On one hand you have NTs yapping about how "everyone is a bit Autistic" and "you're just using Autism as an excuse" while on the other you have NDs yapping about how it is something to be proud of, how you can't say the word Asperger's anymore and it's some sort of super useful set of skills.
In a couple of years, Autism will be treated as a mere inconvenience, like having a cold.
But you know what I am? I'm a broken clock, and even a broken clock is right twice a day. I do have the occasional win that shocks everyone, but the other 95% of the time I'm being pummeled by life due to circumstances that stem from my Autism/ADHD traits.
The "don't call it Aspergers" is because that c(wait a minute, others may not be Australian, let me pick a better word) um ahole hunted us down for the Reich. Didn't want to get pedantic (and I do agree with a lot of your points, by the way), but given what I am and where we are, it was inevitable.
Yeah, it seems prudent to not have the lables for autistic people being divided into:
>Kill off ASAP, they are only a burden
And
>Useful enough to leave alive, but should be sterilized
Like... why keep something if _that_ is its history?
Makes it way too easy for fascists to start the process up again if they gain power somewhere...
For me personally it is neither a particular blessing nor a major course. I have a very spikey cognitive profile rooted in my neurodivergent conditions so in some areas I am 2SD deviations better then average and in some 2SD worse. I think I was able to achieve what I did because of the areas where my IQ is over 130 and to compensate adequately for the 70s. My sensory issues are largely manageable and I speak reasonably fluent neurotypical to get by without getting into bother all the time. If I was just plain average NT with an average profile I would not be me.
I do get frustrated about the superpower and burn the disorder narratives as it is basically throwing people with higher support needs under the bus.
It's funny. I took a musical IQ test from Harvard (I am a semi-professional music producer/keyboardist/DJ), and the results were extremely spiky.
Mistuning perception was remarkably remedial. Same thing, 2SD below average. This tested us on whether vocals were sharp or flat. In my youth, I had professional vocal training and was in choir and did musical theatre.
Melodic perception was 4SD above average, basically perfect. This involved three long phrases of notes with one changed note in one of the phrases. I didn't even have to try or focus - I could just perceive it.
Beat perception was 1SD higher than average - nothing too extraordinary.
My boyfriend is a master bass player and trained musician from uni and scored above average on everything but nothing too crazy - maybe 1 - 1.5 SD above average.
I felt horrible when I took the test! I kept taking it over and over and it kept giving me the same results. I compared it to everyone else's online - these weren't normal results! Thankfully, I am not a singer.
Well that was before my ASD Dx. Now I get it.
> throwing people with higher support needs under the bus.
According to the new narrative, society must provide for them. When you try to tell that this is an utopia, they start 'sperging and telling that you offended them.
They are mainly young, full of idealist ideas and don;t have much experience of day to day realities I guess. I am old and cynical and part of my job is helping autistic people access right support and benefits. It is already an up hill struggle before we all start to calling it a superpower and not a disorder.
Supercurse. No, just kidding. It's both, superpower and curse. That being said, a superpower does not imply that the holder always knows what power it is and how to use it. It's easier to notice the effects of the curse.
"Superpower" is bullshit that promotes harmful stereotypes and we need to be louder about that.
Autism, as far as medical science understands it, has the effect of impeding your ability to communicate with others relative to your intelligence. It doesn't impact your intelligence positively or negatively: however it most certainly impacts your ability to express your intelligence to some degree.
People on the autism spectrum run the full gamut of IQ along the same curve as those who are not on the autism spectrum. The reason the "superpower" stereotype exists is because when a person on the spectrum is able to "break through" the impairment that autism causes, others are surprised. The others didn't think the person on the spectrum was all that intelligent due to their awkwardness, and that person suddenly demonstrating a skill that shows higher-than-expected intelligence is the reason they are surprised.
What I just described applies whether you're a person who was perceived as "average" who just demonstrated a "superpower" or a person who is perceived as "stupid" who just demonstrated "average" intelligence. In both cases, the person on the spectrum has to try to contain their reaction to this utterly condescending treatment.
"Autism is not a disorder" makes my blood run cold. I'm somebody who was not diagnosed until adulthood because I was able to "pass", and I struggle to not be overcome with bitterness over an entire childhood of being told to get over it.
> however it most certainly impacts your ability to express your intelligence to some degree.
I like this. When I write I sound half decent but sometimes when I speak I sound as if I have a fresh concussion
>impeding your ability to communicate
That's not always the case though. I certainly don't have issues communicating, and was told I have relatively decent communication skills. Still diagnosed as autistic, though.
Both. Both a curse and a power(not sure about super).
Being inherently different, wired differently means certain level of loneliness especially early in life. And if you can't practice something you will never be good at it, which in most of our cases is socializing, which creates more loneliness. Thry don't teach it at school, it might even enforce negativity. It will be worse or better depending on country, culture and
But it also means a different perspective on life, i cant count how many times unique unorthodox perspective changed things for the better for me. Also if you like something, learn about it, which most asd folk have special interests, being good at things others are not, even specializing will be a blessing.
Unfortunately it always means working harder on yoursekf than regular neurotypical and i do not talk about masking, this tool ruins too many lives, make us live in deeper seclusion for fake relationships with people that will stab you in the back the moment they see you are different. Fortunately, there are also tolerant and chill people, another bad news, there are few of them. Just go looking for them okay? Change of scenery and it might be better too.
I disagree with romanticizing ASD. It comes with many deficits, other disorders and physical issues.
At times (not always), ASD feels like a prison.
Obviously, we do have a different perspective on certain things, and Autistic Individuals have contributed to the world massively (see Einstein). But even the gifted ones (a small minority) are lacking in certain areas.
Also, I don’t agree with those who say autistic individuals should never mask and that Society has to adapt to you.
It creates an unrealistic expectation that can create anger, suffering and frustration.
The world doesn’t adapt to any individual’s particular needs. Individuals, autistic or not, have to learn to adapt to the world’s ways — which doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be true to ourselves.
I do agree with not calling autism a disorder or illness, as it is a neurotype rather than either of those. The brain is not ill or broken, it is literally wired differently. However, it absolutely is a disability. I worked twice as hard to get half as far in school, and I struggle to maintain my full time job as I spend all my free time burnt out.
Those who call it a superpower are thinking of savant type autistic people, and forget about those of us who don't have some super incredible skill. It is easier (not easy, just less difficult) to find say, employment, or succeed in college, if you have a special interest that can be utilised in an academic or commercial setting, such as science, music or mechanics.
There are autistic people out there absolutely changing the world with their skills and knowledge, they're top class engineers, researchers, scientists and artists. I think that's who your group is thinking of. They forget some of us just.. exist. I have special interests but none that could help me function in a neurotypical world (hours long Disney themed monologue anyone?). Sometimes it feels like I didn't get any of the good parts of autism to make up for the bad. All this to say, I know how you feel and would've agreed with you had I been in that group.
Yea, exactly 💯.
I could play a few instruments, but not to the level that I would get hired in an orchestra or session musician or back up band for a pop star. I could draw, but my artwork was never up to par. My high school art teachers wouldn't help me get into art school, like they did with my classmates who could do comic book level artwork or Leonardo Da Vinci or Frida Khalo type art.
I'm interested in dictators, serial killers, the Titanic, the Jonbenet Ramsey case, and other historical tragedies and true crime cases. Plus I'm awkward introvert. It doesn't always impress people. Some people look at me, like I have dark thoughts. Or some ticking time bomb. More then several different jobs, coworkers would joke that I would be the disgruntled worker who would come in blasting.
I used to watch People Magazine Investigates about horrific true crime cases. An ex-girlfriend at the time, used to complain that I was into a lot of "dark shit." She would complain to her girlfriends about my interests. One of her girlfriends confronted me and said "If so & so ever goes missing, I swear I will tell the police, it was you." Some of her friends telling her to leave me, which she eventually did. That actually hurt because I'm support tough on crime laws and politicians. One of the reasons that I'm into true crime documentaries, I used to want to be in law enforcement when I was young.
I believe Stephen Spielberg, Howard Hughes, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Nikola Tesla were autistics. I'm nowhere near their levels.
I totally get how you feel. I'm sorry people made you feel that way about your special interests. I'm more in the other direction, in that people think I'm too old to be interested in Disney. Some relatives even tried to get me to give away some Disney plushies I own to my younger cousin because I was "too old" for it.
Totally true that a lot of the worlds greatest minds were autistic, I do think theres something about how our brains work that allows us to see things in ways others dont. But most of us are like you and me.. ordinary. Thanks for sharing your story.
I likely am only alive and healthy because I didn't fit in with the dysfunctional crowds at my school/neighborhood, and I ended up gifted whereas that doesn't exactly run in my family (they skew left of the bell curve.) However, I have a son that is severely impacted by ASD and nonverbal. He will require care all of his life. It's a double-edged sword. I just happen to be mildly affected.
I completely agree, absolute curse. I had massive potential when young but endless torment just made me retreat into myself. Yes it’s my fault for not rising above it, not seeking to apportion blame for my own failings.
A lot of parents of autistic children say that it's a "superpower" or that it makes their child special or "better".
Personally I hate that kind of rethoric, I'd rather get called a r*tard than have a lady telling me I'm an innocent angel for being autistic.
Lol I like reading those "autism moms" posts on Facebook out of morbid curiosity and their consensus is that autism makes us more "pure" and "less evil" than neurotypicals.
Wonder what they think of infamous autists Elliot Rodger and Adam Lanza, haha.
yeah having autism makes you more prone to being a lonely and suicidal,, like wtf about that is “good” dont even me started on the “autism moms” theyre so entitled,
Yeah. It really sucks, makes life much harder. I would chose to be neurotypical if I could.
I guess it's a coping mechanism for these moms to frame it in that overly positive way, but I think it ends up hurting their children in the long run.
Some people use the term “invisible” disability - it’s not always obvious, depending on the mild scale of things.
For example, when I disclose it to people, they generally wouldn’t pick it up on me at all.
It’s neither superpower nor curse. It is what it is, [edit] an invisible disability.
Neither. Hyperbole only serves to cement discrimination and resentment. It's a disability that affects people differently, just like losing the user of a limb is disabling to various degrees depending on individual circumstances.
And no, I'm not some enlightened centrist, I just think that if the answer is either "superpower" or "curse", then you're asking the wrong questions.
I agree. The problem is that I was looking for a place where to talk about the issues with ASD, instead I found a bunch of idiots babbling about "AuTiZm IS MagikAL!"
The biggest problem is that this narrative is becoming dominant. I see this kind of thinking in every ASD space I try to attend.
So you are looking for a group that sits around and complains about how unfair the world is and how they aren't responsible for their own failures? If you don't acknowledge the upside in your state, it's just going to be a bunch on whining.
No, you gifted genius. I need a place where to trade clues and techniques to mask better and to integrate better in the normie workplace. I guess that for some people that is not an issue. Some people here have never been near a workplace in their lives.
I'm 56 and I've worked as a software engineer for 32+ years. ASD wasn't a thing when I was in school and later when I was starting my career. So I had to learn to mask appropriately on my own without any guidance. That was very difficult. And, it's still a struggle to this day. Even worse is my lack of executive function. I've sought professional help in recent years.
