I find it difficult to contribute to the above poll as not one of the choices is anything that resonates. I have felt alien since birth as I have never met a single person in my day to day existence that I was able to connect with in any significant and lasting way. I did not even know the term Asperger's Syndrome until someone studying psychology opined that I exhibited signs.
That pushed me to seeking a diagnosis. That was over 35 years ago and it offered me nothing more than a convienient label. I will admit the label helped me over a rough spot or two, but otherwise I typically pay no attention to it.
I guess I am something akin to a self sustaning island in a sea of societal turmoil that more than anything just makes me shake my head; then I slowly slough off the anger that it typically engenders. Angry since birth, succeeding decades have only seemed to inflame that a little bit more, which has nothing to do with me (thank you very much). It is just that I do not condone or suffer societal idiocy.
I have had a charmed and very successful life; more or less by stumbling through and following my feelings. I keep my mouth shut in unsettling situations so that I do not make things worse (which is quite easy for me to do and I have learned to moderate it - more or less). I have a few regrets that may or may not have anything to do with my Asperger's, but all of those have passed the statute of limitations and so will always remain regrets. However, they raised my level of maturity by realizing and acknowledging them.
In summation: I have made it this far with little more than short isolated periods of upset that I refuse to attribute to my ASD. While it may have been a contributing factor at various times, it was never the cause. I believe myself to be about as well adjusted as one could hope and I am comfortable in my own skin. That is a milestone that was not easy to achieve, but it provides a source of strength that I can and have offered to others.
My life, my achievements, my joys and my failures are all down to whom I have always been and at a primary disconnect from my ASD. I will specify that the accident of high intelligence that was on tap as compensation was most responsible for my success in life. I also celibrate my mothers intelligence as well, for she gave me all the life tools anyone would ever need and, unbeknownst to me at the time, also helped me to discover my passions which she suppported whole heartedly.
Apologies for the long ramble, the poll triggered me.
