Aspie bio.

Living with Asperger’s Syndrome in a Neurotypical World by Debbie Scally
Almost all of us are acquainted with someone whom we would identify as a total nerd: the guy who has an umbilical attachment to his computer; the obsessive Trekkie fan; the one who can talk your ear off about the mating habits of fruit bats, the geek who’s so shy he couldn’t get a date if he paid for it. In fact, you probably know more than one. Well, here’s the thing. That person may not necessarily just be a total loser. He or she might be one of the growing numbesr of people who have a neurological wiring issue that is the cause of many, if not all, of their strange social behaviors, up to and including clumsiness and lack of non-verbal communication skills. Right now the numbers stand at about 100 per 10,000 people, but the numbers are increasing at an amazing rate.
In fact, in the next several years or so, many parents are going to discover that their daughter or son (most likely son) has a neurological condition called Asperger’s Syndrome, after the Austrian psychologist who first noticed the behavioral differences in the children he worked with. Asperger had been forced by the Nazis in the 1940s to conduct psychological profiling on youngsters to separate the wheat from the chaff of Aryan society. Those who didn’t make the cut would be dealt with in the usual way the Nazis dealt with anything they considered less that acceptable. Asperger was concerned about his young charges, who exhibited characteristics such as inability to socialize, an unusual fascination with one or two subjects to the exclusion of everything else, and a way of talking that made them sound like “little professors.” He made it his mission to help these children and to demonstrate their value to a society obsessed with a certain kind of “perfection.”
It wasn’t until after Asperger died in 1980 that his diagnostic criteria became known by his name – not until after a British psychiatrist, Lorna Wing, who specialized in autism spectrum disorders, got into Asperger’s work and noticed that he was dealing with a new diagnostic category that didn’t really fit into the autism spectrum.
The reason I know all of this now is because this year, after much heartache and many tears and immense frustration, my son was finally diagnosed as an Aspie (the name they call each other). Many kids who exhibit symptoms on the autism spectrum, from mild to severe, are diagnosed early because their parents sense that there’s something not quite right. It wasn’t that way in my son’s case. He walked and talked early; he was amazingly bright (he surprised me one day when, at the age of four, sitting in his carseat, he explained his take on sarcasm!); he clearly made eye contact when spoken to.
Yet from the day he started school it was clear that something about him was different. He just could not make friends; he got bullied and made fun of on a daily basis. At first I chalked it up to the fact that my school experience was similar; I was the class “brainiac” and got made fun of all the time. I figured that he was just suffering the fate of the smart kid in public school and that it would get better. But it never did. In fact, it got worse, and by the time he was ten he was taking anti-depressants.
Life went on, the way life does, and it just seemed that no matter what he did or where he went to school, he couldn’t make it socially, and it was getting worse. When he went to middle school (for one semester), he would start sobbing the night before and then sob in the morning and often refuse to get out of the car. Again, I just thought that it was the school; bullying wasn’t really handled very well in his school district. It got so bad that I removed him after one semester and homeschooled him. But when even the kids at his homeschool co-op started giving him the cold shoulder, I really started to look at things differently. Someone had asked me if I thought he might have Asperger’s and I had indignantly replied “No!”
I decided to re-think my knee-jerk reaction and started reading everything I could find. Yikes! There he was, in print. Everything I read led me to believe I needed to get him tested.
Then, just for grins, I found a self-test for Aspies online, and I told him about it. I figured he’d blow it off, but one day he handed me a stack of paper with charts and graphs on it, and it was the test. He was clearly on the spectrum. Then I started searching for support. We found a psychologist in our area who specialized in Asperger’s and made an appointment. About five minutes into the session, she had him as a 4-5 on the spectrum and explained that his diagnosis was probably missed because his cognitive level was so high.
So, our journey has begun. He is nearly seventeen, and is still not really happy with what he sees as his new “label,” but I can tell that he is as relieved as I am to finally have a name and explanation for his situation. We’ve met many parents and kids in our support group and are both grateful that we have found a haven.
Moreover, the more I learn, the more I am able to identify the qualities that psychologists call “Asperger symptoms” in my own students. Aspie kids have some great qualities, one of which is a sense of honesty and justice. In fact, I used to wonder why my kid seldom lied to me like other people’s kids seemed to do. Now I know it’s part of his wiring. I used to wonder why he was so clumsy and why he just couldn’t seemed to “get it” socially. Now I know. Now I can work within the framework of his neurology. His dad, sadly, still doesn’t quite accept that Asperger’s is not just the new flavor of the month problem, but we’re hoping he’ll come around.
So, although every nerd does not have Asperger’s Syndrome, the next time your computer nerd buddy is boring you with endless details about World of Warcraft or the finer points of bird-watching, think about this. He’s not trying to drive you insane; he might just be an Aspie. Be kind.

