Uh, how to start?
My name is Aaron, and I am a junior in high school in Charlotte, NC, trying to make the best of a neurotypical world.
I was diagnosed with AS probably when I was in third grade. Back them it was more of an issue with schedules and flexibility - I had the tendency to interpret things literally, I would be upset if I were a minute late to the movie theater, etc... But the social problems that are associated with AS didn't come until far far later - when I moved into the public school system of a small, drug-infested Rhode Island town in eighth grade.
I just moved from Rhode Island to North Carolina, and being at a new school, finding it difficult to understand people's behavior, to interpret the social subtleties that are integral to high school relationships, to find the common interest that chemically bonds two - three - four - more people together, has... how to say this without traveling through the ruts of us-and-them clichedom?... really brought out to me the fact that I am, in fact, an Aspie, as much as I have learned to adapt.
Although I have some typical interests (indie rock, for example) I have many nonstandard interests (roadgeekery, anyone?). Which just makes matters harder.
I am interested in finding interesting people with whom I can relate. Which, if I relied on high school alone, would be like digging a hole from Boston to China - it just isn't possible!
19 Oct 2006, 5:12 pm
