Postcards From My Mind: Perspectives of Asperger's Syndrome

The goal of this course is to provide a first hand account of Asperger's syndrome as it pertains to teaching, social skills, and daily functioning.

Until adulthood I had significant difficulties with socialization and organizational skills. At 23 years old I was living a very simple life. I lived in a one-room apartment and worked on computers at Hertz Rent-a-Car at Logan Airport. At my local library there was a flyer that read “Autism Support Group”. Since my life was not going very well, I thought if I went to this group that I could learn techniques to cure myself.

When I got to the group people were buzzing about, chatting with each other. Since they all looked comfortable and were socially adept, I figured they had the answers and thought I made a wise choice. People began asking me about my child. When I replied that I didn’t have a child, the people asking the questions made odd contorted faces. The group leader introduced herself to me and started asking me questions, too. It was then that I realized the group was for parents of children, not people on the autism spectrum!

Although I didn’t achieve my goal, I did meet some wonderful people. One parent I met asked if I would look at her daughter’s school. I confessed that I didn’t know much about schooling or special education and probably would definitely not be the best person to help her. She asked again, and since I had nothing else to do I agreed.

At this school I met the most incredible people. A few months later I began volunteering at the school and eventually worked there. It was at this school that I became friendly with the Speech Language Pathologist and Psychologist. One day they asked me to come into their office. They asked if I would mind if they administered a test called Sally-Anne. Not thinking much of it, I took the test.

Once I had provided my answer, both of them looked at each other and making contorted faces (which later I learned meant they were puzzled). I had failed the test. Until that point I thought my life was going fairly OK. I didn't realize what I was missing until it was pointed out! I did not have the ability to take another person’s perspective, meaning I could not understand what another person was feeling or thinking. I didn’t understand that people had thoughts that were different then mine. That my opinion was not the ONLY opinion, and not always even the right opinion. I was missing the one factor that makes us human, innate social skills. By learning that my logic was not based upon accurate information, my entire paradigm for how I understood my world was blown apart.

I was so baffled and curious as to why I failed this test, the quest for this answer lead to a ten year exploration of my own mind. Through this rocky process I met some wonderful professionals and friends who joined me in this journey as I uncovered the reason behind my faulty thinking and poor social skills.

This ten year process was uniquely interesting; I was re-passing through infantile, childhood, and adolescent developmental stages but had the introspection of an adult. Through this process I uncovered what makes me tick and also created a biological and psychological paradigm to explain Asperger’s Syndrome. As I learned to fix myself, I documented the process and created a curriculum, called Bateson Therapy, to help teach others. (for more information on Bateson Therapy see http://stopthatbehavior.com/home-based.html#bateson)

It’s a good thing that I had Asperger’s because during this journey I didn’t have a social life and was very obsessive-compulsive, so I had the time to spend almost a decade analyzing each minute thought process that occurred!

Because I was an adult going through this process, I had the fortunate ability to reflect upon what I was learning. Eventually these processes lead me to the field of neuroscience and genetics. While I was reading a plethora of textbooks, I decided to go back to school and get a degree out of the deal. I applied to college, designed my own course of study, and attacked the material.

Through my personal quest and incredible college experiences, I was able to deconstruct my mind from the perspective of a person on the autism spectrum as well as a professional, and now an educator. My course will teach you about the challenges and solutions for people with Asperger's Syndrome. My goal in writing this course is to provide an insight into why many people with Asperger’s Syndrome think/act the way they do and, hopefully, this understanding will lead to more patience and kindness.

I’m often asked if I can “cure” children with Asperger’s. I don’t have “the cure”, no one does. There are many treatments that can help with specific symptoms. My only goal for writing this course is to help people understand why people with Asperger’s are thinking what they are thinking with the hopes that understanding leads to patience and kindness.

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