A Self-Determined Future with Asperger Syndrome

Description

I like "A Self-Determined Future" a lot better than some of the older books on the topic.

My daughter and I have both been diagnosed with AS, which I think is a personality type but which my wife thinks is a disorder. Since a happy wife = a happy home I have been plowing through the available literature on AS. I am pretty sure my daughter will be fine but my wife lacks my faith so I keep reading.

Apparently I have been finding ways to work around my "disorder" for 40 years. Unsurprisingly I have some strong opinions about AS. (No I am not Mr. Popular, but I get by in a job I can do alone, and I go shopping and do chores early Thursday mornings while everyone else is at work.)

A gross oversimplification of the Bliss/Edmonds method is to find what is working for the patient and to encourage him or her to do it more, in the hopes that what works will compensate for what doesn't work. ("Building on Strengths")

In my opinion this is a good first step but eventually it will become a crutch. If you don't become more flexible, if you don't develop a wider variety of skills, you will barely get by and you will not thrive.

At some point you will have to learn consciously how to do stuff that other people are "hard wired" to do. ("Turn a Weakness into a Strength") Apparently you and I are missing some "social instinct". (Like a computer missing a sound card.) It's not fair, but we have to put work into doing what comes naturally for others.

The GOOD news is that if you are willing to make this effort, all indications are you have a VERY good chance of become a leader in whatever field you choose. AS may be a blessing in disguise.

Don't give up!