I'm a college English teacher working on my dissertation. I am an anime junkie and a Shakespeare scholar, a voracious reader and a political rebel.

facebook

I joined facebook today. Please click title.

Light-shields

Light-shields is the newest name I thought of today, for a devise holding dark lenses, to shield my eyes from bright light. I use them at night for high-beam headlights from inconsiderate automobile drivers. Therefore they are not sun-glasses. They are also not made of glass. Previously I used the term "shades". Using the word spectacles, makes a spectacle of myself.

I lost my Wayfarers in August 2008, after 7 years! They were given to me, for free, by Bose, along with a free blues CD, and a free black Bose shirt. I have recently superimposed my Love/Florida logo over it. I finally went to Walgreen's for a new pair of light-shields today. This is the first time I remember purchasing this item or in a store in at least 35 years! Much has changed!

There appears to be 3 kinds. 1) Complete, & fits over other vision-frames. This is most like how I used my lost ones, and $20. 2) Rimless, & attaches only to the front of other vision-frames. These stretch and fit well in size and shape with my rimless eye-lenses, and $15. 3) Clip & Flip. These are larger rimless, and easily clip from the top of any eye-frames. They can also easily be flipped up and off when not needed. They appear to be the best value at $10. I just made my decision. I will return the two more-expensive other ones I had purchased. I had also spent an hour at the store!

There is always a bargain to be found at Walgeens. In addition to the fish oil I came for, which was BOGOF again. I purchased a new black ink cartridge for my HP printer for $6! I often paid around $20 for this!

I may have lost my black Wayfarer shades for the last time, at my swimming pool in August 2008. I swam there these past 3 days in a row during my stay-cation in Florida! That is the most consecutive days at my pool in my 3.25 years here! It was so delightfully relaxing with the blue sky, clouds, palm trees, flowers, and clean warm water!

I have had many people apply for my home. I have declined, ignored, or rejected many. I have changed my price from $475 to $394 to attract more people. 943 is my street address, and the inspiration for the price of 394. I am waiting for a long-term compatible person over someone who always pays much, and is never here. I believe this is the best time of year to take this time and risk. My goal is October. This was my original goal when Steve was supposed to be here and paid until then.

I have been wanting a mobile phone for years, that would have a loud-speaker and incorporate my Palm PDA. I love my new smart-phone. It has the same information I inputted 7 years ago! That was my first Palm PDA. It sold for $500 retail. Palm gave it to me for free. 7 years ago is when I also purchased my first mobile phone at dealer's cost! I still have that same plan! My phone can also record and play movies and music. I choose not to pay for the Internet services including television.

Our last opportunity.

I live in Florida, a purple state. It is the southern-most Northern state. Alaska is the is the northern-most Southern state. It became the 49Th in 1958, when I was born. Sarah Palin is its present Governor. She is a Joneser like me, born after Alaska became a state.

Barack Obama, a Joneser like me, was born in Hawaii after it became the 50Th and last state of the union in 1959. Therefore he just barely qualifies to be President. Joseph Biden is the Senator of the FIRST state, Delaware.

