Advantages to being an Aspie

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Can you give me some concrete advantages of being an Aspie? Reasons that would stop you from curing yourself from Asperger's if that was possible. I know that a lot of people say that Aspies can focus better. I want more concrete examples.

Any trait can be either an advantage or disadvantage. It would be more accurate to say "concrete differences of being Aspie".

Here is my observation of several ASD people in my family ...

1. ASD people may have much less socializing with others, and may devote their free time to education and/or an intellectual hobby.

2. ASD people may have an ordered thinking, precision-type thinking.

3. ASD people may speak or write slightly different than NT people

4. ASD people may be able to have longer concentration without getting bored.

Maybe others can add to this list.

That's not what I meant. Maybe concrete was the wrong word. I want more specific real life examples. Not general descriptions that I can find with one google search.

Do you mean examples from people's lives?

If so, here's one from mine: I have trouble both starting activities and stopping once I start. At university, I took advantage of that by using various strategies to get me started on assignments, and once I started I could focus for hours on end. It also helped that I was studying my special interest.

Yes and I also want to know if Aspies can accomplish things that NTs are incapable of(i.e getting better grades or learning faster.) I just hate being an Aspie because there seems to be nothing I can do that NTs aren't capable of and plenty of things NTs are capable of that I'm not.

You may not feel the need to wash or change your clothes for several weeks -- but that's OK, because although you smell, you have no friends to lose over it.

Although most folks might not agree, and considering I can now look back at my early life for comparison, I'd say a great boon is solitude. In the same vein as the "dirty clothes" example, since you spend time with yourself you have the opportunity to intellectualize. The story about Albert Einstein having little success until he was able to use the solitude offered by his clerk's position in a government patent office to develop his famous theories, is an example.

I'm not suggesting we have any hidden Albert E's in our group, but the ability to focus, for me, can better be brought out if there is solitude in which to practice. I feel if I had to plan for a full time social whirl I'd be unable to live and think the way I do, and that I am unwilling to do; I "like" the way I think.

I hope this doesn't come off sounding something like "sour grapes" but instead I'm just taking advantage of everything within my reach.

denny

wrong thread

Last edited by Toy_Soldier on 11 Nov 2013, 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

People with Aspergers Syndrome have a "cat's brain".

People that are neurotypical have a "dog's brain".


The main reason why it feels like NTs are capable of doing a lot more is surely because neurotypicals way outnumber people with AS. It would be more beneficial to have AS if the numbers were turned around, because the neurotypicals would end up feeling extremely lonely as a result of not having their social needs met.


But then Again, there will always be someone who's better than you at everything. One has to stop comparing oneself with others, although this is definitely very much harder having AS.

My God ... get on the phone to Professor Baron-Cohen IMMEDIATELY. This is the breakthrough he's been praying for!

Come off it, this silly ... what is it? An analogy?.... well, whatever it is ... falls down the minute you consider that dogs are scientifically-proven to be more intelligent than cats (which imho are vastly over-rated animals, chiefly treasured by the highly neurotic and those suffering from barely-expressed phobias about poo)

It was mainly an analogy of the animals' social structure and memory capacity.

Cats = No social hierarchy, but still social when treated well. Good long-term memory.

Dogs = Social hierarchy, social in a pack-setting. Good short-term memory.

Funny thing is I don't need or want to "cure" myself of being an Aspie, I like it just the way it is.

And yes, I am well aware of needing to wash and change my clothes often.

I want to cure myself. I'm always in awe of how much things NTs can get done in one day. They can get up early, arrive more or less on time to work or school, actually get their job done, maintain a social life, get household chores done, raise kids and pay bills. It's like NTs have superpowers. I can understand why an Einstein-type Aspie wouldn't want to be cured. Unfortunately I'm nothing like Einstein, there's nothing that I can do that the typical NT can't.

Superpowers? more like destructive powers. Oh I don't how well they are doing with 50% divorce rate. Ever look at how bad and crazed the world is?. Since they are 87 out of 88 people they would be a good place to look for where the problems lie. But they're better at putting up fronts so our real problems are there for all to see, them not so much. But those are generalizations, all you need to worry about is the NT's you deal with, there are fabulous NT's with no fronts and crummy Aspies

Studies that say that say that dogs have a higher encephalization quotient, which I'm skeptical of as a measure of intelligence. Others are biased towards skills that dogs are good at, but not cats.

Dogs are good at learning and following commands, while cats will often learn independently and specialize in strategic thinking. Capacity to learn does commands involve intelligence, and being able to follow commands probably involves both short-term and rote memory. However, learning independently involves creativity, which is useful in novel situations. Creativity probably involves many aspects of intelligence, and thinking strategically probably does too.

Last edited by IntellectualCat on 11 Nov 2013, 10:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Advantages:

- My blank affect makes an excellent "Poker Face" that can rarely be read.

- My ability to focus intently on one task makes for an excellent "Zone" when programming, drafting diagrams or trouble-shooting a system.

- My "crowd anxiety" has forced me to leave some loud parties early and avoid fights and shootings later.