Is Asperger's syndrome the next stage of human evolution?: Tony Attwood | Australian Story

Man, this is bringing back memories. I recall my dad often saying to me "You live in your own fantasy world Steve and you need to join everyone else in the real world". My fantasy world was so much more fun than boring adult life that I'm stuck in now. I think I need to invest in a mud pit and play in it again. That was so much fun.

I was diagnosed with Asperger and ADHD when I was 50, my son is also diagnosed. My sons talents lies in chess and mathematics, I myself play jazz and do fencing

I didn't get my diagnosis until I was 52.... think of that.. 50 years of not fitting in, not being one of the crowd, of thinking differently than those around you. Both of my parents were on the spectrum and had three kids, all on the spectrum as well. We three kids have IQ's in the 99.96% range but are three totally different people. Mum taught us to be brave and to walk to our own beat, you do NOT have to fit in with everyone else, to embrace your uniqueness, your weirdness and if others do not appreciate you for who you are, then it is their problem, not yours. I ended up in the scientific field, loved my work, always wanting to know why things happen this way, figuring out where things went wrong. I specialised in investigating food safety problems, where had the contamination gotten into our product, how and what do we do to not have that problem again. I was lucky in that I met a group of other people who also didn't quite fit in with the rest of the world when I was at uni doing my Biology degree. This March we will be celebrating 40 years as a group, we have supported each other through weddings, kids, divorces, deaths of parents and even though we only catch up now a couple of times a year, if I need them they are there for me. As one of our group said, she feels relaxed when we get together because she knows we all "get" each other, we accept each other for what we are, flaws and all. We have different skill sets, different strengths and together we can do anything! When Covid hit, we had set up a messenger group which we would deposit info we had found out about the situation, best way to make masks, how to make bread, and at times we would sometimes facetime and just chat and laugh about stuff. I had been dealing with depression and anxiety for years, as had a few of my friends and we could talk openly about it to each other. When I got my diagnosis, a couple of the others put up their hands saying they had thought they could be on the spectrum too and had self diagnosed. We understand that each other need space, some can;t handle touch, others can't handle loud noises, certain fabrics etc and to us, it's just normal. Both of my kids are on the spectrum and it was with their diagnosis and my research into ASD in girls that lead me to Tony and my own realisation and the request to get a proper diagnosis. Now I don't mask as much or I save it for situations where it is more of a protective task than a day to day one. I don't mask while shopping, seeing the doctor etc, but if I had to go to court, deal with a solicitor/legal issue, then the "Professional" or "Business" mask goes on and the way I talk, hold myself, move, posture, dress etc all change. My tone becomes clipped, clear and precise. I look people in the eye (even though inside I am screaming about it), I stand up straight and walk like an elegant woman (rather than my usual slogging around in Ugg boots or bare feet with my head down), and I have my ducks all in a row. Then after it is over, I let the mask slip and become ME again, less stressed, less anxious, more free. My fellow aspies out there.... embrace your weirdness. You see the world in a fuller way than the normies do. We see patterns in the mundane. We see more colours and shapes in the dust dancing in the sun. Enjoy it. Reach out and find the others like you, there are more of us then you realise!

As an Aspergian, I deeply appreciate anything that encourages my faith that having Asperger’s can actually help me along my evolutionary path. Thank you so much, Dr. Attwood. 👍🏻

I'm 30 and was diagnosed with Asperger's at 12. My NT dad and I both watched this episode separately on the night it first aired, and that weekend when I visited my parents he immediately sat me down for a chat. He told me about how he often struggled to understand me and connect with me as a child, despite our being related, and that this episode was deeply educational and encouraging for him. For the record he has always LOVED me, and equally with my siblings, but he'd never been able to express any of that. Finally he paid me the greatest compliment of my life: "Thank you for being my son." So, for that, thank YOU, Australian Story.