John Mc'Cain has found answers to his issues with Sarah Palen. 1) Religious-Right friendly 2) Joneser like Barack. (youth friendly) 3) Maverick, conservative, stubborn, determined, ruthless. (soul mate & partner.) 4) Female like Hillary, and historic like Barack.

What is scarier than having GWB president, and declaring war against a stable sovereign nation for his own personal agenda? It is having a person who is a heartbeat away from controlling the fate of this planet, who is even more inexperienced, delusional, narrow-minded, selfish, and intolerant than the current Despot GWB. As Bill Mahr said, we do not need the cutest "Stewardess". He is a Joneser, and a favorite person of mine.

John McCain lives in his own world. He almost died twice. With all the torture he has endured, it is amazing he lived to be 70, and keep his "sanity". We do not need someone else who lies and cheats to achieve their personal ambitions in the White House.

Sarah is even more reactionary than John! She wants to drill for oil in the wilderness refuge of her state! We need to protect, and work WITH our environment & planet. 1) Oil is finite & bad. 2) Animals are finite & good. 3) We must invest and change our infrastructure to be independent, with infinite & renewable energy resources. She does not "believe" in global warming!

Instead of putting a burden on our society, pro-choice people terminate pregnancies of a disabled fetus. Sarah purposely goes to term with her down-syndrome child. Besides being a burden, she goes a step further. She supports more of our money go to children of "special needs" like her child!

Sarah believes in abstinence, instead of education and birth-control. This is why her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. This puts and even more of a burden on our society. Sarah's place is in her house to take care of her children. She is no Hillary.

We need to support OURSELVES. Georgia & Iraq can take care of themselves. Being "independent" does not mean borrowing from Communist China, and kissing the butts of Saudi Arabia. We need to get off our butts and face reality. The time is now to harness tidal power off the coast of Florida, instead of bottling that water with vitamins into plastic bottles.

Dire times has been GWB in office after 9/11. This time, there will be no more times, unless we vote Democratic and change our course back in the correct direction.

I am pleased that 73 of you have voted so far on my poll on this site. I am happy to see, it has been a consistent 80% for Barack Obama, and 19% for John McCain.

I Like Ike

I will survive Ike!
Ike is both a hurricane below my state of Florida, and a favorite character of mine from South Park.

Because he's a genius, Ike was accepted into kindergarten early. There, Mr. Garrison nominates him for class president when no one opposes Fillmore (Ike being reminiscent of President Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower). The vote is tied, as a little classmate of theirs named "Flora" (spoofing Florida's role in the 2000 US Presidential Election) can't make up her mind and Fillmore's aunt, Rosie O'Donnell, shows up to demand justice. Ike is asked to give a speech on why he should be president to which he clearly states, "Cookie monster... Ike." Eventually, Ike's opponent gives up, and Ike becomes class president (to which he can only exclaim (loudly), "I pooped my pants!"). Dwight Eisenhower was President, fifty (50) years ago in 1958! Rosie O'Donnell is a Joneser from Long Island like me.

O2D2 & PHone2

I have the Beanie Baby named Weenie. It reminds me of my dog Odie, and gives me comfort at my job. I had asked in a poll on this site, what should I name it? The names I though of to be voted on are Godie, &og, O2D2, & Korny. Godie just adds a G to Odie,and suggests either being on the go, or God. God is dog spelled backwards. &og stands for Andog, a combination of my name and the word dog. O2D2 stands for Odie two, dog two. The only letters also spell out O-D. It is inspired by the Star Wars droid called R2D2. Korny is a corny name spelled like a favorite Rock music group called Korn. All two votes received chose O2D2. 10/15/08: I have since thought of two new names. Rew is short for roo since it looks like a Kangaroo, and shares my name without the &. Nissan, because it is not a Dachshund. The car company was previously named Datsun.

When I called on 8/11/08, to have my number transferred to my new cell-phone, I was asked if I wanted to renew my contract. Not understanding what this meant, I said yes, and received a free $50 credit to my account. I then found out that the consequence is a two year deadline to renew. If I stop service before that time, I would be fined a $200 fee. Since I have had the freedom of no-contract, I called back to return the $50, and regain my freedom. My plan continues to be $15/month for 750 anytime anywhere minutes, and 50 text messages per month. I have no contract deadline, or cancellation fees.

