A Small Step

The other day, Bronson called and asked if he could stay after school and hang out with some of the other members of the Debate team after their lab. The kids were planning to walk to CEU and go swing dancing, and Bronson wanted to tag along.

Now this might not seem unusual to most of you; after all, a healthy social life is the agenda for most teens. But to Bronson, this was a big deal. You see, Bronson has Asperger's Syndrome.

Asperger's Syndrome (or AS) is a social disability that's considered part of the autism scale. Persons with AS are often highly intelligent and have impressive vocabularies, but lack even the most basic knowledge of how to interact with others, especially in a group situation. They are totally oblivious to nonverbal communication such as body language, voice inflection, and facial expressions. Kids with AS often have a very narrow focus of interest, and the slightest change in routine can be overwhelming for them. AS is often accompanied by other challenges like anxiety disorder, sensory sensitivities, poor muscle coordination, lack of organizational skills, and lack of attention. Those with AS are often described as painfully shy, quirky, clumsy, and "different" by their peers.

Learning basic social skills is a life-long process for these individuals; it can be done, but it is extremely difficult and takes a great deal of time. Imagine finding yourself in downtown Tokyo and expected to suddenly be fluent in Japanese. Of course, nothing would make sense to you - but after a while, bits and pieces would begin to seem familiar. Eventually, after a lot of hard work and considerable time, you would be able to converse in the language - although it would never be second nature or seem natural to you. This is what it's like for individuals with Asperger's when trying to navigate the subtleties of the social world.

For Bronson, this means that acheiving adult milestones such as finishing college, serving a mission, holding a job, and developing and maintaining meaningful relationships with girls will certainly be daunting and challenging - but hopefully, attainable. It just might take him a bit longer to figure things out - and when he does, he'll probably have his own unique way of doing it. Until then, we 'll encourage him to continue taking these "small steps" as he continues to discover his place in this world.