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People would rather get a diagnosis to belong to a community than be an outcast who struggles to fit in and have their gifts recognized.

• DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
  Disclaimer: am on spectrum, formal diagnosis at 8yo > have their gifts recognized. Please explain how _extreme difficulty in socializing_ is a "gift".
  • plorg 5y ago
    Autistic people have gifts and personalities just like everyone else does. People I know often have found a diagnosis liberating because they can often then identify the ways that being autistic has caused them friction with non-autistic society. If nothing else, they can find tools to help them work better in their environments. But they can also work to shape the world around them to be more accessible to autistic people like themselves. And that allows them to better use their gifts and express their personalities. The parent comment discussed communities of people who have similar struggles. I don't think they meant that the struggle is also the gift (people can make something beautiful out of their pain, but I don't think the pain itself is something to be celebrated). I think they meant that people in a community brought together by a common struggle are better able to see the uniqueness in each other, because within the community the struggle is not what defines them.
  • twayt 5y ago
    People are sometimes less likely to recognize your true gifts if you don’t socialize well. Silicon Valley is probably an exception where people on the spectrum are stereotyped somewhat positively.
  • Tao331 5y ago
    They didn't say it was. They said it's a barrier to having ones gifts recognized. Or at least that's my interpretation.