So, the question is what is normal about wanting to be well adjusted? What is the prize that you get at the end of the day for fitting in?

Holidays for me are often pain-filled triggers of hell-filled holidays of days gone by, Now I realize that it is far more important to be connected to myself and to my spiritual reality than it is to be engaged socially for the sake of any holiday.

One of the most difficult challenges of dealing with an AS diagnosis in adulthood, for me, has been the reality that while I was finding all of this out there were no services to help in the necessary transition, adjustment, or understanding of what it will all mean in my life and for my future.

I don't think Asperger's is a disease to be cured or conquered. Instead, it's a condition to overcome and use to my advantage.

...the teachers and the shrink said there was nothing wrong with me. I was confused! later they find out I have AS and I find out I'm very different. So the way I see it is "Every body is different but some are more different than others".

...free of sexist, 'age-ist', or culturalist biases; ability to regard others at 'face value'; speaking one's mind irrespective of social context or adherence to personal beliefs; listening without continual judgement or assumption...

I'm often asked if I can �cure� children with Asperger's. I don't have �the cure�, no one does. There are many treatments that can help with specific symptoms. My only goal for writing this course is to help people understand why people with Asperger's are thinking what they are thinking with the hopes that understanding leads to patience and kindness.

There are actually some benefits to this disorder. If you have it, you usually are very bright. In addition, having it makes you very resistant to peer pressure. You do not care what others want you to do if you do not want to do it.

I'd found my answer. I don't just feel different from the 'normal world'. I AM DIFFERENT. I AM AUTISTIC. My lifelong search for truth continues, but now with direction.

Dedicated to the equally fascinating topics of autistic advocacy and the 'sisterly sophistries' of radical gender feminism. Other topics may occasionally crop up.

I denounce injustice, whether perpetrated by parents, relatives, autistic people, classmates, coworkers, random people on the street, or professionals of all kinds.

Some people have the courage and the patience to stick with me for a while and find out that although I am unusual, that encompasses sometimes being nicer or intelligent than normal people.

A.S. people can be creative, high-powered thinkers, with courage to make a contribution outside the mainstream; many academics have A.S. A.S. people also tend to be straightforward, not manipulating people or having hidden agendas.

The physical world around us makes perfect sense to me, and also to those like me. However, the same cannot be said of activities such as spending enormous amounts of money getting drunk or working my way up the social ladder for it's own sake.

I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome when I was 17. I was a target for bullies who didn't understand me, because of my general lankiness and my thoughts and beliefs. Only another person with AS could fully understand the syndrome.

I've always wanted to live in a quiet place in the country where I can observe wildlife and compose music without having to deal with a lot of people.

All of you have had experience of this disorder within your families and you will each have a personal story to tell. This story is mine and I hope that sharing it with you will be of some help and encouragement.

Andy is a recent college grad blogging about Asperger's and politics

Most people do not understand how the autistic mind works, and most likely will withdraw from that person's presence. Sadly, people with autism have to often cope with ostracism and defamation from intolerant people.

This website describes my journeys: my faith, the births of my three children, early motherhood, my various health problems and my recent diagnosis with Asperger's Syndrome (a form of autism). It is not professional advice, but I love to write and I love to share what I have learned.

The diagnosis has finally allowed me to let myself off the hook. I will always struggle with social skills, but by focusing on my strengths I hope to find other ways to be successful and maybe even have a career.

Presentation to the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education

I have many hobbies that include: Science fiction a cult shows. I like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Smallville, Andromeda, Stargate SG-1, Alias and my favourite show is Farscape.

Home I have in my heart wherever I go. In he years I've had I have found shelter, food, water, warmth, care. Even in a harsh world of negative help there have been the few who saw how it is for me and I have homes open for me...

So, who is normal? The ones who set out deliberately to hurt others who are 'different,' of someone like me who set out to learn how to assert my inalienable validity as a person while also learning very deliberately how not to hurt others back?

Never give up. Don't complain about being different: someday you will be a very successful person. It takes a while to develop your social skills, but have patience and then you can succeed.

Important clues that led to my diagnosis included difficulties working with other people within teams. A solitary childhood was pivotal too, as is a reasonably isolated adult life. An interesting speech abnormality failure which I have always had is referring to oneself consistently as "one" or "we," and never the more usual "I" or "me."

The mind is, I think, probably the only truly comfortable place for a person like myself, with Asperger's Syndrome, because there's certainly nowhere like that in the big, confusing, social real world. A defining feature of Asperger's is having intense, particular (and usually peculiar) preoccupations � so intense they can inhibit concentration, alertness and social adaptability. It's a godsend that my biggest interests are music, theater and dance � communal activities with people as intensely passionate as I am that leave me no choice but to adapt and make personal connections. If I couldn't, I'd feel so ostracized that involving myself in these activities would be emotional suicide. As it is, they are constructive outlets where I can channel my disorder. Still, presenting my obsessions to my non-theater friends is hard to do in a socially acceptable manner.

When I was diagnosed with Asperger's autism, I was advised to be careful: no one wants that stigma! Imagine the problems with being labeled! I couldn't believe the exclamation points I was hearing from these doctors.

I am a 26 year old woman, diagnosed with Autism at the age of 3. My parents were told that I would be at the learning level of a two year old for the rest of my life, but they would not leave it at that.

Welcome to the home page of the Autistic Bitch from Hell. As you've probably guessed from the name, this site is not a circus sideshow for ignorant people's entertainment. You will not find any demeaning psychological jargon here, any self-pitying talk about "symptoms," any charming little tragicomic anecdotes about a bizarre childhood, or any "wrong planet" rubbish. Instead, you will find blunt comments on civil rights, neurodiversity, and consciousness-raising. If you can't deal with that, take a hike.

My hope is to share the many POSITIVE aspects of autism. It may not be your idea of normal, but to me it is, and .. one day it might just touch your life.

Why should there be a cure if the autists are not suffering from their autism as we are constantly being told they are. They only suffer our inability to meet their very specific needs and understanding, as other strains of beings.

The way to understanding, for me, is to know how something came about and why it works the way it does. Without that understanding, I often find myself having a difficult time dealing with the overall subject at hand.

It's often hard to tell whether social interaction is more difficult for me than academics or not. It used to be at my high school, but this is no longer the case at University of Rhode Island where I am now. I have to attribute this to my friends, to the diverse community of people here, and to the lack of teasing inherent in my grade school years.

Hello I'm Ben, I am a 22 year old male from London with Asperger's Syndrome...this is my website for people interested in Asperger Syndrome in the UK.

