If I could find a way to make my thinking process useful in school or anything marketable, it would be nice.  But it doesn't seem like it could possibly happen.

I still think I'm a real, bonafide lemon.  Everyone always talks about getting through school faster here or with honors (AFF)--I have no such stories to report.

Sorry to complain but I don't know what my damn learning problem is.  No one has ever clarified it for me.  And I feel like an idiot, justifiably so.  Aargh!

Your not a lemon Batman55--or any other kind of brightly coloured citrus fruit.

Although we don’t always agree--your contributions are clever and thoughtful; and often make a great deal more sense than anything I write.

You shouldn’t considered yourself an idiot--you seem a lot more intelligent than most people--with out without honours.

Opps there goes my dyslexia again...

That should have read--'with or without honours'.

I design logo's and you can't get any more creative, abstract and symbolic that designing a logo.    There's quite a lot of aspie's that work in Graphic design, so I don't think that bears out the idea that aspies are lacking in any three of these area's.  I love our infinity symbol.

It was kind of nice to get credit from some folks for writing that message, and kinda rotten to see someone else deflate the good feeling of having written it.

I never said all Aspies lack symbolic/abstract/creative ability... but I know that symbolic thinking is a COMMON problem on the autistic spectrum.  We know that NTs are OFTEN good Symbolic thinkers, their words representative of nonverbal concepts.  We know that AS are OFTEN more literal-minded than NTs.

Well perhaps I did say that "abstractification difficulty" is a fact, and that may have been a poor choice of words on my part.  But then if it's not a fact, how is it so many Aspies have difficulty with fuzzy (dare we say.. abstract?) social interactions?

Maybe I should replace "words" in the above sentence, with body language/facial expression.  Oh stuff it, I just can't get anything right.

You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself Batman55. You’re a clever guy who makes intelligent and insightful  comments--I for one have learnt a lot for you. Don’t worry if you post something that you later  regret--I’ve done that countless times--I’m sure many of us have. The important thing is that we contribute what we can and learn from each other. No one has all the answers, but together we can find the truth.

It's just that I thought my earlier post about abstract/symbolic thinking was spot-on, and I had to have someone show me it wasn't.

I think your comments concerning abstract/symbolic thinking are excellent--‘spot on' in fact. I really enjoy reading your posts; they make me see things in a whole new way--from a different angle--make me question my assertions. You have a gift for seeing things other people miss.

Because you see things differently, doesn’t mean you see them wrongly.

I think I need to reiterate, find your gifts and play them up for decades.

I said decades.  I am 37.

My gifts are predominantly academic, and my mother (and also father, but less so) strenuously encouraged my academic and social development through the end of college and she supported my grad school strategy too.  She appropriated household money for several collections of books for children (american history, world history, creativity), other things like geographic puzzle maps of USA, first a Texas Instruments and then an IBM PCjr, and my college education, insisting that I live on campus when Dad thought it was a waste of money.

Even in the absence of both parents I buy and read books and magazines, watch digital cable (Comcast channels over 100, National Geographic Channel, Science Channel, Discovery Times Channel, Military Channel, History International, BBC America, to say nothing of Discovery Channel, Learning Channel, History Channel, Animal Planet, Discovery Health Channel, and three local PBS affiliates.)

Including kindergarten, over 20 years of classroom time, not including the self-motivated continuing education.

If I seem smart, it is not for anyone to feel bad about.  God gives what He gives.  And I had a mother that pushed me so hard in school I came to push myself hard too, and remain curious.

I'm just a very jealous person.  What can I do about it.

I think a better word for jealous is envious, or covetous, in that context.

What are your gifts?  They could be anything.

1.  Knowledge
2.  Creativity

Accidental submission, sorry

1.  Knowledge
    any subject
2.  Creativity
   a. music
   b. art
    (1) sculpture
    (2) painting
3. Character
   a. perseverance
   b. honesty
   c. generosity
   d. compassion
   e. tolerance
   f. gentleness
4. rare for us, but possibly athletic ability, sports ability, or the ability to exercise harder than the other folks in the gym
5. a body other adults find attractive (usually, but not always limited to, the alternate gender, never say opposite sex), look, I don't attract women by looks, today, (my BMI is still over 42, medical diagnosis of morbid obesity, BMI > 40, obesity is BMI > 30 and overweight is BMI > 25)  but sometimes I interest them by having knowledge in a subject they are interested in and talk about.
6. a career and related knowledge
7. a relationship

Wikipedia.org describes falling upward as romantic attraction based on the other's superior qualities.  I understand.  Sociable and attractive women of any age get my attention.  It is almost as if they can create the perception they want you to have of them (happy, got it all together, productive, no difficulty with dates, etc.).  

Wikipedia also described nerds (allegation since retracted) last March as frequently depicted in the popular culture as lovelorn, seeking women above their "status", and also described the popular culture making sport (fun) of nerds who confidently try the same.

Most of my difficulty ended right there when I read that.

We can probably become better looking, esp. with weight loss, and painfully, we will become more sociable.

Guesswho, is that your picture at the bottom of your email?  

I've always thought you looked very nice: the sort of "gentle" face you rarely see on NTs, a certain childlike enthusiasm which appears to be common amongst those of us AS who haven't been too badly disillusioned by the world, or who have managed to rise above it despite everything.  

Maybe that's another thing to add to your list: we have the perseverance to survive and prosper despite being disregarded by the NTs at best or treated as something somehow sub-human at worst.

BTW, I've always thought the self-portraits by Da Vinci had the same quality.  I'm sure he was "one of us".  

Alison

Oops, I see you've got perseverance listed!  Sorry, I missed that, I'm in a hurry to start a brand-new job (I got made redundant three weeks ago, but thanks to good qualifications and being able to act "passably normie" I start a new job today.  And I'm stimming by wasting time here on the internet rather than getting all my details (bank account number, police check, superannuation details and tax file number, etc) ready!
Wish me luck!
Alison