Having stumbled upon a video that very well explains what is commonly called Asperger’s syndrome, I wanted to share it with you.

Following interviews with a psychiatrist who confirmed my autism, I obviously wanted to learn more about the subject. The video below (in French) relates the problems we experience daily. I hope that normal people informed about our pathology and our functioning will be less judgmental… That’s why I want to share it with as many people as possible. Yes. I know. I’m dreaming too much!

Video: I Am Asperger. Sometimes it’s Great. Sometimes it’s Horrible.

What is Asperger’s syndrome?

Basically, it’s a multitude of neurological particularities in 3 areas:

• Social interactions;
• Communication;
• Stereotyped behaviors and interests.

In general, this includes:

• Hypersensitivity beyond the norm;
• Hypersensoriality beyond the norm;
• High intellectual potential (HIP);
• Difficulties in social interactions;
• Limited and stereotyped interests.

All these particularities mixed and simultaneous make Aspies (Asperger autists) relatively unsuited to all the social and societal structures that are created for 90% of the population. These 90% therefore fit more easily into the boxes of normality.

As for the numbers, 60 people out of 10,000 are affected by an autistic disorder, and 2.5 people out of 10,000 are Asperger. For a few years now, we haven’t talked about Asperger’s syndrome anymore, but simply about ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder since the publication of the DSM-5 in 2013.

Moreover, contrary to popular belief, even from some psychologists, autism can be accompanied by other developmental conditions such as attention deficit with or without hyperactivity (ADHD).

What is normality?

I’m often told that no one is normal, but what does it mean to be normal?

According to scientists, normality is measured by means of the Gauss curve, also called the bell curve or normal law…

If we take a variable in the population, such as height or IQ, and choose 100 people in the street, this gives us a distribution of normality like the one opposite.

By measuring 100 women, we will have a distribution of normality. Obviously, the result will not be exactly the same if we measure French women or Vietnamese women, for example, because normality depends on the context. Vietnamese women being smaller, we will obtain the same curve as for French women, but it will simply be shifted to the right.

From a scientific point of view, this is the only way to define normality that really exists!

The system of our world is built and programmed to respond to the logic, neurological, psychological and cognitive mechanisms of the 90 or 95% of this norm. An Aspie is either completely to the right or completely to the left of the curve, depending on the area. He is therefore abnormal, unsuited to society and the codes of this society. It’s like trying to fit a square into a round hole.

Main features

It is the exacerbation of the 5 senses: each sense is constantly amplified.

Personally, I naively thought that everyone had the same problems as me. I have a few examples in mind. I absolutely cannot stand the smell of the vehicles in front of us, and at red lights, I have to turn off the air conditioning to get rid of it. Surprisingly, when I’m in the car with friends, it doesn’t bother them more than that.

Similarly, changes in temperature are absolutely unbearable to me, while it doesn’t seem to bother people around me either. The same goes for certain sounds that are very annoying to me, but not to others.

Hypersensitivity

It’s the same thing. Everything is also amplified on the emotional level.

In Aspies, some sensations and emotions are exacerbated while others are almost absent. This creates a social distance, because social interactions work on a model of interpreting emotions. Normal people, called neurotypicals, are on the same wavelength since they have the same brain structure and the same social codes.

An Aspie does not perceive the same information and does not process it in the same way. Not only does he not master the codes, but often, he does not even understand them.

Autistic people have to learn social procedures in order to adapt as best they can. To survive, you have to constantly adapt, which is exhausting, as is experiencing hypersensoriality and hypersensitivity. It is a constant effort.

An Asperger’s person needs to follow a pattern

• Problem;
• Research for theories;
• Hypotheses;
• Verifications;
• Learning;
• Usefulness, by far the most important!

I now understand why anything that is not useful to me does not interest me…
Society reminding us every day that we are not normal, depression affects 41% of Aspies. Being Asperger is to navigate the rhythm of contexts and misunderstandings in which we evolve.

The Asperger Brain

The brain structure of an Asperger brain is particular, hence a particular behavior, a particular communication and cognition and particular socio-emotional relationships.
Scientists have observed that in his brain, gray matter is in smaller quantity in the temporal cortex, the amygdala, the hippocampus, the left occipital gyrus, the right cerebellum, the limbic striatum, the left thalamus, the putamen and the precuneus, among others.
We do not perceive things like neurotypicals and we do not know how to interpret intonations, verbal and non-verbal behaviors.

Hyperlucidity and Objectivity

An Asperger person resides so much in his world of objectivity and authenticity that he can hardly be mentally manipulated.
Let’s take the example of advertising. I wondered why advertising had no impact on me. It is rather the opposite. It arouses my skepticism.
Advertising uses unspoken words, anticipations, lies, fear, anxieties without giving a direct message. In theory, all these mechanisms are incompatible with the logic of an Asperger person who is structurally rigid.

Adaptation

An Asperger person must constantly adapt to the codes of society (which are not logical to him!) and to others, because no one adapts to him. This constant adaptation takes a lot of energy.
We need clarity, because we cannot read between the lines.

All questions, social interactions, everything in life is problematic. Each word brings a question. That’s why we need precision and clarity when we are asked a question. The simple question of: “How are you?” raises a lot of questions. The first one being: “Should I tell the truth or pretend?” And then, it’s too broad… Anyway, people don’t want to know how the person is doing. They just apply the codes, most of the time, not caring about the answer. This deserves a debate…

Questions that may seem simple to a neurotypical person, well, they deserve to be clear and precise, because a single word brings many questions.

One of the worst questions is: "What are you thinking about?"

Uh… How to say it? I am unable to answer it, because I have so many things on my mind, always, as long as I am awake, that I do not know what I am thinking about. Neurotypicals think I don’t want to answer, but no! I have absolutely no answer!
This heaviness, with which we live on a daily basis, we have to bear it without bothering anyone with it… and being unfairly judged…

Thank you for your interest.