Finding The Gifts In Autism and Asperger's

Autism-related reference books typically leave readers with a sense of frustration and hopelessness because they focus on the problems and deficits associated with autism. Too often, a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) comes with the assumption that success in life is out of reach or will be marginal at best. What isn't commonly recognized is that people with an ASD also come with Gifts and Talents. Finding the Gifts in Autism and Asperger’s

By LARRY MOODY

My life’s work has shifted to helping parents, teachers and others understand that persons diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (“ASD”) also come with gifts.  Too often, people with this diagnosis, and those around them, assume that success in life is out of reach for them or will be marginal at best. Autism related reference books typically leave people with a sense of frustration and hopelessness.  I am a 62 year old adult diagnosed with both Asperger’s syndrome and ADD. I have enjoyed many successes in my life, professionally, financially, and socially. I am a living testament that the potential is there for others with an ASD to succeed.    

If we are to succeed, we need both Love and Perseverance in the form of appropriate guidance and appropriate support as we struggle to find our way in an overwhelming neurotypical world. Guidance and support comes across to us most effectively if it comes from a place of love and understanding within you.  The ultimate goal is to gently help us identify, cultivate, and productively utilize our gifts and talents in ways that allow us to claim the successes as our own. 

What are the gifts?  Some of the gifts commonly attributed to people having an ASD:  We can be: innovative; creative; loyal; faithful, honest in word, thought and deed; sweet and kind; talented, very loving, in our own way; consistent; some of us have unusual focus (hyper-focus), forgiving; open and direct in our communications; some even have savant skills to varying degrees.  Your challenge is to help us develop our gifts and talents into practical and productive endeavors both socially and occupationally.  Internationally known autism advocate Temple Grandin in her book: “The Way I See It”, aptly states:  “There is often too much emphasis in the world of autism on the deficits of these children and not enough emphasis on developing the special talents that many of them possess.” Yet the greatest gifts in autism and to be learned from autism are Love and Acceptance.

The discovery process is a multi-faceted approach toward helping us find our gifts through observation of existing talents, interests and skills. Gifts and talents rarely show up fully formed.  They require development into marketable skills. If a person with an ASD is seeking employment, it's not about just finding a job, it's about finding the right job.

Looking back, the two most important attributes instilled in me by my parents that helped me succeed are:  1) “You can learn to do anything you set your mind to do.” and 2) “Be persistent, don’t give up.”  The modern airplane grew out of a lowly bicycle shop as a result of the curiosity, intrigue and persistence of two brothers that loved to tinker around.  The key to learning and success for everyone is motivation. The key to motivation is self-interest. And, for those of us on the spectrum, the keys to self-interest are our special interests. Special interests can be the segway into other endeavors. We have to want to do it, whatever ‘it’ is, not just to please or appease you, but to please ourselves. Autistics and Aspies are rarely motivated significantly by either praise or punishment. Persistence is a natural trait in everyone, but through diligence it can be trained out of a child, and often is. It seems that our persistence is sometimes discouraged in order to make someone else’s life easier. Persistence, like many other traits, needs to be guided toward its appropriate use. Not all situations call for persistence.

Each person on the autism spectrum is unique. Our major barriers to successful integration into society usually begin with the concept: "He/she is not like me." The problems continue with: "I want her/him to be like me." Acceptance begins with : "Being different is okay", and leads to understanding. We are different, not defective.

A key element in acceptance is seeing us and our gifts in a different light. Many autistics throughout history have become masters of their Gifts & Talents and some of those have been directly responsible for major leaps of progress in the arts and sciences.  

Some additional elements are:

• Continuous refinement of our coping skills
• Self-empowerment
• Promoting creativity
• The key to success is success