The Quick and Easy Asperger's Test (Asperger's Syndrome is basically a mild version of Autism)

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

37. I also have it

Circa 1990, when he was ten, my youngest son had tremendous difficulty socializing in school, so my wife and I took him to a psychiatrist. The shrink said that our son had Aspergers, and described the classic symptoms. My wife and I looked at each other, and said, almost in chorus, that he was describing me. It runs in my father's family: My father had it, his father probably had it, my youngest son has it, my twin brother has it, his daughter has it quite severely.

One effect it has had on me is that I have considerable difficulty in keeping a job -- the longest I have ever worked in one place is five years. Yet I am a truly first-rate computer programmer. (Aspies tend to be either very good or very bad at mathematics -- I'm one of the ones who is very good at it.) To go along with my difficulty in keeping a job, I positively dread going on job interviews, because I am so bad at things such as reading people -- and now that I am in my 60s, age discrimination has made it far more difficult to find a job.

I can manage. As Hunter says, "I have gained the skills and experience in my half century of living to 'fake it,' more or less".

My real life-line has been my wife. We have been married for 41 years, and she has supported me throughout our time together. I literally could not get along without her. Most surprising of all, she loves me even when I am not at all lovable. I thank God daily for her.