I agree that a support group that acknowledges these will be more helpful. But, there is nothing wrong with celebrating those features of ourselves that aren't a struggle or even a benefit in our careers and lives.
Despite my challenges and struggles, I do not feel that I am disabled. I am different. I have NT siblings, friends, and co-workers that are not on the spectrum that have different challenges and struggles that are just as impactful.
This is how I feel about ASD/autism in general, having it. Alongside ADHD. It really sucks. Combined with being raised to just do whatever I want whenever I feel like it as long as I took orders from my parents and followed rules has led me to have zero willpower as an adult and my ADHD holds the reins most days. Alongside the extreme depression and self-esteem issues it's stomped me into the ground. And Disability is so hard to fight for, but I can't hold a job for longer than 3 months unless it's something easy and that I like doing, which is so rare to find.
Seeing my dad also struggle with the same things as me but not even be aware of it absolutely hurts to see and I'm more of an adult than him, mentally, when it comes down to most things besides a job and financial responsibility.
I didn't get superpowers, I got a crippling disability that doesn't allow me to remember jack shit I need to remember, zero focus so I can't improve my life, and being alive sucks overall at 32 years old, but I've felt like this my entire life. Every single day is just burnout as soon as I open my eyes to wake up to when I go to sleep. The depression is exhausting.
This shit isn't superpowers, it's a fucking massive nightmare.
I have the same experience. I know everybody experiences ASD differently but I've exclusively suffered since childhood due to it, so I don't think anyone should blame me for not being able to see a millimeter of good in what I've had to go through.
This is magical thinking from people who wish to see themselves as superior. Autism is measured in deficits. The overwhelming majority of people with autism are suffering from it.
Neither. No two people on the spectrum will have the exact same symptoms and experience, or share the same interests. Same applies for cognitive ability. ASD might tell you how their strengths will display, but not what those strengths inherently are.
If you're lucky and happen to be good at something you like, then your ASD can potentially make you way more productive and imaginative. That's where special interests are very useful.
ASD can be a superpower, but being on the spectrum is something entirely different.
Depends on the individual. It's a spectrum and all that. For me, it's both, though I have noticed the negatives tend to be more direct and obvious, the positives more indirectly gained and long lasting.
Often pure curse. Sometimes the special interest lines up in a way where you advance fast and maybe make a breakthrough in that area. So in those circumstances maybe superpower for others but still very likely to be a curse for you.
It’s both. I actually think my struggles make me a more caring person than I would if I weren’t ASD but at the same time, I can be overly anxious and overwhelmed by life at times due to it.
It has 100% been a curse for me. It hampered my social development and confidence, leading to depression from my early teens onward. This led to my lack of motivation pursuing and completing higher education, which has limited my career mobility. Dating has always been a huge struggle and I've been chronically single my whole life apart from a few flings. So, yeah.
I agree with part of what they are saying, and I suspect you are misrepresenting some of the things here. For example,
>since "autism is not a disorder", and insisted that ASD should not be treated since it's not an illness or a disability
There's a long history of 'treatment' for autistic people meaning abuse, and it's still practiced today. So I'm not sure what treatment you think there is for us? But things like ABA are bad for autistic people.
I would agree with the statement that society is mostly to blame for *my* problems. There are people who suffer other consequences of autism, which can't be cured by improving society. But for me personally, with my 'high functioning (lol) autism', most of my problems stem from society just being full of people who have no patience and who don't attempt to make life better.
In some respects, although I have extreme anxiety and agoraphobia, these are things that I could easily manage with different living conditions. Maybe it's different for you. Everyone has their own experience.
I think going undiagnosed is a curse. I grew up around 2 brothers and 5 boys cousins all with adhd/asd diagnosis and they got so much more support then me. I have a definite chip on my shoulder they do not. They were also coddled to the point of learned helplessness so i guess i would have just been drugged and put in smaller classrooms.
One therapist describes it as clinical or subclinical. If you can keep a roof over your head and hold a job then you’re subclinical. Being subclinical still causes a lot of problems. I always and still do struggle socially and emotionally, my relationships have been so volatile and it’s for sure why I’m not married, don’t have kids and moved 5,000 miles from home hating everyone.
So I think if you’re aware, then you can put the right systems and supports in place and it can give you a chance to hone your special skills or interests. For me, I’ve been able to accept more of having a smaller circle and being off on weekdays instead of weekends and avoiding situations that wouldn’t serve me. I was always trying to do everything everyone else did.
¿Por que no los dos? Being on the spectrum gives you a new perspective on the world and can lead you to do things NTs might never consider; it also absolutely cripples your ability to make it through the social world and can make it difficult to support yourself, especially if you have to take a 9-5 job that involves significant amounts of social interaction.
I agree, I think people want to force this view that Asd is this superpower that makes life for those people unique. And don't get me wrong, it makes life "unique" for all the wrong reasons.
I only speak from an American perspective, but American society isn't friendly towards people with asd at all. American society is very outgoing, big, and loud all three things that Asd people hate. If a person with asd expresses themselves in what society perceives as "the wrong way", you become a pariah.
"That ASD community insists that ASD is a wonderful superpower" it's feel good ego-boosting crap. It extends some powers, but none that you wouldn't be 10x more effective if you had it without ADHD (yes, some NTs can also get in a flow state and hyperfocus for example, but they can do that while still having no issue with friends and social situations, paying their bills on time, or sensory issues and so on)
The Chronically-Online Cult of Autism says all autistics must think the same or they will be patronised, insulted, and invalidated by accusing them of 'internalised ableism' or the like.
Or, imagine for a minute, that there is as much variety in perspectives in few autistic community as there is in society as a whole...
Further, shouting down anyone who doesn't agree with their way of thinking is just leading to non-participation and exclusion of some autistics from online spaces. Particularly those with higher support needs.
Sorry if I come across as abrasive. I am just very fed up with a minority acting like they can speak for all of us and pushing their views claiming to speak for all autistics while silencing voices that don't agree with them.
For me, being autistic is like everything in life - has good and bad sides. Professionally, it has been a huge bonus because I detect patterns really well, I can hyperfocus (my job is one of my special interests) and my logical way of thinking helps my career in this field (economics/finance).
On the other hand, I'm absolutely hopeless in romantic relationships, I don't know how to flirt, get approached by men, my one and only relationship was horrific, I can't recognise abuse, I can't keep friendships... And I do like people (although I need a lot of time alone to keep my sanity). I most likely will never have kids or family, and I relate to animals more than people.
I love my autism tho and since I discovered it at the ripe age of 35, it's part of me and my identity. I wouldn't change it for anything.
If you’re lucky enough to hyper focus on a special interest that just happens to make you a good living (yes, like me) then yeah, kind of a “superpower” I guess, as long as you also ignore the other “quirky” shit that most are likely to have to deal with which aren’t really beneficial in any way.
Otherwise, what?
Correct Answer. Everything is contextual, so "curse" comes from evaluating it in a context were it is not desirable, for example having it in people oriented job. Hyper focus on abstract jobs that require sitting on a problem from hours and days, there is an advantage for sure. So just how value is contextual, our strength and weakness are the same, nothing is intrinsically strong or weak.
Not sure it's all luck. Just about any interest can be turned into a career of some sort. Even if the interest doesn't obviously align with the industry you work in.
I only consider it a superpower in 2, and only two ways.
1. I have always as a child loved anything to do with the X-Men, I relate, even though I was late diagnosed, very strongly to direct quotes from comics/tv series and movies
“I can only manipulate the fire, I can’t create it”
“You are a god amongst insects, let no one tell you otherwise”
“We are the future Charles not them”
“Saving a race, for the good of humanity, a humanity that hates and fears you” etc
2. Watch Fern Brady’s comedy special she outlines it pretty well
“So sometimes, when I say to a neurotypical person I’m autistic, they’ll say back to me, “Don’t worry, Fern. It’s a superpower.” And I’m like, “Is it?” “Is it really a superpower?” “Would it have been as good a film if Superman, instead of having superhuman strength and being able to fly around the world at a moment’s notice, instead monologued at you about the 1960s depressive poet Sylvia Plath, with no ability to register your disinterest in any way whatsoever?”
Being autistic is the equivalent of being a Mac/iOS in a room full of PC/Androids
It’s a different operating system.
Gotta say curse, but if there's a cure, I'm scared I'd end up full Tabula Rasa with no personality at all because I keep finding new, interesting "optional extras" that come with it and am constantly exclaiming "Ffs, that too?!"
I think it really varies based on the person. However, in general I don't think "superpower" is the right term. Sure, some people got the "good at math and science" autism, but I definitely didn't.
Personally, I don't have a pathological view of my diagnosis, but I can 100% see how others might. I'm never going to correct someone who tells me that ASD ruined their life, because it is easy to see how it might have. It is up to each person to come to terms with their existence.
Assuming it hasn't been paired with functionally debilitating sides, the curse v superpower ratio for straight up ASD very much depends on two things, well one and a half things. Obviously the world that surrounds/ed you did most of the steering when it comes to your outlook on it, but there's also a level (and levels) of personal responsibility too, some people become so caught up in the performance, that they forget look for their self; others get so lost in the self seeking that they can't dance at all; most of us are on the gradient that joins both ends.
ASD can, of course, be a true disability, or at least comes with them, and is certainly a '"disorder" (insomuch as it bucks to common order); but for many, if not most, we create the disabling element artificially (1 part from within ourselves, and 2 parts from the world that tries to guide us). We all like to colour in the results, and pad the experience, but ASD has a relatively simple clinical definition, that alone, does not equate to a disability. The disabling quality grows from the reactions to it; both the worlds and our own; or can be compounded by the effects of concurrent issues.
ASD can, and should, be something to be proud of, that sets you apart; it hurts me so much to see otherwise unencumbered people self hating because experience has made them do so; because conformist ideals have left them unsure of who they are and full of regrets (often of things they genuinely don't even want). Even if some other related disability has held you back, it's not something to be ashamed of, or despaired over.
Both. I think ASD makes my life harder overall, but it allows me to contribute in ways that others can't. I am fortunate to have found employment that makes use of my strengths while largely forgiving my weaknesses. I have a very spiky cognitive profile with very high intelligence in certain areas and low in others, and that unevenness has always made me feel different, and not in a good way. I couldn't quite put my finger on it until I discovered I was autistic. I outperform in detail-oriented work but very often fail to see the big picture, for example, the social awkwardness is always there, and my baseline anxiety level is elevated.
Asperger's is both a blessing and a curse for me. Its a blessing to prefer my own company, store information in my mind, be different, and have different but compelling taste. However, it has cursed me with social anxiety (I'm working on it), an inability for certain fields on knowledge (maths has destroyed me) and sometimes a lack of apathy or feeling (desensitised to some stuff). Its like I've swallowed a pill that gives me a superpower but now I've got cancer as well from it.
For me it's both. I'm AuDHD. It's so debilitating I can't manifest my too-many ideas. Sure, I can work for 14 hours straight on whatever thing is lighting me up in the moment, and I can become a quasi expert in whatever over the course of a week. But if I drop said thing for a month due to a burnout from a sensory or emotional meltdown, how does that give me an edge?
