Quotes & Sayings About Aspergers

Everyday feels the same and yet I crave sameness.
Part of me wants to run away and be free.
I feel trapped in my life I've created to protect myself. — Tina J. Richardson

Jacob looks like a totally normal young man. He's clearly intelligent. But having his day disrupted probably makes him feel the same way I would if I was suddenly told to bungee off the top of the Sears Tower. — Jodi Picoult

Can you tell me what it means to waive your rights?
I hold my breath as Jacob hesitates. And then slowly, beautifully, the right fist he's been banging against the wooden railing unfurls and is raised over his head, moving back and forth like a metronome. — Jodi Picoult

If I could, I would ask the world to make me skates so that I could find its frozen water and set myself free to smile, laugh, dance and cheer.

I'd see the boundaries that would be in a world frozen in its place and they would keep me safe, away from where the waters warm, away from the stares, away from the thoughts that melt and tear.

I would ask the world to skate with me, looking at the gladness I had found, knowing, really knowing, there was nothing left to fear.

I think then we would be free to live life as we could, with more in common than apart, the fog would lift, the confusion would end and true understanding would hold us dear. — Liane Holliday Willey

And I think for a moment, because people don't actually ask that very often. They tell me what they think I feel because they've read it in books, or they say incredible things like "autistic people have no sense of humour or imagination or empathy" when I'm standing right there beside them (and one day I'm going to point out that that is more than a little bit rude, not to mention Not Even True) or they -- even worse -- talk to me like I'm about five, and can't understand.
"It's like living with all your senses turned up to full volume all the time," I say. "And it's like living life in a different language, so you can't ever quite relax because even when you think you're fluent it's still using a different part of your brain so by the end of the day you're exhausted. — Rachael Lucas

He was asking too many questions and he was asking them too quickly. They were stacking up in my head like loaves in the factory where Uncle Terry works. The factory is a bakery and he operates the slicing machines. And sometimes a slicer is not working fast enough but the bread keeps coming and there is a blockage. I sometimes think of my mind as a machine, but not always as a bread-slicing machine. It makes it easier to explain to other people what is going on inside it. — Mark Haddon

She was a book worm she escaped her life and became her novels. — Tina J. Richardson

Social awkwardness is not a crime. — Idir Aitsahalia

Universities are renowned for their tolerance of unusual characters, especially if they show originality and dedication to their research. I have often made the comment that not only are universities a 'cathedral' for worship of knowledge, they are also 'sheltered workshops' for the socially challenged. — Tony Attwood

Not everyone will understand me. That's okay. I barely understand myself. — Tina J. Richardson

As soon as [Patricia Highsmith] had stopped work, she felt purposeless and quite at a loss about what to do with herself. 'There is no real life except in working,' she wrote in her notebook, 'that is to say in the imagination.' It was in this state that she observed that only one situation would drive her to commit murder - being part of a family unit. Most likely, she thought, she would strike out in anger at a small child, felling them in one blow. But children over the age of eight, she surmised, would probably take two blows to kill. The reality of socialising with anyone, no matter how close, she said, left her feeling fatigued. — Andrew Wilson

I don't understand why people never say what they mean. It's like the immigrants who come to a country and learn the language but are completely baffled by idioms. (Seriously, how could anyone who isn't a native English speaker 'get the picture,' so to speak, and not assume it has something to do with a photo or a painting?) — Jodi Picoult

I remember everything you forgot. — Tina J. Richardson

I may look like I'm not listening but trust me I'm memorising everything . — Tina J. Richardson

I guard my existence, sheltered by distance. Hidden and masked I parade, everyone oblivious to the grand charade. — Tina J. Richardson

I have learned to accept the fact that I will make mistakes at nearly every turn, but that those mistakes can be softened if I am honest about who I am to my girls. — Liane Holliday Willey

My fear is if i lower my mask will people accept me? — Tina J. Richardson

When the anger is intense, the person with Asperger's syndrome may be in a 'blind rage' and unable to see the signals indicating that it would be appropriate to stop. Feelings of anger can also be in response in situations where we would expect other emotions. I have noted that sadness may be expressed as anger. — Tony Attwood

If we are only interested in changing the AS person so that they can better meld themselves into society - a tenuous and nebulous concept to begin with - then perhaps we are misguided. The AS community gives us much cause to celebrate. Never, I think, should we expect or want them to be carbon copies of the most socially adept among us. We should only suggest whatever help they need to insure they have every opportunity of leading productive, rewarding and self-sufficient lives. We would lose too much and they would lose even more, if our goals were anything more, or less. — Liane Holliday Willey

If you can still wipe your own backside then life's not that bad! — E.J. Plows

She was the girl growing up that other girls stared at, making her feel different and inadequate.