I'm a complicated man. I have multiple layers to my personality. I'm not schizophrenic or anything but I can be a totally different person from day to day. I was raised in a small farm town (2,000 people) but I don't really fit that stereotype. In fact, most of the people from small towns don't fit that stereotype. No, I can't stand crowds but at the same time I'm open-minded, semi-cultured and pretty non-conservative. I'm of average intelligence and I like to say I know a little about a lot of things and a lot about a few things. Jack of all trades...master of baiting...err, I mean master of none.

I am a FinnDago, Finnis/Italian kindred known for my bouts of rage, my obsessions, and hidden love.

Offering an edgy collection of nicely organized links, reflecting a libertarian perspective on life.

If you were being forever forced to do upsetting functions or at times acutely painful ones, just because everybody else does it with no discomfort, and expects you to be the same; would that make you want to be outgoing, and a party personality?

i've always known that I wasn't really like everyone else. there were certain traits I had that the 'neurotypical' kids lacked, and there were things that I couldn't understand as a trade-off.

When I learned to do sign language and use the computer in 1992, I was surprised that other people wanted to know how I think. I learned that I could stay like me and still fit in your world, a little.

Everyone likes to be included in group activities, have friendships. We with disabilities don't want to look from the sidelines. We want to be right in the everyday happenings like everyone else.

I hope you take with you a little understanding of AS, and maybe learn to have patience with people, they may not be able to help it. Always remember you can never judge a book by its cover.

This is my motto for the year 2003-04: Shine Jesus Shine / Let the Nations See / You in me / and me serving thee.

People can become social outcasts for lots of reasons. Such as, people get labeled as geeks or nerds when they're smart or good at something. Doesn't seem fair, but that's reality. Have you ever heard of someone being a social disaster because of too much imagination? There is such a thing. It's called Asperger's syndrome. This form of high-functioning autism causes social problems that can't entirely be overcome, because the problem is not with the individual's personality. It's in the wiring of the brain. I should know. I suffer from this disorder.

Feelings don't matter, only doing matters. Do exactly as you are told and you get a cookie. Being autistic is a bad thing. Don't stare out the window in rapt amazement at the fluttering of leaves on a tree or at the formation of a cloud. It's not allowed.

Australia-based information resource

The greatest impact of Asperger's study has been the recent acceptance of autistic individuals with average to above average intelligence as belonging on the 'autistic spectrum' - a term coined by Asperger himself.

Cecilia was born in 1981, in Southern California. Even though Cecilia cannot express herself well with words, she loves to draw pictures and take photographs.

CJS's personal idiosyncratic expressions include: (TO) BEET--to fall in love with Beethoven's music; (TO) BEVERLY--to shake your long hair to and fro; GOIN' FOUR--to do a French kiss in a full embrace chest-to-chest ...

One of our prime aims here at Asperger's World 3 is to provide a safe environment for members, some of whom may be or feel vulnerable We aim to provide a safe forum and entertainment area for Aspies and their care givers or friends.

Its all very well therapists telling us to GROW THE HELL UP!!! But they would not tell someone in a Wheel Chair to walk would they???? Basically out condition makes it hard for us.

The objective of this page and its subpages is to express myself, Christopher Marsh, to friends and prospective friends worldwide.

I was relieved to find out that there was a reason for why I am the way I am and when I saw the advantages that the condition presents, I became more confident about myself. The diagnosis also helped my colleagues to understand me.

After losing 3 secretarial jobs consecutively and 2 months before I lost my 4th, I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at the age of 21... This signaled a complete life change in me and a soar in my self confidence and esteem.

Touch and its various possible meanings have become a symbol for me of a long struggle to reject other people's interpretations until I found something that rang true for me.

Because I was only diagnosed halfway through my undergraduate degree, it took me a while to have the courage of my convictions and adapt my learning methods to my own abilities, instead of trying to work and revise in the way I thought I was supposed to.

Oh schizoids of the world, unite / Your body with your soul. / Why settle for a half of life / When you can have the whole?

Featuring: the proofreader's hall of shame; letters to the world; font stuff, message forums.

I may use the phrase, 'You say that in a way I don't understand.' or 'you use that word in a way I don't understand.' Or something like that. I say this to denote I understood what was said, but misunderstood the way it was inferred.

We're a full-service television production company specializing in commercials, visual effects and production services.

Aspies tend to get into trouble because of peoples reaction, prejudices or inability to deal with their unusual, persistent or dedicated behaviour. This is THEIR Disability and not ours.

When I was reading about NLD on the Internet today, I found several web sites that discuss children w/NLD, but very little about NLD's impact on adults.

This is a place where I dump my new sketches and say whatever I feel like saying, meaning that it tends to be full of scattered blurbs and bizarre non sequiturs. Be it known that I'm generally not ashamed of who I am, and it shows.

All too often, I found myself at social settings, filled with people innocently talking, and me totally unprepared for the unwelcome assault of meaningful noise on my senses.

By a quirk of nature I was born with a cruel disability called autism. Now the sunlight of new information will change many lives for the better. Not that autism will be erased but the ignorance about it will be removed.

Most of this site deals with Asperger Syndrome, generally considered to be on the autism spectrum. This is because I would not be me were I not autistic; to come to know me, one must come to know autism.

My hope is that by describing how things went for me, others can see what to do differently, so that the path they take will be different from mine.

The willingness to understand is precious, because everything else follows from it - the learning, the understanding, the growth, and the success. There is much to learn. There is much to understand. There is much work to be done.

Interaction between autistic people is a fascinating thing. Lately, I have got in contact with other autistic people - and guess if I were surprised - we can communicate without all the usual misunderstandings and troubles...

One of my interests is the diagnosis of higher functioning autistic states in adulthood, in the absence of reliable development histories. Another is the application of environmental psychology in mental health issues relating to Asperger syndrome.

Most people I have spoken with seem to feel that task difficulty is similar in all people... Oddly, they usually recognize the things I am good at. Perhaps they just need to realize that these strengths come at a cost.

Furtive greetings from Tornadobait, Mokansahomasas.

The poems of confusion, loneliness and despair of an autistic adult after his parents have passed away.

I hope that I can help people to understand a little more about autism and what it is like to be autistic. There are pages on my thoughts about some of the mathematical topics I like, and the psychological topics I find fascinating.

The story of an autistic man betrayed and abused by the very people who were supposed to protect and help him.

Blog by a woman with high-functioning autism, VATER association, a powerful love for cats, and a sometimes-overboard belief in disability advocacy.

I now see how my autism affected my social skills and interviewing skills in college. However, all-in-all, I'm happy that I made the decisions I made, because going through college has given me a very good career.

Wednesday, March 02, 1994 Fresh Air

Information overload can occur when information is coming in too quickly to process, or when a person is unable to filter out irrelevant stimuli. People who operate in mono-track have difficulty with processing, monitoring, and accessing information.

I'm wild and wooly, with an incredible naughty streak, prone to phobia and compulsion with a great determination to strive for balance and detachment yet a great love of connection and discovery.

