Asperger's throughout the Ages
Today I, Ethan Stranger, will be doing a little History Session about the Origins of Asperger’s (trust me, you might want to read this & don’t worry, there'll be no test, so no need for notes). I feel that this is a very important topic to go over because Asperger’s syndrome is greatly misunderstood and many people feel that it might be a “curse”, in reality, it’s not, it’s just a different way of thinking and seeing things with different obstacles to face along the way.
To kick off the Lesson, let’s start at the very beginning, for when Asperger’s was 1st described by “Hans Asperger (1906-80)”, a Viennese Pediatrician who studied/observed autism-like behavior and difficulties with peoples that struggle with social/communication skills and had no intelligence related problems or language difficulties. He also noticed that children with Asperger's had difficulty with their nonverbal communication skills (what their body shows when communicating), had difficulty empathizing with others and could be very clumsy. With this info, you would think that people with Asperger's might have a tough time growing up, and it’s true, it can be very difficult to interact with others and understand them. It would have been amazing for Hans Asperger to create an actual cure but, like we’ve said before in “The Asperger’s Academy Post”, all of our knowledge now point to the fact that Asperger's syndrome is not a disease, it's not necessarily an impairment, it's just a different way of being and understanding the world around us - it's not a “curse”. In the words of Hans:
"We are convinced, then, that autistic people have their place in the organism of the social community. They fulfill their role well, perhaps better than anyone else could, and we are talking of people who as children had the greatest difficulties and caused untold worries to their care-givers."
Over the years, various things have changed, especially for those born with Asperger’s, for several have managed to accomplish many great things that caught the media by storm & have inspired a generation of newcomers with Asperger’s, so allow me to name the “Top 5 Asperger’s” who’ve managed to accomplish something in their life & have contributed to our world one way or another...
Greta Thunberg (Swedish environmental activist): She has been a very committed climate awareness activist since the young age of 15. At that time she spent her school days outside the Swedish parliament to call for stronger action on climate change by holding up a sign reading Skolstrejk för klimatet (School strike for climate). Following her example, other students engaged in similar protests in their own communities and they organised a school climate strike movement under the name Fridays for Future. She even addressed the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference. A year later Thunberg sailed to North America where she attended the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit. Her speech there, in which she exclaimed "how dare you", reached many people throughout the globe.
Albert Einstein (German-born theoretical physicist): Considered by many to be the Smartest Man that ever lived, he was a developer of the theory of relativity. His work is also known for influencing the philosophy of science. He’s best known for E = mc2, which is known by many people in the world. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Vernon Smith (American Economist): A professor of business economics and law at Chapman University and a great exponent of economics itself.
Temple Grandin (Prominent Proponent): Few people have acted as spokespersons for Autism in general. Temple Grandin didn’t only do this, but she even described all of her insights about autism based on her own personal experience.
Susan Boyle (Scottish Singer): Famous Singer that wasn’t afraid to show off her incredible singing abilities or her condition as an autistic person.
So Remember (for those with Asperger’s), don’t allow this Syndrome to get you down or don’t allow others to tell you that you can’t achieve greatness, for there shall always be a shining light at the end of very dark tunnel (hopefully it ain’t a freight train that’s gonna hit you), besides remember from my “Asperger’s Academy Post”, look at Princess Entrapta, she may have struggled with bonding with the other princesses & only caring for tech, but overtime, she learned to do better “With People while using Tech to help them”.
In the words of “Secretariat (From Bojack Horseman)” if you ever lose hope, remember:
Feel free to check out these sites to learn more about the History of Asperger’s & other famous Asperger’s Celebrities, as our session must come to an end, so I, Ethan Stranger, hope you learned something today & use this knowledge to succeed in this crazy game called...Life.
Possible sites to view:
http://www.asperger-syndrome.me.uk/people.htm
https://www.everydayhealth.com/aspergers/7-famous-people-you-didnt-know-aspergers-syndrome/
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/autism-spectrum-disorders
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