A Late Diagnosis

I was born with Aspergers but I wasn't diagnosed until I was almost 17. I never fit in with anyone or had any friends because I would lose them all. I was too weird and didn't know how to communicate with people without being too direct and harsh but I never understood that. To me, I just assumed everyone saw the world the same way that I did and thought the same way as me and should react to things the same way as me.

It was very lonely and simple things that NTs (neural typicals) said or did like teasing or flirting would be misunderstood to me. I would feel uncomfortable or think they were trying to hurt my feelings. Also, since I didn't communicate the same way as everyone else, my way of saying things could be taken as being very "rough spoken" and hurtful.

When I started going to a psychologist he taught me how to understand the way other people think. It was still very hard to communicate with people but when I started frequenting an online psychology discussion forum I met someone who changed my life. I befriended a girl who miraculously was patient enough to overcome the "language" barrier. She thought I had a very interesting mind and helped me to learn how to communicate to NTs and "speak their language".

Today, me and Hayley are engaged to be married. She made my life long dream come true. All I ever wanted out of life was to have someone who really could understand me and love me despite my difficulties communicating and accept my love without pushing me away for extreme lack of "soft skills". She is someone I can trust to talk me through my problems, not push me away. I love her very much!

Andrew M. Frank
Bordentown, NJ