There is often clamor for new legislation to protect the disabled. I have to wonder. Here, in the USA, we have ADA and IDEA to promote the interests of the disabled in the workplace and the classroom. However, with the best will in the world, employers and educators will be at a loss as to how to structure the workplace or the classroom, for the purpose of accommodating the autistic, if they are prey to the many misconceptions about autism.

Back in the summer of 1995, after I had discovered that, for almost all my life, I had been autistic, I had to wonder what to do about that.

I write because, since I began learning about autism, I have found a distressing amount of malicious misinformation, superficial sterotypes, unprofessional professionals, perplexed parents, callous cruelty and general cluelessness. I hope to do my part in correcting this; in making the world a better place for my kind. I also write because it is the by far easiest way for me to explain my way of functioning to those around me.

Random reminiscing ramblings. Topics may include computing, autism, lingustics, Nihontô, anthropology and anything else that happens to catch my fancy.

According to the theory-theory account of understanding other minds, children develop a succession of theories of mind that, just like scientific theories, postulate abstract coherent mental entities and laws, and provide predictions, interpretations and explanations. These, in turn, enable them to interact successfully with other people. Individuals with autism or Asperger's syndrome are said to be unable to theorize about other minds, resulting in difficulties in relating to the people around them. This paper explores the possibility that we can reconceptualize the assumed relationship from the other direction, proposing that it is misleading to construe the task of achieving social understanding as a logical, scientific one. Rather, it will be suggested that typical children do not have to theorize that there are minds as they can immediately experience other people's intentions and feelings within their affective, co-regulated interactions with them. High-functioning individuals with autism, on the other hand, do need to engage in theorizing about mind if they are to bridge the gap that exists between themselves and other people. In support of this argument, this paper presents findings from an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of ten published autobiographical accounts written by individuals diagnosed with either high-functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome.

I've been on a dairy (casein) and wheat (gluten) FREE diet since the summer of 1998 not counting the times I cheated! The times I cheated after several months on that diet, I could really feel it in my brain!

Autistic people always think of things differently then a normal person. They may appear to be weird or act weird, but they don't mean to.

The monkey, the eagle and the fish all have different needs and different perspectives. This does not mean they have mistaken thinking. - A parable on the innate differences of our paradigms

I frightened most people, so they excluded me, which made me feel rejected and lonely until I realized that no matter who we are, we all have places we belong, but we have to create them.

Salutations! I am 10 years old and am an ancient coin archaeologist destined for the stars. I am the Young Indiana Jones of numismatics!

Creatures games page On Creatures games, Rants and Opinions (abortion, autistic rights, etc.), Special Needs Database (all those interesting rare - and not so rare - disabilities).

All people are real, in the deepest sense of that word. That means that there is no such thing as a non-human human. But if you look around this room, you will see people who look at least non-standard. And that is where the problem begins. We live in a country where image is kind of a reality more real than reality. My main answer to that is: I don't need surgery to make me real any more than a beautiful woman "really" needs her eyelids sewn back. The fact that I think I do and she thinks she does is more fairy tale than real. Eagerness to be like others didn't make Pinocchio real -- it turned him into a donkey! And eagerness by parents to cure autism or retardation or compulsiveness will not drive great distances toward the final solution to the actual problem. Because the person who believes "I will be real when I am normal," will always be almost a person, but will never make it all the way.

There are perhaps a dozen life-forms in the entire universe whose opinions matter to me. Two of them are cats.

Beyond SPACE ..., beyond TIME ..., beyond IMAGINATION ..., there exists a strange, weird, bizarre universe. No author of science fiction, mystery, or fantasy could ever adequately describe the eerie dimension of autism.

Essays: Autism and Human Problems; A Nerd in the Herd; Autistic Competency; Fractal Autism; The Irony of Autism; Where I Am Going; Who Me, Autistic?; Consciousness Versus Autism; Stimulus Versus Overselectivity; Wanted: Dead or Alive

One of these days, one of us is going to have to study NTs in the way that we autistics have been studied, and write about those enigmatic NTs. I wonder if any NTs would consent to be research subjects in the way that so many of us have.

Q. As what animal would you like to return? A. I love animals but I think I'd rather be a human again

I have a Greater overview, of 'everyday life' in the material world, now, after having many many DreamVisions, where Guides take me at night to experiences places in the Spirit, afterlife, realms! I still have these types of dreams!

I have always known I didn't quite fit in. I've been somewhat of an 'odd man out' throughout my life, a loner, socially somewhat 'inadequate', so to speak� This is me, and I'm quite happy being me...

People with AS like structure and routine in employment, are punctual, can work alone, are meticulous, pay great attention to detail, take pride in their work, do not talk during work time and do not take days off and can handle repetitive tasks.

I lived a challenging life, dealing with many hardships with many different situations, being different for unknown reasons and unable to fit properly in society. Ultimately, they were all learning experiences.

Autism/PDD Speaker/Advocate. About Me; Gary for Hire; Living with Asperger Syndrome; The Autistic Mind; Services Needed for Teens and Adults with PDD; Presentation on Autism/PDD; Links

I do believe that PDD patients can be trained and counselled to function, to an extent, like otherwise �normal� people. They may have to think and practice differently, but I do not think it is impossible to bridge the gap.

The brain of a person with PDD is the same as one of a typical person, but the disorder forms a block, limiting the absorption of information. However, this brain is highly active. The emotions of a person with PDD are highly magnified.

Don't think you have a right to tell Asperger people to change or behave differently, unless they are being violent towards someone else. We have a right to self expression just like anyone else, even if we do it in a different way.

The wide world can be so cruel to vulnerable people, and some people can't or refuse to understand that there's anything wrong with you.

I have Asperger's Syndrome, and have a brother with Kanner autism.

When I was fourteen years old and switched from one high-school to another, I wrote an article about it, mainly intended for the teachers at my new school. The goal was to receive more understanding.

I'm told I have autism, some say I have Asperger's syndrome (it's very similar). Maybe it is the reason I have been drawing since the age of 5 and I have always been fascinated by big cities and aeroplanes. In 1984, I started to be interested by the conception of an imaginary city called Urville. The name came from "Dumont d'Urville", a scientific base, in a French territory of the Antarctic. Since then, I made many (200) drawings of Urville, and I wrote a historical, geographical, cultural and economic description. I also have a book project, called "Urville Sightseeing Tour" that I'd love to publish. My greatest pleasure is to be invited to give a lecture on Urville because I can make it exist!

The theory points out that lack of social ability is the main feature of autism. The theory shows that although some forms of autism are difficult, autism in general is not a disease.

Autism emerges as a major feature of brain evolution: It is generally not a disease. Autism has been with humans as long as humans have been and has markedly influenced human history. It evidently has shaped forms of religious practice.

