Apparently today is World Autism Awareness Day: I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, which is an Autistic Spectrum Disorder, at the age of 20. Despite very obvious symptoms, I had gone through an entire 15 years of misery in primary and secondary school education without being diagnosed. I cant speak on Autism as a whole, because I know very little about the disorder. I dont think I had ever heard of Aspergers more than once or twice in my life before I was diagnosed but naturally I began to read up on it. I remember being unbelievably pissed off when I was told out of the blue by Professor Michael Fitzgerald. I had thought it was hilarious when I had been diagnosed with ADHD at 18 but I took this diagnosis almost as an insult. People with Aspergers generally have very poor social skills. I was as odd as three left feet when I was a child. As a teenager, I was socially awkward, shy, extremely immature, constantly angry, and irritating as hell. I had absolutely no interpersonal skills and as a result, I can count on one hand how many friends I had in the first 18 years of my life. I was bullied unmercifully and I took that and my many other frustrations out on other people who were smaller or younger than me and who absolutely did nothing to deserve it. I hadnt a clue how to behave in social situations and just insulted or annoyed people I liked. There were times in my early to mid teenage years when, barring a few eternally loyal relatives, I had not got a single friend in the world. People with Aspergers can also get obsessed with a particular hobby or interest. Sometimes they can become fixated on that particular subject in their conversations. As a child, I knew each of the 151 Pokémon by name, number and type off by heart. I knew where to catch them all. This might explain my horrendously frustrating obsession with Man City, Facebook and politics. I can give out about politics all I want but I had not gotten involved in that world, Id still be that shy, socially awkward guy who hated himself. I learned how to express myself, how to interact with people and most importantly, how to score with a wink. Ive made more friends and developed more as a person through that particular interest than I did in the first 20 years of my life. I still have my odd moments and mannerisms, but I could not give less of a shart. Theres not much else I can say about disorders on the Autistic Spectrum because Im not an expert. If youre still reading, you might know something more than you did a few minutes ago. If youre intrigued in the slightest and you want more information to raise your own awareness, as much as I hate that phrase, check out Aspire, The Asperger Syndrome Association of Ireland, or AsIAm.ie.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 20:49:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015