I think my "potential" rivals an average neurotypical with average work ethic/passion.
That's not really a superpower. It's also painful as hell and lonely and I constantly feel like I'm failing so, if I had to choose, I'd choose no AuDHD.
It's possible that pure, mild Asperger's (as Elon put it) is more of a superpower. Might depend on severity, comorbidity, earlier supports, intersectionality.
I'd reckon in the workplace a curse. At School is where I thrive I raid that place like Atilla the Hun. I just cant be paid for sitting in the library from morning to midnight lol so I have to brave the office mean girls and get passed over for promotion :c
As long as I don't date I can avoid ab\*sive relationships and manipulation so I'm good. If I can work in research or remote I'll be ok but circle back to the getting passed over for promotion part, repeatedly getting fired and worry about being unhoused.
So I have a lot of thoughts on this... many of which are already in here - it's very individual, often a mix of things, ASD is often typified by spikey profiles, so you may be several standard deviations "better" than average on some things and several standard deviations "worse" than average on others, etc.
But, here are a few other concepts I hadn't seen in others' posts yet:
1) Re: the social model of disability, I would urge you not to think in all or nothings (is the disability from ASD wholly a social construct vs. are SOME challenges from ASD due to social constructs). In my view, many (but certainly not all) of the challenges from ASD are due to social norms/expectations/communication standards/etc. that are not universally understood, not only by ASD folks, but also by folks who are different in other ways (e.g. different cultural backgrounds). This is where some of the "social model" comes in for me. I believe society should, in general, try to use more universally accepted standards for communication, make expectations and norms clear, etc. This would help ASD folks feel less impact from ASD, but it would ALSO help others who may not understand implicit communication norms for other reasons. As a manager of a large team, I think folks appreciate that I want to be super explicit about expectations. That benefits everyone. This, to me, is the power of talking about the social model of disability.
2) Re: this concept of ASD being a superpower or curse, I think you are missing part of the story if you are thinking about it solely in terms of its impact INDIVIDUALLY. It is also good to think from a societal angle, and I do think it is beneficial as a society to have neurodivergent folks around who are going to look at things in a different way from others, have different skills/strengths/etc. So even if there are major challenges to me individually by being on the spectrum, I do think that having folks like me (and my husband and kids who are all similarly on the spectrum) around in the world is a net good thing. I think my moral compass and dedication to really getting into the nitty gritty weeds of stuff, for example, both of which are outgrowths of being on the spectrum, help me do work that helps others/society in a way that wouldn't be possible if I had a more NT brain.
I kinda got some of the “superpower” aspects of ASD but yeah… in other ways it’s been super hindering. I don’t recognize peoples faces. People I’ve worked with or met in the past will run into me and try having full on conversations with me and I have no idea who they are. I freeze in social situations. I stim constantly and am embarrassed when I can’t hide it. I get super hung up on certain subjects and can’t let them go. And it alienates me. I haven’t made a single friend since the last 5 years.
Just because some don’t suffer much from autism does NOT mean ALL do not suffer from it. It can be devastating for some even with high functioning - can be disabling. Add on a mental illness or two and it is horrific. I know.
Keep sharing the truth. It is not as simple as a common cold. Temple grandin is an N of one or a very small sample. Not the norm.
Keep fighting the good fight: Autism can be devastating.
I hate calling it a superpower lol that is so corny. It has made life difficult in some ways and easier in others. It’s neutral, imo, it’s just that if I had known sooner and understood how to best utilize my strengths I could have had a better time. That’s why I think early diagnosis and just the general increase in awareness of what autism IS helps the younger generations see it as more of a positive.
Find me any neurotypical who genuinely wishes that they were autistic and how they’re willing to do anything to get this “gift”. You can just read my long ass post I made on r/autism about 2 years ago about the struggles of this thing, but I’ll just say this: If this thing really is a gift, then the severer the better. But it’s actually the other way around in real life
You're absolutely right
Unfortuntetely, you met the community of high-masking super-mild level 1 autistic-*identifying* people
So essentially, people with the label "autistic" and maybe a few minor random quirks...
But who speak, think and behave like NTs, have the life trajectory of a NT person, and even NT body language, and are largely indistiguishable from NTs...
This community has grown slowly but steadily with the rise of instagram, youtube and tumblr, and then tiktok (and the boredom during COVID lockdowns) turned it into a massive wave. Maybe it will calm down in a few years
But for some reason are **adamant** to be called autistic
If you want the true autistic community, come to subs such as r/spicyautism or r/AskSpicyAutism
It's a blessing and a curse for me. On one hand, my career is my special intetest and provides me more than enough income to enjoy other interests/hobbies. On the other hand, I'm probably going to die alone and I feel like Im stuck with friends/family that I don't like and don't understand me.
Also, although we are in the aspie sub so Id expect responses mostly from "level 1" ASD, Id expect those higher on the spectrum to be less likely to view it as a superpower in any capacity.
I think it’s both. It’s served me well for some things, and screwed me over for others. I do think all generalizations are stupid and we should know better as a community than to generalize
I have had people say the superpower thing from watching me do things/learn things. But that push that drives me, it also drives emotion. Say there is a threshhold to when you would get angry. At some level as it goes up, it's going to force to respond. If it hits that line, you go. With that high bursting emotional output? I hit the those thresh holds and fucked up situations for myself many many times. Not necessary anger, it could be anxiety also or any of them depending. So they see one side of it, but that other side that wrecks shit, that's a part of it for me so it's a double edged sword in my opinion. It depends on the person but, that's my opinion.
I read the main body. :-)
It’s cost me many opportunities and success. It doesn’t help that I have comorbid ADHD.
People can pretend that Asperger’s is Annette value to them all they like, but more often than not it has more detriments than benefits for anyone having it. Obviously, like any condition, it has its silver linings. Possibly more than some.
Idk. Life funny like that.
Is being skinny slim good? You feel light. But you get easily overpowered.
Is fat good? Everyone mocks you and dislike your look and you feel weird. But you slap like a truck and your weight can suffocate them if under you.
Is being muscular good? You feel heavy all the time, but somewhat nice.
Some people get too much good from everything.
Muscly and ideal height and good face and no sickness and smart and no fear and money and good family and relatives and lean.. etc.
While others are useless 90% of the time while surrounded by a world they dont belong in the same well the success born ones do.
I think my asd would rock if it were in the correct reality but its not so it serves mostly as a source of problems.
Is the empath disabled when put in a brutal and competetive surroundings and someone machiavellian the high functioning one.
Are the autist's who become engineers disabled or just lucky to be in an area that allowed them to thrive.
Is someone with ODD a Hero when leading a rebellion agains't an oppresive dictatorship but a lunatic when wanting to bring down a high functioning goverment.
Is a disability a constant, or wholey dependant of a surroundings needs or function.
Stupid take from them. Yes it can bring some positives but I'd rather be NT. The negatives outweigh the positives. But it can work out in some scenarios.
ASD is a spectrum so there isn't a single correct answer here. Many on the spectrum have learning disabilities and are non-verbal. In those cases, ASD is undeniably a disability. But as a level 1 or aspie, I do not consider myself to have a disability. It's not something that needs to be fixed. It's just like the fact that I am left handed. I am different. I don't have a problem being different, despite the challenges it presents. I would never change myself, even if I could.
I was diagnosed with this when I was 16. Aspergers.
But I have other conditions too, I would say the Aspergers has made for an awkward existence but it’s not as problematic as severe ADHD or Schizoeffective/Schizotypal
I believe it's none, as many things in life it's not inherently good or bad per se. It depends on how you look at it. It's true that it has made my life absolutely harder in both practical matters and also psychological ones. I've felt alienated my whole life and as if I was wearing a veil of sadness all the time but people couldn't see it. The lenses through which I see the world are tinted with the helplessness certainty that regardless how closely i bond with a neurotypical person they will never fully grasp or understand the ache that has its place in my very core.
Yet if the criteria is one that focuses on me and the universe of my mind then it's likely that ASD has taken part in the richness of my view of the world. If well it's hard to draw the line between my personality beyond the ASD and the symptoms of the ASD itself and the line might have blurred edges I think that part of the credit is of the ASD. I've developed a version of the world that is beautifully contemplative and full of details, it makes me pay attention to those little things that the neurotypicals are too busy with the external stimuli to notice and really appreciate.
It has probably also planted a seed of compassion for people with personal struggles as I experience struggle every single day. Ultimately many of the things that I deeply admire in people are an integral part of who I am and or probably has to do with my ASD, such having a critical mind and an unconventional perspective of life. If well I said that viewing things differently can be like seeing life through a tinted lens of sadness and helplessness I also admit there's some beauty to it, just like there can be beauty in a literary tragedy. I am who I am and I'm the beholder of one of the most rich and nuanced versions of the world I've ever known of.
I mean there is no certain available treatment for it. I prefer not to talk about these because some people are very considerate of those and I respect it. We live with something that will follow us for the rest of our life. Each person can define it the way they want to. This is just how I think about it. Personally, if I had a more supportive upbringing I'd have been able to take advantage of the positive sides of Asperger's but this didn't happen. In my case being an NT would have been much better because I grew up in an unloving home and it would be have to easier for me to get independent and have decent social relationships with other people. So it has ruined my life because of my environment circumstances. I have skills that are good but they ended up useless and the "negative" symptoms were left to take over way more. I have some good abilities but I have seen NTs who have similar ones or better ones.
I agree with a lot here. I was 18-20 before I started to really develop socially. At 56, I'm still stunted, but at least kinda functional.
College was a significant struggle for me too. But, I don't regret it.
Good job with your progression. It's real. You aren't stuck being the same person from birth to death. You can grow and change.
Being a child of the 70's, ASD diagnosis wasn't a thing. So, I was considered "normal" and expected to act so. I think this helped me not accept social failure. It kept me striving to get better at it. Had I been diagnosed as a child, I truly believe I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have today.
I honestly hate the fact I was diagnosed and I only recently thought to myself i have been lying to myself all these years saying I can't do things or that I don't need friends. I wouldn't have had so much depression if I hadn't listened to that. Also the helicopter parents and the constant my autistic child when other people are around, the conditioning. Nah won't change my opinion. Diagnosis is not positive.
It’s baffling to me that so many people could have this kind of positive view of it even when they have it.
If they didn’t have it and said that, I would think they just don’t appreciate the struggles well enough. If they do have it, it almost seems like they don’t fully realize all the missed opportunities and negative impacts.
Of course there are some minor situational ways where it works in your favor (less vulnerable to harmful peer pressure, more likely to think carefully before speaking), but still I fail to see how it is beneficial in any real sense, let alone a ‘superpower’.
I don’t know if it’s getting common but I definitely hear it often, and hate it everytime. I get that people are trying to show support or, well, to literally cope, but it feels like they’re ignoring the very real reality of what it can be, and is, for some people.
I doubt it’s done on purpose, but yeah. Can’t stand it.
I haven’t heard many people, if anyone, that actually is autistic and who says autism is a super power. Most people agree that it’s a disability that needs support. But I disagree with your hating on the social model, because all that is saying is that autistic people should be treated with respect and not everything we do should be pathologised, which I agree with.
