What is a Positive about your ASD

I can tell you what is positive about me- my patience, my resilience, my passion and my love- but I cannot seperate myself from my autism.  

Being autistic has had such a profound effect on all areas of my life that it is just a part of who I am, like being British or a certain age or being queer. 

It affects my relationships.  I find it harder to make friends, but the friendships I do have are strong and meaningful and supportive.  

It affects my communication- and though I find it hard to find words or get them out, I am a good listener and I accept and connect with people in unusual ways.

It affects my organisation.  My dressing table is an explosion of hair supplies and jewelry and fidget toys, but in my kitchen there is a place for everything and at work I have worked hard to get everything in labelled drawers.

It affects my senses.  Being in a busy, noisy environment drains my batteries very fast, but the sense of euphoria I get from seeing the Christmas lights or eating angel delight is amazing.

I am patient with others because I know how it feels to go unheard.

I am resilient because I have survived trauma from several directions. 

I have intense passion for the things I love.  I can think about stories every spare moment of the day, and those stories have provided warmth and comfort for a lot of people.  

Autism is like the ground that I walk on and the language I speak and the air that I breathe.

Autism is my home.

I love your reply, I absolutely agree with this point:

Glitter said:

Autism is like the ground that I walk on and the language I speak and the air that I breathe.

Autism is my home.

It’s brilliant, you have written about being autistic in a way that is beautifully true and poetic.

Being autistic is our natural way of being and you have conveyed in a way that I currently cannot. You have perfectly described how we have our own unique culture.

I'm utterly blown away by that comment. Thank you. 

But also evidence of how autistic passion can help develop skills.  I've been writing "obsessively" for several years now, and thinking about autism all the time. 

I've started writing my autistic novel- not sure if I'll ever get it properly published but I will get it out there somehow.  Maybe as a blog or something.

Another time that boy came to me opened a bag, looked behind him (checking if granma is there obviously ), and in confidence said: ''Look what I've got for granma''.

There was one family coming every other day. Grandmother, mother with son and daughter, during my last year there they were around 6-7y.o. Boy seeing me half way to the other end of an alley would start shouting hello, waving hand in hello as well, then making rounds with family they would eventually stumble upon me, and he'd start start telling me all news that happened since last time we saw each other.  including secrets, like what he asked from Santa. if I was at a till att I would just chat with kids, I don't remember ever talking to mom or granma. Except cashier's formulaic speech

You're right! When class resumed yesterday, I also got hugged by several of the other kids as well and one of them told me I was the best teacher.

And you made me think of a guy at our supermarket who I think is autistic and chats to our kids.  When I mentioned him at work a few other people said they knew him too with a smile.  And all of us knew him by name, which I think is unusual.

I would like to add that we can be good with all kinds of kids if we try, not just autistic. Of course it is a good thing there are some among us inclined and capable to work with younger autistic, instead leaving them to NTcare. I used to be a nanny when I was teenager, I was actually The Favourite Nanny always. Kids always seems to like me, and I think it is because I don't ignore them, I talk to them as if they were my peers, answer their questions, and so on.

During my 7 years lasting career in one of supermarkets there were many people coming shopping with kids since they were little, I would always say something to kids, to entertain them, or explain, actually I'd rather talk to kids than their parents. So, many of those kids got used to seeing me there and they would shout ''Hello'' to me from the entrance. Which is very nice and heart warming, and pays for all hard work involved in customer service. Don't ask me about their names though, I'm clueless in that regard

I thought you might say this,you seem to have an instinctive and deep understanding of your neurokin. 

Glitter said:

I was doing agency work before, and there was one boy who was non-verbal and the teacher said that she'd never seen him respond to anyone so positively so quickly.

That’s great, one of the many reasons why it is so important for us autistics to work with/support our younger neurokin because (we as a community) and you obviously just ‘get it ‘. Maybe he could sense that you were also autistic and immediately felt understood/safer with you.

Glitter said:

I think I have a better understanding of what's important to them and their frustrations, I can read their moods, and communicate more while talking less.

Thought so, I wonder if being so in tune with your autistic students helps you build trust more easily and build relationships? I have felt the same way, I volunteered at a children’s play scheme before where the majority of kids were autistic, I felt like an immediate magnetic connection and that I could understand their needs so intuitively, it was great.

Talking is incredibly overrated, we communicate as humans so much through our body language.

You are obviously a great interpreter of autistic body language and communication for your fellow colleagues.  

Ausomely Autistic said:

Do you feel like you have a particularly strong connection with the autistic kids you work with?

Yes, very much!  In fact a few other teachers have commented on it.  I was doing agency work before, and there was one boy who was non-verbal and the teacher said that she'd never seen him respond to anyone so positively so quickly.  Now I've got a permanent position and I've had similar comments from my colleagues.  I think I have a better understanding of what's important to them and their frustrations, I can read their moods, and communicate more while talking less.

Do you feel like you have a particularly strong connection with the autistic kids you work with? It's great that you are supporting younger members of our community, it's so important for them to have positive autistic role models. I hope your job is rewarding for you. 

Glitter said:

My novel's kind of fantasy based, but I wanted to do something that would be accessible for more people and explain how it actually feels for me.

Writing is a great form of self expression, good luck with the creative process!

Reworking things like that can be a lot of fun.  It sounds like it would be an emotional and meaningful story.

It's taken me a long time to get there, and it helps that I work with autistic and disabled kids so I have a chance to use my powers for good. 

My novel's kind of fantasy based, but I wanted to do something that would be accessible for more people and explain how it actually feels for me.

You are very welcome. Yes definitely autistic passion can help you with developing new skills, it is a great motivator.

Glitter said:

thinking about autism all the time. 

I think about autistic experience all the time too, I love it!

Glitter said:

I've started writing my autistic novel- not sure if I'll ever get it properly published but I will get it out there somehow.

Very exciting, you write about being autistic so eloquently I am sure it will be brilliant!

 I hope your idea of publishing materialises, if not there are a lot of great autistic blogs online you could add to the collection.

Good luck with the autistic novel! I wrote one (or a partly autistic one, anyway), but I couldn't get it published. Now I think the autistic part didn't work and I should ditch it and rework the non-autistic part (about an abusive marriage) into a whole novel.

Good luck with the autistic novel! I wrote one (or a partly autistic one, anyway), but I couldn't get it published. Now I think the autistic part didn't work and I should ditch it and rework the non-autistic part (about an abusive marriage) into a whole novel.

Reworking things like that can be a lot of fun.  It sounds like it would be an emotional and meaningful story.