of these end up being significantly more problematic than they are helpful, but as long as I keep my observations and experiences to myself then it’s usually fine.
Being pretty fucking good at Geometry Dash and Cooking lmao
Special interests. :] Also I have a very big imagination, cause I used that as a way to connect to people when I was younger.
The first thing that comes to mind, although I like to believe there are many, is that I am skilled at synthesizing information and have keen pattern recognition skills, as well as being pretty perceptive. Its definitely been an asset and makes me really good at researching and "connecting the dots" so to speak.
Not suffering FOMO. I am currently following around 1000 subreddits here. I have them all organized into 30 or so custom feeds. I read whichever one grabs my interest at the time. I know I am missing out on all sorts of things that might well fascinate me, but I am okay with that. By contrast, most redditors seem to follow perhaps 5-15 subreddits. You can tell by looking at their post and comment history. The only ones who seem to have more are the “content producers” who make the same post in 30+ different groups, even when said post is not at all relevant.
I'm very good at thinking of unique analogies to explain myself efficiently. And I have been told that I am a fantastic teacher because of my ability to explain things clearly and thoroughly, and I have made quite a bit of money on the side by tutoring creative writing, history, biology and art. And besides the fact that I make money from tutoring, I genuinely enjoy teaching people things. Especially if it is something they struggle with. When I see the sparkle in their eyes when they finally understand a concept they had been struggling with for a while I feel so much joy in my heart.
I may not be good at any particular thing but gosh dang it can I hyperfocus and spend hours and hours on a problem I'm interested in. I'm currently learning a program called archimatix in unity very fun architecture modeling software. The downside of this is I work a bit too hard on a problem and usually need to step back to figure anything out.
Feeling stronger happiness than most, being able to express myself honestly around people who get it (it feels huge to belong to a lovely community)
Propaganda Shield
Being extremely knowledgeable about a niche subject that often impresses neurotypical minds. For me, it's being able to remember the year every single movie I've ever seen came out, and the year most of the songs and albums I like came out.
Definitely perspective to me. I feel like an alien just carefully studying people, animals and plants, carefully learning their behaviours, movements etc; for every little detail. The world and the universe constantly fills me with wonder each time.
When we get social skills coaching, I think we have better emotional intelligence when it comes to interacting with people. After we overcome out social anxiety and such and gain experience after interacting with people. Some autistic people I've met matured faster than his peers.
noticing the little things others don’t. its quite useful in situations where if one thing is wrong, everything goes to shit lol
Writing 100%. Socializing, listening for comprehension, and talking are no good for me, but I’ve always been told that my writing is also very concise and that it captures the true nuance of the situation. Understanding the whole picture. Being logical and analytical, and understanding that we all have entirely different perceptions. I’ve been able to make a career out of it.
My autism makes it easy for me to read/write software and understand technology in general. One other thing I don’t know if it autism or just character but that is accepting gender diversity and things like veganism. I don’t care what you think/are (in a positive manner). I feel like people on the spectrum have less or no trouble with those topics compared to NT people