Autism is very contradictory to me, someone else wrote: 'I've gained as much as I've lost'... Maybe I've lost some more than I gained but that wasn't because of the autism itself, but the lack of understanding from the world around me.

Gunilla Gerland is 34 and has always brushed her teeth twice a day. But every time she has to think about what she is doing. It has never become automatic - every contact with the toothbrush is like her first.

Nowadays I am very high-functioning but I had big difficulties when I was younger. To start from the beginning my parents thought I was difficult to get in touch with; they didn't feel they got a real contact with me.

Lectures and presentations on autism. (In Swedish.)

I lived till 60 years of age with the judgement of a psy-prof that I was the model of hyper-absence-mindedness (challenger of Newton). Then I discovered, alone, that I could be prosopamnesian (like Darwin) with a strong layer of autism (like Einstein)

I'm pretty sure, there couldn't be a bigger difference as it exists between what I percept, think or feel and the world non-autists live in.

It is partly about anticipating behaviour of others. During driving lessons I learned to anticipate the behaviour of other people, that participate in traffic.

I read. And at last I understood! Not only that, but I could even be proud of myself, and believe that I had just as much right to exist as anybody else.

Autism is only a part of your personality. A lot of symptoms are typical for autism but there is no symptom that you can see at every autistic person. That's why autistic people recognise this disorder very lately or even never.

I live in Kotka, Finland. I am diagnosed with AS, and so are my five-year-old daughter and my husband. I have previously studied biology at Helsinki University, and graduated with a degree in plant physiology, genetics and biochemistry.

I want to talk about the reality out there for those of us with Autism on the higher functioning end of the spectrum. The National Health Service has a revolving door policy of once you enter this revolving door you come out the end with nothing.

I grew up untreated, because 40 years ago, there were no books, and nobody knew what the underlying cause of autism was, neither what to do about it. Today, it should be different.

The emotional dynamics of autism are: Autism = envy + jealousy (mode of self-pity); The unconscious idea that creates autism is: I do not want an emotional relationship with anyone.

After a considerable amount of thought, the theme of this blog will be neurodiversity, which is broadly the concept that there isn't one "normal" path of neurological development that is "right" for everyone. Of course, it is generally assumed that there is only one "normal" and "right" course of development, and that any other path is a "disease" or "defect" that renders anyone whose development deviates from it to that degree "abnormal" and consequently "defective." But as one who has been the victim of these labels, I beg to disagree.

However autism is really misunderstood. Unfortunately it is too often linked in people's minds with either schizophrenia or attention deficit hyper activity disorder, it is categorically neither. It is not mental illness and it is not a learning disability, although you will come across some people on the autistic spectrum who may also have an independent learning disability. In the same way as people on the autistic spectrum may at some time suffer mental illness, but the autism and mental illness are discreet.

All my life, I have felt, although happy, different from everyone else. I have had various problems with mobility and other issues. My interests were---and still are---very unusual. They include world religion, poetry, play writing and epidemiology, which is the study of diseases. I also have strong emotions about certain things---most notably pertaining to my disabilities and pertaining to social justice, which is very typical of people with my disorder, which is called Asperger's Syndrome... I was basically a baobab amongst sequoias.

I'm a person who doesn't talk with my mouth. I'm a teenager who has worked hard to learn to type to communicate. I have been typing since I was nine. People who can't talk really want to communicate. You can help them. My mother loves me. She helped me learn to type. Please understand that people who don't talk can be very smart.

Welcome to my website. I'm James Williams. I live in Northbrook, Illinois, a Chicago suburb of 33,000. I am seventeen years old, I am homeschooled, and I have high-functioning autism. Despite my age, I have spoken at several autism conferences, parent support groups, and special schools, and have had several correspondences with individuals (normal and autistic) who are interested in my advice. I am also the co-author of The Self-Help Guide For Special Kids and Their Parents and the author of Out To Get Jack. On my website, I have archived the speeches I have given and the essays I have written over the years.

Personally, being told I am shy feels like I am being told: I will accept you, I will engage in the process of trying to be friends with you, on the condition that I am allowed to continue perceiving you as a slightly modified version of myself.

I used to think all people were alike at the core. Each of us was unique, of course, but unique with an awful lot in common.

On this page I plan to 'stack' a bunch of very short bits of writing, most of them posts I have sent to one of the several autism- or AS-focused online groups to which I belong.

'Feeling Stressed? For therapy, try making Teddy Bears!' Teddy bear pix (beautiful workmanship!), articles (mostly on autism), fiction, book recommendations, and more.

Most of us prefer to think of our autism as a difference rather than a disability, but it's undeniably true that our difference looks and feels like a disability when we are measured (and found lacking) against the mainstream social norms.

I then moved to Swansea to read for a degree in Geology. Bliss. I was at last amongst my sort of people. My eccentricities were celebrated, not scorned.

Every time I leave my house I feel like I am on stage..... every situation is its own play and there is a role for me in it.

All my school days, as far back as I remember, I doodled like this in my notebooks in order to listen and hear what the teacher was saying...

In her essay "My Name is Autism," Marty Murphy, a 41 year-old "high functioning" autistic woman describes what autism means to her... We find these statements to be dangerous, sensationalist and false. We believe these statements demean and devalue the lives of all autistics. These statements resonate with similar historical efforts to incite fear and hatred against identifiable groups of people, with the goal of restricting then eliminating the existence of these people.

Let's live in harmonious concert and respect for ourselves and other life forms who cope with living on Earth. Let us teach and learn from other people and other species and responsibly enjoy our planet's resources.

One aspect of autism is that it is like being in perpetual culture shock, no matter where I go or how long I stay.

Henry David Thoreau declared: "If the condition of things which we were made for is not yet, what were any reality which we can substitute?" I think that I am coming to realize, in more than one sense, the situation I was meant to have for my own, both in terms of life and work. I think that this column is itself part of a glimmering first light of that means, mode, and purpose.

Mine is a world of senses and feelings. It is rich with private perceptions. Experiences engrave themselves into my psyche as clear and detailed fragments.

Autistic individuals have a transcendent beauty. Their traits bespeak a separate, entire personality which is holistic-rather than an illness, abnormality, retardation syndrome, or disease which must be eradicated.

I have decided to put up a page that will explain a little about myself to people who might be interested, and possibly educate you at the same time... What a stretch! :) (Information on bipolar disorder.)

There is, however, a way to cope with autism. When I finally began to explore and ask questions, I realized that many of the things I took for granted as character flaws were in fact simply a fundamental difference in the way I was wired.

