over the place. However, my suspicions were further strengthened when I attended an autism workshop run by Christina Bertolucci.
Christina has a theory that everyone has a little bit of autism in them. As she says, we all like to have a certain amount of routine in their lives, to do things in a certain way – it’s just that autistic people present more extreme examples. Christina actually took me to one side and quietly asked me – after Sean and I had attended three or four of her workshops – whether Sean had ever been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome.
‘What makes you ask me that?’ I asked.
‘Oh, nothing,’ she replied.
Could Sean really have Asperger Syndrome as well? After all I’d read, it certainly seemed to me as if he might well have the condition; and later, when Sean and I were experiencing some difficulties, Christina, in a private chat, told me she believed that Sean did, indeed, have it.
To be honest, I was absolutely devastated, though it would certainly explain so many things that had happened in the past. For instance, our first meeting: ‘Have you got a rod up your back?’ he’d asked, which seemed a really strange thing to say, even though I’d been sitting bolt upright at the time.
Sometimes I find it difficult to tell what sort of mood Sean is in. He can look as if he is angry even if he’s not at all. He’s often telling me not to read so much into it. Sometimes he says it’s just because he’s really thinking carefully about something.
Sean has always been very independent – even moving down to London at the tender age of 18 on his own to study. In fact, ever since I’ve known him he’s been studying. He’s still studying even now. He has a thirst for knowledge and is always looking out for the next course to take up. He has a degree in economics and management; a Masters in computer science; he’s aqualified barrister; he has a law diploma; he’s completed loads of Microsoft engineering examinations; and he can read really quickly, just by flicking through books. And there are strong links with superior intelligence: Asperger Syndrome is thought to have affected both Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.
Then there was the fact that Sean just seemed to handle Patrick’s and Angelo’s conditions in a totally different manner from me: I’d been the emotional one, while Sean had either seemed to bury his head in the sand, or had handled things in a far more practical, matter-of-fact manner.
It would also explain why he never seemed as keen as I was to share a nice cuddle. Sean was never a touchy-feely person like me and, sometimes in the past, I have to admit I’d wondered if I had married the right person – I’d sometimes ask myself whether he loved me as much as I loved him.
Gradually, past experiences were now beginning to become clearer, to fall into place. Sean wasn’t being awkward or inconsiderate at all, it’s just the way he was. Nevertheless, there would be so many times ahead of us when this would prove problematic, particularly when certain emotional situations would arise and I would feel very alone in coping with them.
As for Angelo, as far as I’m concerned, he changed so much after he had his MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccination. Afterwards, he didn’t want me to touch or kiss him; he’d spend a lot of time in the corner of the room and I really had to work hard to get him to accept any form of physical contact from me. We’d experienced nothing like this with Angelo prior to his having the vaccination. Now he was in a world of his own.
I’m not saying having the MMR jab causes autism, but I do believe that, if someone is predisposed to the condition, it may play a part in pushing them over the edge. I firmly believe that if Angelo had not had the MMR jab, he would have been as able as Patrick. He definitely changed for the worse after the vaccination. He had a high temperature, he suffered from measles and a severe ear infection,
Christina has a theory that everyone has a little bit of autism in them. As she says, we all like to have a certain amount of routine in their lives, to do things in a certain way – it’s just that autistic people present more extreme examples. Christina actually took me to one side and quietly asked me – after Sean and I had attended three or four of her workshops – whether Sean had ever been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome.
‘What makes you ask me that?’ I asked.
‘Oh, nothing,’ she replied.
Could Sean really have Asperger Syndrome as well? After all I’d read, it certainly seemed to me as if he might well have the condition; and later, when Sean and I were experiencing some difficulties, Christina, in a private chat, told me she believed that Sean did, indeed, have it.
To be honest, I was absolutely devastated, though it would certainly explain so many things that had happened in the past. For instance, our first meeting: ‘Have you got a rod up your back?’ he’d asked, which seemed a really strange thing to say, even though I’d been sitting bolt upright at the time.
Sometimes I find it difficult to tell what sort of mood Sean is in. He can look as if he is angry even if he’s not at all. He’s often telling me not to read so much into it. Sometimes he says it’s just because he’s really thinking carefully about something.
Sean has always been very independent – even moving down to London at the tender age of 18 on his own to study. In fact, ever since I’ve known him he’s been studying. He’s still studying even now. He has a thirst for knowledge and is always looking out for the next course to take up. He has a degree in economics and management; a Masters in computer science; he’s aqualified barrister; he has a law diploma; he’s completed loads of Microsoft engineering examinations; and he can read really quickly, just by flicking through books. And there are strong links with superior intelligence: Asperger Syndrome is thought to have affected both Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.
Then there was the fact that Sean just seemed to handle Patrick’s and Angelo’s conditions in a totally different manner from me: I’d been the emotional one, while Sean had either seemed to bury his head in the sand, or had handled things in a far more practical, matter-of-fact manner.
It would also explain why he never seemed as keen as I was to share a nice cuddle. Sean was never a touchy-feely person like me and, sometimes in the past, I have to admit I’d wondered if I had married the right person – I’d sometimes ask myself whether he loved me as much as I loved him.
Gradually, past experiences were now beginning to become clearer, to fall into place. Sean wasn’t being awkward or inconsiderate at all, it’s just the way he was. Nevertheless, there would be so many times ahead of us when this would prove problematic, particularly when certain emotional situations would arise and I would feel very alone in coping with them.
As for Angelo, as far as I’m concerned, he changed so much after he had his MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccination. Afterwards, he didn’t want me to touch or kiss him; he’d spend a lot of time in the corner of the room and I really had to work hard to get him to accept any form of physical contact from me. We’d experienced nothing like this with Angelo prior to his having the vaccination. Now he was in a world of his own.
I’m not saying having the MMR jab causes autism, but I do believe that, if someone is predisposed to the condition, it may play a part in pushing them over the edge. I firmly believe that if Angelo had not had the MMR jab, he would have been as able as Patrick. He definitely changed for the worse after the vaccination. He had a high temperature, he suffered from measles and a severe ear infection,
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