(well, not really shiny. . .)
Hi, I'm Steve, I'm 27 and from the States (Connecticut being the particular state) and I have not been diagnosed with Asperger's, but I'm looking into it.
I don't want to touch off a whole "self-diagnosis is utter rot"/"no it isn't" flame war that I've seen all over the Internet, so I want to start out by saying I am not self-diagnosed. I -am- looking into getting a proper diagnosis. I have a LOT of Asperger signs, and I had them a lot stronger when I was a young kid. But there are also a lot I never had. So: the jury is out.
I first heard of Asperger's a few years ago when my mother told me a good friend of mine from elementary school had been diagnosed with it. I asked what it was, but nothing clicked.
Two years ago my brother's 11-year-old brother-in-law was diagnosed with it. My brother said he'd been reading about it and said something like "It's weird. Social cues for people with Asperger's is a skill they have to practice, like playing the piano." I responded by saying, "Yeah, that's weird." But what I was thinking was, "Wait, isn't it like that for everyone? Because that's what it's like for me. . ."
Then a year ago I was in a bookstore and came across a book called "All Cats Have Aspergers Syndrome" which sort of lists a lot of signs, and then shows an accompanying picture of a cat or kitten. It's a picture book. I picked it up and read through it. I thought it would make a good gift for my brother and sister-in-law because of her Aspie brother, and also because they had just gotten a cat. I was mesmerized as I read through it, because I could relate so well with what the cats--er, the Aspies--were going through. It especially reminded me of my childhood.
As I was standing there reading it, a women approached me and said, "Oh, I just love that book!" And this sparked off a pretty typical series of thoughts for me:
"Yikes."
"This women expects me to say something."
"She just told me something about herself. Am I supposed to agree with it? Why would she want me to confirm her opinion on this book? Or does she want my opinion? Have I formed an opinion on this book that's worth sharing?. . ."
And what I said was: "Yeah."
Then she said: "My daughter was just diagnosed with Asperger's."
And I that point I was kind of stressed out, so I just nodded and then pretended she wasn't there until she walked away.
It was then that I decided I might be a cat--er, an Asperger--so I read more stuff from books with more information and less cat pictures.
A lot adds up. A good amount doesn't. I'm here to learn more and bide time until I can get evaluated.
Thanks, and nice to meet you all!
08 Jun 2009, 10:43 pm
