Comments on: John Robison’s Asperger’s gave me permission to write about myself

By: jerrywaxler

jerrywaxler — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:43:52 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Linda. Yes, I think John Robison is doing important work letting the world know about this “disorder” – I think it points to the fact that many of us “nerds” are on the so-called “Spectrum” – we are more interested in what goes on inside our mind than out in the world and it can many years of retraining one’s self to get the inner and outer world into balance. There’s a pretty good wiki article about it. I’m going to add the link to the wiki article now.

Jerry

By: Linda

Linda — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:57:12 +0000

Thank you for an interesting article – very inspiring. I have never heard of Asperger’s before, though the symptoms you descirbe sound rather familiar. I will have to check out this book.

By: jerrywaxler

jerrywaxler — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:06:18 +0000

Hi Cindy,

Thanks for your comment. I’m not surprised you’ve not heard of Asperger’s. It has only become widely known in the last decade or two and not worked its way into common knowledge. Reading the book offers the multiple benefits of learning about the condition, learning what it’s like from inside someone’s experience, and getting an example of a somewhat different type of memoir.

Jerry

By: cindystubbs

cindystubbs — Mon, 04 May 2009 08:41:24 +0000

Yet another book I’ve got to read! I am intrigued, I’ve never heard of Asperger’s. Books are always reliable and there for you, yes, and in so many ways better than real life.

By: sunny

sunny — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:37:47 +0000

I’m not quite that psychic.
My daughter went to Louise.

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:58:40 +0000

I first heard about Asperger’s a couple of years ago when I read “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon, which is told from the point of view of a young boy who suffers with this syndrome. I’ve heard and read that there are varying degress of Asperger’s.
Llike most writers, I often find myself conflicted between needing the company of people and wanting to spend long periods in total isolation so I can write and think. I suppose this applies to a lot of activities that require deep concetration and / or creativity.

By: jerrywaxler

jerrywaxler — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:08:00 +0000

Tysdaddy, Thanks for the tip about the book. This raises a teaching point. Reading about things related to yourself is a good way to research your memoir. Now I have to study nerds of all things. Time to dig out my pocket protector.

Sunny, um, that’s kind of strange that you picked up on the camp. Are there really that few camps in Maryland, or is the world wide web connecting more than just electron. Yes, it was Mount Airy. In an impulse of fact-checking curiosity I contacted them to be sure of the location and they are still there.

By: sunny

sunny — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:29:53 +0000

Jerry — enjoyed this post! And I agree with you that there are 2 stories here…where you’ve been and where you’re going.
(btw, was that camp you went to the brother camp of Camp Louise?)

By: tysdaddy

tysdaddy — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:16:37 +0000

For further discussion regarding Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), check out David Anderegg’s Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them. I’m about a quarter of the way through and just checked the index where I learned that Asperger’s is mentioned over the course of eleven pages, spread throughout the book. It’s come up once in my reading thus far, so seeing AS mentioned in your post raised the flag.

Nice post, Jerry. (A compliment from someone who spent many a day being dull and introspective. I now prefer to remember myself as pensive. Ha!

Brian