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What is your first name? Miriam

Age: 28, will be 29 in a month

Location: Toronto

Hobbies and Interests: Internet, swimming, tv, dont have time for much because of having 2 young babies to take care of

Why are you here? I have Asperger's

When were you diagnosed? 1994

Favorite subjects: always was geography or social sciences

Year/Grade: I am way past this!

Favorite music: hard rock, alternative

Books: dont have time to read!

TV shows/Movies: One Life to Live soap

Instrument: n/a

Do you like sports? If so, which ones?: n/a

Family: husband, daughter who is 2 years and son who is 3 months

Clothing: casual to trendy

How did you find this website? found it on the Asperger's Community Board

Job: work at home, consultant for a credit repair company

Plans for the future? well I would love to go to broadcasting school and be a radio announcer but dear hubby isnt too keen on me doing that!

Any comments? cool site!

Age: 35

Location: North Shore, MA. (USA)

Hobbies and Interests: computer games, patterns, what makes things work.

Why are you here? A.S. and a multitude of comorbidities.

When were you diagnosed? age 33

Favorite subjects: cosmology, biology, spirituality.

Favorite music: ranges from Led Zeppelin to Depeche Mode to Windam Hills artists... generally avoidant of polka and country & western.

Instrument: I dawdle on an electric keyboard, and with percussion.

Clothing: lose cotton.

How did you find this website? links at Delphi.

Job: former keyboard jockey.

Plans for the future? I want to be a writer, with a nice medium size house in the middle of a forest somewhere on a hill, near a stream.

Nickname: Mich

First Name: Michelle (but you probably already guessed that)

Age: 11

Location: Ohio (I know, really vague. But I don't serve personal information on a silver platter like some people do.)

Hobbies: Spending time on the computer, playing outside, watching TV, playing video games, working on puzzles.

Interests: Ferrets, Addams Family.

Why Am I Here: Asperger's Syndrome.

(I forget when I was diagnosed.)

Favorite Subjects: Art, music.

Favorite Music: Hilary Duff and...pretty much everything on Radio Disney. (except for "Beautiful Soul," which I can't stand)

Instument: I used to play trombone, but I quit. (too much pressure)

Clothing: Plain, loose, cool (literally), and casual. Nothing too trendy.

How Did I Find This Website: My mom sent me a link.

Job: None.

Plans For The Future: Currently none, except for a 3-day stay at Geauga Lake.

Grade: I'm going into 6th.

Favorite TV Shows: Addams Family (the one from the '60's), almost everything on Nickelodeon (except Fairly OddParents)

Favorite Movies: Finding Nemo, Addams Family, Addams Family Values.

Sports: None.

Family: In my house? Just me, my parents, 2 ferrets, 1 cat, 2 fish tanks (one 1-gallon and one 20-gallon), and a cocketiel named Billy.

Comments: None.

What is your first name? Matt

Age: 19

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Hobbies and Interests: computers (programming in C++ and Java, maintaining my personal website, Windows, Linux), geography, the French language, linguistics, politics, philosophy, history, writing (satire and short stories mainly), drawing, listening to music, etc.

Why are you here? I have Asperger's syndrome/nonverbal learning disability.

When were you diagnosed?(skip if you don't have a disorder): I was evaluated for autism/Asperger's syndrome in 2003 (when I was 18). However, I was diagnosed with ADD, generalized anxiety disorder, and OCD years ago.

Favorite subjects: (See interests.)

Year/Grade: I will be going into my second year of college in the fall of 2004. I am currently in the bachelor of science program in computer science.

Favorite music: Anything that sounds good, particularly rock and some jazz.

Books: I don't read much nonfiction, but I liked The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, both of which I read in about one month in 8th grade. I am currently reading Nietzsche's Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits, although I last read that about a month ago (with little over a hundred pages left to read).