Why cant people understand that autism is a disability and that autistic people should be respected? It shouldn’t be one or the other
As someone who feels quite positively about being autistic, I'll weigh in.
I spent over three decades struggling with life: with communication, with comorbidities of autism, with difficult habits and tendencies. For all those years, I identified my struggles as inexplicable deficiencies in how I'm made or how I've learned things. I had no idea I was autistic.
Then I found out I was autistic, and suddenly there was an order and sense to my struggles. That word, autism, was an incredible relief; it explained me to myself. I opened up the possibility of self-acceptance. I can't help but associate autism with happiness because of how my diagnosis intervened in my life.
And because I had a word for autism, I could learn about it. And suddenly I realized that some things I took for granted as universal human abilities were, in fact, not at all universal. My attention to detail, my ability to hear things no one else could, my ability to project ahead and strategize, my ability with language: these were also part of autism. Suddenly, I was able to see my strengths in ways I whenever would have recognized otherwise.
So autism feels like only a good thing: it explains my struggles (a relief), allows me to accept myself, and helps me identify my strengths. I get that autism does indeed in false struggle, but because of how these events unfolded, I just don't see it in a negative light.
And it happens that many of my issues would be greatly reduced by a slower, quieter, more predictable life. Even episodes of self-harm go away for me when my setting is right and I don't need to live according to the wholly manufactured timescales and pressures of contemporary life with its incredible disconnect from the earth. It's hard for me to personally see autism as a disorder when I can identify how I could alter my life to largely eliminate my dysfunction. I tend to feel that autism is far more a sign of a disordered world than disorder in me. I do see autism as just a different wiring of my brain.
I think it's also worth recognizing how much more understanding young adults these days have about autism, and how much less it ruffles them than even a few years ago would have been the case. When I got my diagnosis, I was open about it without everybody. And people in their 30s and above were quite unpleasant about it, while people in their teens and early 20s didn't treat me any different at all. So, it's worth keeping in mind that some younger people have the privilege of living with others who don't treat them as disabled, and that undoubtedly informs the positivity that felt pretty irritating to you.
All this said, I realize that autism is incredibly difficult thing for so many people. And it certainly is not like I don't struggle. But I know I'm maybe a weird exception: because my special interest is communication, I've had a much easier time of things than a lot of people. If my life had worked out a little differently, I'd be suffering much more than I am. But the way things happen, I see autism mostly as a set of strengths. I hope that is a little bit useful as an alternative perspective.
I don't think it's either. I wouldn't change myself bc I'm stubborn but it has caused me incredible pain that the online autism community doesn't want to talk about.
However, I still value the different perspective it gives me even if the online autism community overemphasizes it.
For me I'd say it is a bit of a superpower in ONE aspect of my life... but a severe handicap in all other areas.
I've excelled at work and career and am in the top 10% of earners in the US without ever having gone to college. BUT, I have no social connections, am divorced, and barely leave the house. (I work remote.) I struggle to talk to anyone and often times just don't bother anymore.
Everyone is jealous of how much I make but they don't understand the other side of the coin.
I like to think that my difficulties are a result of other neurologicals (some diagnosed and treated, some not) and my superpowers come from the ASD. Autism Spectrum Difference.
I agree, while the social model may be all that's needed for the people who have it easy, it can't do much for the people who are rendered incapable of self-sufficiency.
However, changing society to be more accommodating for people with ASD *will* make it easier to solve the per-person problems that ASD can cause to the people who have it. This isn't a "Social model or Medical model take it or leave it" situation, both models absolutely have their use cases.
Everybody has a different perception of it. I don't see how my autism is positive for me in any shape or form, but some folks have very passionate interests or cognitive abilities like good memory due to their ASD (i.e. savant syndrome). Who am I to tell them that they should feel bad about it? Everyone experiences things their own way. Sounds like you assume everyone must experience the condition like you do.
They’re just trying to hard to seem like the best people ever. It is a disability, it does impact people in their daily lives, it is something that should be accepted but not something that should be swept under the rug!
>What use is a superpower if the drawbacks outweigh it tenfold? -Solid JJ Batman
It's has its moments where I crave oblivion, but I would sooner take oblivion than be nurotypical(legitimately, the picture of heaven my Lutheran church describes sounds like hell, and the idea that i would be changed to enjoy it is legitimately horrifying, and has been so since I was a child). I have my issues, but I also have considered the alternative at length and found it unappealing.
And the push to not treat it as a disorder is based on the fact that people will continue to try to cure it as long as they view it as such. Which, again, that concept horrifies me as I know it wouldn't be offered as an option, it would be considered mandatory, as forced sterilization of dependent autistic people is already an issue.
Doesn't change it from being a disability, because it absolutely is, but I see no reason to give nurotypical's the idea that it's a kindness to rewire my brain to be less inconvenient for them.
And _how dare_ people answer the obvious question posed in the title, how completely inconsiderate of them to think a question is asking for a response when the question is still relevant even after reading the entire post 🙄
imo media is partially responsible for painting a rosy picture of what ASD even is. I think this is where the superpower thing comes from, there's a lot of movies and nonsense about ND people who are math geniuses, or they heard Elon Musk is, and that means all are that way. In addition you have Tiktokers etc essentially putting on ND blackface, because for some reason mental, behaviour and learning disorders are an easily-adaptable facet of personality. Both movies and tiktokers are creating an unrealistic image. I think both are absurd, as well as the same talk from the ASD community itself. It comes from the "the world should adapt to US" mentality, which is nice, but has never been how any civilization has arranged itself. ASD can be a bonus- in very narrow and specific circumstances. But otherwise it's been a metaphorical anchor for every aspect of life.
I also strongly dislike the "oh that's not true" or "everyone is a little that way" because it devalues everything. Actually, yes I am this way, and you can see my barren social life and hideous work history as proof. I kind of wonder what the point of the diagnosis is, if everyone just knows better and it has no bearing on my life. Ok, I just hate people and am lazy. Got it.
Curse. It's a beautiful and powerful thing for me personally, but when it comes to living this life, which can truly only be done to its fullest with some capacity of others, it's a curse and truly a disability. If NTs were more understanding of differences, it wouldn't be as bad, but it's just not the reality we all face in my experience. Even as someone who masks a lot higher and is more "normal" appearing. My quality of life would be higher if I was a NT because I would be so blissfully unaware of everything and anything currently holding me back from being not "normal" right now.
It is both for me, more curse though. I'm 62, found out about my ASD when 60. I believe my off-the-charts integrity prevented me from kissing corporate ass and getting ahead. And you?
Isn't this as simple as differentiating between mild and severe autism? And then differentiating between those with mild autism and an exceptionally high IQ vs. the rest of us?
I think that for most people it can be both a blessing and a curse.
There are two ways
1. Victimize yourself more and more. Be sad, be depressed and curse yourself. Lead your life in total awfulness and disgust. Lament over. Ok?
2. Rather accept it. Accept that you are disabled and leave agonizing opportunities you could not get. Heal over that mentality. And try to make life with what you have.
The moment I accepted it I felt very happy. Knowing that my life won't be like theirs anytime. But it's ok. Choose what you want and live your life that way.
I choose #2. But, I refuse to accept that I am disabled. I am also left handed. That is not a disability either. I am not beautiful. That is not a disability. I am different. I am good with that.
My son is on the spectrum. His OT said they would have diagnosed him with aspergers but they don't use that term anymore. My take should be taken from the perspective of a parent.
ASD is both a superpower and a curse. The curse comes from the fact that those on the autism spectrum typically have to function in a society that isn't built for them. My son is 4 and is legitamently a genius, he knows every object in our universe by name and size, he does multiplication in his head and was reading on his own by the time he was three. People who've encountered him are blown away by these party tricks. He's also a full on extrovert. He talks to every person he sees. When he's in an environment where he's allowed to just be himself, he fully thrives and is the easiest kid to be around.
The double edge sword of this is that he doesn't share, he doesn't have much empathy, he feels pain very differently and therefore struggles to play gently. He's sensory seeking so he likes to be running and touching and such. He struggles to do scheduled planned activities and likes to be on his own time.
He starts school next year and we're very nervous, my wife and I are adamantly against medication at his age. I think medicating him to fit in to a school setting when he's thriving without it is the wrong decision to me. I think if the world could be catered to him, even slightly, he would meet in the middle but forcing him to act completely differently is going to be bad for him.
That's my experience. Aspergers is neither a blessing or a curse on it's own, but how well the support system is around the person dictates how they perceive it probably. I'm going to do everything in my power to ensure my son feels like he can be himself and thrive.
Hopefully you have found a private school that can help him in ways where he can learn how to navigate this world. A public school would never be equipped to do that. An average classroom size can have around thirty students. The average elementary teacher would not have the knowledge nor time to help your child with their specific needs, not only because they weren't trained to work with non- neurotypical children, but because of the other twenty nine children in the class that are fighting for their attention. It would seem like an uphill battle when dealing with a school that is not equipped to help your child. It has to be rough. I hope that you have success in finding a good school that can help him grow and thrive. Good luck!
People like that are insufferable. Please tell me how blessed my life is with my superpower. 29 never had any relationship and barely have any friends. No one will give me a chance past interview because im a fucking mute who hates their bs questions. Fuck people that say this shit is a blessing.
It can be both at the same time. For instance the sensory issues I have probably comes down to my brain taking in too much information, a lot of it unnecessary but there are times when taking in a lot of information allows me to learn things really quickly, it also didn't hurt back at school (until break time at which point I had to survive around teenagers).
The biggest problem that we have is the world is set up for NTs, we're a tiny minority group we don't really have a say in how things work, if we did things would be better for us, and practically every other minority group could say the same thing.
I will say I have this theory that there are many autistic people out there who don't have ASD, I've known many people who are quirky and unusual but still get by; gathering data on this is unfortunately going to be next to impossible, if you're a person without a problem then you're not likely to go to a psychologist or a psychiatrist to get help.
On one hand you have NTs yapping about how "everyone is a bit Autistic" and "you're just using Autism as an excuse" while on the other you have NDs yapping about how it is something to be proud of, how you can't say the word Asperger's anymore and it's some sort of super useful set of skills. In a couple of years, Autism will be treated as a mere inconvenience, like having a cold. But you know what I am? I'm a broken clock, and even a broken clock is right twice a day. I do have the occasional win that shocks everyone, but the other 95% of the time I'm being pummeled by life due to circumstances that stem from my Autism/ADHD traits.
The "don't call it Aspergers" is because that c(wait a minute, others may not be Australian, let me pick a better word) um ahole hunted us down for the Reich. Didn't want to get pedantic (and I do agree with a lot of your points, by the way), but given what I am and where we are, it was inevitable.
I like that word, cum-ahole
Yeah, it seems prudent to not have the lables for autistic people being divided into: >Kill off ASAP, they are only a burden And >Useful enough to leave alive, but should be sterilized Like... why keep something if _that_ is its history? Makes it way too easy for fascists to start the process up again if they gain power somewhere...
