A bit shellshocked
As some of you know, my older brother has Asperger Syndrome. What most probably don't is that I am incredibly similar to him in many ways. It's long been suspected that I have AS too - since I was a baby in fact - but the doctors dismissed it as me 'putting it on', so we never followed up on it.
But in the paper recently there was an article on Asperger's in relation to the man who has auditioned for the X Factor and it mentioned how it presents itself differently in girls. I got curious, and took a look on the net to find out what the differences were.
Which was how I found this article.
I literally froze. It describes me perfectly. Every last detail is me exactly. Down to my reaction when my parents or siblings get irritated with me when I'm being scatter-brained. Down to me preferring male company to female. Even down to me still loving things I loved as a kid and my lack of fashion sense.
I pretty much suspected that I have Asperger's like my brother, but to see it in black and white like that was still a shock. I'm not sure I want to get an official diagnosis though - if you have Asperger's you might as have fallen off the face of the Earth once you've left education, so what good would it do me?
And, I'm okay with having it. I'm brilliant in fact. I've always said about Asperger's that "you're just wired up differently to everyone else." Or, as my Dad puts it, "it's like two different operating systems trying to talk to each other" - which doesn't quite work so well with me since I'm both a Mac AND a PC. XD
The way I see it, it wired my brain up this way and what I did with it is all me and I like who I am. So how can I have a problem with that? :D
PS: I recently discovered that the shorthand nickname for people with Asperger's is "Aspie." I think it's adorable, and since I have never heard it used in a derogatory fashion I'm definitely going to use it more in conversation.
But in the paper recently there was an article on Asperger's in relation to the man who has auditioned for the X Factor and it mentioned how it presents itself differently in girls. I got curious, and took a look on the net to find out what the differences were.
Which was how I found this article.
I literally froze. It describes me perfectly. Every last detail is me exactly. Down to my reaction when my parents or siblings get irritated with me when I'm being scatter-brained. Down to me preferring male company to female. Even down to me still loving things I loved as a kid and my lack of fashion sense.
I pretty much suspected that I have Asperger's like my brother, but to see it in black and white like that was still a shock. I'm not sure I want to get an official diagnosis though - if you have Asperger's you might as have fallen off the face of the Earth once you've left education, so what good would it do me?
And, I'm okay with having it. I'm brilliant in fact. I've always said about Asperger's that "you're just wired up differently to everyone else." Or, as my Dad puts it, "it's like two different operating systems trying to talk to each other" - which doesn't quite work so well with me since I'm both a Mac AND a PC. XD
The way I see it, it wired my brain up this way and what I did with it is all me and I like who I am. So how can I have a problem with that? :D
PS: I recently discovered that the shorthand nickname for people with Asperger's is "Aspie." I think it's adorable, and since I have never heard it used in a derogatory fashion I'm definitely going to use it more in conversation.