Autism is often defined as a disorder or disability. Hearing that, you often forget about the positive sides of autism. To spread awareness about the positive sides, I want to share all the things I love about being autistic.
Attentive
One of the things I love about being autistic, is that I’m very attentive and that I always know what’s happening around me. Some years ago, I worked in a kitchen, where we often had a lot of different groups of guests, who should get different menus, be at different locations and eat at different times. Even when I was busy, I always listened what my colleagues said about the guests and therefore I always had a good overview.
People often say that autistic people are better at seeing details rather then having an overview. I think for me the issue is, that I hate surprises and uncertainty so much that I do everything to keep an overview. One of the reasons to why I’m able to keep an overview is probably that I’m very structured.
Reliable and perfectionistic
I’m not only structured but also really reliable. One example for that could be that I always try my best to be on time. Another example could be that I’m really perfectionistic if I have an assignment. Being perfectionistic sometimes is often considered as something negative. So maybe I should rather say that I am very thorough. That sounds more positive.
Disciplined
Something else that goes along with being structured is that I have a lot of discipline. You probably know those kinds of students who wait for the last day to start on their papers. I’m the complete opposite. If I have to write a paper or complete an assignment, I plan everything from the beginning and do my best throughout the whole period.
Excited
When I’m really interested in something, I can get extremely excited and spend really much time on it. My stepmom had for example the idea, that I could translate my Danish and German blog to English. You are on my blog now, so you can see that I’m in the process of translating everything. I spend every free minute on autism-overlooked and I love it.
Special interests
When I got my autism diagnosis, I first didn’t think that I had any special interests. But I guess, languages are a huge special interest for me from time to time. I learned Spanish and Italian in school and when I moved to Denmark five years ago, I started to teach myself Danish as well. I think me being good at learning languages also goes hand in hand with me easily getting excited.
Positive vs. negative
I can’t say that ASD (autism spectrum disorder) is just positive and that I love everything about being autistic. Autism also comes along with a lot of challenges. But I think the most important thing is that I believe autism makes me a better person. I love myself for who I am, and I wouldn’t be the same without autism.