This is a personal account of the play behaviors of an individual who has autism as remembered by himself and his mother. Jean-Paul Bovee explains the activities that were enjoyable for him and which were his play, although they were unusual and may not fit the typical definition of play. His mother, Dr Julie A. Donnelly, tells of her attempts to involve Jean-Paul in typical play and how important play is as a bridge to social skills and involvement with peers. Jean-Paul concludes that his play is a part of the unique individual he has become.

Autism can be confused with so many other things. For instance, clumsiness and failure to make eye contact could be mistaken for problems with the sufferer's sight.

I was losing jobs, because people did not understand how and why I did things. So, I told my manager and things worked out. Since then, everyone at my jobs know I have autism , but it seems to be a plus for me now.

The traditional case history stifles the patient's own narrative but increasingly patients are writing their own narratives. Reading patients' tales can help doctors understand their patients better and teach them things they won't learn from textbooks.

I have Asperger Syndrome, (a form of Autism), diagnosed at the age of 43. A lifetime burden of inadequacy, guilt, confusion and fear was lifted from me.

On good days I have faith that the world will be gentle. On bad days I just want to hold you in my arms and shelter you. My mysterious child in black, what is the road you're walking down? And where are you bound?

Home page of an Australian college student.

Homepage for his graphic arts business.

Although I was in special ed. most of my life I participated in regular classes and after school programs. My school was very helpful and supportive in making it possible for me to participate in a classes or programs offered by my school.

Having been autistic since birth, the person does perceive and experience a different world than the one most people live in--and being native to that world, the person has little identification with non-autistic standards of normality.

AS is a barrier that is always there, but like other barriers, can be scaled via hard work. The more one learns about dealing with the social world, the better one does.

Full of passionate, informative articles on autism, language, service dogs, intersexuality, and other topics.

In May of 1989 I drove 1200 miles to attend the tenth annual TEACCH conference, where I learned that autistic people can't drive.

I saw them as I came around the corner of the supermarket aisle: two women, one middle-aged, one perhaps in her teens or early twenties...

The more you know about autism, the more you will be able to understand and help autistic people. Recognition that a person is autistic is the first step to being able to make their life easier and to help them grow.

Welcome to my site about autism and advocacy - or, as I like to say, about a way of life that is a bit different but just as valuable as anyone else's. I am an autistic adult who wants to see my people succeed and prosper in this world. Unfortunately, there are a lot of difficulties we experience, only some of which have anything to do with our actual autism. Many of them deal with the way society sees and treats us. Through this site, you can explore the real difficulties we experience. You can also celebrate with me the beauty of autistic existence. There are even resources for other autistics - resources that can hopefully help us to overcome the difficulties we face.

Bienvenue sur le site de Joffrey, jeune autiste, féru de météo.

Cela aura pris trois ans à Joffrey pour se laisser convaincre que ce qu'un autiste exprime, écrit peut présenter de l'intérêt pour les "autres", les neurotypiques. Sorte de thérapie par écrit ou de journal intime, ce livre est la restitution fidèle de la production de Joffrey ; lequel a écrit son texte de façon manuscrite : 750 pages écrites en 4 mois à raison de 3 à 4 heures par jour, avec au bout du compte un cal sur l'index qui disparut deux ans plus tard. Joffrey a constitué une chemise par chapitre qu'il complétait au fur et à mesure de ses besoins journaliers. Sa maman l'a saisi, en y ajoutant la ponctuation et corrigeant l'orthographe.

A priest, former UNIX system administrator, SF and costuming fan.

I was diagnosed as having AS 18 months ago, aged 50. Suddenly the previous 50 years of my life made sense!

I haven't been good at organizing, promoting, and selling myself. It's related to my autism and my recovery from autism... The Christ energy which is the mystical energy rejuvenates a person and makes a person much healthier by reconditioning the whole brain and nervous system.

The autistic child finds a certain movement that is rewarding to repeat, and shows us this devotion and joy associated with repetitive physical activity as do the Hare Krishnas as they dance and chant for hours along some busy metropolitan street.

The Special Needs person immediately recognised that Ben had Asperger's Syndrome. At the same time I was diagnosed as having traits of AS. So at the age of 47 many of the problems in relating to other people I have came into focus and made sense.

I suffer from autistic or perhaps Asperger's symptomatology and I have written some short stories, which I would like to share with you on this site. I hope you will read them and I hope you enjoy them.

I have 12 short fiction pieces that I have written and have posted them on this site for your reading pleasure. I think I am unique in that I am one of the few autistic people around to have written any fiction, though I have as yet to write a novel.

Can an introverted geek computer programmer survive economically and socially in these times?

Additionally, I have been diagnosed with AS since I was 5. The doctors told my parents that I would have been institutionalized by the age of 15. Boy were they wrong! I overcame the odds to graduate high school with the IB Diploma and be accepted here.

What is 'illiop' you ask? It's Teddy Ruxpin's species of bear. It's mentioned in the TR book and tape titled 'All About Bears'.

My mother said that my teachers thought I reminded them of a deaf person because I did not participate in classroom activities with the other children.

I am the 3rd of 4 generations of women who I believe to be 'somewhere' on the Autistic Spectrum. I spent my life searching the world over for the words to describe my mother's 'odd' behaviours.

Entirely dedicated to Rose DeWitt Bukater, main character of the movie Titanic, by James Cameron.

Even those individuals who were never described as severe, speak of the trials and lack of acceptance they experience because they are different.

Her face is unlike others she has secretly studied. Hers is not equipped with bands to automatically (without thought) ''make it'' respond to environmental cues and stimuli, people and the like with the expressions others in society find necessary.

I would like to share my music with other interested people. I enjoy playing the piano (mostly classical music); also, I play the bass xylophone (a cousin of the marimba) in a contra dance band. I am a teenager with a developmental disABILITY (including some autistic-like characteristics). Music is my special language. I welcome your comments and having a "conversation" with you.

It is this genuineness, though, that endears us to many people. We don't play guessing games with people; we say what we mean. As employees and friends, we are quite loyal. We have the ability to focus completely on tasks of interest for hours at a time and also to remember large amounts of facts related to our interests quite easily.

I'm sure everyone here knows better, but it bears repeating: parents do not cause autism. It is neurological, not psychological. If bad parenting caused autism, there would be a lot more autistics.

Although I don't feel I live in 'my own little world' like the autistic stereotype, I do often feel like my experience and perception are a world apart from the usual.

This site is to help people learn more about breaking and creating secret codes.

Autism is an integral part of who I am. Autism is not a disease, a disorder, or something holding me prisoner in a shell. Autism is a culture, a lifestyle, and a way of being. We don't try to cure people of being Chinese, because that is unethical and impossible. Nor do we refer to said people as "having Chinese tendencies," because that sounds stupid and we recognize that someone's nationality is part of WHO THEY ARE.