I made another call to Vonage to cancel my phone service. I have the $4.99 plan. I was offered no-cost service for three months, and I accepted. I continue to have both house and mobile phone numbers and services, and I am only paying $15/month.

50.50 from 1958

In 1958, 50 years ago, the following were created: AARP, NASA, The Peace Sign, The Jim Henson Company, The Integrated Circuit, Color TV... It was the first Post-Baby Boom year, and part of the Jones Generation (unfulfilled expectations), during the Recession, and the statehood of ALaska.

I share my Birth Year with: Caroline Kennedy, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ellen DeGeneres, Andie MacDowell, Holly Hunter, Tim Robbins, Sharon Stone, Matt Frewer, Kevin Bacon, Tim Burton, Nikki Sixx (Mötley Crüe), Bebe Neuwirth, Grandmaster Flash, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Gary Oldman, Alec Balwin, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Wade Boggs...

Eric Garbarczyk

Eric is Cavalier: Showing arrogant or offhand disregard; dismissive: a cavalier attitude toward the suffering of others. I believe that is what makes his job in Customer service easier. He is not empathetic, and feels no pain. He just picks up garbage dumped on him by Agents and customers, and hauls it away.

People have a hard time pronouncing his name. About 3 months ago, Eric approached me to print on a shirt of his, the phrase 'Eric Garbage truck'. I was eager to do this for him as a favor to please him. I am proud of the design I created that is shown in this posting. He constantly made specific promises of when and how he would give me a white T-shirt. I had designed and printed on T-shirts for a few other co-workers.

At irregular intervals, sometimes daily, I ask or remind him about bringing me a shirt. He continued to assure me that he does indeed want his white shirt printed on, that he wants above phrase on his shirt, and will bring it in. He even promised to put it into my draw on my day off with a note. I even came in on my day off, and it was not there. I decided that I no longer wanted to make this gift for him if he would not bring it in the next day. I told him this, and he again promised to bring it the next day. He did not bring it in. Then, on the day after that, I instead printed it out on paper, and showed his friends. Eric was not at work, and I have not shown him my work to this day.

The following day after that, as I was leaving, he smiled, and held his white T-shirt above his head. He proclaimed that he wants to keep his shirt blank. Although I thought he would do this childish act, I was surprised, amazed, and disappointed that he was not the virtuous person I once thought he was. I am also very puzzled by his behavior. I am surprisingly not angry. I instead feel sorry for him. I don't treat people the way Eric did to me. I definitely do not deserve this treatment.

I have been frequently been dumped on, earlier in my life. It appears people abuse my vulnerabilities for their gain, due to my "disabilities" The name of this is now better known as being an Aspie. People get the impression that I am rude, and insensitive. I am quite the contrary. I have been frustrated most of my life, to overcome my syndrome. I fortunately now finally have a name & definition for it (AS). This has empowered me. That is why I say that "I am empowered by the Aspie operating system."

During these first three years that I have been in Florida, I have come to trust and love people. For the first time, I love many of the people I work with. I have worked very hard to overcome my impression on people. One way I do this, and to show my appreciation to those who are kind to me, is to do things or give things to these people. I enjoy giving to people. I am compelled to demonstrate my appreciation to people who are respectful, tolerant, and helpful to me. I hope this can compensate for my lack of social skills. I have had a frustratingly hard time my entire life to make friends, and develop relationships. I frequently want to give up trying as hard as I do. I believe I will continue my lonely life until I die. Unfortunately, I never give up hope. What is your reaction? I would like to know.

My Palm Phone

I started being careless on how I put my $400 Palm PDA of 3.5 years in my pocket one day on 7/22/08. As a result, on that same day, the money clip on my wallet broke the screen, and rendered my PDA trash. I am sad. On 8/3/08 I ripped out the money clip from my leather wallet. I never carry cash. I carry only cards, and they are all the same size.

