Rather than looking at the symptoms and the inherent difficulties of Aspergers, this is the second of five articles which look at the benefits, the unique advantages which are given to these folks.
Benefit #2: You can speak logically and rationally!
In the first of these articles, I mentioned that Asperger’s or High Functioning Autism had several advantages. You likely think of high functioning autism as a bad thing. Full of scary life problems. It isn’t all bad — HFA and Asperger’s have some benefits.
I’ve lived the Asperger’s life for sixty years now, and while my diagnosis has been recent, I realize that this condition has been with me since the very beginning. While I don’t pretend to diagnose, prescribe, label, push drugs, or any such thing, I know what it feels like from the inside. Very few ‘professionals’ can say that. In fact, a person with Asperger’s Symptoms will have a very hard time getting through the gatekeepers of the clinical psychology profession, because they, being psychologically trained may be the least able to relate to the real difficulties that a person with aspergers may have. Only those who know the social vacuum that is Aspergers from the inside are really of value.
So with that said let’s talk about:
Benefit #2: You can speak logically and rationally!
I have a friend who is the essence of the ’surfer dude.’ He has style, flair, is popular with the ladies. He is not stupid, quite the contrary, but when he talks it is “And I was all … then she looked kinda … and then the board flipped over. No, yes, ya know?”
It is hard not to laugh out loud at his ramblings, but if I pay attention — and listen between the lines, I can follow this outlandish ramble. The thing is, he is perfectly at ease with communicating in this fashion: Because when he talks face to face with his friends, they are following the hidden communication that speaks more to state of emotion rather than any substance.
But, duh! Life is full of substance. It isn’t all emotional. When my friend has to describe anything concrete, his sentences often miss important details. And if he needs to give directions? Well, don’t bother unless you know the town in intimate detail.
As a person with Asperger’s you may bore your audience with detail, but you are certainly going to use complete sentences more often than not. You will have an attention to complete communication, putting in information rather than leaving it out.
This helps greatly in writing: you think in complete thoughts and sentences. Writing gives you the opportunity to distill the essence of your thoughts for ultimate clarity. Writing is a skill that only comes with practice, though, so keep jumping in to the written word. Even communicating in the domain of human emotions can be conquered through writing!