Kate n.: A high-functioning autistic/Aspie teenager who is also invisibly disabled with cystic fibrosis. She doesn't want autism to be cured, and certainly doesn't believe in the goals of CAN or DAN. A dedicated volunteer at the Placer County SPCA. One who enjoys Balkan music and shares Unitarian Universalist principles. She has a fondness of bizarre games (ex: Killer Bunnies, Snits' Revenge) and perseverates on virtually anything and everything she can find (sequentially of course). One who is lively, but easily annoyed.

When I was diagnosed with AS last summer, it came as an enormous relief. I finally knew why I had always hovered on the outside of social life, always wanting to join in but somehow never being able to figure out quite how. I could find other people who understood me and were like me.

I am 'high-functioning' autistic, with a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome. I was diagnosed in 1997, after living over three decades knowing I was very different from most people, but having no idea why.

When I came to college meeting people who accepted my differences and who liked me as I am was a life saver for me! Not only was college a good time for me; it also was a hard time for me.

Autism is not a mental illness, it isn't misunderstood genius, it isn't a middle-class condition, it isn't someone being unruly or someone who is a bit eccentric, it cannot be cured, and isn't caused by upbringing.

I would like to have a T-shirt printed with 'I have Asperger's Syndrome' on the front and 'But it is other people that I suffer from' on the back.

Autism is a friend, a comfort, a companion - albeit a rather annoying one at times, but so are all companions. It is also a protector, a buffer... And it's who I am.

Includes a page dedicated to the most GNARLY and TUBULAR forgotten decade of the 1980's.

They took lots of pictures in the grey house back when pictures were black and white. Recently, I told my son, "Back when I was a kid the whole world was black and white." I saw him hesitate, just for a second, as if he almost believed me.

Welcome to the desolate, rarely updated online wasteland that is Kojiroabe.com, a wild site dedicated to the odd films, drawings and ideas of one young man.

By learning the peculiar thinking pattern, I can avoid getting into panic and function better among other people. It makes things easier to cope with myself. And it is possible to bet better control with the help of right medication.

What Asperger's really is about to me (and I make use of some resources I have to learn more about this) is "what rules do I need to live by in order to survive?"

In my testimony page, I talked about how God has helped me to grow through the realization that I might have Asperger's Disorder . One of the ways he taught me was by giving me a picture of what life is like being a sheep, when Jesus is your shepherd.

Seven times seven, and more to come I hope, so that I can show that there is more to life than autism alone and more to autism than no life. I got where I am because I worked at it, but I did not get here by abandoning my responsibilities to my mission, to create a better world for all people disadvantaged by what the world labels as disability.

I believe that because I am the divergent thinker that I am, I have been able to take a sideways look at the world and come up with new and innovative ways of doing things.

The social animal is always led to majority conclusions, going with the flow, following the crowd. The Autistic thinker comes to his/her own conclusions and does not care it they are not socially acceptable.

Many of us progress a great deal as journey through adulthood. At the very least, we tend to get more insight into our feelings and experiences.

A student at Wargrave House, and fan of the Manchester United, Real Madrid, Rangers and Dortmund football teams.

Featuring several articles on Asperger Syndrome, the Neanderthal Theory of Autism, and the RDOS operating system.

contains a single photograph of the author

Asperger's Syndrome is not something to be frightened of, confused by or disgusted with--- it is simply, for us anyway, a different way of life, one as rich and rewarding as anyone else's, that is in our own special way.

It is my intention to make this website a safe and enjoyable virtual hang out for those interested in learning and sharing about AS. The site will be all inclusive: teacher, parents, friends, employers and of course 'Aspies' themselves.

Right now, I'm hosting a regular radio program on disability, which I think is a global first for an autistic person. Otherwise, I'm taking things nice 'n easy... I've been dealing with discrimination and bullying since I was four and now, at the age of 57, it has no effect except to make me determined to nail the people who do it.

Autistic? Of course. Would I press a button and be NT? Never.

now you know some of what i am up against. this is the guy whose preparing to set off for some grand adventures. is he a dork or a hero? or maybe those aren't the only choices. will he grow stronger or will he be defeated?

I have excelled in school, performed well in part-time employment, done an exceptional job in parenting my child with special needs, but when it comes to relationships with others, I get quite confused.

Daily living for an AS person is exhausting in many ways. The inputs from the outside are distorted. The accommodation to this distortion is to CONSCIOUSLY process the information at a much earlier stage in the data stream than normal people.

Liz and her husband Kynn founded and run Idyll Mountain Internet, a web design and hosting company which has been in the business of creating, maintaining and promoting useable, accessible web content since 1995.

Loralíenasa's Journal

Computer professional. Gamer. (Magic the Gathering). Game and language inventor. (Tome). Occult Student. Physics and cool theories investigator. Not goth per se but interested in early european cultures and rune writing. Autistic...

Yes, we may get angry and frustrated at the world (particularly our parents!), but that is a natural reaction to feeling like an outsider all of our lives and being misunderstood.

When I was 12 I wrote 'A User Guide to the GF/CF Diet for Autism, Asperger's Syndrome and AD/HD'. I wrote this mostly because the diet had changed things in my life, and some bad symptoms of AS, some of which I didn't even know I had until they had gone!

A collection of writings by various authors on the spectrum.

Autistic people can learn at the same speed or faster then others. I have to work harder to be in regular classes then other kids.

Throughout my life people have treated me differently to the way they treat each other and when I ask why, or what is wrong with me, they have never seemed to be able to tell me. They say, it's just a bit of everything.

Though I clearly view persons in my visual field my brain fails to 'store' most faces in memory thus I usually don't remember a face after I see it.

I have always been viewed as different, and at age 28 I found out that my nervous system is a little bit autistic. Many loose pieces fell into place when I realised this, many things I hadn't before understood.

It has become clear that had I had a proper diagnosis early on followed by the right kind of guidance, I would surely have fared better in my trek through life.

author, speaker, educator ... but mainly just Mom

In late 1995/early 1996, I found out that I have a neurological disability called Asperger's Syndrome. This certainly explains why I've always felt like an alien, and after meeting others like me via the Net, I feel not so futile and isolated now.

The doctors told my mother and father I was spoiled, stubborn, rude, and lost in my own world because it was what I wanted. I would speak when I was ready. As far as my aversion to touch, that was growing pains.

I am 15 years old and I live in East Dulwich South London. My interests are Railways, Canals, Films.

Links to articles: Why I Act the Way I do, A Guide to Socializing

my name is mikie. i made this background nby myself on paint shop pro. I am autistic. I like to eat mashed potatoes and spagetti and smiores poptqarts.

Since I discovered myself as an Aspie, I have become overjoyed and delighted in my self-discovery. I could always see the beauty and absorb emotions around me. Yet, I felt left out in the ordinary world. I wanted to become real for such a long time.