TV shows/Movies: I don't watch much TV anymore, but I used to watch The Simpsons, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and Seinfeld. Some movies I've liked are The Matrix, Gladiator, The Lord of the Rings movies, A Beautiful Mind, Donnie Darko, The Godfather, The Last Samurai, Dead Poet Society, the Austin Powers trilogy, etc.

Instrument: I played the recorder--poorly--in elementary school.

Do you like sports? If so, which ones?: I like to play soccer and baseball somewhat, even though I might not be the best at either. I also enjoy running, exercising, and bike riding.

Family: My mother and father have been divorced for about 9 years now. My mother is remarried. I have a sister who is 16 years old and a brother who will be turning 18 in August.

Clothing: I dress pretty casual except at work, where I wear business casual.

How did you find this website? Alex posted it on an IRC channel for autistic spectrum disorders.

Job: I work at a nationally-known retail store. My job description includes keeping clothing and other merchandise presentable, restocking merchandise as it runs low, and helping customers find things.

Plans for the future? I'm thinking of changing my major when I'm sure what I want to major in (computer science isn't very good for me, I think).

Any comments? Nah!

I suppose it's time I've gotten around to answering this.

What is your first name? Dan

Age: 15, nearly 16

Location: Vermont

Hobbies and Interests: Programming, filmmaking, song-writing, writing (currently working on a novel), philosophy

Why are you here? 'Cause I co-founded the site, silly.

When were you diagnosed? Hmm...don't know. Probably five years ago.

Favorite subjects: History, english, science, math

Year/Grade: Going into 11th grade

Favorite music: Quite eclectic. Ben Folds, Miles Davis, Beck, The Beatles, Moby, and lots of showtunes.

Books: Anything by Dan Brown or Clifford Pickover. I really liked "Why People Believe Weird Things" by Michael Shermer

TV shows/Movies: The Daily Show, Star Trek, The Simpsons. Most other shows I like have been canceled.

Instrument: Piano and keyboard

Do you like sports? If so, which ones?: Nooo! I dislike sports.

Family: Mother, father, two half-sisters (in their 20's), and a brother (six years old) who also has Asperger's.

Clothing: Whatever hasn't been worn for more than a week .

How did you find this website? Find it? I made it! Yukyukyukyuk!

Job: High school student, freelance programmer.

Plans for the future? Go to college, get a degree, live a simple and fulfilling life doing what I like (whatever I've decided that is at that point)

Any comments? My personal site, for anyone who wants to check it out is at : http://www.dangrover.com

Hi All!

What is your first name? Steve

Age: 44

Location: Katoomba Australia

Hobbies and Interests: my dog Jack, Ancient Egyptian spirituality, computer recycling, local community

Why are you here? I have AS, looking for aspie friends

When were you diagnosed? 2002

Favorite music: Guitar rock, any decade/century

Books: LOTR

TV shows/Movies: Stargate SG1, Star Wars (esp ep 4 "A New Hope")

Instrument: can play didjeridoo, but don't

Do you like sports? Hate sports

Family: M&D, 2 brothers, 2 sisters - all older. I'm the only dx-ed aspie, but Dad a bit that way

Clothing: Fairly drab, fits local look

How did you find this website? Nuttdan's link to wrongplanet.net at Aspie Hangout

Job: various volunteer positions, mainly admin, one as carer

Plans for the future? seeks female for comitted relationship

Any comments? Thanks for these questions - good luck with the site!

Steve

Age: 19

Location: Singapore, shortly moving to Chicago for studies

Hobbies and Interests: Reading, cycling, hiking, classical music

Why are you here? Although undiagnosed, pretty sure I have AS

Favorite subjects: Physics, evolutionary biology, maths, philosophy

Year/Grade: starting college this year

Favorite music: classical

Books: Fiction: Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut; Non-fiction: Richard Dawkins, E. O. Wilson

TV shows/Movies: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Casablanca, Monty Python

Instrument: piano, in the distant past

Do you like sports? If so, which ones?: I'm a football (soccer) fan.

Family: Mother, father, 2 younger brothers.

Clothing: Comfortable, loose, convenient. Don't care how it looks, or try not to at least.