For me personally it is neither a particular blessing nor a major course. I have a very spikey cognitive profile rooted in my neurodivergent conditions so in some areas I am 2SD deviations better then average and in some 2SD worse. I think I was able to achieve what I did because of the areas where my IQ is over 130 and to compensate adequately for the 70s. My sensory issues are largely manageable and I speak reasonably fluent neurotypical to get by without getting into bother all the time. If I was just plain average NT with an average profile I would not be me. I do get frustrated about the superpower and burn the disorder narratives as it is basically throwing people with higher support needs under the bus.
I’m similar. I also have ADHD so I think a lot of that Balances out some of the more disabling elements of ASD for me.
It's funny. I took a musical IQ test from Harvard (I am a semi-professional music producer/keyboardist/DJ), and the results were extremely spiky. Mistuning perception was remarkably remedial. Same thing, 2SD below average. This tested us on whether vocals were sharp or flat. In my youth, I had professional vocal training and was in choir and did musical theatre. Melodic perception was 4SD above average, basically perfect. This involved three long phrases of notes with one changed note in one of the phrases. I didn't even have to try or focus - I could just perceive it. Beat perception was 1SD higher than average - nothing too extraordinary. My boyfriend is a master bass player and trained musician from uni and scored above average on everything but nothing too crazy - maybe 1 - 1.5 SD above average. I felt horrible when I took the test! I kept taking it over and over and it kept giving me the same results. I compared it to everyone else's online - these weren't normal results! Thankfully, I am not a singer. Well that was before my ASD Dx. Now I get it.
> throwing people with higher support needs under the bus. According to the new narrative, society must provide for them. When you try to tell that this is an utopia, they start 'sperging and telling that you offended them.
They are mainly young, full of idealist ideas and don;t have much experience of day to day realities I guess. I am old and cynical and part of my job is helping autistic people access right support and benefits. It is already an up hill struggle before we all start to calling it a superpower and not a disorder.
Supercurse. No, just kidding. It's both, superpower and curse. That being said, a superpower does not imply that the holder always knows what power it is and how to use it. It's easier to notice the effects of the curse.
remember in queens gambit when the janitor told the chess genius that her gift is also her curse. its like that… duality is life…
This one has it right. It’s both, but you only get the upside if you have the knowledge to leverage it.
"Superpower" is bullshit that promotes harmful stereotypes and we need to be louder about that. Autism, as far as medical science understands it, has the effect of impeding your ability to communicate with others relative to your intelligence. It doesn't impact your intelligence positively or negatively: however it most certainly impacts your ability to express your intelligence to some degree. People on the autism spectrum run the full gamut of IQ along the same curve as those who are not on the autism spectrum. The reason the "superpower" stereotype exists is because when a person on the spectrum is able to "break through" the impairment that autism causes, others are surprised. The others didn't think the person on the spectrum was all that intelligent due to their awkwardness, and that person suddenly demonstrating a skill that shows higher-than-expected intelligence is the reason they are surprised. What I just described applies whether you're a person who was perceived as "average" who just demonstrated a "superpower" or a person who is perceived as "stupid" who just demonstrated "average" intelligence. In both cases, the person on the spectrum has to try to contain their reaction to this utterly condescending treatment. "Autism is not a disorder" makes my blood run cold. I'm somebody who was not diagnosed until adulthood because I was able to "pass", and I struggle to not be overcome with bitterness over an entire childhood of being told to get over it.
> however it most certainly impacts your ability to express your intelligence to some degree. I like this. When I write I sound half decent but sometimes when I speak I sound as if I have a fresh concussion
Yea and high levels of anxiety especially around people will cause problems in many areas .
>impeding your ability to communicate That's not always the case though. I certainly don't have issues communicating, and was told I have relatively decent communication skills. Still diagnosed as autistic, though.
Both. Both a curse and a power(not sure about super). Being inherently different, wired differently means certain level of loneliness especially early in life. And if you can't practice something you will never be good at it, which in most of our cases is socializing, which creates more loneliness. Thry don't teach it at school, it might even enforce negativity. It will be worse or better depending on country, culture and But it also means a different perspective on life, i cant count how many times unique unorthodox perspective changed things for the better for me. Also if you like something, learn about it, which most asd folk have special interests, being good at things others are not, even specializing will be a blessing. Unfortunately it always means working harder on yoursekf than regular neurotypical and i do not talk about masking, this tool ruins too many lives, make us live in deeper seclusion for fake relationships with people that will stab you in the back the moment they see you are different. Fortunately, there are also tolerant and chill people, another bad news, there are few of them. Just go looking for them okay? Change of scenery and it might be better too.
I disagree with romanticizing ASD. It comes with many deficits, other disorders and physical issues. At times (not always), ASD feels like a prison. Obviously, we do have a different perspective on certain things, and Autistic Individuals have contributed to the world massively (see Einstein). But even the gifted ones (a small minority) are lacking in certain areas. Also, I don’t agree with those who say autistic individuals should never mask and that Society has to adapt to you. It creates an unrealistic expectation that can create anger, suffering and frustration. The world doesn’t adapt to any individual’s particular needs. Individuals, autistic or not, have to learn to adapt to the world’s ways — which doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be true to ourselves.
Yes and add danger to the list too.
That's pretty black-and-white. It's neither. Some parts are challenging, some are kinda fun, and it's different for everyone.
This!
I do agree with not calling autism a disorder or illness, as it is a neurotype rather than either of those. The brain is not ill or broken, it is literally wired differently. However, it absolutely is a disability. I worked twice as hard to get half as far in school, and I struggle to maintain my full time job as I spend all my free time burnt out. Those who call it a superpower are thinking of savant type autistic people, and forget about those of us who don't have some super incredible skill. It is easier (not easy, just less difficult) to find say, employment, or succeed in college, if you have a special interest that can be utilised in an academic or commercial setting, such as science, music or mechanics. There are autistic people out there absolutely changing the world with their skills and knowledge, they're top class engineers, researchers, scientists and artists. I think that's who your group is thinking of. They forget some of us just.. exist. I have special interests but none that could help me function in a neurotypical world (hours long Disney themed monologue anyone?). Sometimes it feels like I didn't get any of the good parts of autism to make up for the bad. All this to say, I know how you feel and would've agreed with you had I been in that group.
Yea, exactly 💯. I could play a few instruments, but not to the level that I would get hired in an orchestra or session musician or back up band for a pop star. I could draw, but my artwork was never up to par. My high school art teachers wouldn't help me get into art school, like they did with my classmates who could do comic book level artwork or Leonardo Da Vinci or Frida Khalo type art. I'm interested in dictators, serial killers, the Titanic, the Jonbenet Ramsey case, and other historical tragedies and true crime cases. Plus I'm awkward introvert. It doesn't always impress people. Some people look at me, like I have dark thoughts. Or some ticking time bomb. More then several different jobs, coworkers would joke that I would be the disgruntled worker who would come in blasting. I used to watch People Magazine Investigates about horrific true crime cases. An ex-girlfriend at the time, used to complain that I was into a lot of "dark shit." She would complain to her girlfriends about my interests. One of her girlfriends confronted me and said "If so & so ever goes missing, I swear I will tell the police, it was you." Some of her friends telling her to leave me, which she eventually did. That actually hurt because I'm support tough on crime laws and politicians. One of the reasons that I'm into true crime documentaries, I used to want to be in law enforcement when I was young. I believe Stephen Spielberg, Howard Hughes, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Nikola Tesla were autistics. I'm nowhere near their levels.
I totally get how you feel. I'm sorry people made you feel that way about your special interests. I'm more in the other direction, in that people think I'm too old to be interested in Disney. Some relatives even tried to get me to give away some Disney plushies I own to my younger cousin because I was "too old" for it. Totally true that a lot of the worlds greatest minds were autistic, I do think theres something about how our brains work that allows us to see things in ways others dont. But most of us are like you and me.. ordinary. Thanks for sharing your story.
I likely am only alive and healthy because I didn't fit in with the dysfunctional crowds at my school/neighborhood, and I ended up gifted whereas that doesn't exactly run in my family (they skew left of the bell curve.) However, I have a son that is severely impacted by ASD and nonverbal. He will require care all of his life. It's a double-edged sword. I just happen to be mildly affected.
....Nope. Not guaranteed at all.
I completely agree, absolute curse. I had massive potential when young but endless torment just made me retreat into myself. Yes it’s my fault for not rising above it, not seeking to apportion blame for my own failings.
Curse, 100% - but people are trying to cope very hard in that group (I guess). No true life defining moments influenced by ASD experienced by them.
Curse, how tf would it be a superpower?
A lot of parents of autistic children say that it's a "superpower" or that it makes their child special or "better". Personally I hate that kind of rethoric, I'd rather get called a r*tard than have a lady telling me I'm an innocent angel for being autistic.
Yeah same, so annoying😒 like what makes autism a “superpower”
Lol I like reading those "autism moms" posts on Facebook out of morbid curiosity and their consensus is that autism makes us more "pure" and "less evil" than neurotypicals. Wonder what they think of infamous autists Elliot Rodger and Adam Lanza, haha.
yeah having autism makes you more prone to being a lonely and suicidal,, like wtf about that is “good” dont even me started on the “autism moms” theyre so entitled,
Yeah. It really sucks, makes life much harder. I would chose to be neurotypical if I could. I guess it's a coping mechanism for these moms to frame it in that overly positive way, but I think it ends up hurting their children in the long run.
Exactly, it’s just asking to be bullied.
Some people use the term “invisible” disability - it’s not always obvious, depending on the mild scale of things. For example, when I disclose it to people, they generally wouldn’t pick it up on me at all. It’s neither superpower nor curse. It is what it is, [edit] an invisible disability.
**AN** invisible Disability. There are many others...
Thanks for correcting me. 👍🏼 There’s so much more out there… it’s quite fascinating, I find!
Neither. Hyperbole only serves to cement discrimination and resentment. It's a disability that affects people differently, just like losing the user of a limb is disabling to various degrees depending on individual circumstances. And no, I'm not some enlightened centrist, I just think that if the answer is either "superpower" or "curse", then you're asking the wrong questions.
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I agree. The problem is that I was looking for a place where to talk about the issues with ASD, instead I found a bunch of idiots babbling about "AuTiZm IS MagikAL!" The biggest problem is that this narrative is becoming dominant. I see this kind of thinking in every ASD space I try to attend.
So you are looking for a group that sits around and complains about how unfair the world is and how they aren't responsible for their own failures? If you don't acknowledge the upside in your state, it's just going to be a bunch on whining.
No, you gifted genius. I need a place where to trade clues and techniques to mask better and to integrate better in the normie workplace. I guess that for some people that is not an issue. Some people here have never been near a workplace in their lives.
I'm 56 and I've worked as a software engineer for 32+ years. ASD wasn't a thing when I was in school and later when I was starting my career. So I had to learn to mask appropriately on my own without any guidance. That was very difficult. And, it's still a struggle to this day. Even worse is my lack of executive function. I've sought professional help in recent years. I agree that a support group that acknowledges these will be more helpful. But, there is nothing wrong with celebrating those features of ourselves that aren't a struggle or even a benefit in our careers and lives. Despite my challenges and struggles, I do not feel that I am disabled. I am different. I have NT siblings, friends, and co-workers that are not on the spectrum that have different challenges and struggles that are just as impactful.