However, a replacement Tungsten-C Palm PDA on eBay is about $125. A new basic cell phone is $200 brand new (free with a contract). A new PDA is $200-400. My 7-year old cell phone has frequent drop outs (one band), and a talk time of one hour. The buttons don't respond well. I have a green screen with black characters. It requires being flipped open. Sometimes I have issues with the ringer. Having both a separate hand-held computer, & a cell phone is too much for my pockets. I often use a wired headset to hear and be heard better.

I decided to get a Palm PDA/cell phone combo. This is called a smart phone. Instead of the $400 cost for a new one, I purchased a Centro on eBay for about $215. I picked it up from the post office on 8/4/08.

Brand new, the $400 smart phone is $100 with a contract. Unlike most people, I do not have a mobile phone contract. I only pay $15/month for 750 minutes. Its similar to buying a car or home instead of renting or leasing. I would rather pay full price, and save in the long run.

I feel decadent replacing my 6/28/01 SCH8500 Samsung Sprint cell phone that only cost me $84. It still works, I only use 250-500 minutes per month. I am sad my PDA broke. It is one of my favorite things in my life, and cost me $300 on eBay. However, I have now fulfilled my fantasy of a device that will do more than both devices together, and smaller than either! All my electronics and communication are finally together and integrated.

Since the phone/PDA will be more reliable and dependable, I plan to disconnect my home phone service and number. It has been $15/month for unlimited local, long distance, and Europe. Now it is only $5/month. However with tax and fees, it is $8/month or $100/year! I receive two 45-60 minute phone calls in total per week.

I enjoyed Don Adams in Get Smart, as Max Smart, in the 1960s. He recently died, as did Charles Shultz. A new movie called "Get Smart" has recently been released. He had a wireless phone in his shoe. So, when the term "Smart phone" came into our lexicon vernacular, I thought of the fact that Maxwell Smart had a "Smart" phone thirty years early! Please click for my posting. Another TV show of the sixties had a cell phone and PDA thirty years earlier. It was the communicator and Tricorder of Star Trek. Today we have one combined device called the Treo! I have the successor, called the Centro.

&rew Lerner design LOves FLOrida

Please click on this and every picture and title of every posting in this site. This is the current state of my design. I deliberately integrated my original logo for Florida with my original name. I would like to use this as one unified logo that Identifies me and my work. If another company would like to license this logo from me, it would probably not have my name, or listed as prominently.

I, Andrew Lerner, created from scratch only all by myself, a design to express what the state of Florida means and feels like. It is a logo or symbol that expresses the feeling of Florida . It incorporates the word love and the the name of Florida . It is also as if to say, that "I love Florida", and there is love here. I made the letter "o" into the shape of a heart. That is because the heart symbolizes love and warmth. The letter "o" is being used as part of both the words love and Florida , just as the the letter "L" is! Also, I made the the inside of the letter "o" yellow. This represents the warm sunshine of the sun in this sunshine state! Also, the round orange "o" dot over the "i" represents the fruit orange that is grown here in this state of Florida ! The F and L are capitalized as FL is also the abbreviation for the state of Florida. I used colors that represent my state of Florida . They are green, yellow, orange, and the red love that I feel living here. The font I used is rounded, and smooth, just like the heart I used, and how Florida looks and feels.

Advertising and graphic art has been an interest of mine most of my life. It is only recently, that I started exploring and applying my talents by learning and using Microsoft Publisher 2000. I am proud of my design. I applied for a copyright at the Library of Congress, United States Copyright Office. 101 Independence Ave. SE Washington, DC 20559-6000. I find my idea, design, and work to be very creative, clever, and well done. I am proud of my work, that I feel is professional looking. I am showing it to you to get feedback along these lines. I crave and need praise and encouragement. My success in life is proportional to the amount of support and attention I receive. Unfortunately this is little and far between. What is your reaction? I would like to know.

