As many others, I've always been terribly frustrated by how Asperger's is usually framed as a way of mitigating failure and rarely do I find models that think bigger or look beyond that. Clearly there are many such stories out there but I felt that framing the issues this way (and speaking to an adult audience) would be helpful for some.
I wasn't diagnosed until I was 32 and it took many years after that to really untangle how many moments and dynamics that Asperger's had affected in my life.
I started a book publishing business when I was 18 as a way to find community and to create some sort of expertise to end the cycle of bullying. For most of my life, it has worked but I still run into communities that are willfully ignorant about issues and limitations that affect certain people that have Asperger's.
But I wrote this book, GOOD TROUBLE: Building a Successful Life & Business with Asperger's to be prescriptive for people like myself who want more than mitigated failure.
The story of this 24-year-old man really brought me to tears. While my life was really difficult, particularly before diagnosis, this story made me realize just how much more severe the external factors in my life could have been. It reminded me just how lonely and difficult this stuff was for so long. But yet, it could have been fatal.
I'd love to hear people's thoughts about this.
07 Feb 2016, 2:36 pm