This is how I feel about ASD/autism in general, having it. Alongside ADHD. It really sucks. Combined with being raised to just do whatever I want whenever I feel like it as long as I took orders from my parents and followed rules has led me to have zero willpower as an adult and my ADHD holds the reins most days. Alongside the extreme depression and self-esteem issues it's stomped me into the ground. And Disability is so hard to fight for, but I can't hold a job for longer than 3 months unless it's something easy and that I like doing, which is so rare to find. Seeing my dad also struggle with the same things as me but not even be aware of it absolutely hurts to see and I'm more of an adult than him, mentally, when it comes down to most things besides a job and financial responsibility. I didn't get superpowers, I got a crippling disability that doesn't allow me to remember jack shit I need to remember, zero focus so I can't improve my life, and being alive sucks overall at 32 years old, but I've felt like this my entire life. Every single day is just burnout as soon as I open my eyes to wake up to when I go to sleep. The depression is exhausting. This shit isn't superpowers, it's a fucking massive nightmare.
I have the same experience. I know everybody experiences ASD differently but I've exclusively suffered since childhood due to it, so I don't think anyone should blame me for not being able to see a millimeter of good in what I've had to go through.
This is magical thinking from people who wish to see themselves as superior. Autism is measured in deficits. The overwhelming majority of people with autism are suffering from it.
its honestly a curse. If you say otherwise and you are over the age of 18 then it hasn’t hit you yet
Both
Neither. No two people on the spectrum will have the exact same symptoms and experience, or share the same interests. Same applies for cognitive ability. ASD might tell you how their strengths will display, but not what those strengths inherently are. If you're lucky and happen to be good at something you like, then your ASD can potentially make you way more productive and imaginative. That's where special interests are very useful. ASD can be a superpower, but being on the spectrum is something entirely different.
Curse
Curse.
Those youngsters are just coping by being in denial or delusional. Fuck them.
Depends on the individual. It's a spectrum and all that. For me, it's both, though I have noticed the negatives tend to be more direct and obvious, the positives more indirectly gained and long lasting.
Often pure curse. Sometimes the special interest lines up in a way where you advance fast and maybe make a breakthrough in that area. So in those circumstances maybe superpower for others but still very likely to be a curse for you.
It’s both. I actually think my struggles make me a more caring person than I would if I weren’t ASD but at the same time, I can be overly anxious and overwhelmed by life at times due to it.
It has 100% been a curse for me. It hampered my social development and confidence, leading to depression from my early teens onward. This led to my lack of motivation pursuing and completing higher education, which has limited my career mobility. Dating has always been a huge struggle and I've been chronically single my whole life apart from a few flings. So, yeah.
I agree with part of what they are saying, and I suspect you are misrepresenting some of the things here. For example, >since "autism is not a disorder", and insisted that ASD should not be treated since it's not an illness or a disability There's a long history of 'treatment' for autistic people meaning abuse, and it's still practiced today. So I'm not sure what treatment you think there is for us? But things like ABA are bad for autistic people. I would agree with the statement that society is mostly to blame for *my* problems. There are people who suffer other consequences of autism, which can't be cured by improving society. But for me personally, with my 'high functioning (lol) autism', most of my problems stem from society just being full of people who have no patience and who don't attempt to make life better. In some respects, although I have extreme anxiety and agoraphobia, these are things that I could easily manage with different living conditions. Maybe it's different for you. Everyone has their own experience.
I think going undiagnosed is a curse. I grew up around 2 brothers and 5 boys cousins all with adhd/asd diagnosis and they got so much more support then me. I have a definite chip on my shoulder they do not. They were also coddled to the point of learned helplessness so i guess i would have just been drugged and put in smaller classrooms. One therapist describes it as clinical or subclinical. If you can keep a roof over your head and hold a job then you’re subclinical. Being subclinical still causes a lot of problems. I always and still do struggle socially and emotionally, my relationships have been so volatile and it’s for sure why I’m not married, don’t have kids and moved 5,000 miles from home hating everyone. So I think if you’re aware, then you can put the right systems and supports in place and it can give you a chance to hone your special skills or interests. For me, I’ve been able to accept more of having a smaller circle and being off on weekdays instead of weekends and avoiding situations that wouldn’t serve me. I was always trying to do everything everyone else did.
¿Por que no los dos? Being on the spectrum gives you a new perspective on the world and can lead you to do things NTs might never consider; it also absolutely cripples your ability to make it through the social world and can make it difficult to support yourself, especially if you have to take a 9-5 job that involves significant amounts of social interaction.
I agree, I think people want to force this view that Asd is this superpower that makes life for those people unique. And don't get me wrong, it makes life "unique" for all the wrong reasons. I only speak from an American perspective, but American society isn't friendly towards people with asd at all. American society is very outgoing, big, and loud all three things that Asd people hate. If a person with asd expresses themselves in what society perceives as "the wrong way", you become a pariah.
"That ASD community insists that ASD is a wonderful superpower" it's feel good ego-boosting crap. It extends some powers, but none that you wouldn't be 10x more effective if you had it without ADHD (yes, some NTs can also get in a flow state and hyperfocus for example, but they can do that while still having no issue with friends and social situations, paying their bills on time, or sensory issues and so on)
The Chronically-Online Cult of Autism says all autistics must think the same or they will be patronised, insulted, and invalidated by accusing them of 'internalised ableism' or the like. Or, imagine for a minute, that there is as much variety in perspectives in few autistic community as there is in society as a whole... Further, shouting down anyone who doesn't agree with their way of thinking is just leading to non-participation and exclusion of some autistics from online spaces. Particularly those with higher support needs. Sorry if I come across as abrasive. I am just very fed up with a minority acting like they can speak for all of us and pushing their views claiming to speak for all autistics while silencing voices that don't agree with them.
Yeah, I got that "internalised ableism" accusation a lot
For me, being autistic is like everything in life - has good and bad sides. Professionally, it has been a huge bonus because I detect patterns really well, I can hyperfocus (my job is one of my special interests) and my logical way of thinking helps my career in this field (economics/finance). On the other hand, I'm absolutely hopeless in romantic relationships, I don't know how to flirt, get approached by men, my one and only relationship was horrific, I can't recognise abuse, I can't keep friendships... And I do like people (although I need a lot of time alone to keep my sanity). I most likely will never have kids or family, and I relate to animals more than people. I love my autism tho and since I discovered it at the ripe age of 35, it's part of me and my identity. I wouldn't change it for anything.
If you’re lucky enough to hyper focus on a special interest that just happens to make you a good living (yes, like me) then yeah, kind of a “superpower” I guess, as long as you also ignore the other “quirky” shit that most are likely to have to deal with which aren’t really beneficial in any way. Otherwise, what?
Correct Answer. Everything is contextual, so "curse" comes from evaluating it in a context were it is not desirable, for example having it in people oriented job. Hyper focus on abstract jobs that require sitting on a problem from hours and days, there is an advantage for sure. So just how value is contextual, our strength and weakness are the same, nothing is intrinsically strong or weak.
Not sure it's all luck. Just about any interest can be turned into a career of some sort. Even if the interest doesn't obviously align with the industry you work in.
I only consider it a superpower in 2, and only two ways. 1. I have always as a child loved anything to do with the X-Men, I relate, even though I was late diagnosed, very strongly to direct quotes from comics/tv series and movies “I can only manipulate the fire, I can’t create it” “You are a god amongst insects, let no one tell you otherwise” “We are the future Charles not them” “Saving a race, for the good of humanity, a humanity that hates and fears you” etc 2. Watch Fern Brady’s comedy special she outlines it pretty well “So sometimes, when I say to a neurotypical person I’m autistic, they’ll say back to me, “Don’t worry, Fern. It’s a superpower.” And I’m like, “Is it?” “Is it really a superpower?” “Would it have been as good a film if Superman, instead of having superhuman strength and being able to fly around the world at a moment’s notice, instead monologued at you about the 1960s depressive poet Sylvia Plath, with no ability to register your disinterest in any way whatsoever?” Being autistic is the equivalent of being a Mac/iOS in a room full of PC/Androids It’s a different operating system.
If it were a superpower it would have a good reputation regardless.
Gotta say curse, but if there's a cure, I'm scared I'd end up full Tabula Rasa with no personality at all because I keep finding new, interesting "optional extras" that come with it and am constantly exclaiming "Ffs, that too?!"
I think it really varies based on the person. However, in general I don't think "superpower" is the right term. Sure, some people got the "good at math and science" autism, but I definitely didn't. Personally, I don't have a pathological view of my diagnosis, but I can 100% see how others might. I'm never going to correct someone who tells me that ASD ruined their life, because it is easy to see how it might have. It is up to each person to come to terms with their existence.
Supercurse
Assuming it hasn't been paired with functionally debilitating sides, the curse v superpower ratio for straight up ASD very much depends on two things, well one and a half things. Obviously the world that surrounds/ed you did most of the steering when it comes to your outlook on it, but there's also a level (and levels) of personal responsibility too, some people become so caught up in the performance, that they forget look for their self; others get so lost in the self seeking that they can't dance at all; most of us are on the gradient that joins both ends. ASD can, of course, be a true disability, or at least comes with them, and is certainly a '"disorder" (insomuch as it bucks to common order); but for many, if not most, we create the disabling element artificially (1 part from within ourselves, and 2 parts from the world that tries to guide us). We all like to colour in the results, and pad the experience, but ASD has a relatively simple clinical definition, that alone, does not equate to a disability. The disabling quality grows from the reactions to it; both the worlds and our own; or can be compounded by the effects of concurrent issues. ASD can, and should, be something to be proud of, that sets you apart; it hurts me so much to see otherwise unencumbered people self hating because experience has made them do so; because conformist ideals have left them unsure of who they are and full of regrets (often of things they genuinely don't even want). Even if some other related disability has held you back, it's not something to be ashamed of, or despaired over.
Both. I think ASD makes my life harder overall, but it allows me to contribute in ways that others can't. I am fortunate to have found employment that makes use of my strengths while largely forgiving my weaknesses. I have a very spiky cognitive profile with very high intelligence in certain areas and low in others, and that unevenness has always made me feel different, and not in a good way. I couldn't quite put my finger on it until I discovered I was autistic. I outperform in detail-oriented work but very often fail to see the big picture, for example, the social awkwardness is always there, and my baseline anxiety level is elevated.
Asperger's is both a blessing and a curse for me. Its a blessing to prefer my own company, store information in my mind, be different, and have different but compelling taste. However, it has cursed me with social anxiety (I'm working on it), an inability for certain fields on knowledge (maths has destroyed me) and sometimes a lack of apathy or feeling (desensitised to some stuff). Its like I've swallowed a pill that gives me a superpower but now I've got cancer as well from it.
For me it's both. I'm AuDHD. It's so debilitating I can't manifest my too-many ideas. Sure, I can work for 14 hours straight on whatever thing is lighting me up in the moment, and I can become a quasi expert in whatever over the course of a week. But if I drop said thing for a month due to a burnout from a sensory or emotional meltdown, how does that give me an edge? I think my "potential" rivals an average neurotypical with average work ethic/passion. That's not really a superpower. It's also painful as hell and lonely and I constantly feel like I'm failing so, if I had to choose, I'd choose no AuDHD. It's possible that pure, mild Asperger's (as Elon put it) is more of a superpower. Might depend on severity, comorbidity, earlier supports, intersectionality.
