Arline Tolve

Growing up I was always the outsider, the odd one out. I was terrified of people and had a hard time communicating and expressing myself, which resulted in severe anger issues. I was reclusive, isolated and had severe ADD. I had the ability to create imaginary worlds and spent most of my days in my own imagination rather than to try and fit in the real world. My teachers thought I was lazy, the rest of the world thought I was shy and my parents did not know about things like ADD and Aspergers Syndrome, so for many years I was just uniquely weird.

When I was 19 I forced myself to face my fears and I started doing everything I was terrified of. By observing other people, I learned to work with children, people, to communicate and not to have panic attacks when someone talks to me. I met and fell in love with the only person I managed to bond with to date, married him and lost him to MS. We had a son together and we were unable to bond for the first 3 years of his life. After therapy we eventually bonded, but he had severe behavior and communication problems. In the beginning it was really hard raising him, but we became very close because I was the only one who seemed to understand him and know what to do, especially when he had meltdowns. At the age of 9 he was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome and was referred to a psychologist specializing in Asperger Syndrome.

I was officially diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome at the age of 37. But if you get to know me, you will learn that I do not regard my diagnosis as a disability. Yes, it makes my life harder and people may find it difficult to understand me etc. but it is also my "super power". Because my uniquely weirdness also enabled me to become who I am today, run my own business and to get where I am today, because I learned to look at the world differently. It enabled me to understand, support and teach my son, who is now 17 and we're inseparable.