| Lately diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, and recognized as Individual of the Year by the Autism Society of America, by offering myself as an example, I seek to clarify the role of personal narrative as it may offer an image of educational exposure. In particular, amidst the often difficult task of seemingly-simple social participation, I focus upon the complex interpretive landscape which may be negotiated by persons with mental disabilities, the intellectually gifted, and anyone wishing to better recognize their inherent sense-of-self. That is, amidst my efforts to "find" myself while seeking basic function within this world, I ask "How our interpretations of our experience might contribute to our sense of being.";Informing my journey, I trace several aspects of my childhood and youth. Then, drawing upon a variety of documents produced during both my life at large and while at university, I chronicle the evolution of my own experience as it may be contrast with the rows and rows of books within which I have vainly sought self-understanding. I then contrast the chronology of my life story with the clinical and academic accounts of the gifted and autistic populations within which I was eventually diagnosed. Insofar as these belated designations literally "saved" my life, I venture to show how generic "basic skills" training yet so often emphasized by parents and professionals regarding, seemingly always, children, is insufficient with regard to the often complex and ironic sense of experience held by adults. Rather, emphasizing my own diagnostic and generational membership (X), I set forth a probing analysis of the experience of motion picture viewership and offer a lively personal interpretation of the popular films Good Will Hunting and As Good As It Gets. |