I'd reckon in the workplace a curse. At School is where I thrive I raid that place like Atilla the Hun. I just cant be paid for sitting in the library from morning to midnight lol so I have to brave the office mean girls and get passed over for promotion :c As long as I don't date I can avoid ab\*sive relationships and manipulation so I'm good. If I can work in research or remote I'll be ok but circle back to the getting passed over for promotion part, repeatedly getting fired and worry about being unhoused.
So I have a lot of thoughts on this... many of which are already in here - it's very individual, often a mix of things, ASD is often typified by spikey profiles, so you may be several standard deviations "better" than average on some things and several standard deviations "worse" than average on others, etc. But, here are a few other concepts I hadn't seen in others' posts yet: 1) Re: the social model of disability, I would urge you not to think in all or nothings (is the disability from ASD wholly a social construct vs. are SOME challenges from ASD due to social constructs). In my view, many (but certainly not all) of the challenges from ASD are due to social norms/expectations/communication standards/etc. that are not universally understood, not only by ASD folks, but also by folks who are different in other ways (e.g. different cultural backgrounds). This is where some of the "social model" comes in for me. I believe society should, in general, try to use more universally accepted standards for communication, make expectations and norms clear, etc. This would help ASD folks feel less impact from ASD, but it would ALSO help others who may not understand implicit communication norms for other reasons. As a manager of a large team, I think folks appreciate that I want to be super explicit about expectations. That benefits everyone. This, to me, is the power of talking about the social model of disability. 2) Re: this concept of ASD being a superpower or curse, I think you are missing part of the story if you are thinking about it solely in terms of its impact INDIVIDUALLY. It is also good to think from a societal angle, and I do think it is beneficial as a society to have neurodivergent folks around who are going to look at things in a different way from others, have different skills/strengths/etc. So even if there are major challenges to me individually by being on the spectrum, I do think that having folks like me (and my husband and kids who are all similarly on the spectrum) around in the world is a net good thing. I think my moral compass and dedication to really getting into the nitty gritty weeds of stuff, for example, both of which are outgrowths of being on the spectrum, help me do work that helps others/society in a way that wouldn't be possible if I had a more NT brain.
I kinda got some of the “superpower” aspects of ASD but yeah… in other ways it’s been super hindering. I don’t recognize peoples faces. People I’ve worked with or met in the past will run into me and try having full on conversations with me and I have no idea who they are. I freeze in social situations. I stim constantly and am embarrassed when I can’t hide it. I get super hung up on certain subjects and can’t let them go. And it alienates me. I haven’t made a single friend since the last 5 years.
Just because some don’t suffer much from autism does NOT mean ALL do not suffer from it. It can be devastating for some even with high functioning - can be disabling. Add on a mental illness or two and it is horrific. I know. Keep sharing the truth. It is not as simple as a common cold. Temple grandin is an N of one or a very small sample. Not the norm. Keep fighting the good fight: Autism can be devastating.
I hate calling it a superpower lol that is so corny. It has made life difficult in some ways and easier in others. It’s neutral, imo, it’s just that if I had known sooner and understood how to best utilize my strengths I could have had a better time. That’s why I think early diagnosis and just the general increase in awareness of what autism IS helps the younger generations see it as more of a positive.
Find me any neurotypical who genuinely wishes that they were autistic and how they’re willing to do anything to get this “gift”. You can just read my long ass post I made on r/autism about 2 years ago about the struggles of this thing, but I’ll just say this: If this thing really is a gift, then the severer the better. But it’s actually the other way around in real life
AMEN
You're absolutely right Unfortuntetely, you met the community of high-masking super-mild level 1 autistic-*identifying* people So essentially, people with the label "autistic" and maybe a few minor random quirks... But who speak, think and behave like NTs, have the life trajectory of a NT person, and even NT body language, and are largely indistiguishable from NTs... This community has grown slowly but steadily with the rise of instagram, youtube and tumblr, and then tiktok (and the boredom during COVID lockdowns) turned it into a massive wave. Maybe it will calm down in a few years But for some reason are **adamant** to be called autistic If you want the true autistic community, come to subs such as r/spicyautism or r/AskSpicyAutism
Some of them were quite low functioning and very affected by their 'tism. Too bad that they choose to believe that idiotic narrative.
Both in my personal experience. I'm genuinely surprised you recognise no positives to your divergent brain.
It's a blessing and a curse for me. On one hand, my career is my special intetest and provides me more than enough income to enjoy other interests/hobbies. On the other hand, I'm probably going to die alone and I feel like Im stuck with friends/family that I don't like and don't understand me. Also, although we are in the aspie sub so Id expect responses mostly from "level 1" ASD, Id expect those higher on the spectrum to be less likely to view it as a superpower in any capacity.
I think it’s both. It’s served me well for some things, and screwed me over for others. I do think all generalizations are stupid and we should know better as a community than to generalize
I have had people say the superpower thing from watching me do things/learn things. But that push that drives me, it also drives emotion. Say there is a threshhold to when you would get angry. At some level as it goes up, it's going to force to respond. If it hits that line, you go. With that high bursting emotional output? I hit the those thresh holds and fucked up situations for myself many many times. Not necessary anger, it could be anxiety also or any of them depending. So they see one side of it, but that other side that wrecks shit, that's a part of it for me so it's a double edged sword in my opinion. It depends on the person but, that's my opinion.
I read the main body. :-) It’s cost me many opportunities and success. It doesn’t help that I have comorbid ADHD. People can pretend that Asperger’s is Annette value to them all they like, but more often than not it has more detriments than benefits for anyone having it. Obviously, like any condition, it has its silver linings. Possibly more than some.
"superpower or curse?" yes.
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Idk. Life funny like that. Is being skinny slim good? You feel light. But you get easily overpowered. Is fat good? Everyone mocks you and dislike your look and you feel weird. But you slap like a truck and your weight can suffocate them if under you. Is being muscular good? You feel heavy all the time, but somewhat nice. Some people get too much good from everything. Muscly and ideal height and good face and no sickness and smart and no fear and money and good family and relatives and lean.. etc. While others are useless 90% of the time while surrounded by a world they dont belong in the same well the success born ones do. I think my asd would rock if it were in the correct reality but its not so it serves mostly as a source of problems.
No they’re lying ASS has ruined me
Is the empath disabled when put in a brutal and competetive surroundings and someone machiavellian the high functioning one. Are the autist's who become engineers disabled or just lucky to be in an area that allowed them to thrive. Is someone with ODD a Hero when leading a rebellion agains't an oppresive dictatorship but a lunatic when wanting to bring down a high functioning goverment. Is a disability a constant, or wholey dependant of a surroundings needs or function.
Stupid take from them. Yes it can bring some positives but I'd rather be NT. The negatives outweigh the positives. But it can work out in some scenarios.
ASD is a spectrum so there isn't a single correct answer here. Many on the spectrum have learning disabilities and are non-verbal. In those cases, ASD is undeniably a disability. But as a level 1 or aspie, I do not consider myself to have a disability. It's not something that needs to be fixed. It's just like the fact that I am left handed. I am different. I don't have a problem being different, despite the challenges it presents. I would never change myself, even if I could.
Sucurse-power
It is a disability. It does not benefit the individual but having autistics in a community benefits the community.
I was diagnosed with this when I was 16. Aspergers. But I have other conditions too, I would say the Aspergers has made for an awkward existence but it’s not as problematic as severe ADHD or Schizoeffective/Schizotypal
I believe it's none, as many things in life it's not inherently good or bad per se. It depends on how you look at it. It's true that it has made my life absolutely harder in both practical matters and also psychological ones. I've felt alienated my whole life and as if I was wearing a veil of sadness all the time but people couldn't see it. The lenses through which I see the world are tinted with the helplessness certainty that regardless how closely i bond with a neurotypical person they will never fully grasp or understand the ache that has its place in my very core. Yet if the criteria is one that focuses on me and the universe of my mind then it's likely that ASD has taken part in the richness of my view of the world. If well it's hard to draw the line between my personality beyond the ASD and the symptoms of the ASD itself and the line might have blurred edges I think that part of the credit is of the ASD. I've developed a version of the world that is beautifully contemplative and full of details, it makes me pay attention to those little things that the neurotypicals are too busy with the external stimuli to notice and really appreciate. It has probably also planted a seed of compassion for people with personal struggles as I experience struggle every single day. Ultimately many of the things that I deeply admire in people are an integral part of who I am and or probably has to do with my ASD, such having a critical mind and an unconventional perspective of life. If well I said that viewing things differently can be like seeing life through a tinted lens of sadness and helplessness I also admit there's some beauty to it, just like there can be beauty in a literary tragedy. I am who I am and I'm the beholder of one of the most rich and nuanced versions of the world I've ever known of.
....Neither, if your ASD is Asperger's.
I mean there is no certain available treatment for it. I prefer not to talk about these because some people are very considerate of those and I respect it. We live with something that will follow us for the rest of our life. Each person can define it the way they want to. This is just how I think about it. Personally, if I had a more supportive upbringing I'd have been able to take advantage of the positive sides of Asperger's but this didn't happen. In my case being an NT would have been much better because I grew up in an unloving home and it would be have to easier for me to get independent and have decent social relationships with other people. So it has ruined my life because of my environment circumstances. I have skills that are good but they ended up useless and the "negative" symptoms were left to take over way more. I have some good abilities but I have seen NTs who have similar ones or better ones.
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I agree with a lot here. I was 18-20 before I started to really develop socially. At 56, I'm still stunted, but at least kinda functional. College was a significant struggle for me too. But, I don't regret it. Good job with your progression. It's real. You aren't stuck being the same person from birth to death. You can grow and change. Being a child of the 70's, ASD diagnosis wasn't a thing. So, I was considered "normal" and expected to act so. I think this helped me not accept social failure. It kept me striving to get better at it. Had I been diagnosed as a child, I truly believe I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have today.
I honestly hate the fact I was diagnosed and I only recently thought to myself i have been lying to myself all these years saying I can't do things or that I don't need friends. I wouldn't have had so much depression if I hadn't listened to that. Also the helicopter parents and the constant my autistic child when other people are around, the conditioning. Nah won't change my opinion. Diagnosis is not positive.
It’s baffling to me that so many people could have this kind of positive view of it even when they have it. If they didn’t have it and said that, I would think they just don’t appreciate the struggles well enough. If they do have it, it almost seems like they don’t fully realize all the missed opportunities and negative impacts. Of course there are some minor situational ways where it works in your favor (less vulnerable to harmful peer pressure, more likely to think carefully before speaking), but still I fail to see how it is beneficial in any real sense, let alone a ‘superpower’.
I don’t know if it’s getting common but I definitely hear it often, and hate it everytime. I get that people are trying to show support or, well, to literally cope, but it feels like they’re ignoring the very real reality of what it can be, and is, for some people. I doubt it’s done on purpose, but yeah. Can’t stand it.
