Awesome symptom no. 1
Hyper-sensory experiences

Hyper-receptivity to sensory input can be difficult, as the chances of frequent sensory overload are high.

But with it, we might also be aware of ambient nuances, beauty, and subtlety. And we may notice in time if the house is burning down (autistic people are often highly sensitive to smell)!

#Autism #Sensory

Awesome symptom no. 2
Unusual empathy

For people, animals, and even objects!

This empathy, when felt and shown, can be very democratic, i.e., it doesn't exclude people/creatures who don't appear useful; who perhaps haven't succeeded well in life & who many would judge and write off.

#Autism #Empathy

Awesome symptom no. 3
Unusual perception

Differences in ways information is processed, combined with heightened levels of perception in some areas (e.g. when it comes to details and/or patterns), can lead to a lot of creativity, and unusual talents.

#Autism #Creativity #Perception

Awesome symptom no. 4
Feats of memory

Autistic people are often capable of remembering a vast amount of information on a topic of interest.

Note: the topic could be literally anything. There's no hierarchy! An in-depth interest in (and knowledge about) e.g. Pokemon or Avatar's world is just as valid as an intense interest in quantum physics, or Baroque composers.

#Autism #Memory #SpecialInterests

Awesome symptom no. 5
Hyper-focus

The capacity to focus on a single topic with all of one's mind/attention, and be practically un-distractable from it!

This ability to hyper-concentrate can lead to a high level of productivity, and even to new ground being explored.

#Autism #Focus

Awesome symptom no. 6
Perseverance

The ability to keep on at a specific task for extended periods of time... as we often have a great capacity for perseverance when working on tasks of interest to us.

Though these periods of hyper-activity generally need to be alternated with some proper down-time - something I call 'vegetation'. 🌿

#Autism #Perseverance

Awesome symptom no. 7
Interesting reading and writing skills

Some autistics can read very fast, or very early, and/or in quite unusual styles.

For example, mirror writing and reading/writing upside down are among the interesting skills that can be sometimes seen in autistic people (these skills, when seen in more prounounced ways, are known as hyperlexia).

#Autism #Hyperlexia

Awesome symptom no. 8
Attention to detail

Autistic people might pay a lot of attention to details, sometimes to the point of not seeing the whole at all (or at least not in the same way as others).

We may take longer to process things, but we're a bit less liable to quickly generalize things, when information is lacking, to come to a possibly-inaccurate conclusion.

We may notice things other people don't (while not noticing things other people do!).

#Autism #AttentionToDetail

Awesome symptom no. 9
Looking for the 'why' of things

Autistic people may have a strong tendency to try to figure out *why* things might be as they are. And then to creatively imagine how they could be changed!

Autistic people of all ages may strongly wish for social justice and fairness, and be upset at seeing exploitation of the vulnerable, including cruelty e.g. to animals.

#Autism #SocialJustice

Awesome symptom no. 10
Non-conformism

To an autistic person, 'because everyone else is doing it' is not a good reason for doing something! We tend to lack that sort of 'herd mentality', usually entirely.

I see this as a positive - a safeguard against bullying and mob mentality, as well as an avenue for creativity, positive risk-taking and celebrating our differences.

#Autism #NonConformity