The Adult Asperger’s Experience

When I was in the sixth grade, I had moved to a mid-sized town in a small state. I was new, and like any kid with aspergers, I had a bit of difficulty fitting in. Of course,this was years and years before anyone knew that asperger’s disease was.

It seems that a month or two into the school year, a new kid showed up: Yuji: His father was a visiting professor in the physics department of the local university. I had a whole lot less trouble speaking with Yuji than nearly any other kid in the town. After that school year, he came with us for the summer vacation and spent the whole time with us at my grandparents home in Washington.

It works like this: He had real trouble speaking english, in fact, that first day at school, he would only say his name. He could not tell if my nuances of language were socially acceptable to the average native speaking kid. In fact, I was one of the very few that had the patience to actually take time to communicate with him.

I think that being an aspie was and is a big advantage when I am with folks from other cultures. They seem to ignore the occasional big words that I use, when a native speaker might think I was putting on airs. It goes right by them, as it would go right by me. And the same goes for lots of the non-verbal communication: gestures, body language and the rest. Folks from other cultures expect that many of those things are, well, different, and don’t see me as different.

From my perspective as an adult with aspergers syndrome, this has been a hidden blessing. It had helped me forge stronger bonds with foreign born students in my graduate school career. It helps me with communicating with first and second generation folks in my day-to-day life.

So, of all the social difficulties I have that are related to my asbergers symptoms, this, thank goodness is not one of them!

In the years since the late 1950′s when I was a kid in sixth grade, I have completely lost touch with Yuji. Still, the bonds of friendship we had have helped me reach out to people of other cultures more readily than many of the ‘normally wired’ folks that I know. Thanks, Yuji, where ever you are!