How did you find this website? Alex left a comment on my blog about it.

Job: Interning at research institute.

Plans for the future? Researcher in applied physics.

Any comments? Great site.

What is your first name? Evi

Age: 27

Location: New York

Hobbies and Interests: Orchids, Reading, Movies, Graphis Arts...

Why are you here? Asperger's

When were you diagnosed?(skip if you don't have a disorder): Haven't been professionally. That takes like... Money.

Favorite music: emo, punk, progressive trance, drum and bass and suchlike

Books: Catch-22, Bartleby.

TV shows/Movies: ATHF, stuff like that.

Instrument: None.

Do you like sports? Noooooooo.

Family: Yes

Clothing: Terribly baggie pants and hooded sweatshirts

How did you find this website? Link on Delphi

Job: Technition

Plans for the future? The future would be nice, yes.

Any comments? Nothing much. I'm not very interesting.

What is your first name? branwyn

Age: 29

Location: georgia

Hobbies and Interests: horror movies (specifically italian or german horror), goth/industrial/hard rock music, motorcycles and muscle cars (circa 1970s), hp lovecraft, forensics, sewing and various fiber arts as well as photography and painting.

Why are you here? i have aspergers

When were you diagnosed?(skip if you don't have a disorder): age 25

Favorite subjects: forensics and anatomy

Year/Grade: n/a

Favorite music: pretty much anything with a hard driving beat, but specifically manson, zombie, otep

Books: anything by lovecraft and crime novels (specializing in forensics)

TV shows/Movies: at the moment - monk, surviving nugent and law and order criminal intent

Instrument: cello

Do you like sports? If so, which ones?: i dont play any sports but i like watching rally racing

Family: My father has aspergers, my mother is OCD. I have 2 daughters (with another one on the way). Maire is my oldest and she also has aspergers. Lylly is 2.5 years old and shows no signs of aspergers, as of yet.

Clothing: anything black, being a stay at home mom i usually stick to black shirts and jeans.

How did you find this website? jakes mom sent me the link

Job: mom and wife. i am also a licensed classical homeopath, i homeschool my children and i make goth/punk clothing for babies and children for some extra money

Plans for the future? to move into the mountains, when my husband retires and get my degree in cybercrime data recovery

Any comments? My oldest daughter is also here with me, on this forum. Maire is more social than I am, I dont function well in most social situations.


What is your first name? Maire

Age: 8

Location: Georgia

Hobbies and Interests: reading, computer games, watching movies, dancing

Why are you here? Aspergers

When were you diagnosed?(skip if you don't have a disorder): age 7

Favorite subjects: Mathematics and Art

Year/Grade: I am homeschooled I work on a 7th grade level for Math, 10th grade level for Reading and a 5th grade level with Composition

Favorite music:Hillary Duff, Cher, Elvis

Books: The Series of Unfortunate Events, Harry Potter, Little House

TV shows/Movies: Full House

Instrument: none

Do you like sports? If so, which ones?: none

Family: My mom, my dad, my daddy (my biological father), 1 sister and another on the way.

Clothing: Jeans and peasant shirts

How did you find this website? my Mom

Job: little girl LOL

Plans for the future? dance teacher

Any comments? no, thank you

What is your first name? Wendi

Age: 37

Location: New York

Hobbies and Interests: autism, sensory integration, related stuff

Why are you here? I am AS and my triplets are on the spectrum

When were you diagnosed? self diagnosed - long story

Favorite subjects:

Year/Grade: BA psychology

Favorite music: who has time for music?

Books: Jane Austen, Frank Herbert

TV shows/Movies: Current shows- Monk, Dead Zone... on tape shows - Star Trek & NG, Kung Fu, MASH.... Movies - Terminator series, Some Like It Hot, Star Wars series

Instrument: no musical talent what so ever!

Do you like sports? If so, which ones?: Never was coordinated enough to play, but I used to like to watch hockey

Family: Married 15 yrs, 4 yr old triplets (2 girls 1 boy).