She was the woman that stared at them, she made them feel inadequate, as she could be her own true self. Free from the social conformity, that imprisons them.

They were now jealous. — Tina J. Richardson

Everybody else possessed the key to popularity and happiness, and his clumsy attempts to find his own key always ended with other children looking at him funny, or calling him names. — Belinda Bauer

She became an illusion of herself. It was easier to cope with people that way — Tina J. Richardson

Autism is what makes me, me. You can't 'cure' Autism out of me. It's intertwined into how I perceive the world — Tina J. Richardson

I see people with Asperger's syndrome as a bright thread in the rich tapestry of life. — Tony Attwood

I think you're the only person who gets me. When I'm with you, the world doesn't feel like a problem I can't figure out. Please come to the dance, because you're my music. — Jodi Picoult

I look in the mirror and see a person. This person puts on another person's face when she goes out. She uses other people's expressions and sayings. She is a mimic. She prefers to be who she is, tries her own person out gradually, testing the waters so to speak. She fails most of the time. But the more she does it the better she feels. No more hiding behind the mask. Accept me as I am — Tina J. Richardson

Stupid English."
"English isn't stupid," I say.
"Well, my English teacher is." He makes a face. "Mr. Franklin assigned an essay about our favorite subject, and I wanted to write about lunch, but he won't let me."
"Why not?"
"He says lunch isn't a subject."
I glance at him. "It isn't."
"Well," Jacob says, "it's not a predicate, either. Shouldn't he know that? — Jodi Picoult

You don't make a friend," Jacob said with a scowl. "It's not like they come with directions like you'd find on a box of macaroni and cheese. — Jodi Picoult

He would always speak the language of the heart with an awkward foreign accent. — Orson Scott Card

My first impression of [Patricia Highsmith] was a loneliness, a sadness in one so young (we were both in our early thirties) with absolutely no sense of joy or balance. Gauche to an extreme, really physically clumsy as well as boyish, it was almost impossible to put her at ease. It was as if she felt a deep distrust of everything. — Patricia Schartle

YES, I look like everyone else.
NO! I'm not like everyone else. — Tina J. Richardson

It has sick on the sleeve. And no apostrophe. — Belinda Bauer

I'm happy being me, you will just have to get over it. — Tina J. Richardson

I'm okay with who I am.You might not understand me. That's okay as I don't understand you.We can still be friends, we just have to accept our differences. — Tina J. Richardson

I feel like schizoid is a precursor to schizophrenia or manic depression. I feel like I'm manic. I have parts of schizoid, parts of Asperger's. I'm a smorgasbord of neuroses. — Jim Shaw

Years of people pushing and demanding that she conform left a scar on her soul that kept her own self from emerging — Tina J. Richardson

Ignore and ignorance share the same root. — Kathryn Erskine

The jury is supposed to be twelve peers, but technically that would mean every single person on the jury should have Asperger's syndrome, because then they'd really understand me. — Jodi Picoult

Some things just feel so intense. I'm not
over reacting. My sensory processing
is unique to me. — Tina J. Richardson

Those close to [Patricia Highsmith], particularly her family, often commented on how Highsmith's vision of reality was a warped one. In April 1947, she transcribed into her notebook what was, presumably, a real dialogue between herself and her mother, in which Mary accused her of not facing the world. Highsmith replied that she did indeed view the world 'sideways, but since the world faces reality sideways, sideways is the only way the world can be looked at in true perspective.' The problem, Highsmith said, was that her psychic optics were different to those around her, but if that was the case, her mother replied, then she should equip herself with a pair of new spectacles. Highsmith was not convinced. 'Then I need a new birth,' she concluded. — Andrew Wilson

She kept her feelings close. Filling her up inside. Days passed. Then without warning they expelled from her, washing the pain, hurt and anguish of unresolved thoughts and emotions over her being. As if being struck by lightning. — Tina J. Richardson

There's nothing more debilitating about a disability than the way people treat you over it. — Solange Nicole

I'm always on guard around most people. They do not realize how exhausting that is to keep up. That is why afterwards I really need my space. — Tina J. Richardson

I know of several children and adults (with Asperger's Syndrome) who have reported a considerable reduction in visual sensitivity and sensory overload when wearing Irlen lenses. — Tony Attwood

Being autistic does not mean I don't have empathy. Stereotypes are harmful. If anything I hyper feel everything and have to try to shut off to cope. — Tina J. Richardson

