Okay, I'm going to offer something of an alternate point of view. Granted, this is just my personal case, and it's very much the exception instead of the rule sort of thing, but I do want to back things away from the whole "It's awful and everyone that has it must want to be normal" attitude I've been seeing.
Now, I'm on the high-functioning end of the spectrum, Asperger's and all that. And yes, I've been officially diagnosed. And growing up, it presented plenty of problems when it came to social interaction. I was always the weird kid wandering off by myself daydreaming or with my nose stuck in a book. I got incredibly frustrated when things deviated from my personal schedule, even if it was something as insignificant as stopping at the store on the way home. Whenever I got into something, I became obsessed. Pokemon, Star Wars, Animorphs, Sonic the Hedgehog, you name it, my life revolved wholly around it, and I must have annoyed so many people whenever I would go on and on about it. Pretty much you classic case.
To top things off, this was at a time when science was only just figuring out what Asperger's was and how it worked, and as such there were many misconceptions about it. So my poor parents tried so many things to get me to act normal, all of which annoyed the piss out of me, from weird diets to forcing me to talk to someone every day when I just didn't want to and to trying to make me articulate why I was so frustrated about something when there wasn't a reason I could really explain. So yeah, there were definitely some interesting challenges growing up.
But then a couple things happened that helped me tremendously. The first was I joined the wrestling team in junior high, and I loved it. And given the whole Aspie thing, I jumped in wholeheartedly. Even as asocial as I was, I've always been super competitive, so it was perfect for me. And as any kid will tell you, the wrestling team is as close to boot camp as you're going to get in junior high and high school. It hammered in things like personal discipline, hard work, taking losses in stride, and also helped tons with the interaction thing, given the camaraderie me and the other wrestlers had. I mean, I was still a weirdo, but I was their weirdo, and we were all on the same side.
The second was my parents' attempts to "make me normal." Because while a lot of the stuff they did was ignorant and didn't work, at least it wasn't abusively harmful and didn't mess me up, and honestly a lot of the stuff they tried did work to some extent. I would try to meet their expectations even if I didn't want to. I would try to do things on my own and take responsibility even if it was frustrating and a pain in the ass. And things like good manners, respect for others, and considerate behavior were major parts of my upbringing. And if that sort of thing gets drilled into you at a young age, it tends to stick, even if it goes against your nature.
What helped the most was them making me get a job when I was sixteen. Again, while I had problem with working and earning money, I hated the constant interviews, filling out applications, and having to ride my bike to various places on my Saturdays. But in then end, I did find a place that hired me, and it was...well, sort of a revelation. See, I may be asocial, but I'm not anti-social. I don't hate people, I just had others things I wanted to instead of hanging out and could never understand why people thought that that was so strange. But as with the wrestling team, I had to interact with people, customers and co-workers alike. I had to learn a whole bunch of procedures, take on a bunch of new responsibilities, and meet a bunch of new expectations. And I LOVED it. I loved the discipline, I loved meeting challenges, and I loved fulfilling what was expected of me. Granted, I hated the super rushes and uber late closings shifts, as I had to bike forty minutes to get home until I got my own car, but those just came with the territory. But most importantly, my parents really drilled in the value of a dollar. I learned to save, save, save, which is super useful today. But even then, I had my own set of challenges and people noticed. About that time was when I was diagnosed, so when I told my managers and co-workers, their reactions were pretty much, "Well, that explains a lot. Wish I had known earlier."
These days I'm getting along just fine. I have my own place, pay my own bills, am really good with money, and have no issues socializing. There are still challenges, sure. When it comes to social interaction, I can't automatically read people and often have to do a quick analysis for the appropriate response. I swear to God, sometimes the Terminator menu pops up in my head. And unfortunately I don't have much in the way of emotional empathy. I have cognitive empathy, which means I can analyze and deduct that my friend is feeling bad. And I have compassionate empathy, which means I can feel bad for them and want to help. But I can't feel bad with them, so whenever someone I know is depressed, anxious, or just upset over something that I've never experienced, I'm usually confused by it more often than not, and have to remind myself to just keep my mouth shut and listen instead of stupidly asking why they can't just get over it. And yes, I also have to watch myself so I don't talk other people's ears off about something they don't care about, and not interrupt them when they want to talk to me about something. My personal rule is to ask at least three questions and/or give at least three responses and wait to see if they've run out of steam before changing the subject to my story.
And yes, I also still get frustrated over small stuff and having my personal schedule disrupted, but I have learned to work around that and try to be accommodating. It helps that I live alone, so I'm in charge of most of my schedule, and I've also learned to communicate and compromise with other people should something unexpected come up.
Now, coming to the important question, if a magical genie showed up and offered to completely "cure" me and make me "normal," then I'd probably say thanks, but no thanks. I like me the way I am, challenges and all. And I really enjoy jumping headlong into some new interest, taking it apart, and analyzing every single aspect of it. That, plus my personal tunnel vision, has really helped in achieving personal goals. It's all about taking what you have and channeling it into something useful.
Again, granted, I have been extremely lucky. I never had issues with depression or anxiety that a lot of other Aspies seem to have, I learned early on how to act around other people, and was never bullied for being weird. I mean, I'm sure people were laughing at me behind my back, but that never mattered. But point is, it isn't always a curse, and I like the way I am. I've made it work for me, and wouldn't have it any other way.
(though I will admit to getting really pissed off about those self-diagnosed types that use Asperger's as an excuse for being inconsiderate. Like, dude, learn to act better. I did!)
