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Would you trade your Autism for something else?

I’m not to good at explaining myself but this point may be better served somewhere else.

What I mean is on the Facebook pages it’s common for people to say how awful everything is and how they would do anything to get rid of it and trade it for any other condition. :(

I was trying to convey I’m ok with Autism it makes me who I am and I can capitalize on the strong aspects of it.

I think it would be silly to want to be blind over being Autistic for example ;)
 
I was diagnosed when I was 7 and I'm 25 now. I'm so used to it at this point so I wouldn't want to learn something else. Plus I wouldn't know what is better or worse not having lived with another disability.
 
disconnected said:
When I work in the city I ride the train to work. On the way home I saw a woman with a dog and I quickly wondered if dogs are allowed on the train. Anyhow when she stood up I took notice that she was completely blind. Her dog led her onto the train and into a vacation seat. It was apparent she was 100% blind as she felt her way on and reached toward the seat. I had an immediate feeling of sorrow. I began to think how much I enjoy my sight since I’m a visual learner . I would prefer to keep my Autism opposed to being blind.

What are your thoughts?
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Ho ok your message is clearer than the title of the thread, you didnt ask to trade for something positive, but your post is more an interesting message about how we are not "that" unlucky with our condition.

I appreciate your spirit, and as you guessed it I wouldnt trade autism for another condition, autism comes with its challenges and can be the origin of many others psychological issues, but this is cleary not the same as blindness, at least I can work on my weakness to some degree.

But many people with autism also have great physical disabilites , let's not forget them, in addition i'm pretty sure that some inborn blind may have autism aswell. At least the lack of vision will lead to an atypical developpement of the brain, I think.
 
No, I think in some terms it is a distinct advantage while in other areas it is not, but it is the only life I know, so I have no idea why I would even consider it.
 
Mr Allen said:
Yeah but if you weren't Autistic, you possibly could've been an actual Judge.
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You're assuming any and all people on the spectrum cannot function in a legal profession? I would disagree.

Not everyone on the spectrum has the same traits and behaviors that would preclude them from being employed in a specific capacity. No telling how many people in my country may be on the spectrum, yet hold such a job by ability, choice and perhaps most of all dogged perseverance.

In my own case, I've never really had any desire to even be a court judge or even a lawyer. My mother might have liked the idea...but you know parents. My nickname here? That's about one of my stims. My pacing and looking serious- like a judge. A nickname one of my father's friends named me as a child. :D

Yet I became an insurance underwriter...which is a "judge" of sorts. Not so dramatically in charge of people's lives, but of a great deal of corporate assets and liabilities. With the authority to be "punitive" towards policyholders if need be. Just not in the same manner as prescribed by law. I've sent people to the "dog house", just not the courthouse- or jail.

There doesn't seem to be anything stopping autistic lawyer and Department of Justice representative Troy Crumine. He may be a judge some day. Read his perspective on it all:

Employment Issues for people with Asperger’s – a first person perspective
 
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Mr Allen said:
Yeah but if you weren't Autistic, you possibly could've been an actual Judge.
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For many on the autism spectrum, our condition for lack of a better word is not always considered a disadvantage.

It is described as a spectrum because of how varied in traits it can be manifested, some being very impaired, while others gaining what we consider gifts.

I happen to refer to my version of autism as a gift that came with a little tarnish on it.

Many of us see details that others would miss because of how intense our focus can be.

Many of us use a lot of logic when dealing with an issue, others, not so much.

A judge has to use a lot of logic to arrive at a decision even after all of the facts are presented to a jury of peers.

I know for a fact that my abilities were first exploited then sought after because of how detail oriented I am, so to say that no one on the autism spectrum could ever be a judge is just misinformed.
 
Nitro said:
For many on the autism spectrum, our condition for lack of a better word is not always considered a disadvantage.

It is described as a spectrum because of how varied in traits it can be manifested, some being very impaired, while others gaining what we consider gifts.

I happen to refer to my version of autism as a gift that came with a little tarnish on it.

Many of us see details that others would miss because of how intense our focus can be.

Many of us use a lot of logic when dealing with an issue, others, not so much.
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Good point. Our ability to focus on the details and apply logic.

Yet these remain traits that not all on the spectrum have. Just another example that reflects autism as a spectrum of traits and behaviors. Where one can encounter a wide range of both assets and liabilities pertaining to autistic people.

That we're quite a varied lot when it comes to both our strengths and weaknesses.
 
I'd never trade my autism with something else. If I take away my autism, I'll just be killing who I am as a person. Autism gives me the type of personality I have, and I like my personality, so I won't want to ever trade my autism in for something else, not even for 100 billion dollars.
 
I wouldn't be me without the autism, so it's really hard to answer this question. Some parts of being me suck, others are great. I really wish my senses were less powerful, especially my ears and nose, and I also wish my mind wasn't racing 1000 miles a second. But again, I don't know any other way to be.
 
Mr Allen said:
Yeah but if you weren't Autistic, you possibly could've been an actual Judge.

Me? If I wasn't Aspie I'd be in a good job earning a decent wage, and possibly married with at least 2 kids by now and living in a big 3 bedroom House in South West London like my Brother, well maybe somewhere a bit closer to Sheffield than London.
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There are non-autistic people that don't have any of those and autistic people that have more or what they perceive as being worth more. Blaiming all of the so-perceived failures on autism only is quite silly. Although I understand where you're coming from.
 
Nope. Sorry! Autism is sort of my personality. It's what makes me, well.. Me. Sometimes I don't wanna be me because of my bad luck... and depression.. and anxiety.. Come to think of it, autism's the only thing I have that isn't a problem besides OCD.. The SPD (comes with autism mostly), APD (not actually diagnosed but show signs), Anger issues (professional diagnosis not needed for this one as it's not actually a mental disability), Depression, and Anxiety are the problems, though.. Sometimes my anger is really good for self defense, but other times, it makes me destructive...
 
This condition and all of these co morbid conditions make me legitimately suicidal.
And all of the people acting like its some kind of superpower or "only autistic people ca be smart" makes me really want to violently kill myself.
I have absolutely no remorse for saying that
id take almost anything over this
 
Well, I wouldn't really feel "sorry" for someone who is blind. They're just different. "Disabilities" (if you consider autism one) aren't like pokemon cards. You don't trade them around. Stating it the way you did just kind of comes off insensitive. :/

The blind woman is probably perfectly happy, too.

I would hate for someone to feel sorry for me because of my ASD. I'm don't need that kind of thing.
 
The only bad thing about my ASD is that I am self diagnosed after failed diagnoses due to drugs clouding the assessors assessment, plus my identity issues (EUPD diagnosed) making me say things about myself that I wanted to be or thought/wished i was rather than the real me, who i didnt know at the time as I was on such a high dose of drugs.
I wouldn't want to be anything other than who I am though.
 
There's only one thing I'd trade being aspie for, and that's to be thin and stay that way the rest of my life. The way people go on you'd think all aspies are skinny from lack of eating or being picky about our food.
 
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