I finally got my date for Autism testing.

Carrots are certainly nutritious, but having Aspergers disallows me to hear other people chewing them without discomfort.

What a year. Last April I studied pretty deep on the symtoms of Aspergers Syndrome and found my personality to be a dead match.  Every rock I overturned brought on new insight into various quirks I've had all my life. For the most part I'm a normal person. That's how most people would describe me. That is to say, after 30 some-odd years I've learned how to fake the correct responses in social situations. I'm also very polite when people chew gum and eat potato chips even though I want to jump through the roof.

In the last months, I've let the whole autism bit die down. I've found it exhausting to explain to people what this affliction really is. In many ways, being on the edge of the autistic spectrum is worse than having full blown autism because you are expected to be normal and play by normal people's rules. I've had the hardest time trying to explain to people what it is that affects me. There are hoards of know-it-alls who profess that I'm simply "shy" or "awkward" and this can easily be fixed with more social interaction.

What never seems to sink in with "normal people" is that autistic souls are more than simply "awkward". They are fighting numerous environmental stimulations, all while putting tremendous energy into faking social interaction. If I'm in a car and somebody is chewing gum, they may as well be swatting me with a ball bat. As far as "what they see", I look perfectly fine. You see, I'm acting. Everything is just fine, or so it seems. Little do they know I'll need hours of recovery time after the social interaction is done. An autistic soul has very little leeway in this world. To survive, we become fantastic actors. So we'll see how the testing goes. If they find me to be in the spectrum, I may go into "Cognitive Therapy" where they basically teach you to be top-notch fakers in social situations. I'm not sure.

UPDATE: Yup, the professional consensus is unanimous. I have Aspergers.