Do you enjoy being an aspie/autist?

[Geordie]

I just want peace with myself.

Sometimes, getting a diagnosis is, by itself, a relief. We may never know what a diagnosis does to us, but we now know how the particular set of behaviour can be explained with a term better So just work at what we do best, yeah?

Well, I experience difficulties in several aspects of an adult life.

**I am 27 but only recently completing a Bachelor Degree
**I depend financially on parents.
**I have no female partner due a various problems with communication.

It doesn't matter with the length of the journey, only the destination matters.

Also, I depend financially on parents, but that's because they employ me. And I am single, by force but more importantly, for me now, by choice

 

[Aalo]

Of course I can't state I enjoy those huge difficulties trying to relate on new people or being intermittently insomniac. Still, these are somehow easily coped or made offset. And as I've been solitary my entire life, I've learned to love being like that. If I'd be to interprete this situation now, there'd not be found any breakage between how I'd like to be and how AS makes me be. So at least for now I'm in peace with my disorder. And maybe this is a big characteristic of AS to believe NTs doing everything somehow silly. I also strongly do this, but after all, I'm great at making excuses on my benefit.
I liked how Stephen Fry said in his document The secret life of manic depressive, that those manic intervalls make person feel so good and that gap between the extremities gives so strong perspective on everything, that many bipolars would not give away their condition. Me neither.
But I can easily imagine AS being too much for some as it truly can restrain so much.

 

[Pusteblume]

No, I really really dislike it (hate is a strong word I prefer not to use).
I can only see one good thing with it and that think is waaaay outruled by the bad things.
My primary focus is to act and be as "normal" as possible whatever it costs me.

 

[Spaz]

Yes, I do enjoy being an aspie. When I was younger I totally hated to be like this but now I've learnt to love it. I've noticed that it's really cool to be eccentric and different than others.

 

[SUM1]

I'm sort of neutral, but I definitely don't want to change, as for me it's the NTs who are weird and need to change. I feel normal.

 

[Sylar]

I don't know what it's like to not be an aspie so I can't really say if I enjoy it or not, I just am. Do I think I'd prefer to not have it? Of course.

 

[SUM1]

I answered this ask.fm question, and it perfectly explains my answer to THIS question too!

 

[Galaxy Freeze]

@HelloDizzy: You read my mind; I feel the same way!

I've got a rocky relationship with my Asperger's. Lately, I've been starting to really dislike it. It's making my life harder, and I'm sure I look like such a weirdo to my family/adults at school/other people, especially in public places. I used to like it more, I guess (when I was young and had no idea about it). I do excel at certain things like Art/Writing, but it's not enough to save my poor social skills and painfully repetitive habits. This year, I'm really going to work on trying to blend it, I just want to get out of high school. I'm sure I'll appreciate my Autism more in college, when I'll actually be learning things that I'm good at. Just have to wait now, though.

But I know other Aspies are proud of what they've got, and that's awesome. I'm just not one of those, though... I wish I could appreciate it better, but every time something like a meltdown/over-stimulation occurs it opens my eyes back up.

 

[Sev]

It's a tough question to answer. I would say yes . Even though I have struggles, as many people on the Autism Spectrum do have, I would say that I quite like the way I am - or at least the way I'm not. I would hate the idea of being some extroverted people lover. I love having the ability to just detach myself from everything and delve deep into my interests. It's also a nice way of making sure the friends I do have, are genuine friends who enjoy having me around.

 

[Dusty285]

Knowing I am an Aspie has been very liberating. Mostly I was always trying to get an answer to why I did not fit in or was not able to participate in conversations or social gatherings. Discovering 'Aspie,' The Spectrum, having the answer I always wanted, gave me freedom. And then I began to recognize my own strengths and to recognize the weaknesses and drawbacks to the NT psyche and to use my own capabilities and contrarian outlook to deal with the NT world. Life is better. I do like realizing I am not an NT and am not locked into the NT mindset and conformity.

 

[umbrellabeach]

Yeah, I do. I like being different, thinking things that most people probably don't and getting a lot out of sensory experiences (including things like movies and music).

 

[Ste11aeres]

Yep.

Although I would like to be NT just for one day in order to know what it's really like.

 

[Judge]

Philosophically on a number of levels I've just always dealt with the cards I was given. I think that is an "asset".

I don't have a common frame of reference for being anyone or anything but myself.

 

[Loomis]

I am liking it more and more as I learn more about how it affects my behavior. I hated it when I did not know I had it. The bewilderment of not understanding what was different about me was unbearable. Now that I know what it is and how it works I am OK with it.

 

[Aspieistj]

I would very much like to be an NT for a few days. It would help me to understand how odd I appear to others. Rather than become an NT permanently, I wish I could live in a community in which Aspies were the decided majority. Forced to live in an NT world, I view life as an Aspie as terribly painful. I would NEVER want any child to be born with any type of handicap so I can't possibly believe it would be OK to let a newborn remain an Aspie if it were possible to make that child an NT. Autism is a handicap! There is so much variation in the personalities and moral makeup of NTs that there would still be a lot of individualism if we were all NTs. I wouldn't want to be left handed either simply because the world is built for Righties. Did any of you who are right handed ever have to sit at a left handed one piece desk/chair or try to use left handed scissors? It is very annoying. I feel no need to be so different that I constantly feel uncomfortable.

 

[Kari Suttle]

Half and half, really. Becoming so quickly and completely obsessed with whatever's caught my eye - be it a band or a topic of interest - is a prime source of joy and entertainment in my life, always has been. I like how when i want to know about something, its all in and within a day or two i'll know everything about it i can possibly look up. I like that i can look at things objectively and honestly. But i also dislike it too - the fact that communication and reading people is nearly impossible made for a lonely childhood. Its resulted in a huge communication barrier between me and my own parents - either they read me wrong or i read them wrong, etc. I can't tell confessions and critisism (constructive or otherwise) made in the heat of the moment by them versus supportive words said months later - to me they're both equally honest and i can never tell what's what. I really don't like how unrealistically hard its made learning to drive, either. But at the same time i wouldn't be me without it.

 

[Autism]

I can definitely read people very well, and that is exactly where my problem lies. Because as soon as I find out what they are all about then I am simply not interested to find out anything about them.

 

[jellyhead]

I'd like to be better able to do certain things like reading situations or being better in touch with emotions , but if it meant giving up my near photo memory or lateral thinking & ability with problem solving & maths .. Then no thanks , I pretty much cope alright with the type of person I am and its taken me 45 years to get to this point

 

[whitedevil1612]

I agree with Kari's post; there are upSides and downsides. It's amazing being able to take a scubadive into any interest you have, and learn the ins and outs of it within hours; however, there's somewhat of an energy trade off and we have less ability to engage in the social world- a necessity in our current socially ordered world. It's like a Semelparous animal, which has no energy left to live after reproducing. Only we've got no energy left to socialise after perusing our hobbies. Lol.
I won't lie; there are times when I hate this affliction.
There are more times, however, where I love it.
-Oliver.

 

[whitedevil1612]

Aspergers requires more understanding amongst the general public.