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  • when i was really young i didn’t understand other children and i hated big crowds like family events or football matches.
  • mum explained to me that i was wired differently, that it wasn’t a bad thing, She said that i could just do things differently but i would still get everything done. And that was called Aspergers!
  • i learned to enjoy my Aspergers.
  • when people call ASD an autistic spectrum disorder…or a disability, i don’t like it . I call it a difference and it doesn’t make me any less capable to do anything.
  • Aspergers lets me look at things from a totally different perspective – i can think OUTSIDE OF THE BOX.
  • it makes the world kinda complicated and you have to keep figuring other people out…
    • when people say similes i don’t quite get them
    • i didn’t used to get sarcasm – i had to ask was that it?
    • when teachers say answer the question on the board, and there is no question mark
    • sometimes teachers need to explain more to me that they do usually.
    • sometimes when people say something they mean something else. That’s confusing.
  • sometimes it really confuses me if someone shouts at me – i used to think that meant that they hated me. But now i realise its just that they want me to do a bit better at that time.
  • it confuses me when a class gets a punishment cos i am a good child and if i wasn’t doing the wrong thing, why should i get punished.
  • i don’t really feel pain – that’s why i am a good goalkeeper
  • i also don’t feel hot or cold, so sometimes i wear an under-armour in a heatwave
  • racism. i don’t get racism. i would never be racist but i don’t understand why you cant say what colour somebodies skin is, the way you can with their eyes. I would love to have dark skin.
  • emotions. i made up a word “EMOTIOUS” and i use it to describe when lots of different emotions are all stirred in together. So if i am watching something like Les Mis, i need to be able to chat mum to tell the emotions apart.
  • Aspies are very sensitive with all their senses. I call it “SENSATIOUS” when there is a really strong sensation.
    • i used to hate sound of the crowd roaring at a football game, and cover my ears and scream. My parents kept bringing me and now i don’t notice the noise and i roar too!
    • i hate the feel of baked beans. if there is one in my food it makes me actually get sick
    • i don’t like the feelings of some of mums clothes fabrics. I always like cottony ones.
    • i am really sensitive to smells. I cant deal with the smell of agriculture or anything to do with a farm.
    • i dont like the smell of cigarettes – when i look at people smoking it kinda hurts my eyes.
    • i hate people breathing on me- it freaks me out
  • babies drool and have mucous and saliva- so i don’t really get into babies until they are a bit more mature and have dried up,
  • before i say something i often say “no offense” in case i would offend someone.
  • i like to move round, cos i cannot stay perfectly still.
    • at home i can play a ball against a wall to work off steam
    • in bad weather i spin around like mad a few times which i call helicoptering
    • i HAVE to sit on one knee with my other knee (the right one) in the air
  • when i feel nervous, emotious, sad or a bit hyper i need a “SQUISH” . A squish means mummy gets me in  really tight hug and squeezes – its a bit like Temple Grandin’s Hug-machine. It really settles me down. In school when i need a squish i do things like roll up my sleeves, tighten my shoelaces. I love to wear compression gear like under-armour and underwear too small to give me a feeling of pressure.
  •  i don’t trust people or new things til i know them or have watched and tried out.
  • when i was little i never get jokes, but now i have a good sense of humour – i love sitcoms like Fr Ted, Miranda, Spongebob, and Mrs Browns Boys (but it can be rude).
  • sometimes now i know my autism head makes me do whacky things and we get a laugh at them, and then i can do a normal thing instead.

overall i like being different.

my friends like me just the way i am

i like the world through aspergers eyes.

when you get older, you can see that everybody is different somehow, thats what makes the world interesting.

I keep on learning at every new stage!

mum says she can read me like a book…… and i say i use her like an encyclopedia.

It works out good.

by Fionn