Tales of a Hard-Working Aspie

Tales of a Hard-Working Aspie

Coming Across an Aspie Guest

At my night job (a pizza parlor), we have a family that comes in at the same time every week like clockwork. Several weeks ago I began noticing that both of their boys displayed Aspie-like symptoms but knowing how shocking it was the first time someone approached the topic with me, I never said anything. 

Tonight, the younger boy had chosen to dine alone. He sat at a table not only away from his family, but in a different room. My heart ached for him as I watched him. When his father came up to pay, I asked if his son was having a bad day. His father replied that this was pretty typical for his son. He told me that his son was a loner and that when they were in Disney World, they couldn't even get him to sit with them on the monorails. 

At that point, I told him that I understood and mentioned that I have Aspergers and often enjoy being by myself. I figured this was a safe way to see if my suspicions were true. Sure enough, the father immediately followed my lead. He mentioned that the older son was diagnosed Aspergers and that the younger son displays all of the symptoms but they aren't sure if it's inherent or if it's learned behavior from his brother. 

This father does an amazing job with both of his sons. Although at least one, and most likely both of them have Aspergers, you can see that they share a deep bond with one another; something that's so rare in anyone on the Autism spectrum. I also give kudos to the father for going with the flow and not forcing his younger son to sit with the family if he needed alone time. It's very difficult for a non-aspie parent to "give in" to the Aspie behavior, but in this case, it was the best choice for the child. Finally, although he will most likely never read this, I want to thank this man for opening up to me about his family. He could easily have deflected my comments and to be honest, I wouldn't have blamed him(for a long time, I was "the undercover Aspie"). That said, I'm glad he didn't.