I've met so many parents of the kids who are on the low end of the autism spectrum, kids who are diametrically opposed to Jacob, with his Asperger's. They tell me I'm lucky to have a son who's verbal, who is blisteringly intelligent, who can take apart the broken microwave and have it working again an hour later. They think there is no greater hell than having a son who is locked in his own world, unaware that there's a wider one to explore. But try having a son who is locked in his own world and still wants to make a connection. A son who tries to be like everyone else but truly doesn't know how. — Jodi Picoult

Words do hurt. They eat into my being and don't leave. They are always there just waiting to pop back up in my mind like it happened yesterday — Tina J. Richardson

All people, whether Aspie or neuro-typical are predisposed by their society to make guesses, jump to conclusions and then seek to defend those conclusions, regardless of logic or changing circumstance. This is sloppy, illogical thinking which may not hinder your life too much, under normal circumstances. But if you want to be a great detective, then such thinking will absolutely ruin your chances. — Alexei Maxim Russell

I know Mark,' I reply. 'And I don't like him.'
'But I do. And part of being social means being civil to someone you don't like.'
'That's stupid. It's a huge world. why not just get up and walk away?'
'Because that's rude,' Jess explains.
'I think it's rude to stick a smile on your face and pretend you like talking to someone when in reality you'd rather be sticking bamboo slivers under your fingernails. — Jodi Picoult

I'm tired of speaking and no one understands what I say. — Tina J. Richardson

What would happen if the autism gene was eliminated from the gene pool?
You would have a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and socializing and not getting anything done. — Temple Grandin

Go to the edge of the cliff and jump off. Build your wings on the way down.
Ray Bradbury — T.K. Thorne

There should be no single representation in the autism world. Think about this if someone got up on stage and talked about having "non-autistic syndrome" and made the assumption every one with this syndrome is the same we would be in big trouble. That applies to autism as well - it isn't one condition, there are profile differences between Autism and AS and all autism "fruits salads" are different. That is how diverse autism is. — Paul Isaacs

Sometimes I think I want to run away and disappear but what I really want is to be understood. — Tina J. Richardson

I wonder if the World would feel differently about me if they could see how life feels viewing it like I do, through my eyes. — Tina J. Richardson

I'm not a hero for living autistic. I'm a person just like you. Just living my life. — Tina J. Richardson

Even the word "disorder" is a trigger word for some, myself included. Today, I prefer to write and say, "I am autistic," or "I am Aspie," when referring to myself, versus "a person with autism/Aspergers." Primarily because I don't have Aspergers - rather, I am Aspie. — Samantha Craft

God is a twelve year old boy with Asperger's. — Eugene Mirman

If you don't know how to deal with emotion, other people's feelings can hit you like a drug. — Jael McHenry

My bottom lip starts to quiver, but I keep going. "I fight every day, and too many times it's just not enough and the fear wins. I'm so fucking weak and everything is so fucking intense and sometimes I really hate it." I gasp, covering my mouth with my hands as the tears pour out of me. I didn't mean to say all that. I feel exposed. Tears fill her eyes, too. "Can I hug you?" I nod, unable to speak. She walks around the table and hugs me. — Jen Wilde

I'm going to speak to professor Madoc about this."
"OK," said Patrick. Mick seemed disappointed that he wasn't more worried by the prospect.
"All right, you can get out now."
"OK," said Patrick and didn't go. — Belinda Bauer

No, no. I trust your judgement. Implicitly. You're just wrong. — Hy Conrad

I have an aspergers diagnosis and I don't give a shit what you people think. My friends are on the internet. — Tina J. Richardson

The person who said 'time heals all wounds' never met an aspie — Tina J. Richardson

At times i am so focused like i have been taken over by a remote controlled computer, although not user friendly. — Tina J. Richardson

I rolled back onto the lawn and pressed my forehead to the ground again and made the noise that Father calls groaning. I make this noise when there is too much information coming into my head from the outside world. It is like when you are upset and you hold the radio against your ear and you tune it halfway between two stations so that all you get is white noise and then you turn the volume right up so that this is all can hear and then you know you are safe because you cannot hear anything else — Mark Haddon

I have a condition called Aspergers Syndrome, which is like a mild form of autism It means I don't interact properly in certain social situations. — Gary Numan

A person with autism lives in his own world, while a person with Asperger's lives in our world, in a way of his own choosing — Nicholas Sparks

If people could see my soul without judgement. See my image as a mirror, viewing my uniqueness as the gift it truly is. — Tina J. Richardson

I take criticism to heart. The words hit me literally and it hurts. It can take me a long time to recover from it. — Tina J. Richardson

As I've gotten older, I have taught myself to act "normal." I can do it well enough to fool the average person for a whole evening, maybe longer. But it all falls apart if I hear something that elicits a strong emotional reaction from me that is different from what people expect. In an instant, in their eyes, I turn into the sociopathic killer I was believed to be forty years ago. — John Elder Robison

