Help Please:A book with a character with Asperger's Syndrome

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I (NT) am writing a novel that includes a 19 year old character who has Asperger’s Syndrome. In my research to represent this syndrome correctly, I have read research papers, text books, autobiographies, watched a Tony Attwood DVD and studied NAS collateral. Still I have many questions. I am not trying to stereotype, I would like to give a positive, believable and accurate portrayal, and I am looking for help. This book is not solely about Asperger’s Syndrome, it just happens that one of the characters has it.

Would you be able to help me?

For example, one of the questions I have is: How did the professional, (not parent) who told you that you have Asperger’s Syndrome explain it to you?

I would then be interested to explore how you felt about the diagnosis, and what your family said. I have many more questions after this.

I would be very grateful for any replies to this post.
Thank you
Sal

If you haven't endured it in your own life, I personally feel you would be unable to accurately capture the actual sensory experiences or emotional aspects of the disorder on paper no matter how many Aspies you talk to. Why don't you leave that to Aspie authors? It feels somehow condescending to me for an NT writer to try to evangelize my plight.

Was going to respond in the same way, and as you expressed it more eloquently than, 'why write about something you have not experienced?!' I will not add to the obvious.

that question is done but "How did the professional, (not parent) who told you that you have Asperger’s Syndrome explain it to you?

when i was diagnosed i already new more about it then my psychologyst because one of my areas of intrest is psychology

I would then be interested to explore how you felt about the diagnosis, and what your family said."

I Apathy,

Willard-- Rizzosmum is allowed to write about people who are AS, Chinese, men, kittens, great-grandmothers, Australians, thieves, dentists, and tour-boat pilots. She/He is doing the research.
Rizzosmum, you can pm me if you like for me to evaluate. I wrote a book about pacifists that pacifists loved and non-pacifists wrote to me to complain about. I am not a pacifist and am married to a retired AF Colonel. But I did my research and succeeded in the portrayal. You can too.

I tend to agree, the NTs make me feel like a green goblin for wanting to help like minded people in need, in NZ the main groups are run by NTs and it seems more of a funding control thing, not sure any of them know what its like for those of us on the autism spectrum and to be honest its taken me a year to understand myself, let alone explain to others... think I will write my own book...

There are no simply answers and it would take me weeks anyway to fully explain.... maybe you should pay someone to help you write!

But if you want to know more, keep reading our stories... will give you an idea... but all the books I read and talks I go to, can only relate to those ones by or written by people on the autism spectrum. People who are not its like they talk about us, but exclude us.. kind of miss the point!

I can't really answer your first question because I was an adult when I went to my professional - and I had already guessed - it was pretty obvious.

However...

If you have other questions about what it feels like, you can ask me - or you can have a look through my blog - it probably answers a lot of what you'd ask.

Thank you for your replies, I’m in the UK, hence the delay in my reply. Asperger’s Syndrome is part of all our communities, just as being a dog owner, a mother or a lesbian is. I am inspired by the spirit (and polarity) of this forum and before I posted my initial question, I read the opposing views expressed on Mark Faddon’s book, The Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and I guessed that my request may not be looked upon favorably by some. However, thank you for taking the time to respond.

My book is being written from a 3rd party perspective, I am not trying to ‘be’ Henry (the AS character) and I want very much for him to respond fittingly to situations that he finds himself in. Some of my questions may be (unintentionally) inappropriate, and I accept that I may not be able to understand, and I definitely do not want to be condescending. But, I want to try to do a good job.

Thank you for the offers of help and support, I will continue to read your stories, posts and blogs. If there is anyone who is willing to engage with me, please PM me or respond to this post.

Lelia and Gavin: I will PM you.

EB White wrote about spiders, pigs, rats and geese, but I doubt very much that we as readers come away from Charlotte's Web with a great deal of understanding about what it's like to actually be a barnyard animal. I am concerned that an Aspie character created and brought to life by a writer without the internal experiences of daily autistic anxiety, social disability and the lifelong reactions of family and peers who thoughtlessly discriminate and abuse, might not adequately represent the AS community as a whole. A community which, as I've stated several times recently, needs desperately to be realistically represented and advocated. Otherwise, such a character is likely to come off as a token freak, just set dressing to evoke false sympathy or morbid curiosity. I don't think it serves Aspies well to be used as a literary 'Elephant Man'.

To WrongPlanet!! !