I always wondered why I couldn’t keep friend, I knew something was wrong with me and I didn’t realize until I was 24 years old. I’ve never heard of Autism until one day I was playing video games with some friends, and one of them mentioned autism, so I looked it up and was stunned by the symptoms. It described everything that I had. I’m 27 and I now know and understand myself better than I ever did. I just wish I knew about this condition a lot sooner.

I have been recently diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (with ADHD) and I felt so understood and not lonely and "strange" anymore thanks to Dr. Attwood. If he will ever come to Switzerland, I would be more than honoured to listen to him (even better to meet him).

Eureka!!! I Found You! I have Asperger's and have said all my life that I Didn't Want To Be Like the Others. I felt I had a Gift for seeing the obvious. Of course... other people felt it was their patriotic duty to "fix" me, by force sometimes. I found my way into Research and Development (R&D) where thinking outside the box made me a legend at seeing solutions, and problems with project concepts. -- I'm going to send this video to everyone who I (think) cares about me or has an Asperger's person in their life.

I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at age 16. At first, I wasn't social. I isolated a lot. I'm 23 soon to be 24 now. I am a social butterfly, I have a beautiful soul and I'm very funny, intelligent and outgoing. No offense, but I feel that a lot of the stigma that correlates with autism is still continuing to this day. I feel like I'm one in a million. Never think of Asperger's syndrome as a "curse". Think of it as a "blessing". There is hope. I'm improving so much. My eye contact is starting to improve. I'm still working on expressing emotions. I've come a long way. And for those who have ASD.... You can too. Don't give up. Stay hopeful. Everything will be okay. From one Aspie to another. Much love, -Emily

I'm high functioning autistic I was told I would never amount to anything I have a government job I have a beautiful wife and a family I have a son and another on the way I was told I'd never be able to have a job I'll never be able to have a family I was told no one would ever love me but I have my love from my family my wife and my beautiful son and that's all that matters to me

This video made me feel so good, and so sad. I'm recently diagnosed with asberger, and I feel confused and alone. I'm so grateful for the diagnosis and the awareness of it, it helped me finding peace with my self, but I don't have anyone in my life to talk to about my thoughts and questions, and noone who cares. I feel so beautiful and special, I always suspected I was. It's just so sad that people judge me for not loving"the right way" when I feel my heart bursting with love for all human kind ❤️ ASD is a gift from God ❤️

Tony Attwood's work made a huge difference in my family's life! When my son was diagnosed about 25 years ago, nobody knew much about it, and Dr. Attwood's book was indeed our "Bible" for understanding our son. I feel sad that he sacrificed so much of his own life to bring that book to the world, and pray for his beautiful son. My son is doing great now, and has "moved up the spectrum" since he was a child. He is engaged to be married to his longtime love (they've been together happily for 15 years and she has Asperger's too!) and is a professional and our family's rock. I love people with Asperger's--their honesty, way of thinking, and special talents. I'm so grateful to Dr. Attwood.

I've just turned 38 and I have just been diagnosed with Aspergers, my god does it make sense now, thank you, Tony Attwood, for your work in this field, you are a hero.

I was in my 30's before I was diagnosed with Aspergers. Now, at 55, although I am surprised I survived, I now love the person I have become and have completed tertiary education to support others with mental health challenges. I now understand why my birth family wiped me, they didn't know how to deal with me. I've moved on though. I am now surrounded by friends who understand and accept me and acknowledge the life journey of self discovery I have been on. Professor Atwood is correct, Asperger's people may be the next evolution of human beings. We certainly do think outside of the box - "what box?" :) I am an actor, website developer, mental health worker and qualified secretary. I find things easy to accomplish, but soon become bored, looking toward new things to learn. I love the man I have become, but still find emotional connections with others difficult. That too will pass, in time.

