GOOD BYE ASPERGER'S, HELLO AUTISTIC SPECTRUM DISORDER

Just learnt today that I no longer have "Asperger's Syndrome", but instead "Autistic Spectrum Disorder" (ASD).
Good. That makes a lot of sense.
This change has been made in the new DSM-5, a book containing standard psychiatric conditions, used as a reference book by psychiatrists throughout the world.
No more do I have to explain the meaning of the word "Asperger's", where it came from, and the nature of the condition the Austrian paediatrician of that name first recognised back in the 1940s.
I'd invariably say: "It's a form of autism", a word most people recognise.
I don't have to do that any more.
It's the good old KISS principle at work: Keep It Simple Stupid.

CANCER DISCLOSURE

In the past I've been concerned about whether to tell a prospective employer about my Asperger's Syndrome or not.
Now I'm finding the bigger issue is to whether to tell them that I have cancer.
Surely it's no big deal these days, with one in three Australian women getting it, and one in two men.
I went for a job last week and wrote it on the form wanting to know about my medical history.
You're in a bind if you answer it truthfully, or if you do not.
I really want the job, but haven't heard back.

CANCER ALL CLEAR

My cancer is now officially in remission.
Has been since I started taking a daily Arimidex tablet some 12 months ago.
It is designed to block the oestrogen stored in my muscles which feeds my type of hormonal cancer.
Two amorphous masses of cancer cells visible in 2013 can no longer be seen.
They hiding in a bunker just waiting for an opportunity to come out and wage war on me again.
I've been told to lose weight, 20kg in fact, and amazingly, have just lost 5kg simply by being conscious of what I put into my mouth.
I'm no longer a mindless eater!
What a different this had made to my sense of having some control over my life.
And to a new sense of achievement and 'can do' attitude.
I'm inspired to lose the other 15kg now and will do strenuous exercise to shift it.
Another positive outcome has been that my sense of taste has returned, no longer deadened by constant intakes of sugar and salt.

LONG TIME BETWEEN POSTS

For people with Asperger's Syndrome, the organising and planning part of the brain doesn't work. This means I'm constantly floundering about, without any sense of purpose or direction.
Rather, I have lots of different purposes and directions, always going off on different tangents, and unable to stick to the one thing.
I once described it well in a poem I wrote: 'Like a rudderless ship not yet sunk.'
This defective 'executive function' of the brain makes it impossible to be successful in life, in a career or in finding a marriage partner.
I'm not complaining about this, just explaining it.
I fully accept I have Asperger's Syndrome and would never try to change myself.
I'm shocked when someone says to me, "Isn't there some type of pill you can take for it?"
Then I want to laugh.
A woman who recently said this to me has a son diagnosed by a psychiatrist with ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder.
It struck me that this is a false 'disorder' created by the society in which we now live.
Back in the 19th century, a 13 year old boy disinterested in school and unable to focus there could leave and work on the family farm or business with his father.
This would have been considered perfectly normal.
Now there is too much emphasis placed on fitting into the school system and doing well there.
It's simply the wrong time and place for this boy, not a psychiatric condition.

TRANSITIONS

I am becoming more aware of how my inability to make quick mental transitions impacts adversely on my life.
Sometime I just don't 'get' something because my brain gets overwhelmed with information overload and my thought processes get spun out.
If someone says something offensive to me, it takes days for my thoughts and feelings about it to come to the surface.
This means I can't do anything about it at the time which I need to be able to do in order to defend or protect myself.
Knowing this does not make any difference to the process.
I need to have someone supportive who knows about AS with me when I see doctors, but I do not have such a person.

DR QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN

This morning I was flicking through my local free to air digital TV channels when I came across a movie about a disabled boy being rejected by an entire small town!
He was mute, would not make eye contact, and was sad and withdrawn.
It looked like Asperger's Syndrome.
I found myself crying as I identified with his pain caused by unrelenting rejection and being constantly discounted by others.
The town's barber refused to cut his hair because, he said, his other customers did not want to be in the same room as an imbecile.
The only person supporting him was a woman I identified as actress Jane Seymour.
There was talk of sending the boy away and putting him into an institution, but then his father, the local publican, was found and he had another protector.
As with many aspies, the boy had a special gift - he was very good at drawing.
When the movie ended, it felt like there was hope for him in the future.
I wanted to know about this show.
Turned out to be a re-run of an old American TV series called Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman that was produced between 1993 and 1998.
The role Jane Seymour played was that a young single female doctor, Dr Quinn, who had moved to Colorado Springs from Boston to practise medicine there.
At first, she too was totally ostracised, like the disabled boy, because she was a woman.
The entire series appears to have been a study of prejudice in all its various forms.
There is more information about in on Wikipedia.
 

There is no government support for adults with Asperger's Syndrome in Australia.
The peak autism organisation in the country, ASPECT, is just a couple of kilometres away from where I live, yet it is of no help.
It only supports children with AS and their families.
There is an organisation dedicated to assisting aspies, but it is in another state, in Brisbane, Queensland.
They organised a workshop in Sydney earlier this year with Temple Grandin as the keynote speaker which I attended.
But I need some one-on-one 'hands on' help.
Before my health started to declined, I needed a mentor, someone to help me get my thoughts in order, so I could stop floundering through life like a rudderless ship.
I find it hard to get things done and keep going around in circles because the 'executive function' of my brain does not work properly.
That is a characteristic of AS.
Now I need a carer.
The former Labor government's National Disability Scheme has been launched in pilot form in the Hunter Valley, but I've been told by the time it gets to Sydney, I will be ineligible because I will be over the age of 65.
Surely there are university students doing special needs courses who could assist adult aspies as part of their coursework and training.
Maybe I need to make this suggestion to the relevant academics.