Clothing: t-shirts and leggings, jeans, sweats sometimes in winter.

How did you find this website? post on Aspergia

Job: Full time mom right now, was a bookkeeper/grant writer.

Plans for the future? don't know

Any comments? Not yet, just joined a few minutes ago

What is your first name? Brent

Age: 20 in some ways, whilst 40 in others. Thereby averaging out at 30.

Location: Brisbane, Qld., Australia

Hobbies and Interests: Music, reading, writing letters/emails, travel

Why are you here? It was recommended to me.

When were you diagnosed? 2 June 2003 (age 29)

Favorite subjects: Music

Favorite music: J.S. Bach, Mozart, Haydn (esp. symphonies), Schubert's symphonies, Mendelssohn, Nick Drake, mid-'70s Sparks

Books: Asperger's Syndrome, Tony Attwood

TV shows/Movies: All three Wallace & Gromit films

Instrument: Keyboard (in an amateurish sort of way)

Do you like sports? Nope.

Family: Mother living in small town near Brisbane. Father deceased since 1985. 28-y.o. sister, also near Brisbane.

Clothing: Modern without being trendy. Personal trademark is 10-hole Doc Martens (comfort and durability).

How did you find this website? Link from another site

Job: Barcode printer (P.T., 30 hours per week); voluntary office work for local AS support network on Fridays

Plans for the future? Perhaps some study - either town planning or linguistics

In my original post, I didn't answer some questions, so now I'll do it properly.

What is your first name? Gavin

Age:34 (Birthday: April 3, 1970)

Location:Melbourne, Victoria.,Australia

Hobbies And Interests: Books (mainly history, American Presidency, and facts and figures) computers, and movies. The movies I like are mainly classics and the original Star Wars trilogy, I think the new movies have been terrible! Steve McQueen is my favourite actor.

Why are you here? I have Asperger's Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as well.

When were you diagnosed? September 2000 (Aged 30)

Favourite subjects: Not at school (Left in 1986)

Family: Live with my Mum and Dad, sister lives with boyfriend and brother lives with friends.

Favourite Music: The Beatles, 1960's 1970's 1980's.Don't like contemporary stuff much.

Favourite Movies: The Great Escape (A movie I can never get tired of). Another classic I love is The Flight Of The Phoenix with Jimmy Stewart! All three Star Wars films as well.

Do you like sports? Watching Australian Rules Football (Not Rugby).

Clothing:Smart-casual, nothing trendy though. Just jeans, t-shirts, casual jumpers and runners.

How did you find this web site? Surfing the net, Google I think.

Job:None (currently on Disability Support Pension).

Plans for future: I don't know, maybe travel, get a place of my own and maybe meet a very nice girl.

Any Comments? I really dig this site. Well Done!

Name: Taineyah Fyre Clawfoot is my soul's name that I use for myself, but my parents called me Beth.

Age: 17

Location: Ontario, Canada

Hobbies and Interests: Music, reading, writing, watching cartoons, genetics, comic books

Why are you here? Hyperlexia and Asperger's

When were you diagnosed? Undiagnosed, but judging by my mother's stories of my "precociousness," I could have been diagnosed at about three.

Favorite subjects: Music, Englich, Biology (even though grade 11 bio was boring and I'm at a university level in my personal biology studies.)

Favorite music: Classical, Beatles, Evanescence, Disturbed, well... pretty much anything as long as it's played quietly.

Books: Dragonsinger, Dragonsong-Anne McCaffrey. Anything by Anne Rice. Harry Potter.

TV shows/Movies: X-Men TAS, X-Men: Evolution, the X-Men movies.... Sue Thomas: FBI

Instrument: Guitar, French Horn, Trumpet, Percussion (which I mostly quit... too loud), limited piano, Recorder, Penny Whistle, Jaw Harp, some back-up vocals.

Do you like sports? I always thought I didn't, then I discovered individual sports instead of team sports! I love Nordic Skiing!! !! !

