Introduction

My son was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome last year. It was first identified by his teachers when he started at middle school at nine and was formally diagnosed shortly before his eleventh birthday. While waiting for appointments with various paediatric specialists I did a little research but I didn't get beyond the third chapter of Tony Attwood's book before I was in tears. The rush of memories from my own childhood was overwhelming and I began to develop a sense that I had more in common with my son than I had realised. I don't know if I, too, have AS but I certainly have a number of strong traits and can identify very strongly with many of the difficulties that my son is facing. My feeling now, is that through learning about Asperger's Syndrome for my son's benefit, I am learning about myself too. His experience is teaching me to accept and understand those parts of me that always left me feeling uncomfortable and, in return, my experience is helping me to teach him how to adapt to this world that we must live in.

Some of the posts in this blog will deal with my past, with problems I experienced as a child, a teenager and a young adult; others will be more focused on My Boy's story, his early years and the experiences he has in his everyday life as he moves into his secondary school years. Understanding his abilities and disabilities has already helped me to turn the tide on my own depression and now I hope to return the favour. As I see behavioural problems that he has learnt from me, I can attempt to address the issues in my own life and, in doing so, teach him how to correct certain attitudes and habits that will enable him to fit more comfortably into his place in society.

I don't see Asperger's Syndrome as something wrong or as something that needs to be cured. It is simply a way of being. Unfortunately, being that way is uncomfortable in the modern world so there are skills that my Boy will need to learn and fears that he will need to overcome in order to fulfill his potential. There is space in this society for more than one personality type so I don't expect him to conform to the generic "average" but I hope that he can learn to fit in so that he can experience a satisfying and productive life, giving - and getting - as much as anyone else. We all have potential greatness within us and we all have the right to find it, experience it and share it.