The Girl with the Curly Hair - Asperger's and Me

always say that you can be either be happy or sad with an autism spectrum disorder. You have the choice. I choose to be happy, life’s a lot nicer this way.

I tend to get on better with older people than people my own age and,

I have very limited emotional vocabulary. I can usually only explain that I am feeling either sad or happy. This can be confusing for everyone, including me.

My parents know to tell me they are just teasing, when they are teasing me. Otherwise I can easily feel upset.

Unfortunately though, what happens is that I get upset too. I can then quickly switch from trying to help them to ignoring them, because I am overwhelmed.

If you are an NT, it’s extremely important to know that you should never take special interests away from us. These interests are what keep us going! If they are taken away from us, it can cause total mental and emotional destruction. Certainly many people have “hobbies,” but the big difference between the AS and NT in terms of hobbies is that the

In the end, I want to be able to love someone who meets my criteria. I would then be able to give up some of my independence and enjoy a happy relationship.

It is often noted that people with Asperger’s Syndrome crave control. ‘The nature of autism is the brain’s desire to keep the world the same.’

I find CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) very useful. It’s helped me to understand that feelings can’t actually hurt you and that they do go away. Just because I might feel broken, it doesn’t mean I actually am.