Asperger's Syndrome in the news - Alex Ong; My experience with Asperger's Syndrome

I came across a news article in the Home section of the Straits Times two days ago about this boy named Alex Ong who is charged with causing voluntary causing hurt by pushing an old lady off the bus. You can read about it and watch the video clip of the incident that was secretly filmed by a passenger on the bus here. According to what I have read in a previous news article, he was apparently upset with the old lady for pressing the bell just as the bus was leaving a bus stop along Upper Thomson Road and wanted to teach her not to do that. But somehow, he didn't get his message through, and there was a heated exchange between the old lady and him before he snapped. When interviewed by the New Paper, he said that he had been diagnosed with clinical depression, and obsessive compulsive disorder and Asperger's syndrome since he was in primary school.

There is not much awareness of the condition of Asperger's Syndrome in Singapore. And I wonder how prevalent the condition is in Singapore. According to estimates in America, the data shows quite a figure of 1 in every 88 people, and I suppose the figures should be somewhere around the same in Singapore as well. I hope that the Alex Ong incident would not create the impression amongst the public that people with Asperger's Syndrome are dangerous. The features of Asperger's Syndrome are quite different in different individuals, and to different degrees as well. In the case of Alex Ong, Asperger's Syndrome affected him in a manner such that he finds it difficult to communicate his intentions clearly, and to rationalize what ticked him off as to trigger off his anger.

Part of the reason why there is a lack of awareness of Asperger's Syndrome is that there is no impetus to get a diagnosis. Most people would simply dismiss the symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome as being that of a personality defect. I would say that I have observed some individuals in my life who display characteristics of Asperger's Syndrome but who perhaps remain undiagnosed.

I remember watching a youtube video of Temple Grandin, a noted autistic who is an American doctor of animal science and professor at Colorado State University giving a talk at a TED conference.She said, half in jest, that the pool of IT professionals at Silicon Valley are all somewhere along the autism spectrum. I suppose the equivalent professional field in Singapore where such individuals might be is the engineering faculty or computer science faculty of the National University of Singapore? I say this with some circumspection lest it is not truly the case or it causes offence to anybody for any reason. Hey, there is one over at the law faculty!

I have read up on the internet of famous people with Asperger's Syndrome. There are quite a handful of famous people in history as well as in the present times who are suspected of having Asperger's Syndrome. Psychologists put Albert Einstein on the autistic spectrum for his childhood account which detailed his obsession and wonderment with the way the magnet in the compass always points in the same direction. The accounts of Bill Gates having a poor social life in his youth and even in his adulthood (name-calling levied perhaps by his opponents in the computer industry?), together with his aversion towards eye contact and exhibition of stimming behavior of rocking back and forth, have made him suspect for being on the autistic spectrum as well. Well, I suppose it doesn't feel too bad to be diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome when you can call yourself in the same company of these great people, although I don't think I possess the same amount of intelligence as them, and I would be skeptical about presuming these people as truly being on the autistic spectrum. See my post here about the possible phenomenon of the overdiagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. But do note that Asperger's Syndrome is not necessarily associated with high achievement. There are people with Asperger's Syndrome in different levels of strata of society, and quite a handful who are not doing very well.

I was diagnosed with the condition by a psychologist after a very difficult social experience during my high school days at St Joseph's Institution. I think that I am at more socially functionable now. My condition may be quite mild compared to the rather severe ones that I have seen, including the likes of Alex Ong. My friends have commented that they would not suspect that I would have such a condition. They just thought that I was the quieter type of person. I think that I have insight about what is socially appropriate, and am not totally oblivious to social norms.

But I have to say that my social experience is in my opinion, not fully normal. At least, when I see the sort of social interaction amongst my peers in day-to-day life, and the photos of their social life that they put up on their facebook account, I would have to say that my exclusion and lack of participation in such social activities is evidence of my social abnormality. I am just rather inhibited and aloof, and I would find myself feeling awkward if I have to participate in such social activities.

But I have come to be able to accept myself for who I am, and not be too self-conscious about my lack of conformity with social conventions. It is only recently that I have begun to 'come out' as someone with Asperger's Syndrome, after about 7 years of keeping it confidential. I suppose there is a sort of relief in being able to get people to understand my condition, and contrary to my worries of people thinking me weird and avoiding me, the people around me whom I have told about my having Asperger's Syndrome have been quite understanding and helpful.

But of those who do not know that I have such a condition, there are some who after having interacted with me conversationally or socially and formed their impression, behave in a rather chilly and unfriendly manner towards me thereafter, not wanting to acknowledge my presence when they pass by me in school, or are quite lukewarm in their manner of greeting me. There are some who would treat me quite meanly or with disrespect, such as a girl in my company law tutorial group, who in order to save word count from the group assignment, delete a substantial portion from the part of the tutorial question I was assigned to do without asking my permission and submitting the document for grading, which is to my detriment because the professor looking through the submission would think that I have left out on answering on those issues. I asked her about why she did what she did, and she offered a rather unconvincing explanation that I could present these materials during the presentation. I suppose I could probe further but that would be too confrontational for my liking. I suppose I smile, say I understand, and pretend that there is still mutual congeniality. But I think it is necessary for me to be shrewd about who she is as a person.

I suppose such social experience is not unfamiliar to me. It was much worse when I was in high school. But I have come to accept myself and not to be too self-critical about my difficulty in changing myself.

Well, I suppose I will do my part to raise awareness for Asperger's Syndrome, and I would certainly like to extend a helping hand to anyone in society who may be experiencing difficulties due to having such a condition.