I have to side with the more pessimistic ones here. Yes, there are things about my Asperger's that are cool, but I wasn't diagnosed until recently (I'm in my early 30s), and I have suffered so much in my struggle to make friends. I like being around people and being social, I just haven't known how to do it properly and have seen so many people walk away from me. I've cried myself to sleep for decades over how lonely I felt. I've said many times that I would be happy trading part of my IQ for more social/emotional intelligence, and while if I actually had the chance, I may not actually take it, I have definitely suffered a lot as a result of that deficiency. I may be smart and all, but my Asperger's has even taken away from my professional life by causing me to screw up interviews, lose jobs, and feel so overwhelmed by complex tasks, I didn't go onto graduate school because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to tackle something as complex as a thesis. It's only now that I'm learning how to interact with people and how to tackle complex tasks, and my life may finally get better as a result, but when I think of all the suffering Aspergers has caused me, well, I wish I didn't have it. The reality is, we live in a world of NTs, and in such a world, being an Aspie is a hindrance. I want to think that things would've been different had I been diagnosed earlier, but I see so many of you who still struggled with similar things, that I'm not so sure anymore. I'm getting treated for the issues that my Aspergers is causing me, so maybe once I've learned how to get a handle of those I'll look at things differently, but in the meantime, I have a hard time seeing this as a difference as opposed to a disability :-(