I have a few diagnoses and quirks as well as family heritage which points the way towards autism. And I am on the cusp of grasping what i should do with myself, at age 28. The key for me was acceptance and a supportive environment, both inside and outside. I have been surrounded by others who may not have had the insight into neither me not themselves. It made for a lot of challenges growing up. For the longest time, all the abuse I have been put through made me hate cleaning and organising my living spaces. I have suffered a lot of abuse whenever i got too distracted to organize myself. I never learned to find my own dignity in staying organised, it was always a tyrannical straightjacket for me. For the longest time, use of executive function made the memories of my former failures in the eyes of others come to the surface. So I always procrastinated, and I ended up turning off my own inner judgement of whether or not i was doing the right thing - i just wanted to avoid that pain, and i have been a clown to make sure people don't expect me to be organized. it was not until recently - after a long life of constant "would should could" that i finally started to nurture what i truly want. And from a time of living a life I wanted for myself sprung an eventual desire to do what i deemed dignified. Now, cleaning up after myself is much easier, because the trauma associated with facing my mess was adressed. I am acutally a fairly dilligent person, but i never learned that because of my bred-in resentment towards being organised like that. Learning to seek self-dignity on my own terms has been a huge aid in executive function as well. Nowadays I can even plan something i would otherwise not like to do, but doing what is most dignified gives me a great pleasure and pride of myself, and I feel so much more self-assured, so much more powerful. And it also makes me more free and has resensitized me to stress. Now I can actually feel my stress building if i need to do something, now it's a motivation to act instead of it always just "being there" in the background for me to desperately push away. that happens now as well, but to a MUCH lesser degree. When you grow up different your environment may shape you into thinking the worst about yourself. There are a lot of times when you have to do things you don't wish to, more so than those who are neurtypical. So it is my firm belief that if you are a neurotypical you become an expert at hiding part of yourself, not just from others but from yourself as well. But there is so much potential in being neurodivergent, the only thing needed is to allow one's own unique energy and life spark to flow into you, and to appreciate it like a sacred, secret well.

I’d rather be normal. The anxiety, the hypersensitivity of your senses, the social anxiety, it all sucks and makes this neurotypical world impossible to navigate which is why our suicide rates are so high

I was dismissed from my job 2 weeks after telling them I have Aspergers…. Hope they watch something like this and realise they lost a great opportunity.

I was diagnosed with Aspergers when I was about 6. At times it has been a struggle, in elementary and middle school I was in special education classes. I would have episodes over seemingly nothing where I was violent and angry, but by the time I got to high school I was living a basically normal life. I was talking college classes and was driving a pickup truck that I bought and built the engine in, and anybody who met me after I turned 14 would never guess I have autism. I am now 20 and I oversee a maintenance shop, working on heavy equipment and semi trucks. My way of thinking never really changed, I still have the same feelings and thoughts I always did, but how I react to everyday situations has evolved.

Autism is the reason why i know what starvation feels like. Autism is why I cannot hold down a proper job. Autism is why I, a 40 year old, still can't seem to be a full adult. It is why my parents called me 'lazy' and 'problematic', and want nothing to do with me. it is why, when I was growing up, I had zero friends, was constantly misunderstood/villianized by adults, and even called names by teachers, which then became my reality: teachers called me 'dog', 'animal' 'monster'. School kids took this as permission to treat me as such. if you consider this disability a 'gift' then you are probably blessed with a support system that cares. (I.E. family, friends, a social safety net) it is this support network that is the true gift. NOT autism. P.S. if you want to see the true face of autism, unsupported, then go walk down your local tent city, homeless shelter, prison, graveyard. that's where all us unwanted autists end up.

What's interesting for me, as someone with both a very high IQ as well as autism, is how -- as I learn the traits of intelligence and the "symptoms" of autism (notice the negative connotations?)... they turn out to be one and the same thing. For instance -- and I know ADHD isn't autism, but they are so frequently hand-in-hand that they might as well be the same syndrome -- what you call being lazy or distractible? I call being bored with stupid things. What you call being hyperfocused on minutiae? I call extreme precision and detail orientation. What you call sensory overload, I call having a keen appreciation of the senses; you "like music," whereas I... am transported. I wouldn't trade that for the fact that sometimes certain sounds are like fingernails on chalkboards to me. I know it's not 100%, but more and more, I think "autism"... is just another word for extreme intelligence. The "normies" just don't "get us," man...