Moreover, it is common for autistics and aspies to have some trouble lying, recognizing lies, and interpreting metaphors. The result is that most aspies are seen as literal and humorless.

Some say that I'm a little odd, but most people don't know enough about autism to recognise it. The fact that I became an adult does not mean that I'm not an autistic person anymore.

The truth is, I am absolutely exhausting to live with. Young women have found me amusing but impossible. Regardless of how attractive or normal one looks, an AS mind and body are different.

I just want people to stop and imagine what it must be like to know something was different about you for 27 years, but not know what it is. I mean, if you're blind you know you're blind. Being blind is a hard sign; that is, it is so obvious that there's no possible way to mistake it for anything else. This is not in any way to minimize the difficulties of blindness, but only to point out that this hard sign can be spotted at a very early age.

With a comic strip for the slightly cynical loners among us!

I'm in the process of starting up a new organization for people with Asperger's here in Norway. I've discovered that we have to start locally.

The primary thing I want to get across is that we are people of a different nature, not walking mistakes. There is good as well as disability in our differentness. We are more to be studied than pitied.

Patty was diagnosed with autism about 1950, but was not told about it by her mother. In those days autism was supposed to be caused by bad mothering. Embarrassed by the diagnosis, her mother covered it up... She was a natural computer geek, with computer experience going back to the room-size Wang that she used to write articles on Guam. She lived with a Significant Other who is also a geek. He programs/and she did email and IRC chat. She was on email lists for 10 years, and on IRC chat for 5 years or more. She became a highly valued and beloved peer counselor for the IRC community. Patty died on July 17, 2005. She is survived by her two children, now age 28 and 31, living in Arizona, as well as two grandchildren.

I wrote this one day while sitting alone in my car eating lunch. I wanted to try and describe an ordinary day in the life for me.

Many Autistics are told that they are broken, diseased and disfunctional. This is simply untrue. My wish for all Autistics is that they will Realize their Self-Worth and not Believe the Myth that they are Someone that needs Fixing. My goal is to Fight for the Rights and Freedom of all Autistics against those that would try to Cure All Autistics of Being who They Are. I have a Son that is Autistic. I have a Grandson that is Autistic. WE ARE AUTISM AND NO, YOU CANNOT CHANGE OUR MINDS!

I've become a loner, partly out of fear, partly out of choice. I'm not lonely - I have friends and relatives I talk to but contact with them is usually on the phone.

currently under construction... to be updated further once the noise of change dies back down to a dull roar

Shoulds can definitely lead you to make wrong choices, or stay in an environment more painful than necessary. Be careful of them.

I tend to be better at subjects which don't use 'standard communication techniques' - such as words, but prefer some kind of jargonistic notation, such as (mathematical) equations and music.

If I were able to no longer be autistic, I wouldn't take the opportunity, although there are times where I say I would. Without autism I wouldn't be as intelligent, and might not have the same personality.

I'm 42, and am relatively new to composing, having begun writing rags in May 2003. I've been interested in ragtime since I was twelve, and have had my own melodies floating around in my head for nearly as long.

Men and women are puzzled by everything I do. My parents and those who love me, are embarrassed and worried. Doctors use different terms to describe me. I just wonder.

Featuring his digital art.

Baby blog by the Canadian artist and autistic advocate.

This website is a collection of writings about the subject of autism, and especially about AS. Every person is a unique individual. These writings are all from one of those individuals - they do not necessarily apply to other autistic persons.

It all began when I was about one-and-a-half-years-old when, during my birthday, I did not like loud noises, such as balloons bursting or crackers being pulled. I also didn't like thunder.

Well here's how autism affects me on a daily basis and how it has affected me through me whole life.

Words related to autism, Words related to achieving gay equality, Words related to me

Ever since I was a young child, in fact, as far back as I can remember, I have felt myself to be totally alone, different and somehow unique. Not in an egotistical way but just unusual.

I specialize, among other things, in still life, landscapes, waterscapes, waterfalls and sculptures in watercolours. My strength lies in a strong mix of colours and a subtle expression of human lives.

The point of this epinion is that verbal barbs can have long-lasting effects. I have tried many times to forgive my classmates and forget remarks like these, but because of the photographic nature of my memory, I find it difficult.

My website contains graphic design and information about Asperger's syndrome. My big passion is graphic shapes with lines, circles, squares etc.

I know myself the best. I started off describing myself as a Quirky person. It was the best way I can describe the reason why, at 35, I was still alone, and on my own.

We've got loads of processing power all plugged into the world through a tiny little pipe. In an analogous sense, this would be like having a computer equipped with a super-fast 1.5GHz P4 chip and a super-slow 286 ISA bus running at 8 mhrz.

I'm 63, single, haven't been kissed enough, and am, what polite people say, appropriately portly for an old guy. But not too old. I tell people I wasn't bad looking when younger. My work allowed me to cut a good figure, and as for now? Heck. I just tell people my chest has slipped a bit. That's all. I'm in the disability consulting business. If you want to find out about what I do -- and that isn't the only way I spend my time -- click here to go to a description of my business. As the name of my business suggests, I'm literally "...of a different mind."

'Quit staring.' 'Don't zone out.' I heard those phrases a lot, because I often get lost in a conversation because I'm too busy watching the person to try to figure out more than just their words that they think I'm ignoring their speech.

In Swedish

I feel I have already proven myself over and over many times for many people in many settings; yet there are still some stubborn, narrow-minded, conniving people who seek to deny that I am real and have even tried to trick and/or coerce me into testing of a negative, confrontational manner.

As a person who has spent most of my life in special schools and was only able to break free of that imprisoning environment just five and a half years ago, I feel that I have some truly unique knowledge and skills and have had many amazing experiences�

I fervently hope that someday when people look back at me as a classmate, a speaker and presenter, or whatever other role I may yet play in this life, they will reflect not on the strangeness of my disabilities but on my excellent reputation, the examples I set, the uniqueness of my humanity, my ability to overcome my own barriers as well as those of society, and the impact my presence has had on each of them and their lives. That is certainly how I will think about all of the people with whom I come in contact in my life.

My name is Shyla,I am 27 yrs old and was diagnosed as Autistic when I was 2 yrs old. We wanted to do this page as we think it is important for people to have places to find information and programs for people with autism.

I encourage my people, the disabled people, to make a positive difference, through a positive means of expression, to step up to da man and say 'Hey, we're tired of your tyranny'.

I have a college education, an ex-husband, an adopted teenager, a career. I am not 'defective'. I don't need to be 'treated' or 'cured'. WE ARE NOT A SCOURGE. Like homosexuals, we're here to stay: get used to it.

