My Gift and My Curse:: Living Life with Aspergerâs Syndrome

My first indication of having Asperger’s Syndrome was hiding under Mom’s skirt, being scared and saying “Life is so uncertain.” I also perseverated lines from movies constantly. I still do that. Some people think it’s funny and cool. I guess one could call that a gift and a curse. Although I struggled with some things, on the whole, life was good. I liked routine, watching old cartoons, Disney movies, and adventure stuff. I played the cello. I felt socially awkward and had trouble making friends, but what made it very difficult was the classic example of an autistic kid not being able to color inside the lines. This and other things also illustrated my difficulty in following directions in school work. This difficulty is an example that people with Asperger’s and autism struggle with. Once a teacher yelled at me for being insubordinate for telling her to, “Be quiet apple-blueberry face.” I came up with this name because when my sister was a baby, my parents called her that when they were feeding her. My teacher firmly grabbed my wrist and told me not to call her that. Another teacher suggested that I be put on Ritalin. That was thought to be the cure-all for learning issues at the time, but Mom’s gut instinct said I didn’t need it.My passion changed my life and gave me direction. I loved working out at the gym, weight lifting, and wrestling. Wrestling coaches were my heroes. I read about them, watched videos on wrestling, and followed the coaches’ career choices. That passion remains with me and serves me well as in return I give my best.