Living with Aspergers Syndrome
By Anthony Childs
I’m not going to deny it: I can say I almost love being different. Love being able to say that there is something wrong with me and love being able to let people know that the reason I am weird is down to a condition that hardly anybody knows about. Sounds silly and weird right? Well of course you might think that. But I can safely admit that I have no qualms or bad feelings for having a condition that can actually make me smarter. Yeah that’s right, I know a lot about my favourite subjects and I can wow many people with everything that I actually know. You see I love trains. Really I do. All things to do with all sorts of trains. From locomotives, to steam trains, to electric trains and even those super fast bullet trains in Japan. I absolutely love everything to do with them. A lot of people actually call me ‘Sheldon Cooper’ after the character of the same name on the hit comedy The Big Bang Theory.
You see Sheldon on the show essentially has what I have. That is Aspergers Syndrome. And while I don’t think they have every actually said he has the syndrome on the show, it is really clear from his traits and the way he acts that he does. And he also likes trains like me which is why people call me Sheldon Cooper. Mind you I say people as a collective term, when it is probably actually on a few people who really do call me that. I don’t have that many friends but that’s really fine by me. Apparently that’s part of the condition of Aspergers and the fact that I don’t have many friends or don’t interact with may people is seen as ‘normal’ for somebody like me. I actually don’t mind that though, as I find talking with people and interacting with them as quite difficult and something that I don’t really enjoy. I do have a few close friends that I can sometimes talk to but I really don’t feel as though I need them in my life. I’m not the biggest fan of talking to people and constantly having to associate with them so I tend to stick to myself and learn more about all things to do with trains because they really are cool.
Also like Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory I find it hard to work out the differences between a joke and something told to me that is serious. A lot of people can see this as being the most annoying aspect of my condition which I suppose I can understand, but to me sometimes I just don’t get why people tell me things that are supposed to be funny. I mean I do know what funny is and I can laugh, but there are just times when somebody will tell me a so called ‘joke’ which will bemuse me as to how it is funny and then get frustrated when I take things too seriously. Probably another reason why I don’t have many friends. Another thing too that I always make sure I do is stick to a strict schedule and follow all the rules. I mean that is what rules are there for right? For them to be correctly followed and obeyed. I can never understand why some people go out of their way to break rules because really it is something that will get them nowhere except maybe into a prison cell. That’s another thing that probably annoys people about me and it’s the way I stick to the rules and strong schedules. I like to remain on time and follow schedules as I feel that is the best way to live my life. But I really do not feel in anyway different to others or that my condition of being ‘different’ is something to be looked down upon. I like it, and I like the way I am. And if you don’t like that well then that’s why you probably aren’t my friend. I will continue to blog for you and I hope you enjoy what I write.