Family: Mother, Stepfather (I live with them). Father, Stepmother, two brothers, Matthew and James, 2 years (They're twins) They all live in Nova Scotia. One stepsister, Katie, 13, who lives with her mum, One brother, Andrew, 15, with learning disabilities and temper issues, One half-sister, Ellen, 8, completely NT.

Clothing:My brother and his best friend's hand me down pants, my bf's sweatshirts... They're all way bigger than me. (I'm 5'5, 114 lbs, the smallest of them is 5'7 and 130 lbs.... My bf is 6', 180 lbs.)

How did you find this website? Link from another site

Job: Waitress at a take-out window, volunteer writer for a website re: X-Men, volunteer in the program for challenged equestirians in my area.

Plans for the future? I wanted to be a Classical guitarist and I had the talent, but I have a congenital hand condition that requires corrective surgery and I'm on a long waiting list so I'm working on my backup plan, which is to be a psychiatrist specialising in Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

Comments: WHEEEEEEEEEE!

What is your first name? Emelia
Age: 13

Location: California
Hobbies and Interests: Internet, writing, reading, Crocheting, Singing

Why are you here? Cuz i have aspergers, and anxiety
When were you diagnosed?(skip if you don't have a disorder): I think Itwas 2001 it could have been earlier

Favorite subjects: English and History

Year/Grade: In fall 8th

Favorite music: rock, pop, punk

Books: Anne of green Gables, harry potter,Ella enchanted nancyDrew
The Outsiders(totally me!) Peterpan, Holes, All the madeline L'engle books, the alice series, Alice in wonderland, The house next door. Icould go on, but it would take me forever...
TV shows/Movies: Degrassi the next generation and the original Degrassi. for movies, The Sandlot.

Instrument: Does Voice count? I'm big on singing. I sing all the time!
Do you like sports? If so, which ones?: Tennsi swimming baseball and basketball are ok, hockey.

Family: Mom, dad (divorced) Stepdad, 16 year old brother. my brother has ADD and My Dad has ADHD and anxiety.
Clothing: comfortable clothes, funky and out there!

How did you find this website? my Mom gave me the address.
Job: I'm a student! but I'm planning on becoming (in this order) a Author Fashion designer, and singer. but then again all at once.

Did you know that Colin Wilson, the author of "The Outsider" possibly has AS? I found an article a couple of weeks ago, relating to an interview taken with him - it is very amusing! Here it is if you fancy a look;

'Now they will realise that I am a genius'

In 1956 The Outsider made him an overnight sensation, but ever since Colin Wilson has been an outsider himself - a knicker fetishist, a social misfit and the author of 110 books that even his publisher didn't want. He hopes his new autobiography will finally convince the world of his greatness

Lynn Barber
Sunday May 30, 2004
The Observer

This is the first time I have interviewed a self-declared genius, also the first time I have interviewed a self-declared panty fetishist, so Colin Wilson is quite a catch. He has been declaring his genius ever since The Outsider came out in 1956 and he awoke to find himself famous. He wrote it in the Reading Room of the British Museum while living in a sleeping bag on Hampstead Heath. He was a Leicester factory worker's son who had left school at 16 and avoided National Service by claiming to be homosexual. He supported himself in odd jobs while reading seemingly every book ever written, and writing The Outsider, which was hailed as England's answer to Albert Camus.
But he went from literary lion to pariah in less than a year. His immediate crime was too much party-going, too much name-dropping, too much publicity, but his subsequent, much worse, crime was writing too many books - 110 at the latest count - on subjects ranging from serial killers to alien abductions to The Lost City of Atlantis. The critics at first attacked him then ignored him - he has not had a serious review for years. But now, at 73, he has written an autobiography, Dreaming to Some Purpose, of considerable charm. It is jaw-droppingly - one might say cringe-makingly - honest and often unintentionally hilarious.

