Assignment #3 John Elder Robison; Asperger Syndrome

John Elder Robison is an intelligent and very talented man, that seems to have spent much of his life being misunderstood, and outcasted, due to the fact that he has Asperger Syndrome, which was not known until he was an adult. When he was younger, people would accuse him of being shifty and evasive, and he was often scolded for not making eye contact with people when he was responding or talking to them.



Visual input was a distraction for John, that would create a challenge for him when he was trying to talk. These distractions would lead to him pausing or attempting to look away to somewhere neutral, so as to carry on with his thoughts. These are traits of Asperger's, however since the syndrome was not identified at the time, John would often find himself in trouble for doing these things.



John has many strengths too, such as things to do with technology, electronics, and the mechanics of things from guitars to specialized vehicles. So, while maintaining concentration during a conversation can be quite a task for John, working with fine details that demand the use of specific knowledge and fine motor skills come more naturally. I find this to be fascinating about Asperger's Syndrome. While John maintained a very successful mechanics business, and was a member of various bands, he mentions that he still feels that he always had some trouble 'fitting in'.

It is hard for me to imagine the emotions that John must have felt when he was originally diagnosed as having Asperger's. That is to say that I think that I would have some anger for all the years of being wrongfully accused and seemingly punished for actions that were both somewhat beyond my control, and more simply, misunderstood. I suppose one has to look at the context though. I find the story of John to be a special one in that he was a success before the realization of his Asperger's, and his awareness of it, and understanding of himself has not lead to anger, but in a constant furthering of himself.

As John's teacher, I would not have spent so much time and frustration on concerning myself with whether or not John was looking me in the eye when he was talking to me. For many people this proves to be a distraction, not to mention, it can be intimidating. I would discuss with John that if he found himself distracted when speaking, he could choose something in the room to focus on to help him maintain concentration, and not to be afraid to pause when needed. I think that this should be an option for all students. I would hope that I would be in tune to the fact that John was having trouble focussing, and try to discuss with him ways that we could work to eliminate distractors together, as well as techniques he could do to regain focus. Most important, I would not channel my energies on these small anomolies of John's, but concentrate instead on what he could and was doing, in order to foster confidence first, and carry on from there.