Frankly I don’t think it’s a meaningful question. I don’t think my personality would survive untangling all of my AuDHD traits from the rest of me. I don’t think it would even be possible to point at specific traits and say for sure whether they are resultant from the ND. It’s all me.

Its fine to ask, but the answer is “no”. Autism is a blueprint for how the brain gets wired. Its not something a person ‘has’, it’s a defining attribute of consciousness itself - its what a person ‘is’.

If you had a pill that could rewire someone’s brain, it would kill that person and use their meat as spare parts to build a different person.

For me, it’s like, I have a lot of knowledge about computers, because I do a lot with computers.

And I do a lot with computers, because they don’t overstimulate me like going to parties/events/whatever.

I do imagine, there’s other factors involved, too. Like, I’m able to memorize things really well and probably able to think more rationally, which makes me good at computers to begin with, but I’d still have a lot of knowledge about computers and not a lot of knowledge about all the social stuff.

Independently, I also happen to have chronic fatigue+pain. It meant that I spent even more time doing things with computers.
And yeah, that one I’ve thought harder about. What if I do go to the doctor and they make it disappear. Would I become a different person?

Probably the same answer. I might lose my hyperfocus and pick up more interests over time, but I’d probably still do a lot with computers. I’ve got hardly any other hobbies now and still far too little time for all my computer side-projects.

But I have no charisma.

“oh shit new Technology Connections just dropped!”

You can be autistic and good at something or not autistic and good at the same thing.

Let’s not erase the unique characteristics of autism. People with autism can often achieve a higher level of mastery or understanding than most people in a specific topic, or can do so with much less effort. I’m not saying there aren’t challenges, but there are definitely also benefits for some of us.

I once spent a week researching the tumble of bullets fired from American rifles during the Vietnam war and the resultant bullet wounds. Why? Because someone said in a group setting “the M16 was introduced during the Korean war, not 'Nam.”

By the way, make sure not to get shot by a 'Nam era M16 firing 5.56mm, as you’ll never get all the bullet fragments out.

One time in a company night out, the boss announced that anyone who split his arrow (we were doing archery and drinking for fun) with their own arrow, robin hood style, would get a raise.

So I did it. I remember my thought process is “Oh this will be fun I’ll blow his mind with this”. I didn’t have a doubt in my mind I was gonna split his arrow with my own.

I have not practiced archery. I had not fired a bow since the 4-5 arrows I fired once in high school, some 20 years prior.

But I knew I was gonna do it, because that’s how my autism works. I didn’t sight or anything. I just put myself into a particular mental state, the one where things go perfect, then willed that arrow into the other arrow, drew and fired in one motion.

My arrow split his arrow in half. He didn’t give the raise, instead pretended to be too drunk and distracted to notice.

But still, I split that fuckin arrow.

So yeah, it does involve some obsession, and that leads to the knowledge But there’s also something different about the autistic nervous system at a low level.

Spell check fails us all, eventually.

Wow. that’s a lot of cringe right there

“I AM A STURGEON”

I personally love that they fully committed to the love action “Virgin vs GigaChad” bit.

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