Interesting topic. Up until not long ago I probably would have said yes, SA has helped me to be a deeper thinkier, empathetic, given me time to develop my talents, do my own thing, etc.
But one single event earlier this year very vividly illustrated for me the toll SA has taken on my life over the years. It was simply this: I was in a communication and interviewing skills class at uni (the horror!) and we had to go around the room and talk about something, I don't remember what, but I had a very rare burst of confidence and talkativeness and actually, for several sentences, freely and spontaneously expressed myself to the rest of the class and the teacher, who in turn reciprocated in a likewise positive manner.
I felt very happy to have been able to do this but at the same time it dawned on me: this is what it would have been like if I hadn't had SA. This is how much easier it would have been. And this is how much easier it is for people who don't have SA.
Everything was clear to me then. In a way I also felt incredibly validated. My difficulties because of SA have been very, very real.
So actually after that experience I can't say that any advantages could even begin to outweigh the huge disadvantage that this has caused, unfortunately.
and I can be incredibly absent-minded. I seem to be all in my head a lot of the time, not properly connected to my own body even, like a dismembered brain floating about. It's a wonder I haven't been run over crossing a road by now and I'm a shocker of a driver too.
