Aspergers

I no longer have shower curtains. We have those sliding doors. I miss the showering curtains. Well the curtains where nice, they kept the water from getting on My floor, but I always appreciated the rings the most. You know the ones that attach the curtain to the shower rod. Mine use to be plastic.

Some Man probably spent all day, every day, in front of some plastic molding machine, pumping hundreds if not thousands of those suckers out. He would get out of his job, jump into his truck (yes, a truck... its MY story!) and then go home to his wife and kids. They would sit down and have dinner, watch some TV and then go to bed. He would do this every day of every week, and on Weekends he would complain about his job, how bad it was, how the work sucked.

What he did not realize is that every morning, I would wake up, get into the shower, turn on the warm water, and look up at those shower rings and think of that Man, and think that if it wasn't for him I couldn't enjoy this shower. It was a great way to start the morning. But now I got stupid doors and My wife will not let me put up curtains! LOL...

I believe that providing the right information to the right person at the right time can make all the difference in the world. I believe in this profession, this job, this project we call Drupal. So If I have to write a document, or update a ticket, or do some bit of work, I know that somewhere some how it will change something for the better. If I am as lucky enough to touch as many lives as that man who makes all those shower rings, then I have done something important with My life. You just wont find Me complaining on the weekends about how much My Job sucks!

So I maybe a bit crazy, but I am not a Troll. I also have a very unique sense of humor.

Thank you for posting, this is great. :) Even if it's just one story, it will help more of us know your intentions and learn to interact in a way that will work for everyone. I will admit that I was a bit frustrated trying to discuss challenges with docs and general contributions on IRC with you a couple times in the past week, and I now have a bit more perspective on why it seemed like it was hard to communicate. I feel very much like yoroy on this, and that it helps to interpret your tone.

Personally I think it's very brave to post this, and that it will have positive impacts, not negative. There are probably many others in the community who have similar challenges, and who will be helped by having more awareness around this.

I feel I ought to reciprocate (since I suggested you post here). :) My story is that I struggled a long time on how open to be about some of my own health challenges, but have been trying to push myself to be more open and not be embarrassed about it. Of course there's some risk to that, but I feel like it has had large positive results for me since I started being more open. I have fairly severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome (and associated frequent fatigue and joint pain) and some other less severe issues, which altogether make my healthiness levels fluctuate a lot. Some days I feel ok, others I feel terrible (sometimes for long stretches), and it's hard to make people realize this because usually I look "normal" or reasonably healthy. And then I also have Generalized Anxiety Disorder (which I've done a lot of counseling for and usually can keep under control), which when it is bad, makes it harder for me to focus and also interact well with people.

So despite always being told that I seem like this super together person, and holding a pretty public role in the community, I feel a lot of empathy towards not being able to control what the mind/body are doing. And also, really appreciate how hard it is at times to work effectively on things without pushing others away, when you're struggling more. For me, it's really important to feel comfortable talking about these things in the open, so that if I am late for a sprint, or disappear from the issue queue for a couple weeks, or cancel on a meeting, that people know I'm not just being flakey, but that I have real restrictions to what I can do at times. People I've told about this have been extremely supportive and have offered help many times, which has been really amazing.

And I really hope that by your opening up about this, everyone can give some extra support working with you as well. Like yoroy said, your passion for this is clear. Perhaps there may even some particular work that would lend itself well to your unique challenges and skills!

This group seems like a great place for people to bring some more visibility to what a diverse community we have, and the specific challenges we can accommodate better. We should strive to make sure everyone who wants to help can have a better chance at working together well.

I think that as a fellow Drupal community member I/we can learn more about Aspergers. I think that our community works without knowing much about where everyone is coming from. Just knowing that some of our Drupal friends suffer from this syndrome can help understanding. I think that overall there are sometimes tendencies & expectations that everyone should fit into a certain mold, which is heart-breaking for those of us who care about Drupal just as much, but have something different to offer.

Wishing you the very best,
Chach

and people have said some insensitive ish about what I have, however I gotta keep it real and say people don't necessarily judge about what's in my mind, but by what I look like.

Try this link to understand aspergers http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/aspergerssyndrome.html
I got this thing about using webmd for health info (they are commercial).

How do we begin outreaching and providing support? Because it warrants

There is a 4:1 ratio of Men to Women who have Aspergers. I am 99.9% sure Tesla had Aspergers. Einstein probably had it. From what I have learned, Jefferson was extremely good at being social, though I could be wrong. Always liked Adams more then Jefferson. Never heard anyone say that people who have Aspergers are good at Academia, though I have ADD and LD. I can see Engineering, but I would not limit other professions (such as computers, electrics). Aspergers is not a mental impairment. It is unclear if we generally have higher then normal intelligence.

DSM-IVTR

A. Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:
(1) marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction
(2) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
(3) a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people)
(4) lack of social or emotional reciprocity

B. Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:
(1) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
(2) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
(3) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
(4) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

C. The disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

D. There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years).

E. There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood.

F. Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia.

The problem with all of this, and even being "Aspergers" is that I am not a label, and I dont neatly fit in a box. Many of these criteria are VERY simplistic in nature, or just does not apply.

Aspergers also has no current treatment. Some people find success in DBT, including Others in Drupal who have Aspergers, have mentioned DBT and other Behavior Therapies how these work for them. We cant take a pill to fix it, therapy has limited to no help, To change would be akin to asking a Blind man/woman too see. What's interesting, is that because Drupal is the largest Open source community for Women, this diversity has seemed to move into accepting other Disabilities. Since a few prominent members of Drupal have active diagnosis of Aspergers, many of the members (especially core developers) are more understanding of Aspergers.

Aspergers is really tough. I hear people openly say that thoose with Aspergers are using it as an excuse. Maybe some are, but this is a rather irritating statement. Then again a few Doctors beleive we should not get friends, wives, lives... That we just cause harm to those we love. Those Doctors have some serous problems of their own.

I have a problem with using anything as an excuse. It doesn't seem right for people to have to think "Its ok, he has Aspergers". but at the same time I am essentially blind. I prefer people to treat Me as they SHOULD treat everyone else. I believe the best thing way to react when ANYONE does you wrong, is too tell them what they did and to tell them how it made you feel (I feel statements). Then allow those that choose to correct the issue and/or make amends. If someone is unable to treat people honestly and be open about how other people effect them, then that is their problem, not mine. Thus the idea that I use it as an excuse is not valid.

Not as much to say as some folks here, but just wanted to say thanks Michael! :) (MGParisi)

Thanks for sharing!