I particularly enjoyed his account of how, as a panty-fetishist and visiting lecturer at an American university, he contrived to look up his students' skirts with the aid of a glass-bottomed mug. But the story of his struggle to become a writer, and the tenacity with which he stayed one - despite the fact that even his publisher advised him to give up - is heroic and strangely moving.

I go to meet him at his home in Cornwall, where he has lived for almost 50 years. He picks me up from St Austell in his ancient Jaguar and seems like the sort of amiable tweed-jacketed cove you see in glucosamine sulphate ads. But as we tootle along the lanes his con versation became increasingly odd - he periodically throws out the word 'f****r' with extraordinary venom, accompanied by a sly sideways glance to see if I am shocked. The f****r in question was Humphrey Carpenter, who had been to interview him and then betrayed him: 'We got on terribly well, I thought, though I did notice that Humphrey fell asleep when I was explaining what I meant by non-pessimistic existentialism.'

'How awful,' I murmur, resolving to avoid the subject of non-pessimistic existentialism at all costs.

It is a relief to arrive at his bungalow and meet his wife, Joy, who is reassuringly normal, friendly and in no way likely to say 'f****r'. She bustles round making coffee and apologising for the parrot hopping round the room. The room - like the whole bungalow - is so densely encrusted with books you feel you could peel the pebble-dashed walls away and still leave the house standing.

He has never thrown a book away - he reckons he has about 30,000. They are all carefully arranged by subject, then author, and the paperbacks are sent away to be library-bound in plastic. Some sections are stored in sheds in the garden - a crime shed, a UFO shed, a biography shed - and the complete works of Colin Wilson shed. He wants to have another shed in the orchard but Joy is putting her foot down. When he dies, he says, he hopes the bungalow and sheds will be kept as a museum 'because people will probably turn up wanting to see it, like Dylan Thomas's cottage'.

'Although of course,' he adds, seeing my expression, 'it's not inevitable.'

The obvious time to have produced his autobiography would have been in 2006 - the 50th anniversary of The Outsider - but, as always, he was pressed for money, so he did it at the first whiff of a publisher's advance. The virtue of an autobiography, he explains, is that it will enable critics to see how his work is all intertwined. He admits he's written too many books on too many subjects, which has confused people. 'But now people can see there is one central point. William Faulkner in about 1947 let his work be anthologised in The Portable Faulkner and he suddenly became famous, a bestseller, and won the Nobel prize. So my volume of autobiography is The Portable Wilson!'

Hmm. The most engaging part of his book is the factual stuff, about his early struggle to be a writer and his relationship with Joy and their children. Where it drags is when he gets on to his ideas. His philosophy is basically existentialism with non-rational excrescences and characterised by bizarre nomenclature - Faculty X, Upside Downness, Peak Experiences, Right Men, The Dominant Five Per Cent, King Rats. It seems to constitute an attempt to classify human feelings and behaviour as written by a Martian who has never met an Earthling. This is, of course, Wilson's weakness and also, in a way, his charm - he has no understanding of other people whatever. When I ask if he would say he is low in emotional intelligence, he readily agrees: 'That is fair, yes.'

As a child he was so introverted, so uninterested in other people, he might have been diagnosed today with Asperger's syndrome. 'I wouldn't be surprised. I wasn't cut off from other people, but, as I keep saying in The Outsider, other people were the trouble. They kept intruding into my world whether I wanted them to or not, because what they did was to drag me away from the world of ideas and abstractions I wanted to be in. When I was a teenager I was a total romantic escapist. My world was books. I felt as Axel did in the Villiers de L'Isle-Adam play - 'As for living, our servants can do that for us.' But that all changed when I was 16 and discovered Rabelais. Suddenly I had that wonderful feeling - my God, life is good after all!'

In a way, sex was his salvation - he wanted to sleep with girls so was forced to talk to them. And he was lucky in that, at 18, he met a 14-year-old seductress who gave him a considerable sexual education. Then he met his first wife, Betty, and became a father when he was 19. He found to his surprise that he loved being married, but wasn't so keen on fatherhood (he is now - he has four children and five grandchildren - but thinks then he was too young) and never quite saw the point of baby Roderick.

