First timer here, how has Asperges effected your life?

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Thank you Chlove for saying that you have the same aspect of just saying whatever comes to mind. I already knew I was different and I was feeling even more different from what I read about the shyness, now I feel better that someone else is like me.

Life story?

- Speech delay, hand flapping, tip toe walking, pulling my hair out, no eye contact and no responding when I was a toddler.
- They thought I was deaf because I wouldn't respond, so they checked my hearing.
- Continued stereotypy and stimming, I begin to pick up speaking through speech therapy.
- I showed normal literacy and numeracy skills, but didn't make any friends in school. So my social integration was an issue.
- My mother pushes me to make friends, via birthday parties and even inviting a kid over.
- I eventually make friends in late infancy, but nothing substantial (which doesn't really matter at that age)
- Still stimming and pulling my hair out - which led to a bad childhood memory of mine.
- Secondary school starts, and the change overwhelms me.
- Meltdowns, stimming continue through these early secondary school years. I made few friends.
- I have a big meltdown at age 14, and refuse to go into school for about 6 months.
- Diagnosed with Asperger's/HFA
- Rejected the diagnosis because I just wanted to fit in.
- Still indulging in most of the same behaviours now - stimming. No hair pulling though. Melt downs and body language are still an issue.

And pretty much the same up until now. I'm improving in some ways, but I still have quite a way to go. I have few friends that I see sporadically. In search of a career related to my interests.

I'm certain it's different for everyone. I'm a dyslexic aspie. To me life has always been a journey of self discovery.
Friends and even strangers tend to appreciate my knowledge and insight and tend to look up to me to show them a different perspective on their problems (there is always a good thing in a bad thing I guess. Hard to get away from the ying-yang ball).
I'm still clumsy, but I've been able to develop balancing/coordination/spatial focus techniques that in most cases exceed what the general population deems normal.
Behaviour wise I learned to cover up for much of my "naivety" to the point where some people think I'm a true psychopath and for those I'm glad I pass as one (I prefer when a**holes fear me instead of using me).
I also developed a narcissistic perspective on beauty and that's something that keeps me going despite all the pain and grief that surrounds me. After all beauty shall save the world and what is beauty if not the truth?
I learned to know my limits and how to overcome them through my unique perspective, patience and focus. I also learned to be humble despite my persistent desire to correct other peoples ignorance. Always learning about the world and myself helped me become the person I am today. Without my specific wiring I wouldn't be what I am and wouldn't love life and people (I definitely hate some though) the way I do.
Always reinterpreting, always reinterpreting, always reinterpreting...

A world run by people with AS probably would not work. Because everyone would have their own special interests & there would be very, very little teamwork. You can take that to the Bank!
It would be a more honest world, baring the lies we tell to ourselves anyway...
For me, it effected my life pretty much as the OP stated. I am white, but I got SEVERELY bullied for the same things. Also, because in HS I could never remember my locker combo. ( but I could remember what I ate for dinner 3 months before!). It was lonely. I suffered from depression even before my parents split right before my junior year. Never once had a girlfriend, though at least once in 10th grade a girl expressed interest. I was tagged with labels of "creep" and "gay" most of the time. If not, I was simply ignored. Which was OK by me. I did not truly care about peers or peer-pressure.
Very little positive here. But this was during the late seventies into the early 80s.

Sincerely,
Matthew