What super power does your disability or condition brings you ? I have adhd

[Nothingisblackandwhite]

I know mostly we speak about the negatives of disabilities but what “ super power “ does yours bring you ?
I have ADHD , it can make work harder or easier depending on the day . I work from home and manage my own team and I’ve been so hyper focused today that I did my days work by 10:30 ( started at 7 ) . Was about to progress to tomorrows work but decided against it as I have in the past had reminders not to expect others to work as fast as me . So I’m organising tomorrow work instead .
My oldest has autism and he never forgets a place , we can be years and years without visiting a country and he will still know the way around streets and can always find a car in a car park .

@bonfirebash losing your leg or having your cancer gives you the opportunity to battle and be a suvivor and then become an athlete or similar and display your 'different' but astonishing accomplishments.

Having a stroke is unfortunate because that effects your cognitive ability, and we don't value people with impaired cognitive ability - unless you chance to make a full recovery and then guess what, you too can be a survivor.

I have hEDS, my joints are very bendy.

I'm in a lot of pain a lot of the time. I cant run, cant lift, cant do alot of things.

But I can also move my legs during sex much more than your average woman and over the years, all partners seem to have loved it. Regular activity also helps with the pain, at least that's the excuse I use.

I can sleep/doze all day and never feel rested.

It doesn't feel super or powerful. I have chronic fatigue and long Covid and I'm very tired of all the things I can no longer do.

I'm tired of being tired all the time. I'm tired of the fact that ordinary life now exhausts me and however much I rest I never feel well.

Messaging for toxic positivity is every bloody where - we're bombarded with it from all quarters.

I wasn't suggesting you personally were the cause of it.

I was trying to answer where this superpower stuff comes from question from a previous poster.

Hyperfocus is something I have like everything it's positive and negative depending on the situation and something I have to manage in my life and get DD1 used to manage with tricks and strategies to cope while she waits on a list for diagnosis.

You find it positive fantastic good for you - sometime it is for us other times is a pain in the arse that causes us huge issues and when it frustrating to us that fine and normal as well not a bloody superpower that malfunctioning.

My autistic son has maths ability beyond his years and a photographic memory at age 5m he can recall events from his early toddler years with great details. On the other hand he isn't very sociable and we have difficulties with that or the school does anyway.

I've got MS. I can think of no positives at all!

I'll raise you ADHD for terminal cancer. Not sure there's a superpower there...

I understand that the OP was trying to look for things that aren't downsides in disability.

However, I think this thread demonstrates that it puts divisions between people with disabilities, makes for unreasonable expectatikns of us and is, quite frankly, childish. I'm guessing it came from TikTok or some other social media site and I'm way too long in the tooth for that kind of s£/÷.

And I found the 'right attitude' comment downright offensive.

Sorry OP, I would use, and have used the superpower approach with children if they are really struggling to make friends or cope at school. But it's not for adults.

In my experience, from working with children, it can actually be a very damaging view for kids and very often can add to their struggles , who normally have no choice in adopting it. If adults choose to view it that way, that's their prerogative.

Encouraging people to look for positives in their situation is one thing but as others have said the whole super power narrative is actually quiet damaging especially if it is used to move someone away from talking about, or seeking help for, their actual worries or struggles.

If someone posted a thread on here saying they were happy to discover they were pregnant, you wouldn't expect half the comments being people telling OP off because they can't, lost a baby, have PND, hate their children etc.

Same as someone posting about being happy to lose weight. You wouldn't expect half the replies to be 'Well this makes me feel bad because I can't for xyz reason. This is toxic.'

It was in the title. I don't read threads that wind me up, let alone tell the person how 'wrong' they are.

Is this the kind of superpower you mean OP? I have an indwelling suprapubic catheter and it takes me a few minutes to empty my bladder...too much information, I know.

You can only be choosing to be offended then , because as someone who is normally extremely negative and overthinks myself, I’m very aware that having a positive outlook on things is preferable to feeling downs and negative . Unfortunately I cannot be positive all the time but I appreciate that is a great way to lead life . Seeing the positives is life is never a bad thing and I’m sorry you feel offended by that

What positives does my disability offer me that no one else has?

Er..... none.

Chronic pain, exhaustion, never ending subluxations and highly variable mobility, deteriorating fast, increasingly struggling to work and live unaided and look after myself, and trying to work out some sort of future I might be able to handle.

No, no insights or positives or superpowers here, nothing I'd inflict on anyone else.

Unless of course you count the ability to look and sound relatively convincingly ok as others expect, and not show the pain and struggle. #masking

Bloody good at that through necessity, but it's not healthy.

Is anyone who is offended with super powers term be less “ offended “ if I asked what positive qualities or abilities your disability has ? Because I have a feeling it would be the same thing . I actually never used that term before even on the kids it just come up as something to put on the title . But what it meant was what abilities do you have the others normally don’t have that comes hand in hand with your disability?

Autistic - no superpowers. Constantly messes up my life.

Not offended, very happy for others who have superpowers, I just don't see my autism in that light.

Again, what positive qualities do migraine, PTSD, MS, terminal cancer and other diagnoses others have put on here got?

Do please tell us so we can be happy to be disabled!

None but doesn’t mean other disabilities don’t . You have as much right to not feel any positives as I have ego celebrate mine . The point is this was not a negative post , was supposed to be a good one .

what positive qualities or abilities your disability has ?

None. I suspect younger generations who have found each other on social media and formed alliances and communities have a different experience to me - late diagnosed, disappointing career, no real friendship group and a couple of genuine friends. No work relationships, high sensory intolerance, high anxiety, suicidal ideation, spell in a mental hospital.

I think what some are saying though is that this can feel like a slap in the face, because their disability has nothing wonderful to offer. Unless they mask and lie and pretend, which is nothing positive.

My disability doesn’t give me any super powers because it’s totally shit to live with.

There is not one single way my disability enhances my life.

I can’t imagine many people would be able to list positives and identify super powers they have as a result of living with a disability….

ADHD

I’m pretty much psychic 😂 I can work someone out in 5 seconds flat and my intuition is frighteningly good. I’ve been proved right time and time again about people and their motives etc. I qualified as a clin psych as this is my special interest. I was able to aggressively pursue the career due to being totally hyper focused on it to the detriment of other areas of my life.

I confess that like others I dislike the superpower narrative.

My 13 year old has autism, adhd, tourettes and learning difficulties. When he was finally diagnosed with tourettes I sighed at the meeting with the SENCO and said under my breath'poor kid'. SENCO reared up on her hind legs and started agressively saying 'NO!!! Not poor kidl It's all a superpower!!'.

DS will never live independently. At least some of his issues are the result of a major birth injury that was totally completely and utterably preventable - if the hosiptal had listened to me and not laughed- laughed at me when i said we were in distress. I was scoffed at and told that i was maing heavy weather of labour.

DS nearly died and i nearly died. The result of that was brain injury.

He is my perfect perfect child. He is a glorious blessing to me. But he has been cheated. And no talk of his difficulties being superpowers is going to cut it.