Success in Spite of Mentality: Part 1: Backstory

By Michael E. DeCoste

“Well you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t have some sort of mental disorder,” a Workforce Network job coach said.

I’d say the guy’s name, but I’d rather have his permission. Not to mention, I have little room to argue about what he considers normal in his line of work. Also, if I actually have some mental disability Asperger’s Syndrome is the best candidate.

Three dimensional white stick figure holding a giant pen, with title “Guest Blogging” to the right

I don’t remember when, where or who from, but years ago, some doctor I may have said “mental disability.” Whether or not the diagnosis was official, I don’t remember. If it was, neither my parents nor the hospital fussed about it.

For those of you who don’t know about mental disabilities, Asperger’s Syndrome (A.S.) is a mild form of Autism or rather it’s called high-functioning autism (H.F.A.). The symptoms of said mental issue are as follows (from websites childhood.com and 10faq.com):

- Lack of social skills … Not understanding social cues.

- Failure to make eye contact … Some people with A.S. may not understand the importance of eye contact when socializing.

Selective mutism … Some people with A.S. speak only with people he/she is comfortable with.

Inability to empathize … Not relating to others during bad experiences.

The lists differ with every medical site. I could probably go through multiple pages describing mentality issues, but frankly, psychological biology is not my idea of fun. The main question right now is, “Have I ever exhibited any of these symptoms?” It’s best if we go through symptom by symptom.

Lack of social skills … I’ve hardly ever considered myself a conversationalist. Any talk I’ve had either starts with a mere “hello” or something else. The other person almost always starts the conversation. Whenever someone “kids around” with me, I almost always take it seriously. My mastery of certain humor categories is sorely lacking.

Failure to make eye contact … During a conversation, my brain runs a mile a minute, so my eyes have wandered from time to time. I try to listen as best I can but like many things with me, it depends on the situation.

Selective mutism … While I usually stick to friends and family in terms of regular conversation, I have my doubts about this symptom. I don’t have too much trouble carrying on a conversation.

Lack of empathy … If I haven’t experienced a certain pain, relating to others on that level is almost impossible for me. But I never fault anyone for mourning the deaths of people they care about. Especially after I lost my Dad to pancreatic cancer.

There are other symptoms but I’m not sure how they relate to my situation. So do I have Asperger’s Syndrome? I seriously doubt it. If some doctor makes it official, I won’t be surprised. But I don’t plan on quitting life because of this shindig. Autism is a wide spectrum and an imprecise science as far as I know. I’ll further examine my thought processes as I continue my journey toward success in spite of mentality.

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