I sometimes shock the people around me with how I see things. I come up with very unique solutions to things. As I can picture things in my mind and move them around to design and understand them. — Tina J. Richardson

From a scientific standpoint, Aspergers and autism are one syndrome. Aspergers is part of the autism spectrum, not a separate disorder. — Temple Grandin

Asperger's syndrome has probably been an important and valuable characteristic of our species throughout evolution. — Tony Attwood

She enjoyed dark things, it was how she felt. People had pushed her there. She now enjoyed the quiet. She craves the night, the darkness where she is safe. — Tina J. Richardson

Your social rules suck, if i wanted to start a conversation on the relevance of solar vs wind energy I will! — Tina J. Richardson

Protecting myself from the influx of painful stimuli, just give me space and I shall be okay. — Tina J. Richardson

She enjoyed her own company most of the time. She rarely felt the need to be around people. — Tina J. Richardson

We fell in love instantly, sparks flew. It was like we had met before.
We had trouble understanding each other over the years. But our love has grown stronger through accepting ourselves and each other. — Tina J. Richardson

Contact.
When someone touches me wrong it isn't a feeling. It isn't hate or fear or pain. It is just blackness and a chant in me: get/out/get/out/get/out. — Jael McHenry

Far too many people on the spectrum spend most of their days with people who carry around memories of, and are often too overwhelmed by incidents of, prior misinterpretation. This is no fun. In travel you can start over, and reinvent yourself. If somehow a relationship gets weird, you can leave and go to the next town, the next block, or whatever the case may be, and try again. — Michael John Carley

Before my diagnosis.
I used to be a collection of other people.
An Actress,
Now I'm finding out who I actually am.
It's been a journey, but I have made it. — Tina J. Richardson

Girls are generally recognized as superior mimics. Those with [Asperger's Syndrome] hold back and observe until they learn the 'rules', then imitate their way through social situations. — Tony Attwood

Traveling in other countries is especially fun because others often attribute your differences to the less-stigmatizing idea that you're like this only because you're a foreigner. — Michael John Carley

I find myself, wearing a mask, pretend play acting when I go out, it's the only way I can cope with it, then when I'm home I'm exhausted and stressed from trying to be someone I'm not. I over analyze the conversations I had, thinking about what I have said and done. — Tina J. Richardson

I know of nobody who is purely autistic, or purely neurotypical. Even God has some autistic moments, which is why the planets spin. — Jerry Newport

And now I know it is perfectly natural for me not to look at someone when I talk. Those of us with Asperger's are just not comfortable doing it. In fact, I don'treally understand why it's considered normal to stare at someone's eyeballs. — John Elder Robison

Females with ASDs often develop 'coping mechanisms' that can cover up the intrinsic difficulties they experience. They may mimic their peers, watch from the sidelines, use their intellect to figure out the best ways to remain undetected, and they will study, practice, and learn appropriate approaches to social situations. Sounds easy enough, but in fact these strategies take a lot of work and can more often than not lead to exhaustion, withdrawal, anxiety, selective mutism, and depression. -Dr. Shana Nichols — Liane Holliday Willey

I'm an autistic girl. I have many years to grow. I'm going to rock my life. Just watch me shine — Tina J. Richardson

We do not naturally care about people we don't know ... If we tried to feel sorry for every death, our little hearts would explode ... I don't have any physical reaction to the news. And there's no reason I should. I don't know them and the news has no effect on my life. — John Elder Robison

I need time where it is quiet, the world is loud enough even when no one is talking. Please respect that it's something that I must do, I don't mean to disrespect you — Tina J. Richardson

Please don't obsess on the number of friends i have or don't have. I'll find my own way, it will be right for me. — Tina J. Richardson

I have Tourettes and Aspergers, but Tourrets and Aspergers don't have me. You know, I'm doing what I can to suppress it and I don't let it take advantage of me. It's not who I am. You know, I'm James Durbin. Like I said in the beginning, I am here to show America who I am, and it is what it is. — James Durbin

Not everything that steps out of line, and thus "abnormal", must necessarily be "inferior". — Hans Asperger

Like if you're Jewish you have to wear a hat, but only in the middle of your head. But it all becomes clear the second that you realize that God is a 12-year-old boy with Asperger's. — Eugene Mirman

Warhol was a prime example of a schizoid person. Maybe he had Asperger's, or maybe he was just an amorous human being on earth. — Jim Shaw

On the other hand, I think cats have Asperger's. Like me, they're very smart. And like me, sometimes they simply need to be left alone. — Jodi Picoult