"Autism is a superpower"

i'm exactly similar to you. except, i was always a very superior reader - but that's really it. somehow, i could just read really well; i just could, without much effort (in learning it, etc)

but like you, i'm horrible at math, along with my other aspie pal. our memories are awful. plus, i'm 66, so my memory truly is bad. and like you, i get pretty fascinated by certain things, and study them. i didn't no this about me, until the past few years, when i hit my sixties. you're lucky; you alrady no you get into certain things.

that's a talent right there.... i guess you can try learning various things --- hopefully some will mesh and form some sort of 'stuff' you're into. maybe they will all build on each other .... for me, in spite of my awfulness at math, and my awfulness at learning languages, and my poorness at using computers ---- and my age,, and my poor memory, i'm studying microcontrollers, python, unix, and electronic digital circuits. 

so those are all things that contain areas that are glaring weaknesses in me. but... that's my current areas of studies. 

i'm sure you'll do fine. i encourage you to follow your instincts in what you are interested int.

Great response and a interesting theory  

I mean you probably do have your own superpower, it may be you've not yet discovered it yet. For me I find my concentration on something I enjoy, seems to be my strength luckily I can apply it to my work.

I’m glad it’s gotten a bit better. Sorry that there are still struggled there too though.

The word 'superpower' has a falsely cheery vibe. I'm glad that I am who I am, but let's face it being autistic can be extremely hard to deal with so it's sort of demeaning to sugar-coat it like that.

Hi Rainbowgirl - I thought I should respond as I posted the thread "Do you have a 'superpower'" that seems to be ongoing.  My take is that autism is not a superpower but some people with autism can do amazing things - hence the superpower bit in quotes.  I only mean to try and see positives in a sea of negatives, nothing more.

Excelling at a thing while being terrible at many others is a "Spike-y Profile" it's apparently particular to autism. Many things will take me much longer than others as well, but then I may end up with a deeper knowledge in the long-run.

From what I've heard, a second language is remarkably much easier to pick up when around others who are native to it. So if I'd like to learn French, it's probably best I learn a little and then move to France for a bit.  

Memory is a thing which can be disciplined or can 'grow'. And by 'exercising' our memory, it then becomes more useful for the tasks it's required for. But it can take some time, like any muscle to build. One of the best techniques I've found is something used in Theatre training for cold reading. It's best with a fiction book or even poetry book, though you could use a newspaper as well. Start where ever you wish and look at a sentence. Then close your eyes if it helps and think about or even visualise that sentence. You can role play and assume the character or envision that sentence in an environment. Then without looking at the book, repeat the sentence back out loud. Look back at the book, collect and internalise the next sentence and repeat. 

This can take some time to get used to, but after a while you may find this technique requires more context. This feeling is suggesting fundamental information is useful for having the full understanding and when you do, it becomes much more easy to intake and retain information. This is the beginning of learning to critically evaluate as well.

For many of us, this is a key element of what we were missing from Education and felt incomplete. There's a book called A Field Guide for Earthlings which talks about this in relation to the autistic brain-type. We learn and process information different. Once we start using the techniques we need to learn, ideally, we can excel at things which interest us. It's just not how neurotypicals individuals learn. :) 

I am starting to think that neurodivergence occurs amongst a species to ensure its survival. where every neurotypical person goes in the same direction off the edge of a cliff. the neurodivergent individuals go in the opposite or different direction. It makes sense from a natural selection standpoint.

It makes sense to me this way.

at the moment neurological typicals are fighting amongst themselves to assure mutual self assured self destruction. 

Plus what to add that most of histories revolutionaries like nikola tesla, philo Farnsworth and isaac newton and even winston churchill where suspected to be on the spectrum somewhere. 

Yes I agree. Being autistic is very much dependent on Luke Beardon’s equation:

Autism + Environment = Outcome 

Everyone has their own profile of strengths and weaknesses, for us as autistic people this is often pronounced. If you don’t realise your own strengths yet, it doesn’t mean they are not there, you are just yet to identify them.

I agree with you Rainbowgirl. I think these steryotypes are just as harmful to autistic people as negative ones. It makes those of us who dont have a "superpower" feel even more of a failure than we already do. Its like the whole "Oh your all like Sheldon" thing people come out with, annoys the hell out of me. Every autistic person is different, they cant fit us all into a box

Personally I think I am quite intelligent but I have the short term memory of a goldfish, have no ear for languages and am terrible at maths and science. Seriously, I dont even know what an atom is. 
I do have an idetic memory for sports resutls from years ago, that's about it

We are all different and we dont have to have "superpowers" to be valid autistic people 

I am better at dealing with those troubles, and asking for accommodations, but it's still something I struggle with, unfortunately.

Hi Rainbowgirl,

I find "superpower" the wrong way to describe it. Those of us Autistic have certain qualities that nonautistic people don't have because of the difference between the way our brains function.

Whether the functioning differences are good or not depends on the situation. As an example, those of us Autistic do what's called "bottom to top thinking" which makes us detail oriented. There's certain activities where bottom to top thinking is of great value like IT, but bottom to top thinking is not so good in social situations.

I don't see autism as a superpower, I just see it as a condition that gives alternative qualities. Whether the neurological differences are good or bad depends on the situation.

Yeah, I understand this perspective too and it is a totally valid one. Sometimes it does definitely feel disabling. I’m sorry to hear that you’ve experienced these troubles, and I hope they are at least in some ways behind you now? I hope others can see both your strengths and difficulties and maybe give accommodations and care as needed.

Also, I really like the phrase you used, ‘a neutral difference.’ This feels to me like the ultimate end of accepting neurodiversity - that we might all think/feel/act differently, but we all have valid ways of doing so which make sense in our context.

Thinking in extremes is common for autistic people.

I agree with you.  I get annoyed by the "autism superpowers" idea too, as I don't feel I have any.  I have some strengths, but I'm not sure that they come from being autistic.  However, autism has definitely given me troubles over the years in terms of my career, social life and relationships, so I don't see it as a superpower.  At best, it's a neutral difference.  To be honest, I often see it as a disability, at least in my case, which I know is not always a popular way of seeing it in the autism community.

This is a really sweet and thoughtful comment, thank you. I suppose you are right! I never tried to be good at English so I never consider it as one of my skills, I overlook it when I think about things I'm good at, thank you for giving me that perspective.

Marketing what, though? I'm a bit confused by this since it's not like anyone chooses to have autism

You are your own person I'm sure your good at lots of things and as time goes by your find more things. I read below that you did really good in English, I can see that, your writing is really good :) You said others are really fast at learning new languages but think about how many struggle in English. Your find there's some things you can do well and others which take time to learn and improve. I found that with writing. I was really bad at it and it took me years to get good at it though I'm still not great now!

I'm like you I find certain things really interesting, like animals. Not really a superpower but something I enjoy and love to read about.

We are our worst critics' and I think you are a lot smarter and better at things than you think. English is clearly something you are very good at, and your communication here is fab :) 

It's clever marketing; aimed at the Comic Book Guy Stereotype.