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Damian Castillo Professor Susan Lago ENG-110 College Writing November 25, 2013 Aspergers In My Life Waking up every morning around six or seven in the morning has become a routine for me and my brother, but just because it is a routine for us, that doesnt mean that he enjoys waking up at that time. My brother, Angel, has Aspergers Syndrome and so do I. Aspergers Syndrome in simple terms is a high functioning form of Autism, which can lead to difficulty interacting socially, strange behaviors, and intense interest in things. We both have this syndrome, but at different levels. I have a low level of Aspergers, I exhibit some of the symptoms such as intense interest in things I find, and some difficulty interacting socially. My brother has a higher level and exhibits the same symptoms and more, he has trouble interacting with people and finds different ways to hide who he is to find a place in his social life. Communicating with him and trying to build a relationship has been difficult, but over the years I have learned how to interact with him so he is comfortable at home. In the past we have been to therapist to try and help us with our Aspergers, with the diagnosis process there is a lot of communicating to understand the relationships of the patient and their friends and family. Since my brother was diagnosed at a young age we all had to work with him and help him understand certain things, like what was good or bad to do. He wasnt able to control his emotions very well due to the Aspergers. Formal diagnosis of any mental disorder relies on a description of what is observable, of how the person presents as we look from the outside(Paula13). In the book Asperger Syndrome and Psychotherapy : Understanding

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Asperger Perspectives, they speak about how the diagnosis is done and how we can understand the person more with aspergers. Simply paying attention to who they are instead of just treating them as a special person due to a mental illness they might have is one way to help understand them better and teach them to interact with others. Mistakes that people with Aspergers can make is their levels of trust with others. Sadly many people with Aspergers can be manipulated for many different reasons. They can be manipulated so easily because many of them are attempting to make friends in their social lives and they believe that doing things for others can help them do that. With their hope for making friends it is important that we learn to communicate with them to teach them to no trust everyone, because some people might just be out to hurt them instead of being their friends. The relationships they make can sometimes not always be the best choices for them and what also is important is the relationship of the person trying to communicate with them and why they are trying to do so. My brother had a friend in elementary school, my mother and I didnt like him very well because he had a bad attitude and was a serious kleptomaniac. He had stolen phones, toys, and other things from my brother, but they were still friends because Angel trusted him. These relationships are why we have to be careful with how we communicate with them. Creating an environment for a person with Aspergers is usually called creating an umbrella for them. This is to protect them from things that may alter their emotions or create a form of chaos in their mind. People without Aspergers or an education on Aspergers may not understand this. When a child is in an environment that is uneasy to them they may react by saying they are in pain. On page 211 in the book Communication issues, Olga, the author uses the example of a broken arm. Imagine youre a child with a broken arm with pain that is intolerable, then you hear sirens of the ambulance coming your way. Some people will think of

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this as a relief because help has arrived, but to someone with Aspergers they might react with more pain and distress because the noise will be confusing to them. They wont be able to focus on one thing, theyll have more than one thing happening at once which may alarm them. We create the umbrella to keep them safe from these things that could happen. When people think of someone with Autism or Asperger's, they dont take the time to listen and understand them. That is the problem we are having now with people who dont know about Aspergers. With it being around me my whole life, from myself to my little brother. I have been able to understand why my brother acts a certain way compared to how I may act or another person who doesn't have Aspergers. When my brother was being diagnosed for Aspergers, he had to go through many test and exams to find out what was wrong with him and the level of Aspergers he had. He went to different schools and systems, while he was going through all of this, I was attending normal schools with normal classes. We were both raised differently because his case of Aspergers was more severe than mine was. He would act out aggressively and never focus in class or at home. My mother had begun treating us differently after she had my brother diagnosed, she took more time to listen to him and understand why he would react a certain way to something rather than being calm and thinking through something. The doctors she has been to for my brother have also recommended medication to help keep my brother calm and focused, but she refused them all, she believed that she could raise him even with his symptoms to be able to focus and work like anyone else could. The reason I added this to my paper, was to show you what a difference it can make to give someone with Aspergers a chance and try to understand them and work them on the same level. My mother has had a lot of trouble with my little brother, it actually makes me laugh a little, but she never gave up on him. After almost 17 years with my

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brother, he has actually been able to change his behavior and work better. I can honestly say Im proud of him, he is by far a better student than I am at the moment, and this is all because my mother took the time to understand him and learn his language. Some people might ask, so what? why is it important that we understand people with Aspergers. In Alec Millers book on suicide, 100,000 suicides worldwide are from the adolescents of the world. Study shows that 80-90% of those who commit suicides had a mental health issue, such as Autism and Aspergers. About 50% of people with Aspergers have contemplated on committing suicide as well. Now that you know this, can you understand why is it important? If people took more time to try to listen to the language people with Aspergers speak with, then they can understand why they do certain things and also they can help save those who are depressed or alone that might even eventually think about suicide. Aspergers is a serious issue that is growing now in the world, people dont take the time to try and figure out why they act a certain way. If we try to understand the language that theyre speaking with then maybe we can be able to live together happily and not create a stereotype of these people with names. Suicide is another issue we are dealing with, but some of the ways we can fix that is by starting with the people who have mental health issues such as Aspergers and helping them feel comfortable around others as we do. Some people might say that it isnt such a big issue or that its their fault for acting that way, but with the proper education and taking the time to understand them, they can see that it isnt their fault, but the people around them that influence them to act that certain way. Next time you know someone with Aspergers, ask how they are doing and see how they reply, maybe you even might find that you have a lot in common. The little things people can do can really help others with Aspergers.

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Works Cited Bogdashina, Olga. Communication issues in autism and Asperger syndrome: Do we speak the same language? London: Jessica Kingsley, 2004. 211. Edmonds, Genevieve, and Luke Beardon. Asperger syndrome and social relationships: Adults speak out about Asperger syndrome. London: Jessica Kingsley, 2008. 45. Harpur, John, Maria Lawlor, and Michael Fitzgerald. Succeeding with interventions for Asperger syndrome adolescents: A guide to communication and socialisation in interaction therapy. London: Jessica Kingsley, 2006. 82. Jacobsen, Paula. Asperger syndrome and psychotherapy: Understanding Asperger perspectives. London: Jessica Kingsley, 2003. 13. Miller, Alec L., Jill H. Rathus, and Marsha Linehan. Dialectical behavior therapy with suicidal adolescents. New York: Guilford P, 2007. 7.