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"Autism is a superpower"

Rainbowgirl

I see this type of message everywhere, people talking about the amazing talents that autistic people they've met have and calling it a superpower. They act like being autistic just comes with these amazing abilities.

I appreciate putting a positive light on autism rather than a negative one but it makes me feel like something is wrong with me. I don't have a superpower.

I'm slow, I'm bad at math, my memory is so bad that I fear I may have amnesia, I only ever did average at school and I've been learning the same language for 4 years yet I can't hold a real conversation. 

I'm not really intelligent or talented. The thing I'm best at is just being really interested in certain things (I consider it a good quality of mine) but it's nothing that would be considered a superpower.

Does anybody else feel this way? Is this type of thinking actually damaging to the image of autistic people?

Parents

  • Hi Rainbowgirl! Rainbow  I find this a really interesting question and I also have some qualms about it. As you said, it kind of doesn't feel very liberating to those of us autistic people who don't feel we have any superpower... (Also the part about your memory being so bad that you fear you have amnesia cracked me up a little as I've felt the same way from time to time - though my memory is usually good and suddenly becomes bad when I'm having anxiety/sensory-problem flare ups... so like sudden-onset amnesia Sweat smile) Anyway - so yeah, I kind of agree!

    What I do think is helpful though is trying to think about what skills I have that I do like which are either caused by or interact with my autism. So, I quite like that I can be super interested in something and get so much joy from finding out about that thing. I used to get really annoyed at myself for getting super into something and then something else and then something else - always feeling like I was flitting around and not leaving my mark on any one thing. But I find so much joy in learning something new, and sharing that with others, and I've started thinking how I really like that about me, and maybe without the autism I wouldn't be quite like that. Is it a superpower? Heck no! I don't see my random knowledge about octopuses saving anyone or even winning any competitions about octopus knowledge, but it has been making me smile this week, and making the friends I've told about it laugh too! I also like that I have an over-sensitivity to colour meaning I pick up on little shade differences when I'm walking around that others don't. I love pointing them out to people and also painting with those colour combinations. Again, not a superpower, but it's something a little bit unique that I bring to the table and my autism may have an impact on that. Shrug tone1

    But yeah - "Autism is a superpower" doesn't sit well with me either because there are obviously good and bad parts of everything, and I feel like it negates some of the truly difficult things autistic people have to learn to live with (no matter how much my friends make adjustments for my needs, and no matter how much I do want close friends and know I always love it once I'm there, the terror of going to my friends' houses and the exhaustion afterwards are things I have to live with and they're not super). But I feel it came from a place that is well meaning, in that if autism affects how we perceive the world and how our brains respond to it, then we need to start seeing some of the positives to that, otherwise we're just victims of a disorder, and thinking only in that way can be quite depressing I think.

    What are some of your positives (not superpowers!)? Blush

  • in reply to Mearcstapa

    I loved your answer and framing it as positives instead of superpowers. 

    "Heck no! I don't see my random knowledge about octopuses saving anyone or even winning any competitions about octopus knowledge, but it has been making me smile this week, and making the friends I've told about it laugh too!" This was my favourite bit :) 

    Growing up I definitely felt the burden of being different. I did not fit in at ALL no matter how hard I tried (I really tried), it was like I was an alien and they all knew it. As an adult I really like the person that I am, though and that includes those things.

    But my favourite positive like yours is that I get really intensely interested in things and how much joy that brings to me. I feel like it's a very special type of joy that can only be enjoyed by someone who has my intensity. I wouldn't be able to give that up, I love it. 

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  • in reply to Mearcstapa

    I loved your answer and framing it as positives instead of superpowers. 

    "Heck no! I don't see my random knowledge about octopuses saving anyone or even winning any competitions about octopus knowledge, but it has been making me smile this week, and making the friends I've told about it laugh too!" This was my favourite bit :) 

    Growing up I definitely felt the burden of being different. I did not fit in at ALL no matter how hard I tried (I really tried), it was like I was an alien and they all knew it. As an adult I really like the person that I am, though and that includes those things.

    But my favourite positive like yours is that I get really intensely interested in things and how much joy that brings to me. I feel like it's a very special type of joy that can only be enjoyed by someone who has my intensity. I wouldn't be able to give that up, I love it. 

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