Aspies

A change is as good as a holiday, they say. And because no holidays are forthcoming and I have to wait until August for my next foray into the world, I had to go with the change option. Pimp your ride wasn't really me, it was a name born in a drunken discussion with a great mate. Third World Ant is more what I am - the third world teams with people, like little ants. And I'm a white ant in a big teaming city. Fitting, isn't it?

Onto the real subject of the day - Asperger's Syndrome. I'm obsessed. Borrowed a book from a doctor pal of mine, the content of which is the abovementioned disorder - a high-functioning form of autism. In the first few chapters of the book, I felt I really could relate to the characters described, I was all like "Hey I'm like that!". But then... along came chapter 4, with an Aspie (affectionate term for them) test, and it turns out I'm LESS THAN HALF the average normal person's score! I did the test on a few friends, all of whom have scored at least double my score. What's wrong with me? The degrading term for unautistic peeps like myself is 'neurotypical'. bleugh! so, having to detract my Aspies attention from myself, I've thought back in my wee history (and my even wee-er memory) to think of all the people I've ever met and who might have blipped on the Aspie radar:

1 - Patrick. He had a strange gait, cocked his head to the side, was unaware of his general unpopularity with his peers, and was pretty intelligent (and loved to let everyone know it, too). Very sensitive to music (most Aspies have hyper- and hyposensitivity to one or more of the senses, and exhibit prodigious skills in them).

2 - Gina. She was downright gauche. An exhibitionist of note, she could never tell that people were laughing at her, not with her. No special sensitivity/skill with any senses. Expecially not much acting talent, though she will die declaring she's the next Hollywood it girl. Reliving her poetry performances in front of our English class - not pretty.

3 - Nanette. Talks at you rather than to you. Loud, unruly, rude. Intelligent, focused. A great pal, too!

4 - Timmy. Completely disattached from emotions. Intelligent, strange gait. The best damn pal you could ask for.

5 - Most of my varsity lecturers. Odd people, bad dress sense, couldn't relate to the real world, became obsessed with their fields of study at the exclusion of all else.

Even my boyf has some Aspie tendencies, I feel soooo left out!

I will spend this week trying to commit socially unacceptable blunders that make people think I'm strange and don't fit in.