Yes, That Too Celebrates 1000 Ausome Things #AutismPositivity2013

AutismPositivity is back!
I was pretty new to the blogging thing when it came around last time, but I did find out about it and write a thing. And some of the stuff I talked about then still fits now!
So in list format, cause I like lists, have ten of my Ausome things:

1. As long as speech is working and I know the topic, I can do some serious damage in a debate. Like there was that time that I showed up to a debate in my Honors communication class not having done any of the research, not having any evidence to cite, nothing. I won that debate. I did so by explaining why every piece of evidence my opponent brought actually supported my opinion. I am not even joking, this is a thing that happened. When I got the rubric back, my opponent had more evidence, better evidence, was better prepared, but I still won the debate. That's what the teacher's grading said.
2. Stimming is THE BEST THING EVER. It can just be made of awesome (ausome) or it can be a coping mechanism so I can manage even when everything else is made of bad. Either way, useful. Silky blankets are a really good example of this, since they can do both of these at the same time. Same goes for olives. The sensory processing differences that make certain sensations horrible are frustrating, but I wouldn't get rid of them if it meant losing the differences that let me stim. Sorry, no, stimming is too awesome (ausome.)
3. Special interest, Autistic Obsession, whatever you want to call it. It's a hug for my brain. So math spent a long time as a hug for my brain, and I was able to get really good at it, too. Like, I'm twenty and I've already got a bachelors in math, I'm a first semester masters student in that major now. (Still an undergrad in mechanical engineering and Chinese, my other two majors. I didn't quite break eCampus, I just have two records in it both connecting to one account and confusing my advisers.)
4. Pattern recognition! I find all the four leaf clovers, all the five leaf clovers, and some of the six leaf clovers. I also found a seven leaf and an eight leaf, but only one of each. It's quite awesome (ausome.) I actually think in patterns, but through language. If that makes sense? I don't know, it's how my brain works, which is kind of weird and kind of awesome (ausome.) Which finds me four leaf clovers, which is probably responsible for a good bit of my math ability, which is probably also relevant to my sewing ability. (I can't read a sewing pattern, but I can make clothes that fit me and look good.)
5. Pattern making! That's where Because Patterns came from, after all! (BTW, ONE LAST PLUG FOR THE GIVEAWAY. Today is the last day you can enter and vote on entries. It's on Facebook, it's for an artist proof of my Autism Acceptance design, entry requires liking Because Patterns on Facebook and answering what Autism Acceptance means to you. Yes, you can hang a proof up. It's like a print in almost every way- same size, still signed. Coloration could be a little different, it says proof where the number would be. That's it.) Anyways, have a pattern! Because patterns are one of many Ausome things about my autism, and they are a pretty cool looking one too. I think that this pattern would totally be modifiable to make an infinite tessellation, too, which is a thing I've been getting into making mode of. Those ones work for fabric, after all.
   
6. I can listen to the same song on repeat for weeks and not get sick of it. Talk about patience! Recently, it was Knights of Bostonia.That one started about a week before Patriot's Day, and I only switched to Amy MacDonald songs this past Saturday.
7. I can eat the same food for years and not get sick of it. No, really, I brought the same lunch to school from fifth grade through tenth grade every day except Passover and some field trips and it was fine. I took a bagel with lox (lots of lox, it was almost like a roast beef sandwich amount of lox I am not even joking,) an apple or two, and a big thermos of milk to school for lunch basically every day. The thermos was 16.9 oz, and my cross country coach was annoyed that I still drank milk on meet days instead of switching to water, but switching my diet would mess with me more than milk that I am used to having in my system possibly could. Also, this was the same coach who thought that you shouldn't drink too much right before the meet because then you would get cramps. Which can be caused by dehydration... Anyways, I can eat the same food for a long time and it's fine. Which is useful when on a budget, since buying in bulk is cheaper. It's also useful because it means I don't need to remember as many recipes.
8. My brain works really fast sometimes. That's what covered me for all my years of executive dysfunction, which is the same as all my years. Sure, I might not remember I had homework due first period until I was on the bus, but I could still get it done by then. I think my record was having something due in all five of my academic classes and drama (seven period day that day,) starting on the bus to school, and turning in everything on time. I can be that fast. I was close to that fast on a regular basis throughout middle and high school. I wrote a paper on 1984 in about 4 hours once, including the research for it. It's on my blog, somewhere, and it gets me hits from people looking for essays about 1984 every so often. 
9. My writing is proof of "You can totally write good poetry without much of any metaphor." Because I don't metaphor much, but people still like my poetry. I won't claim all of it is good, but certainly some of it is. One of my poem-ish things is actually published in the Loud Hands anthology, which I'd say is a sign of some sort of good. I'd say making (one of many) proofs of this concept is pretty awesome (ausome.)
10. I'm immune to culture shock. See, so far as I can tell, culture shock is "Everyone is doing stuff that doesn't make sense!" combined with "I feel like a foreigner!" and possibly a dose of homesick. I'm not sure why I don't really get homesick, but when the first two things are just a part of every day life, they can't really cause a shock. So I get to China, or I get to India. Sure, people are doing a different set of things that don't make sense, but it's not like it makes less sense or anything. I just need to learn this set of rules. It's nothing special, nothing particularly scary, nothing shocking. So I am immune so culture shock, and autism totally gets the credit for that. It's pretty awesome (ausome.)