When I was a kid, nobody had heard of Asperger’s Syndrome. If they had, my brother would have been diagnosed with it, and he’d probably be better off today if he had. From an early age he chose not to speak outside the family home. This was especially problematic at school, but at least they tolerated his behaviour. He had/has many other classic symptoms, but it was only in recent years that I realised he had Asperger’s.
Then I read that sometimes family members can have some Aspy traits, as it is genetic, and I instantly realized that my other sibling, father and grandmother were all Aspys to some degree.
And I was as well.
Suddenly many of the things that didn’t make sense about me could be explained by a syndrome. Those that had bothered me the most include:
- obsession with honesty, despite having a high imagination and an entrepreneurial streak – both useful for being a deceitful person…
- incredible shyness in social and work situations, yet I’ve been on TV many times
- inability to hear conversations when there is background noise
- being intelligent but not in a traditional way, not easily pigeon-holed
- a continual need to”download” whatever I am thinking to friends and family, even though I know they are not interested
- an inability to complete what I start – sometimes I am in the middle of reading a dozen books at once
Now it all makes sense, and I’m finding it interesting exploring all the aspects of this syndrome. This site is all about symptoms – I’ll show what researchers have discovered, what other Aspys say, and add in lots of my own experiences.