There is an unintentionally funny scene in the autobiography when he decides to spend Christmas Day meditating and is furious when Betty interrupts to ask him to hold the baby. They separated soon afterwards. She reappeared when The Outsider came out, but by then he was in love with Joy. He admits that Betty is 'the one thing that often worries my conscience'.

He met Joy on one of his countless temporary jobs - he was a Christmas shop assistant and she was in charge of the cash registers. He fell for her immediately, partly because she was middle-class. 'I knew I could never bear a girl who talked with a Leicester accent or with any kind of local accent. And when I heard Joy, I thought "Oh marvellous, that's what I want." And when I asked her, "What books have you got on your shelf?" and she said she'd got Yeats and Ulysses, and Proust in French, I thought, "My God, that's the girl I really want!" Betty didn't read at all.'

He thought Joy was unattainable because she was wearing an engagement ring. 'But to my amazement, six weeks later there I was in bed with her. Couldn't get into her, mind - she was a totally impenetrable virgin - but just to lie there kissing and cuddling and feeling her bum through her pants was tremendously exciting. I was absolutely astounded - that was the greatest Peak Experience of my life.'

At this point Joy walks through the room and he tells her amiably: 'I was just saying how difficult it was the first time I got into bed with you.' Joy smiles her sweet smile and says: 'Well I'm just taking the rubbish out.'

He claims to adore women - though he thinks they are as different from men as horses from cows - but also admits to being a devoted panty fetishist. As a boy he used to try on his mother's knickers. He once stole panties from a washing-line: 'I mean, if somebody left her panties behind, certainly I would make use of them. I could masturbate with panties once, whereas now I couldn't masturbate anyway because I don't have the sexual energy but I make love to Joy virtually every day.'

Well that's nice to know. I keep praying Joy won't walk through the room again, but I suppose she must be embarrassment-proof by now. She is everything to him - his only point of contact with the real world. He has few or no close friends, especially now he has given up drinking (after a mini-stroke a year ago) and no longer goes to the pub. He used to have a sort of local fan club who met on Saturdays and produced a newsletter called The Colin Wilson Quarterly, but he no longer attends. Occasionally 'disciples' arrive - there was a girl called Kathy who turned up on the doorstep. 'We had this terrible fortnight when she kept undoing my flies and taking out my prick every time Joy left the room.' But he didn't like to evict her because he was afraid she would commit suicide.

He is exceptionally tolerant of nutters and happy to engage in long correspondence with people who have theories about, say, alien abduction - or with Ian Brady, the Moors murderer, with whom he corresponded for 10 years till Brady dumped him. But ordinary social contact - apart from with his family - seems completely missing from his life. Missing, but not missed. He says that about 10 years ago Joy insisted on going out for a drink on New Year's Eve. 'We finished off drinking champagne at midnight in our local pub and it took me a year to shake off all the people that I'd met!'

He used to say he planned to live to 300 but after his mini-stroke he now says he hopes to make 93, the age at which his hero George Bernard Shaw died. What does he expect his obituaries to say? 'I don't really care. I said at the end of Voyage to a Beginning [his first autobiography, written 40 years ago] that I regarded myself as the most important writer of the 20th century and I'd be a fool if I didn't know it, and a coward if I didn't say it. And I still feel that. With a little luck, the world will agree with me by the time I die.'

Does he think he's had much influence as a philosopher? 'Oh no. None at all. Daphne Du Maurier, who I knew when we first moved here, said to me that everyone who has a great success finds that the next 10 years are very difficult - they have a period when people take no notice of them. And I thought, No, not 10 years, I couldn't bear it! But I've been forgotten for almost 50 years. It's been a bit discouraging but I've learnt to swim against the current. But when I'd done this new autobiography, I looked at it and thought my God, this is a bloody good book! Now they'll see what I'm getting at! Now they'll see the overall view, because everything's in here - this is my life!'