Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian

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I will plan on reading the book. It sounds interesting. I have 3 autistic kids, and just started non-profit to help give the gift of technology to autistic people and their families as well as any other ways that we can help.

I am a newly diagnosed aspie and saw JER speak in Toronto this past weekend. It was a great way to spend an evening, and it provided my hubby and I with some great stories and inspiration. I greatly appreciated Mr. Robison's encouragement for us aspies to challenge ourselves. Not for the purposes of passing for NT, necessarily, but to become more well-rounded people in general. Looking forward to reading the book!

I saw him speak last week at the ROM (in Toronto). Bought the book the next day (I would have bought the book right after the talk, and get it signed, if it wasn't for the fact that they had limited copies for sale)

Great video!

I have his first book, but I lent it to a friend whose son has Asperger's. He lives in Jordan, so he's taking the book with him when he leaves tomorrow. I hope it helps him. I'll probably pick up the new one sometime next month. If it's on iTunes, I may just download it.

Can't wait to read the books, thanks for posting the video too. I took special notice of the fact that he could empathize with the high school boy in the film he watched. When are the professionals going to get it that autism is not defined by the "no empathy" thing?

Great video. Clearly shows how creative and talented people can achieve anything if they put their minds to it. despite their limitations.

We are Aspergians living on Wrong Planet part of the Aspergian universe. On this forum website: I am an Aspie, you are an Aspie, we are both Aspies.

As an Aspie you are a unique human being, with your unique interests and living your unique life.

I enjoyed it, read it last weekend faster than i expected. Read cover to cover . I found alot of common ground. The "chapter "whats in a name" showed me just how much of my childhood i displayed a need to reason.
I renamed our family cats Blackie and Brownie when i was 4.

( I vacated into great depth of endless edgeless stream of memories writing original post. "Be Different" opened a continuim of passages into my memories. None of which needed to be linked here or outside my head at all ),

I ordered "look me in the eye" thru amazon today .

It's amazing that I remained so oblivious to all this about Be Different. I got it last week and nearly finished it over the weekend. Truly outstanding book.

I met him twice and he is a very nice guy-I am in electronics as he was and some of the stories he told that people were laughing at I actually didn't because he was describing me and my life to a tee and he signed my copy of Be Different-its a fine book!

John, I just read 'Look Me in the Eye' as well as your brother's book and thoroughly enjoyed both. I will be ordering your new one soon. Though your brother's thought processes seem foreign to me, yours are very familiar. In fact, your LIFE seems very familiar. Mine followed many of the same paths. My father was probably an Aspie, he certainly had gifts, he was a card-counter who never lost a game of poker that I saw, and a superb pianist. He could in fact play almost anything. I guess parent wise, I was considerably more fortunate.

But my life was still miserable until I dropped out of school and joined a band. By the age of 20 I was on the road and I stayed out there for the better part of 20 years. The biggest difference is, though I'm also a good sound tech and I'm now doing sound for a concert company started by the local mayor, my real talent is playing lead guitar. I've even built a guitar, but it's a fairly normal Tele, with no lights or bombs. I'm also into working on cars, but right now I'm fixated on Fox Mustangs, I have two and am looking at another one.

I found out the same thing you did, musicians are more tolerant. Many are misfits themselves, and they are a lot less interested in your social skills and more into what you can do. If you can perform, you are in. I've noticed other groups that are more open-minded, like bikers for instance. I used to ride my Harley to Sturgis every year and never had any trouble getting along with people. Bike riders in general tend to be tolerant except for that whole stupid Japs vs Harleys thing.

I am 55 and have just been diagnosed. Until now I thought of myself as a failure, because everyone thought I was so smart and talented when I was young, and some have said I was lazy and failed to live up to my potential. Now I realize that without knowing what my social problems were all about I still managed to avoid getting trapped in the circle jerk of a career where progress is all about networking and social brown-nosing. I'm sure I would have found it as distressing and unsatisfying as you did. I am now working happily at the local library with a batch of other misfits, and I am content that considering everything I have not done so poorly for myself after all.

How come I don't remember this thread...

I read the book and I really liked it.

this seems very intresting and its nice to know that some one feels like they can be different. Its something i am really looking in to and this book seems like it will be a good read, I still have yet to read some posts form people that have found a way to be socially happy though but ill keep looking

The thing that I like about John Elder Robison is he shares a similar attitude with me, I feel. I'm happy to be autistic. I'm grateful for the things I am able to do, and the reason I am is because I am autistic. Not "in spite" of it, because of it! I've had plenty of painful struggles, and still do. I have had an amazing and unique life, and through much of it, was unaware that I was autistic. I've had medical professionals diagnose me with everything from Bipolar to Social Anxiety to thing that were quite literally made up (Unless you've all heard of the famous Adolescent Avoidance Disorder?).
I have been in bands and worked as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. I have had three tattoo apprenticeships and bred aquatic snails for fun and profit. I have lived variously on my own, with four people in a two bedroom apartment, in a 400 square foot studio apartment and in a commune. I have resided in four states for extended periods and visited twice that. I have put up to three ferrets in my shirt at once. I have screamed at the needling chirp of crickets. I helped my mom study for nursing finals when I was 7. I have 20 years' worth of illustrated poetry in spiral bound notebooks that will never be shown to anyone. I was married for 11 years and lost everything I owned, including who I thought I was, when I left, and never looked back. I have been a phlebotomist and a cashier, a housewife and a janitor. I have been forcibly institutionalized twice, and spent 12 years on psychiatric medication I didn't need, and that only made me feel worse. I spent almost all of my life told I was lazy, crazy, and didn't "live up to my potential". I decided to go back to college a year ago, and have grades good enough that I'm applying to Cornell University, and have written papers one of my mentors is trying to publish this summer.
I still can't bear to watch anyone else fill the dishwasher(INCORRECTLY!), and have awful temper tantrums when I forget to eat. I still can't drive a car. I still don't understand more than half of what people say to me. I still say things like, "I can't hands! Can you make do thing go?" with complete sincerity. I have lived the pain and the glory of being truly unique.
None of that would be possible without autism.

so here is the devious plan i am trying to set up (mind u there may be more on this in another thread.
I was diagnosed (finally) this spring, 1st by me and since then two psychiatrists have agreed (pretty rare in and of itself) .
my brothers 1st born daughter also was diagnosed on the spectrum a couple years back.
As I have gone about educating my family my father and my aunt (his sister) have become convinced that their brother is clearly an aspie. This would be based on him being oblivious to others feelings or needs, always being a bit eccentric, and well also I guess the fact that he has been obsessed with trains for more than 60 years, like he plans a vacation around seeing a specific train, builds model trains, had a train set up to run around his home, has built a home for his trains. (do i really need to go on here)


so in any case the fact that there is a train on the cover of the book may be the only way my uncle will ever read it and realize that it is about him too. I know if I, or any of his siblings tried to bring up the subject it would just put him on the defensive.
However sending him a book for his birthday might change his life even though he is almost 70.
I know that being diagnosed changed my life (and very much for the better). Arguably as an adult obtaining a diagnosis of AS has a very diff meaning than it does for young people. We find ourselves suddenly releaved of a burden, we now know why all of those things happened the way they did in our lives, while also being able to see the positive things that it has brought to us as well.