Flora, Fauna and Merryweather- the Aspie fairies!

I suppose I like to play a game with myself while watching movies or television or reading books called ‘spot the Aspie.’ Because let’s face it, every good story has one. Not that I’m biased or anything.

While watching Maleficent the other day though, I noticed something about the three fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather which I found quite exciting.I’ve always loved these three fairies; they’ve always been characters that I’ve been drawn too, right from the original Sleeping Beauty. Maybe it was partly because of their absolutely fantastic names which I’ve so wished I could have for myself, but perhaps the main reason is because of their ridiculous personalities. With Flora’s obsession with the colour pink and her strong-willed demeanour, Fauna’s kind heart and Merryweather’s bold personality, and the all-sharing trait of their quirkiness and inability to cope with the human ways of life.Because even though the three humorous and charming fairies have powers above and beyond the ordinary, (such as being able to bestow beautiful wishes upon a new born princess), performing day to day mundane tasks is an impossibility.And that’s when it clicked. Maybe fairies had just a bit of Aspie in them too.As humans especially, the fairies are portrayed as lacking any abilities or experience in being able to perform tasks that a human would find quite normal. Cooking, cleaning and mending clothes is completely impossible to them, even though they can quite literally change the colour of dresses, and flying and bestowing magical wishes is easy.Something I love about this though is that it’s not seen as a problem. Nobody ever criticises the fairies for their lack of skills in that area, and their inability to perform normal human tasks is humorous, and ultimately not a problem for them, because it’s completely acceptable for them to live differently and rely on their other skills to take care of themselves.When the fairies try too hard to do normal tasks, they find themselves falling back into using their magic again, which is the natural result of putting themselves in an unnatural situation.Their inability to do these things well, and having absolutely no intention of wishing to learn doesn’t cast them out as being defective, but simply means that they aren’t trying to be something that they aren’t.Sound familiar?A lot of us that have Aspergers will absolutely thrive in a field that we're good at. For me, it’s performing and writing. These are my fairy talents.For other aspies, it could be an impeccable ability to remember large math equations, or fix things, or build things, or cook extravagant six-teared cakes layered with jam and cream.All of us have our special fairy talents. All of us have our own little Flora, Fauna and Merryweathers inside of us, and just because we may not be fantastic at the seemingly normal tasks of life, it doesn’t for a single second make us any different or any more defective. It simply means we’re wired in a different way, which is wonderful.Humanity is not a goal for these fairies, but simply something they tried and failed, and then abandoned completely and they never once saw their failure as a bad reflection on themselves. Because the three of them knew that they could get through with other ways of doing things.Don’t let what you can’t do drag you down. You’re more than your inability to do mundane human tasks. You’re a Flora, or a Fauna, or a Merryweather.And that’s much, much cooler than being a boring old human.