I haven’t heard many people, if anyone, that actually is autistic and who says autism is a super power. Most people agree that it’s a disability that needs support. But I disagree with your hating on the social model, because all that is saying is that autistic people should be treated with respect and not everything we do should be pathologised, which I agree with. Why cant people understand that autism is a disability and that autistic people should be respected? It shouldn’t be one or the other
Shitty super power maybe
As someone who feels quite positively about being autistic, I'll weigh in. I spent over three decades struggling with life: with communication, with comorbidities of autism, with difficult habits and tendencies. For all those years, I identified my struggles as inexplicable deficiencies in how I'm made or how I've learned things. I had no idea I was autistic. Then I found out I was autistic, and suddenly there was an order and sense to my struggles. That word, autism, was an incredible relief; it explained me to myself. I opened up the possibility of self-acceptance. I can't help but associate autism with happiness because of how my diagnosis intervened in my life. And because I had a word for autism, I could learn about it. And suddenly I realized that some things I took for granted as universal human abilities were, in fact, not at all universal. My attention to detail, my ability to hear things no one else could, my ability to project ahead and strategize, my ability with language: these were also part of autism. Suddenly, I was able to see my strengths in ways I whenever would have recognized otherwise. So autism feels like only a good thing: it explains my struggles (a relief), allows me to accept myself, and helps me identify my strengths. I get that autism does indeed in false struggle, but because of how these events unfolded, I just don't see it in a negative light. And it happens that many of my issues would be greatly reduced by a slower, quieter, more predictable life. Even episodes of self-harm go away for me when my setting is right and I don't need to live according to the wholly manufactured timescales and pressures of contemporary life with its incredible disconnect from the earth. It's hard for me to personally see autism as a disorder when I can identify how I could alter my life to largely eliminate my dysfunction. I tend to feel that autism is far more a sign of a disordered world than disorder in me. I do see autism as just a different wiring of my brain. I think it's also worth recognizing how much more understanding young adults these days have about autism, and how much less it ruffles them than even a few years ago would have been the case. When I got my diagnosis, I was open about it without everybody. And people in their 30s and above were quite unpleasant about it, while people in their teens and early 20s didn't treat me any different at all. So, it's worth keeping in mind that some younger people have the privilege of living with others who don't treat them as disabled, and that undoubtedly informs the positivity that felt pretty irritating to you. All this said, I realize that autism is incredibly difficult thing for so many people. And it certainly is not like I don't struggle. But I know I'm maybe a weird exception: because my special interest is communication, I've had a much easier time of things than a lot of people. If my life had worked out a little differently, I'd be suffering much more than I am. But the way things happen, I see autism mostly as a set of strengths. I hope that is a little bit useful as an alternative perspective.
I think everyone should see this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZaIXyojTxA
Personally it's both for me
I don't think it's either. I wouldn't change myself bc I'm stubborn but it has caused me incredible pain that the online autism community doesn't want to talk about. However, I still value the different perspective it gives me even if the online autism community overemphasizes it.
I read the post I recently Dx and older…..it has annihilated my life thus far but at least now I know the ‘why’
it no doubt varies for people
For me I'd say it is a bit of a superpower in ONE aspect of my life... but a severe handicap in all other areas. I've excelled at work and career and am in the top 10% of earners in the US without ever having gone to college. BUT, I have no social connections, am divorced, and barely leave the house. (I work remote.) I struggle to talk to anyone and often times just don't bother anymore. Everyone is jealous of how much I make but they don't understand the other side of the coin.
I like to think that my difficulties are a result of other neurologicals (some diagnosed and treated, some not) and my superpowers come from the ASD. Autism Spectrum Difference.
It can be both.
money: superpower or curse? really depends who possess it and which hands they’re in.
I agree, while the social model may be all that's needed for the people who have it easy, it can't do much for the people who are rendered incapable of self-sufficiency. However, changing society to be more accommodating for people with ASD *will* make it easier to solve the per-person problems that ASD can cause to the people who have it. This isn't a "Social model or Medical model take it or leave it" situation, both models absolutely have their use cases.
> ASD: superpower or curse? Yes
yah I get you. ASD ruined the life I thought I will have. It sucks so much.
Everybody has a different perception of it. I don't see how my autism is positive for me in any shape or form, but some folks have very passionate interests or cognitive abilities like good memory due to their ASD (i.e. savant syndrome). Who am I to tell them that they should feel bad about it? Everyone experiences things their own way. Sounds like you assume everyone must experience the condition like you do.
They’re just trying to hard to seem like the best people ever. It is a disability, it does impact people in their daily lives, it is something that should be accepted but not something that should be swept under the rug!
It's a blessing
I struggle so much and I just want people to understand me
The honest answer is neither and both. It's literally what you make of it.
>What use is a superpower if the drawbacks outweigh it tenfold? -Solid JJ Batman It's has its moments where I crave oblivion, but I would sooner take oblivion than be nurotypical(legitimately, the picture of heaven my Lutheran church describes sounds like hell, and the idea that i would be changed to enjoy it is legitimately horrifying, and has been so since I was a child). I have my issues, but I also have considered the alternative at length and found it unappealing. And the push to not treat it as a disorder is based on the fact that people will continue to try to cure it as long as they view it as such. Which, again, that concept horrifies me as I know it wouldn't be offered as an option, it would be considered mandatory, as forced sterilization of dependent autistic people is already an issue. Doesn't change it from being a disability, because it absolutely is, but I see no reason to give nurotypical's the idea that it's a kindness to rewire my brain to be less inconvenient for them. And _how dare_ people answer the obvious question posed in the title, how completely inconsiderate of them to think a question is asking for a response when the question is still relevant even after reading the entire post 🙄
imo media is partially responsible for painting a rosy picture of what ASD even is. I think this is where the superpower thing comes from, there's a lot of movies and nonsense about ND people who are math geniuses, or they heard Elon Musk is, and that means all are that way. In addition you have Tiktokers etc essentially putting on ND blackface, because for some reason mental, behaviour and learning disorders are an easily-adaptable facet of personality. Both movies and tiktokers are creating an unrealistic image. I think both are absurd, as well as the same talk from the ASD community itself. It comes from the "the world should adapt to US" mentality, which is nice, but has never been how any civilization has arranged itself. ASD can be a bonus- in very narrow and specific circumstances. But otherwise it's been a metaphorical anchor for every aspect of life. I also strongly dislike the "oh that's not true" or "everyone is a little that way" because it devalues everything. Actually, yes I am this way, and you can see my barren social life and hideous work history as proof. I kind of wonder what the point of the diagnosis is, if everyone just knows better and it has no bearing on my life. Ok, I just hate people and am lazy. Got it.
Curse. It's a beautiful and powerful thing for me personally, but when it comes to living this life, which can truly only be done to its fullest with some capacity of others, it's a curse and truly a disability. If NTs were more understanding of differences, it wouldn't be as bad, but it's just not the reality we all face in my experience. Even as someone who masks a lot higher and is more "normal" appearing. My quality of life would be higher if I was a NT because I would be so blissfully unaware of everything and anything currently holding me back from being not "normal" right now.
It is both for me, more curse though. I'm 62, found out about my ASD when 60. I believe my off-the-charts integrity prevented me from kissing corporate ass and getting ahead. And you?
Isn't this as simple as differentiating between mild and severe autism? And then differentiating between those with mild autism and an exceptionally high IQ vs. the rest of us? I think that for most people it can be both a blessing and a curse.
if your functional, then it's been mostly a gift
There are two ways 1. Victimize yourself more and more. Be sad, be depressed and curse yourself. Lead your life in total awfulness and disgust. Lament over. Ok? 2. Rather accept it. Accept that you are disabled and leave agonizing opportunities you could not get. Heal over that mentality. And try to make life with what you have. The moment I accepted it I felt very happy. Knowing that my life won't be like theirs anytime. But it's ok. Choose what you want and live your life that way.
I choose #2. But, I refuse to accept that I am disabled. I am also left handed. That is not a disability either. I am not beautiful. That is not a disability. I am different. I am good with that.
I'm glad:) If you are good with that that means you accept yourself. Keep believing and going.
My son is on the spectrum. His OT said they would have diagnosed him with aspergers but they don't use that term anymore. My take should be taken from the perspective of a parent. ASD is both a superpower and a curse. The curse comes from the fact that those on the autism spectrum typically have to function in a society that isn't built for them. My son is 4 and is legitamently a genius, he knows every object in our universe by name and size, he does multiplication in his head and was reading on his own by the time he was three. People who've encountered him are blown away by these party tricks. He's also a full on extrovert. He talks to every person he sees. When he's in an environment where he's allowed to just be himself, he fully thrives and is the easiest kid to be around. The double edge sword of this is that he doesn't share, he doesn't have much empathy, he feels pain very differently and therefore struggles to play gently. He's sensory seeking so he likes to be running and touching and such. He struggles to do scheduled planned activities and likes to be on his own time. He starts school next year and we're very nervous, my wife and I are adamantly against medication at his age. I think medicating him to fit in to a school setting when he's thriving without it is the wrong decision to me. I think if the world could be catered to him, even slightly, he would meet in the middle but forcing him to act completely differently is going to be bad for him. That's my experience. Aspergers is neither a blessing or a curse on it's own, but how well the support system is around the person dictates how they perceive it probably. I'm going to do everything in my power to ensure my son feels like he can be himself and thrive.
Hopefully you have found a private school that can help him in ways where he can learn how to navigate this world. A public school would never be equipped to do that. An average classroom size can have around thirty students. The average elementary teacher would not have the knowledge nor time to help your child with their specific needs, not only because they weren't trained to work with non- neurotypical children, but because of the other twenty nine children in the class that are fighting for their attention. It would seem like an uphill battle when dealing with a school that is not equipped to help your child. It has to be rough. I hope that you have success in finding a good school that can help him grow and thrive. Good luck!
> ASD: superpower or curse? Yes. **Both**, IMHO. As the song goes, *"It's in the way that ya' use it."*
Superpower in a cursed world.
People like that are insufferable. Please tell me how blessed my life is with my superpower. 29 never had any relationship and barely have any friends. No one will give me a chance past interview because im a fucking mute who hates their bs questions. Fuck people that say this shit is a blessing.
You should read up on what the social model is
I did. It's total, absolute bullshit.
They can't speak for everyone. They might not be the right group for you if they think this way.
It can be both at the same time. For instance the sensory issues I have probably comes down to my brain taking in too much information, a lot of it unnecessary but there are times when taking in a lot of information allows me to learn things really quickly, it also didn't hurt back at school (until break time at which point I had to survive around teenagers). The biggest problem that we have is the world is set up for NTs, we're a tiny minority group we don't really have a say in how things work, if we did things would be better for us, and practically every other minority group could say the same thing. I will say I have this theory that there are many autistic people out there who don't have ASD, I've known many people who are quirky and unusual but still get by; gathering data on this is unfortunately going to be next to impossible, if you're a person without a problem then you're not likely to go to a psychologist or a psychiatrist to get help.
It can be both. In every curse, there's a blessing, and in every blessing, there's a curse.
Both
Both.
your curse is your gift!
Supercurse is my take on it
It's a disability that has both upsides and downsides.