I am an adult with High Functioning autism who loves to create poetry as an outlet to my inner expressions. Poetry is a lost art form and in America it is uncommon to find one who can or attempts to create poetry, but some of the best poets in our history left profound insight to the world in which they lived. The poetry of our past leaves us with unique fashions in which language is used; it leaves strong visual pictures of the way life was in this era, as well as the thinking and insight into human moral and character. Poetry is the melody of life expressed in dancing words.

I am slowly finding my way in this world and discovering my own existence and would like to share that the most precious gift in life is finding true, genuine acceptance from others.

This is a place where we can honor our family and our projects and perseverations.

Stefanie is an adult with high functioning Autism. She goes to an art program at Ladders, Inc. which is a school for adults and children with disabilities. Stefanie sells her artwork and speaks about Autism at Conferences and Teacher/Parent Groups.

Observations based on a typical day in the life of someone who was diagnosed as having strong autistic tendencies as a two and a half year old toddler.

I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome (AS) at 30. After this I at least had an identity to relate to. Before then I just thought I was a freak and was totally different from the few friends I had or my family.

A new understanding of Autism, Asperger Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorders from a fully recovered Asperger Autist.

Many people assume that people like me are anti-social, unfriendly, socially-inept or some other derogative label. Here I wish to express what really goes on in an autistic mind. I am different because my thinking is different.

I have always gotten along better with people who are not my own age or nationality. I suspect that is because I don't fit into what the typical NT white American would expect.

Web home of Stephen Shore, author of Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome.

As I reached adulthood, I needed an outlet in which I could express myself, and my talents, to others in the most effective way possible without fear of reprisal or ridicule over my 'disability' (which is really a 'different ability').

I believe that if I couldn't use FC no one would be willing to put the emotional energy into helping me as they do now. Not only can I discuss what is bothering me, but FC has allowed me to form very close and personal relationships with my staff.

Sometimes wanting to be independent kills autism enough so I can get partially dressed myself with a few verbal cues. I am always attempting to kill autism, but am rarely successful.

I am very autistic and all the information I had been absorbing over the years was all mixed up in my head. When I started typing it began to become organized... I am sure autism prevented me from thinking or being aware of what was around me.

I could never be sure I wasn't just making excuses for myself. I had no way of knowing or understanding that other people experienced the world in a totally different way to me.

I'm a 41 year old woman who make cool noises on any guitar-shaped thing you hand me.....official sources call me a "high-functioning autistic".i prefer "eccentric music-geek bag-lady type with too many pets."

I never had many friends and I had trouble fitting in with other people. I still do have trouble fitting in and I guess I always will never really fit in with the so-called �normal� world.

Information on Livestock Behaviour, Design of Facilities and Humane Slaughter.

This is a place to leave memories, and to explore what memory leaves.

In most environments, characteristics A-G will frustrate a persons social and career aspirations, frequently reducing him/her to an undeserved position of insignificance.

Blog of a fourteen year old boy in Singapore. "I am autistic. So what? It does not make any excuse to do less things in this world. We are trying."

In spite of my obvious difficulties I feel gifted by the way I am. If I was to be diagnosed I have to say that I am not keen on the term Asperger's Syndrome; whatever my thought processes might suggest, it is my brain, my life, and my syndrome.

I was diagnosed with autism when I was four years old, through out my life I have had to face alot of prejudice from very bigoted and small minded people including the kids that use to take the micky out of me ...

Autism related resources, gay/lesbian/bisexual resources, Linux resources, Amateur radio

An ongoing project to document the processing and thinking strategies we use. This page is a manual of sorts, explaining my thinking in detail, from the basic elements to how they interact, and how I'm able to integrate my style into an alien world.

What follows is just the beginning of my quest to understand not just life, society or Nature's secrets, but Reality itself. In other words, the answer I seek is what binds the Universe itself together at the most fundamental level.

I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in 1992, after a long search to solve a few mysteries in my life. Since that time, I have slowly built up an understanding of who I am, and what life means to me.

I'd like to present this not as a testimony of recovery, but a testimony of personal growth and coming to terms with a NT world. AC is a vital part of me. Take that away, and the person left is not me, but someone else.

Well, what can I say? Definitely not your average punter. :-)

Day-to-day observations on life and techno music.

welcome to the autistic groove... we have the techno...

I've been gifted with eidetic memory and perfect pitch and the ability to play an instrument or sing harmony with nearly anyone instantaneously in a way that supports and deepens the music.

Featuring photographs and brief biographical sketches of autistic adults who have chosen to participate in the project.

Greetings, all loyal subjects of Ye Merrie Planet Earth. I'm the Duke of Jarvis, and I'd like to extend a hearty welcome to my little corner of the web.

I would like to reflect on my experiences in childhood, adolescence and adulthood and share a few modest insights that I have gained in light of my newfound awareness of myself as a person on the autism spectrum. I hope that my perspective enables the reader to further appreciate some of the challenges and strengths inherent in the autistic experience.

I am a staunch believer that everybody goes through transitions in living. It is more difficult for those of us dealing with Aspergers in everyday life. School, social skills and relationships, and employment are hurdles us Aspies face. I also believe we must take a stand (both politically and within the community) in order to improve the quality of life (style) for those with Aspergers.

I believe that as a general rule, misunderstanding between individuals with ASD and those with a Neuro-typical disposition can be the result of the differing way we encounter and process life experiences.

When I was a child, in addition to the spinning and button-sorting that led my parents and teachers to have me tested, strenuously and repeatedly, for signs that I wasn't quite neurotypical, I also liked building forts.

Mr. Bean is so successful that his stage character makes many people laugh. However, unfortunately, if you have Asperger syndrome you do not have to work hard to build an act of literal translation, it comes naturally.

Pervasive Developmental DELAY is just that, DELAY not CANCELLATION!!!! A parent will need to look after themselves and take time to do this.

I know that I am alive; I breathe, move, talk and function just like any other Human Being. However, I understand (because it has been said to me) that other people perceive me as being different to them.

The psychiatrist took the test results and told me that I had Asperger's syndrome--a sort of high-functioning autism. Huh? The test results showed that I was highly intelligent.

All of us with an autistic spectrum disability have different needs and requirements. All aspects of support must recognise that whilst autism is a very important part of who I am, it is not all that I am.

What Asperger's Syndrome means to me is that I'm different, but big-deal, who isn't. I have some wonderful strengths and I have some significant weaknesses. For the most part, it just seems to me that I am normal and everyone else is different.

"You must learn to live with others harmoniously." Their response to my complaint about how loud noises prevent me from doing anything mildly intellectual, including reading. Right.

Trees are also the voice for the Wind. They capture the Wind's words and speak them aloud for us to hear. The Wind dances from one part of the earth to another. He knows the fast and the slow, the large and the small.

If only I was diagnosed correctly sooner, I wouldn't have so much difficulty with so many things in my life.

With links to computer-related sites, a very little about the author, including several paragraphs about his notable, very Goth fingernails.