I'd say it's a bad thing. There may be a handful of areas where it's actually a positive for me (certain programming activities), but those are more than balanc

I'd say it's a bad thing. There may be a handful of areas where it's actually a positive for me (certain programming activities), but those are more than balanced out by the activities it makes hard (maintaining friendships) or outright impossible (maintaining romantic relationships) for me. I've learned to fake it pretty well in most situations. I like to think that it never even occurs to most of my coworkers that I might be on the spectrum. That said, I am absolutely unambiguously faking it. There is a very thin veneer of learned social behavior, and I'm very careful to not put myself in situations where that veneer is likely to be pierced because when it happens I have absolutely no idea what to do.