A Testing Time

We have a house full of teenagers so I spend a lot of my time every day driving around in the car, all that is missing is a chauffeur's cap! Often I listen to Radio 4 while I'm driving, but I also enjoy listening to talking books. At the moment I am listening to The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night Time, it is about a 15 year old boy with Asperger Syndrome. It is an excellent book, but perhaps for me it provokes a mixture of emotions because Sam has Asperger Syndrome. I don't write about it often because Sam doesn't like to be talked about and he certainly doesn't like being labelled. Living with Aspergers is not easy for the person who has it or for those close to them, but as with most things in life you get used to it and you make adjustments.

As we were driving home on Tuesday evening Robbie interrupted our conversation to comment on the open door of a telephone box. I am used to the rapid twists and turns in Robbie's conversation, but that was a bit random even for him. He talked at some length about the phone box, reasoning that the door closure must be broken and speculating on what would have caused it to break. I told him that I hadn't even noticed the phone box and that his obsessive interest in trivia was yet more evidence of his Aspie traits. He was adamant that he was totally normal and that it was the rest of the world that was out of step, come to think of it, that is exactly what Sam says! Anyway our conversation concluded with me challenging Robbie to take an Aspie test. The online test is not a diagnosis, but it does give a good indication of the likelihood of having Aspergers.

Robbie promised that he would answer all the questions truthfully and to prove his honesty he provided a running commentary as he took the test.
It seemed as if some of the questions were written just for him, especially the one about getting upset if someone sits in his seat. He is dreadful about that at home, but he even gets upset if someone sits in his favourite seat on the train! The test seemed to go on for ever, but eventually he completed the test and he was able to print out the detailed results, I will not bore you with the details but the conclusion was that he was very likely to be Aspie. Robbie seemed surprised by the result, but I doubt it would be much of a revelation to anyone who knows him well. I have always said that one of the reasons that I love Robbie is that he reminds me of Sam, now I know why. They would be deeply indignant about being compared to each other, sure there are superficial differences, but deep down they are very alike.