What most people in my life don't know when they meet me is that I have Asperger's Syndrome. They may find some of my behaviour odd, but I'm rarely called on it, so I must just seem like a quirky 'normal' person.
I have an average to above-average IQ, and could have been hyperlexic/hyperverbal (a 'little professor') when I was younger. I have a good memory, and a good sense of humour. I don't have any major sensory issues, and I am a logical thinker.
Once or twice I've been called cold or emotionless. Some Aspies suffer from no emotions - I'm not one of them. I, and many people like me, have trouble dealing with, expressing, and possibly reading emotions. I don't like interacting with people I don't know, and I don't like phonecalls. I have the tendency to obsess, and find it hard to make friends. Sometimes I need clarification of a question or task, but I won't ask. I may be in a state of hyper-arousal most of the time - high levels of stress and anxiety causing fatigue, under- or over-sensitivity to temperature, sensitivity to small sounds. I am very aware, and occasionally uncomfortable with, physical contact with people when it's not on my terms.
I'm not in constant conflict, and I don't find the world bewildering, but I struggle at social tasks which neurotypical people take for granted. I feel I have to try just that bit harder... But I get on with life as best I can. It's all any of us can do, NTs and Aspies alike.
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