Asperger's Syndrome

Well, I learned something this morning, thanks to Shelley. I just might have Asperger's syndrome. One of the characteristics of Asperger's is that people take what we say the wrong way and we are frequently misunderstood. Of course, there's much more to it but this has been one of my burdens all of my life. This morning, Shelley decided that her father might also have had Asberger's and that could be why we could never communicate properly. It struck me as hilarious (and a little bit sad) that Dennis and I struggled though our marriage, both possibly afflicted with Asperger's, trying to understand each other and usually failing to do so. Just picture it. I noticed this problem mostly in my dealings with Dennis. I could never seem to make him understand me and I certainly never understood him. Asperger's?? From childhood, I often found someone angry with me and never knew what I'd said or done to deserve it so I might have inadvertently offended that person. In recent years, I've taken to carefully considering my words before I speak them but the occasional tactless expression does slip loose, leaving me wondering why in the world I said it that way. At least I now recognize when the wrong words slip out and take care to rephrase them immediately...I hope. I've noticed with my blog that I often have to delete a sentence or phrase because, after reading what I've written, it doesn't portray what I'm really trying to say. I guess that happens with most people and that Asperger's syndrome lies within all of us to some extent. Interesting what one can learn about themselves and their lives after one little conversation with an onlooker.