I am Aspergic

Introduction

Intro

Hi, my name is Jack Harvey Hay. I am 16 years old, and I have Asperger syndrome.

Asperger syndrome is a disorder in social behaviour and abilities, but usually associated with an increased abilities in academia.

Socially, for example I am unable to understand some forms of sarcasm, phrases and metaphors, like if you said something like 'before the cows come home' I might think I have to wait for the cows to come home, or be confused to why a cow is now involved. Sometimes it gets confusing if I hear metaphors in conversations, and I find them misleading but I have learn meanings of some metaphors and phrases and so I am able to understand them better. Every so often though, I'll come across a new phrase like "You'll end up with egg on your face" and I will be utterly baffled! It may seem like I'm trying to get some attention by making a  cheap joke, but sincerely, I have no idea.

People with Asperger’s tend to enjoy being alone, away from noises and disruption, and don't care for team games. This is because it involves a higher level of communication with other people - not really the forte of an aspie. If in any team games, aspies like to be in charge or team captain, and so forth, for the reason (in my own experience) that people will respond to you positively and do as you say, without adding their own decisions.

Aspies can also be quite 'clumsy' at times and struggle with hand-eye coordination. Some aspies cannot even ride a bike. Believe me though - my hand eye coordination is quite subpar. I drop things all the time, ironically the worse things to drop whether it's soup or buttered bread, I'm likely to drop it on the floor. Don't trust me with a cup of tea on an expensive carpet, you will not see that uniform colour again.

People with Asperger’s sometimes say things that are not entirely appropriate, without realising they are being rude, like I sometimes say things about people out loud if they are dressed oddly or behave strangely, but I have learned to keep quite most of the time. This can be a bit of a problem still in my life as I have many incidents where I will say things that are inappropriate, and they can cause me to get into trouble. Let me tell you a story. Luckily there was no trouble here as they were not around - I say they, but I mean Russians. We were on holiday and commenting how the wages of the locals who were payed by the hotel were terrible, and it was important to tip them. My dad commented that the Russians, who commonly occupied the hotel, never tip them. I began to use a stereotypical Russian accent saying "Hello, I am Russian, and I will never pay you." I didn't do this to be offensive, it just comes out of my mouth without me being aware of the consequences. Luckily, the people siting next to us weren't Russian. There have been other cases, however in which people have taken offence and I have been in trouble once or twice, but I genuinely mean no harm at all.

People with Asperger syndrome tend to stick to rules extremely closely and struggle to cope with seeing someone doing something wrong without doing something about it. If I see a rule written somewhere, I will follow that rule, almost to the grave, as rules seem important to me to create order in an otherwise chaotic world. A side note is that I cannot tell a lie to create personal gain. I can only joke and then say "only joking". I believe it is a moral thing.                         

Having said that, there is not always a downside to Asperger syndrome. People with Asperger syndrome mostly excel in academia and can learn things exceptionally well if they enjoy it or find it interesting, like I have learned 270 digits of pi within a miniscule space of time, every capital city of every country in the entire world and the whole of the 'To be or not to be' soliloquy in Hamlet, one of Shakespeare's plays.