The Aspie Odyssey Part 1

Greetings friends, welcome back to another blog, another new week. I thought about things and I am sure you all don't want me ranting every week about stuff I don't understand. I've decided that I would make this into something more. An 'Alice in Wonderland' reader's experience into things that have happened in my life. An insight into how I discovered my particular condition. Hell! That's why I do my speeches and this way you don't have to wait 6 months for an instalment of THE ASPIE ODYSSEY!

So lets start with something that is most relevant to this blog. I am the captain and this is my log. No toilet humour intended. So may I present to you my discovery or what a well paid psycho discovered in me. A crazy little thing called Asperger's and the process of getting diagnosed. 

So where do I begin? If you have listened to my speeches or heard read my interviews you may be in for a repeat in this blog. Usually I start my talks explaining my condition. I tell people about my life in Lithgow, but all that you really need to know was that I was as much an oddball as the other kids. I had a great routine and sticking to it was very simple. Mind you at this stage in my life I did not know I had Aspergers.  Then in 2004 we had to move to Springwood, destroying the entire world that I was living in. I felt like an alien landing on an unknown planet. I had no idea about the social mannerisms, the in jokes and the sarcasm that was aimed at me. I didn't understand anything! From almost the beginning of my time at this school the bullying, the tormenting, the assaults and being committed as a social outcast by my fellow students and teachers turning a blind eye, I was drifting into a state of depression. My mother had me talk to our family doctor and he sent me to a counsellor. During one of my therapy sessions, she asked me "Have you ever heard of Asperger's Syndrome?" Now, me being the naive person I was, I thought to myself, Ass, Burger? No thanks, I prefer beef patties! So after some more sessions, she decided to contact my parents and the school to see if I could get tested. I ended up travelling to South Burwood to see a psychologist who conducted a series of tests on me. The results of these tests showed that I had Asperger's Syndrome. For the first time in my life at the age of 16 I felt like I wasn't walking in the dark. I knew there was something I can say that this is a part of me!

Soo! lets talk about this type of revelation. When it comes to anyone with a disability, they will sooner or later find out that there is something different about them. Yet it is up to that person and those in their support network ( family, close friends and confidants) to help them to come to terms with this revelation. I only say this because I have been very fortunate in having the love and support of those mentioned in the brackets above. It is far better to have a professional diagnosis than to hear  it from someone on the street. I actually met someone with Asperger's who asked me if I had that condition. I knew I had it back then, but imagine if I hadn't known I would have looked like a muppet who realised they weren't human! I would have felt like a common rug without a hand up its arse. I have never asked someone if they have the condition out of respect for that person. Plenty of people have come up to me asking if they have Asperger's. Sure I have asked them questions that would show Aspie traits, but I haven't told them they have the condition. That is up to a person in the medical/psychological field to decide. I'm just a guy with Asperger's who helps mentor people with the condition.

Soo! What did I learn this week?

I guess this week I have learnt about self control. There is a video game I have been hoping to buy, it's called 'Rayman Legends', a fantastic piece of platforming and a beautifully created visual experience. Now I was hoping to buy this game in the city this week but I realised something, I am without work so I currently don't have a cash flow. So I decided to go without, I am sure in time, when I finally get accepted for a job I will get to purchase such a delectable delight! Beg steal or borrow, but hopefully owned and paid for.

So that wraps it up for another blog. Yet I know this is only giving a skeletal view of me finding out that I am on the Autistic  Spectrum. So if you have any questions, shoot them off like a rifle down below!

Movie of the week: Chicken Run