Here's a Good Analogy as to Why I Get So Frustrated

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I was playing hockey last night and it dawned on me why I've had so many difficulties throughout my life, whether the fact it took almost 30 years to get a date (and a serious girlfriend ), why I was unemployed for so long despite the fact I knew I was such a good worker and why nobody seemed to want to be friends with me despite the fact I was generally well liked. Well, if you look at my hockey stats, a VERY clear pattern arises over and over again:
Pre-Season/Exhibition: Dreadful, almost embarrassing.
Regular Season: Ranges from below to well above average with wild fluctuations.
Playoffs: Incredible
Championship Games: Almost unmatched and superhuman!

What ends up happening in hockey is that everyone sees my exhibition stats and want nothing to do with me, assuming that I'm always going to be terrible. Once I'm given a chance under pressure, I thrive when I am in situations that overwhelm most people. However, I am rarely if ever given those chances because just about everyone makes the assumption if I'm bad when there is no pressure and the competition is weak, I won't be able to handle it when things can really tough and the competition is fierce. Whether it's hockey, dating, work or life I am at my best when challenged over my head and facing overwhelming odds yet it's almost impossible to convince anyone of that.

I remember one time as a kid in baseball, a team of players 2-3 years older and in a higher skill division than me needed an emergency player. I jumped at the chance and they were so desperate to avoid a forfeit they didn't care who played. I was in a major slump at the time and what happened? I hit a triple on my first swing and followed it up with another triple and a double. I would normally have never been given that opportunity as I was an average player at best but I certainly showed everyone that day. It was recorded on video and you can literally hear people gasp at how unexpected it was for a scrawny, nerdy kid to play better than all the teenagers. Can anyone else relate to my frustrations of trying to get your talents noticed and rarely if ever getting a REAL opportunity to showcase them?

Yep.

Unfortunately, it's the day to day consistency that really matters in the end. That's just the real world, and it's not really unreasonable. We can't really expect that extreme circumstances or extreme conditions will occur on a regular basis. If they did, they would not be extreme, they'd be normal.

We're all judged more on day to day normal performance. If we suck at that, we're going to have a hard time getting noticed. That's the same for everyone, autistic or otherwise.

But that's what makes autism a disability. Our dismal record for handling things consistently when everything is "normal."

I see what you are saying but let me clarify what I meant as that's probably wasn't the best analogy. When I'm put into roles that are "over my head", like a permanent, higher responsibility job or given a challenging assignment I do very well. Essentially what I mean is that I can't convince anyone that I am cut out to be working at a higher level because I don't excel in the 'lower levels' so people make that assumption I can't rise to the occasion. I'm capable of doing so much better but can't see to be able to convince anyone of it. THAT's what frustrates me. Same as how I almost failed high school math yet got straight A+s in a "harder" university level math course.

To go back to my hockey analogy, it would be like never getting the chance to play in the NHL because my hypothetical Minor League stats aren't good and I can't prove that it's because I'm bored and need a bigger challenge, not because I suck.