Blessings of Aspergers/Autism

Autism is a lot of negative things; struggles, meltdowns, sleep, eating, sensory problems, social and school issues, but there are positives!  My Asperger children have a sweet innocence about them, a rare freshness and sense of wonderment.  They are excited about the world around them, with a zest and hunger for learning. (Especially the object/s of there focus) Many of these children are physically beautiful.  Often they are truthful to a fault, blurting out the first thing that pops into their mind, speaking things the rest of us think but would be too polite to say.  Because of their innocence it's probably going to be accepted better than if it came from another mouth.  They are often very perceptive.  They take everything literal and are usually unprejudiced.   They live in the present, and don't hold grudges.   Here's some very positive Asperger qualities: 1.  They are loyal with impeccable dependability, 2.  They often have the ability to regard others at "face value". 3.  They speak their mind irrespective of social context or adherence to personal beliefs, 4.  They have the ability to pursue personal theory or perspective despite conflicting evidence, 5.  They have enthusiasm for unique interests and topics, 6.  They have a great consideration of details, 7.  They listen without continual judgment or assumption, 8.  They avoid "ritualistic small talk" or socially trivial statements and superficial conversation, 9.  They seek sincere, positive, genuine friends with an unassuming sense of humor. 10.  They are seekers of truth, conversation free of hidden meaning or agenda, 11.  They often have advanced vocabulary and interest in words. 12.  They are often original with unique perspective in problem solving, 11.  Many have exceptional memory and recall of details often forgotten or disregarded by others, for example: names, dates, schedules, routines, 12. They have avid perseverance in gathering and cataloging information on a topic of interest, 13.  Many are persistence of thought, encyclopedic or "CD ROM" knowledge of one or more topics, 14.  Many have knowledge of routines and a focused desire to maintain order and accuracy, 15.  Many have clarity of values/decision making unaltered by political or financial factors 16.  Many are sensitive to specific sensory experiences and stimuli, for example: hearing, touch, vision, and/or smell 17.  Many have strength in individual sports and games, particularly those involving endurance or visual accuracy, including rowing, swimming, bowling, chess 18.  many are the "Social unsung hero" with trusting optimism: 19.  Many are frequent victims of social weaknesses of others, while steadfast in the belief of the possibility of genuine friendship   Many Aspergers have the amazing ability to absorb facts easily in their brains. They are fascinated by facts and dates, have a rote memory, a good memory (they remember lot of things about their life), can hear things normal people can't hear, they tend to remember things back when they were real young like 2 or 1 or below, they can memorize lines from movies, they have narrow interests, tend to be walking encyclopedias, they see things differently than others, outside interests like reading about weather instead of learning what they're learning in school.  When my girls were younger they would often spend days in their room, reading a set of children's encyclopedias.   Lest any of you feel discouraged about your Asperger child's future, here is a list of people who by today's diagnostic criteria would have been labeled Aspergers:   Jane Austen, 1775-1817, English novelist, author of Pride and Prejudice Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827, German/Viennese composer Alexander Graham Bell, 1847-1922, Scottish/Canadian/American inventor of the telephone Anton Bruckner, 1824-1896, Austrian composer Henry Cavendish, 1731-1810, English/French scientist, discovered the composition of air and water Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886, US poet Thomas Edison, 1847-1931, US inventor Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, German/American theoretical physicist Henry Ford, 1863-1947, US industrialist Oliver Heaviside, 1850-1925, English physicist Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826, US politician Carl Jung, 1875-1961, Swiss psychoanalyst Franz Kafka, 1883-1924, Czech writer Wasily Kandinsky, 1866-1944, Russian/French painter H P Lovecraft, 1890-1937, US writer Gustav Mahler, 1860-1911, Czech/Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756-1791, Austrian composer Isaac Newton, 1642-1727, English mathematician and physicist Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, British logician George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish playwright, writer of Pygmalion, critic and Socialist Richard Strauss, 1864-1949, German composer Nikola Tesla, 1856-1943, Serbian/American scientist, engineer, inventor of electric motors Henry Thoreau, 1817-1862, US writer Alan Turing, 1912-1954, English mathematician, computer scientist and cryptographer Mark Twain, 1835-1910, US humorist Vincent Van Gogh, 1853-1890, Dutch painter Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Viennese/English logician and philosopher   Historical people prominent in the late twentieth century (died after 1975) Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992, Russian/US writer on science and of science fiction Hans Asperger, 1906-1980, Austrian pediatric doctor after whom Asperger's Syndrome is named John Denver, 1943-1997, US musician Glenn Gould, 1932-1982, Canadian pianist Jim Henson, 1936-1990, creator of the Muppets, US puppeteer, writer, producer, director, composer Alfred Hitchcock, 1899-1980, English/American film director Howard Hughes, 1905-1976, US billionaire Andy Kaufman, 1949-1984, US comedian, subject of the film Man on the Moon L S Lowry, 1887-1976, English painter of "matchstick men" Charles Schulz, 1922-2000, US cartoonist and creator of Peanuts and Charlie Brown Andy Warhol, 1928-1987, US artist   Contemporary famous people Woody Allen, 1935-, US comedian, actor, writer, director, producer, jazz clarinettist Bob Dylan, 1941- , US singer-songwriter Joseph Erber, 1985-, young English composer/musician who has Asperger's Syndrome Bobby Fischer, 1943-, US chess champion Bill Gates, 1955-, US global monopolist Al Gore, 1948-, former US Vice President and presidential candidate David Helfgott, 1947-, Australian pianist, subject of the film Shine Garrison Keillor, 1942-, US writer, humorist and host of Prairie Home Companion Kevin Mitnick, 1963-, US "hacker" John Nash, 1928-, US mathematician (portrayed by Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind) Keith Olbermann, 1959-, US sportscaster Michael Palin, 1943-, English comedian and presenter Oliver Sacks, 1933-, UK/US neurologist, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat James Taylor, 1948-, US singer/songwriter Dan Akroyd Saturday Night Live   And so many more!   ------------------------------------------------- Was there anyone on the list provided that surprised you?