Mission Statement

A.LtERNativE tRek: Life, my final frontier. These are my life voyages as A. Lerner. My continuing mission, to explore my strange new world, seek out new relationships, to finally boldly experience where I've always dreamed before. Below, to the left of this mission statement, is my autobiography, Then click the links. Scrolling below, you will SIGHT my daily postings, frequently updated in red. Use upper-left search-box for finding specific topics. Empowered by ASpie Operating System. On 2/21/08, this statement was replaced. The current one is on the top of this page.

Charlie Brown is an Aspie

Charlie Brown was widely introduced by Charles Shultz around 1958, when I was born. I always identified with them. It was with good reason. They are Aspies! When I was a child, my sister gave me a tan sweatshirt that I treasured. It had C.B.'s picture on it with the phrase "How can we loose when we are so sincere" This demonstrated the honesty, naivete, and Perseverance of Aspies. Charles Shultz died recently. I now have the same bald head as Charlie. My newest T-shirt incorporates his image, and the Aspie words listed. It is a very clever shirt that I am proud of. I gave it to Leslie. She loves it as well. She plans to wear it on Fridays at work.

Woo Hoo

Click Woo Hoo above for Woo Hoo - Blur, and play the video!

1968 TV = 40 years ago.

In 1968 or 1967, I remember a TV commercial for Chevrolet automobiles. This is what I remember of a jingle: "Chevy is first, leading the way... Our savings explosion is happening today... 1968 savings... Explo Explo Explo! (fireworks exploding in the background)." I believe "Explo" was the name of an automobile. CHEVROLET '68 SAVINGS: good color―Frankie Randall and Jenny Smith sing together to advertise the "Chevy Explo" of savings―they both sing on a Ferris wheel.

516-770-3766 and 321-214-9855

I have had excellent home telephone service with Vonage for more than three years. I have unlimited usage in Europe, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the United States @ $14.99/month for one year. I also have 750 anytime anywhere minutes with my mobile phone @ $14.95/month. However, since I only use less then about 250 minutes/month, and my tenants only use their mobile phones, I changed my plan for 321-214-9855 today. My plan is now $4.99/month for unlimited incoming or calls to Vonage accounts. Each outgoing call is 3.9 cents per minute. 250 minutes x .039 = $10. $10+4.99 = 14.99. Click here for more postings on this subject.

Longest Employment

#1) Convergys, Lake Mary FL
.....11/21/05 - Today!
.....2 years, 7 months, 4 days

#2) Bed Bath & Beyond, L.I.
.....02/26/96 -10/01/98
.....2 years, 7 months, 3 days

#3) M.H.T. / Chemical Bank, L.I.
.....09/14/90 -04/13/93
.....2 years, 7 months .................................click for next page

I was on ABC TV News

Click here for a frozen still including my picture.
Click here for the full video shown on ABC TV.

Controversial New Movement: Autistic and Proud
Activists Say Stop Looking for a Cure and Accept Autistic People as They Are
By DEBORAH ROBERTS, MICHELLE MAJOR and JONANN BRADY
June 10, 2008: ABC NEWS
I was on "Good Morning America", accross the USA.
I am an Aspie.

Edith Miriam, Flag Day, 6/14/1918

1918 is the year my mother was born. Her father, and my my maternal grandfather, Bernard is shown below. I guess he obtained this souvenir in France in 1918, and it is one of the few of her cherished possessions that my mother was able to protect from being discarded. I wish I knew of my mother's family.

Today is my mother's birthday of 90 years ago. This is Flag day. I was born in 1958, 40 years later. I believe I am the first one to be born in Long Island. I believe my Mother was born, and grew up in The Bronx . Her father died when she was 11 or 12. He was born in Lithuania. Her mother was born in Hungary, and died before I was born. Consequently, I am named Andrew after her name of Ana.

Sheet Metal #2

Jennifer Lerner

I am very happy for my neice Jennifer, and her partner Darcy Galane. Click on title for more information

&rew Lerner design

Change, Hope, Inclusion & Pride. &rew Lerner design