Asperger (Women) Article: 'I knew I was different...'

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When Fiona Pettit O’Leary was diagnosed with Asperger’s at 42, it suddenly made sense of her troubled childhood and teenage years.

As a little girl, I was engaged with the world in a deep and magical way. I frequently got lost, I was an eternal daydreamer. I needed time to process my environment, being so easily and gleefully distracted.

I had a make-shift hotel in my bedroom for caterpillars and ladybirds and moths, which I ‘rescued’ from what I named ‘Moth Lane’, near my house. I empathised with the more colourful and eccentric characters in my neighbourhood. The homeless seemed to me like the wounded moth or lame spider in need of help, and I would have no qualms about bringing them home with me.

I am still like this today. I have never been able to walk away from someone in trouble, even strangers who look unsafe. I have risked engaging where others have backed away.

I find Temperance "Bones" Brennan from the show Bones to be a very believable female autistic character.

Also, I enjoyed this article.

I never knew Bones was autistic at all until it was mentioned on a website. Guess that explains some of the pictures on the web.