Nigel 
September 30th,2009
'Disability'is not all black,'normality'is not all white.
In the last post (here) I described problems I used to have relating to people,understanding emotions,and controlling obsessions. Do I have Asperger’s Syndrome? No. Did I have it? Probably not,but I certainly experienced aspects of the problems. It’s been a long journey.
Along the way I’ve got to know two people diagnosed as Aspergers. One I found very difficult to like,which is unusual. The other is a great guy,and in his own field brilliant. Studying sixth form Maths he grew impatient waiting for the teacher to cover calculus so he invented his own version. Not bad considering most students find it puzzling even when it’s explained.
This has got me thinking about how we view someone who is different,whether they have Asperger’s or some other disability. I’d love to have your comments,especially if you or someone you know has been diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome.
Aspergers is good as well as bad
It’s thought people like Newton and Einstein may well have had Asperger’s Syndrome. Their obsessively focused approach to their work over many years suggests something very different going on in their heads from how most people function. They were limited because they had little control over their determination,but they were freed to concentrate. We need people like that!
Beware of believing the label
Everyone is different. Each person diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome is unique. The diagnosis can be helpful in that it alerts you to the general nature of the situation,and the kinds of unusual ways of thinking and behaving you can expect. It can be damaging if you think that tells you much of real importance about the person.
Aspergers is not a fixed condition
Some experts have stated there’s no ‘cure’. Two things wrong with that. People with the syndrome are not sick,they’re different,so it’s inaccurate to speak of ‘curing’them. However there may be aspects of their unique condition which they would value having help modifying. Actually that’s true of all of us. I have changed a great deal over the decades. Relationships are much easier now. I am beginning to understand other people. I have more control over my obsessions –you could argue blogging has become an obsession,but what I’m now doing is harnessing my ability to work for a very long time at one narrow project in order to achieve some valid and realistic objectives. I’m no longer a slave to an obsession,but I can still benefit.
Whether or not something is a disability depends on context
Being unable to recognise most emotions in other people is a serious disadvantage in a society where most people don’t have that problem. Many aspects of life are about communication. It’s worth working at. On the other hand being able to recognise such emotions in others but not caring is a major problem to the people around. For some reason we don’t classify that as a disability. Maybe it’s too common.
The trick is not to use subjective beliefs about how a human being should think but look at each person as a unique and valuable individual. We must stop locking people into boxes. We must stop requiring people to match the label some ‘expert’has given them.
This,by the way,is a central point of the book I’m writing with Adam Warner. I have chronic depression,he has Cerebral Palsy. We both hate being labelled,and we both reject traditional limitations on what we can achieve.
