Friday, 22 July 2011 09:06 pm
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deckardcanineHere's a tradeoff you may not hear about with regard to Aspies, tho it makes perfect sense: We feel relatively greater kinship with one another at the cost of fascination. I mentioned before how Born on a Blue Day didn't interest me as much as it did my mom, because much of what Daniel Tammet wrote sounded too familiar to me. The problem has struck again lately with John Elder Robison's Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian with Practical Advice for Aspergians, Misfits, Families & Teachers. This time Mom insisted only on me reading Part 3, but I decided to start from the beginning for the sake of background.
If I get nothing else out of the book, I appreciate Robison's coinage "nypical," an adjective or noun short for "neurotypical," which in context applies to anyone not Aspergian or proto-Aspergian. I don't expect the word to go far, but it may come in handy in further conversations here or in RL.
As the subtitle hints, like many Aspies, Robison gives low priority to brevity, writing at the pace of his own interest and displaying self-absorption (but hardly arrogance) in language as well as content. That might benefit curious nypical readers, but I often found myself wishing he'd move along. Granted, he's had even worse social and sensitivity problems than mine, but I got my fill of that from Mary and Max.
The book reads like an autobiography but largely bills itself as a how-to for struggling Aspies. This would have served me better long ago, before I found my own workarounds for most of the obstacles covered. Maybe that's why Robison sticks to mostly simple words. The Part 3 I mentioned above regards relationships, my most enduring weakness. Alas, I finished Part 3 tonight and still got very little out of it. Too basic, I tell you! The paltry details will get me no closer to popularity or romance in RL.
Nice try, Mom, but I'm returning the book a little more than half-finished. My next selection is Winesburg, Ohio in an effort to improve something I've always done pretty well: writing.
If I get nothing else out of the book, I appreciate Robison's coinage "nypical," an adjective or noun short for "neurotypical," which in context applies to anyone not Aspergian or proto-Aspergian. I don't expect the word to go far, but it may come in handy in further conversations here or in RL.
As the subtitle hints, like many Aspies, Robison gives low priority to brevity, writing at the pace of his own interest and displaying self-absorption (but hardly arrogance) in language as well as content. That might benefit curious nypical readers, but I often found myself wishing he'd move along. Granted, he's had even worse social and sensitivity problems than mine, but I got my fill of that from Mary and Max.
The book reads like an autobiography but largely bills itself as a how-to for struggling Aspies. This would have served me better long ago, before I found my own workarounds for most of the obstacles covered. Maybe that's why Robison sticks to mostly simple words. The Part 3 I mentioned above regards relationships, my most enduring weakness. Alas, I finished Part 3 tonight and still got very little out of it. Too basic, I tell you! The paltry details will get me no closer to popularity or romance in RL.
Nice try, Mom, but I'm returning the book a little more than half-finished. My next selection is Winesburg, Ohio in an effort to improve something I've always done pretty well: writing.
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:D