By David Rubin & Kenny Velez
High functioning autistic people may be developmentally disabled, but we have normal intelligence and can even go to college, like Kenny and myself. What we lack are basic interpersonal skills. For example, neither one of us have any idea of how to get romantic. I, David, am 59 and have yet to have my first date. Kenny hopes not to go that long.
Because we are not very social, Kenny tends to be very quiet. He doesn't get involved in conversations with more than two people. That could be a problem, or maybe your just too loud. I go to the opposite extreme and try to be the center of attention, and I am very loud. We also stop paying attention to conversations that bore us, like relationships and dating.
There are also people like me, David, that "stim". that means, when I get very upset, I tend to make growling noises, scratch my head hard and chew on my fingers, My boss used to call me "scratchy" and my index fingers are extremely calloused. Kenny says, when he really gets angry, he'd like to punch someone or the wall, but he doesn't and I think this is normal.
We both have problems keeping up with notes. It's an attention problem. We have problems splitting it between the teacher and our note books.
Because of attention problems, Kenny has trouble taking tests in noisy class rooms. Fortunately, the college has set aside special class rooms for just such a reason.
We also worry about being late. We spend too much time on something that has our attention and completely forget about time.
I have trouble with my art classes. I tend to concentrate on one part of a body and it goes completely out of proportion with other parts of the body.
We have organization problems. We both tend to procrastinate. Kenny didn't get his financial aid work done until the last minute and doesn't get his class work done till the last minute. Me too.
I'm also very impatient and impulsive. My impulsiveness takes the form of an insatiable appetite. I'm morbidly obese and diabetic. Even my art teacher tells me I try to get pieces done too fast and encourages me to take my time.
