I have been on the fence about folding Asperger’s into the Autism Spectrum as I see only disadvantages to us Aspies by doing that. Especially since, to the public, Autism is seen as a young person crouching in the corner twitching and babbling. Many Aspies are in fact are in the upper echelons of IQ and can do many things better than most others (called NT for neurotypicals).

Maybe some day Autism will finally be understood as a spectrum as wide as humanity itself, eliminating the Aspie label would not have the negative consequences it does now. But, I don’t expect to live long enough to see that happen, so I will continue to describe myself as someone who has significant Aspie traits.

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Getting to the point of this post, I am constantly on the lookout for examples of why I consider myself an Aspie, or at least have Aspie traits. Being that I am losing patience for those who hide what they really want to say inside a 200-page book, I am always on the lookout for someone who “gets to the point”. This Medium article by Jillian Enright does just that. If you would like to see the whole article click HERE.

With the remainder of this post, I am going to show you five of the seven sections in the article, and how I fit that description to a T

• You feel (or have felt in the past) unsure of who you are – I know this label fits more than just Autism, but it does describe me perfectly. I have joked about all my life I have always had the question “What do I want to be when I grow up”. I still don’t have the answer to that one, and time is running out. 🥹

• You find yourself practicing for social interactions – This one keeps me up on more nights than I am willing to admit. Even worse, I play through my mind all the time during the past day when I might have said something differently to make my point. I toss and turn nightly with this on.

• You have difficulty remembering people by faces alone – There are about 400 people here in my retirement community and I perhaps know a tenth of them by their face. It takes me forever to accomplish this, but when I do, I usually remember them forever.

• You experience very intense emotions – This one hit me in spades in the last 11 months, and it seems to be hanging on now.

• You’re a nonconformist – If I had to describe myself in just one word, it would be nonconformist. The very core of RJsCorner is that I question EVERYTHING. I just don’t accept many of the things that others call common sense.

Just some more examples of how I am different from most. I take pride in these differences. They are not something that I consider a disability in any regard.