[1] A capsule = A detachable infant car seat
[2] Mum = Mom
[3] Schooling is organized differently in Australia. Primary school is Prep (US Kindergarten) to Grade Six. Secondary school is Year Seven to Year Twelve.
[4] Bush = A natural or untamed Australian wildlife area. In this context, I mean an area overgrown with knee-high bracken, long grass, or dry, scratchy plants amidst taller ferns and gum trees.
[5] Form = grade level
[6] A Stock take is an Australian way of saying taking an inventory
[7] Other people’s emails and letters are presented unedited.
[8] To a T = exactly, right down to the little details.
[9] Neurotypical, or NT, is a term people in the Autistic community have adopted to refer to those who are not Autistic. From my point of view, of course, I don’t mean it as an insult or an attempt to create any sort of “us versus them” mentality. But it is useful sometimes to have a way to denote someone who does not see things the way an ASD individual does, so may behave differently or have a harder time understanding our viewpoint.
[10] Australian Senior school = Years 7 - 12
[11] Year Six = American sixth grade
[12] Elastics is a game that was popular in Australia at the time I was in late primary school. It’s similar to jump rope, except instead of swinging a rope, the players hold elastic loops in place for the other player to jump over in a special sequence. If you passed, the elastic would be moved higher and you would try again until you failed.
[13] A bursary is a special sort of scholarship for a person who couldn’t afford to attend a school otherwise.
[14] Year Ten = American tenth grade
[15] http://www.rdos.net/eng/aspeval/relf1.htm
[16] Maths is my Aussie slang for Mathematics.
[17] Foden, Teresa, et al., The “Extreme Male Brain: An Explanation for Autism?,” IANCommunity (Interactive Autism Network Website), Feb 23 2010, http://www.iancommunity.org/cs/understanding_research/extreme_male_brain
[18] boob tube = tube top
[19] A daggy person is someone who wears uncool stuff, most often overly casual gear such as T-shirts or tracksuit pants. Rather than an insult, it’s often actually used as an endearing term to mean that you have no sense of style, but I like you anyway. A person who is a little clueless on modern trends might also be described to say daggy things, and I think the term dag historically referred to a bit of poo hanging off a sheep’s bum. But I promise when we say it, we don’t mean that anymore!
[20] Based on recent reviews of epidemiology, which estimate a prevalence of one to two cases per two thousand people for autism and about six per one thousand for ASD. Newschaffer CJ, Croen LA, Daniels J et al. The epidemiology of autism spectrum disorders [PDF]. Annu Rev Public Health. 2007,28:235–58. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.28.021406.144007. PMID 17367287.
[21] In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, “Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. Just as an air traffic control system at a busy airport safely manages the arrivals and departures of many aircraft on multiple runways, the brain needs this skillset to filter distractions, prioritize tasks, set and achieve goals, and control impulses.” Harvard University, Centre on the Developing child, http://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/
[22] Gum Boots = Tall, waterproof rubber boots, commonly worn in Australia, also known as galoshes.
[23] Gas station. In Australia we call gas “petrol.”
[24] Belluck, Pam, “Study Finds That Brains With Autism Fail to Trim Synapses as They Develop,” The New York Times (online), August 21 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/22/health/brains-of-autistic-children-have-too-many-synapses-study-suggests.html?_r=0
[25] A private bathroom adjoining a bedroom.
[26] I talk a little later about social anxiety and how it relates to my Asperger’s. But for those who are unfamiliar with the term, social anxiety is basically anxiety triggered by interacting with other people and is often linked to fears that others might think poorly of you. For some people, social anxiety can be so bad, they struggle to even act normally in the presence of other people and can freeze, have panic attacks, sweat, or have difficulty talking, making those fears well founded! Fortunately for me, my anxiety was never as severe as that!
[27] This is a saying that means to know something very well.
[28] NT = neurotypical
[29] My “permission to be” is a term I’ve come across in counselling. (Psychology lingo). For someone with low self-esteem, it can be what they believe they have to be or do just to be acceptable and earn the right to exist. For me, for many years, I felt like being perfect, doing what I was told, and doing everything right was my permission to be.
[30] Tony Attwood, Quoted in: Wine, Angela, “About Asperger’s Syndrome,” 2006, http://www.aspergerkid.com/about_AS.html
[31] Tony Attwood, 2006, p2 Quoted in: Fattig, Michelle “Famous People with Aspergers Syndrome,” Disabled World, 12/28/2007 http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/article_2086.shtml
[32] Hans Asperger, Quoted in: Your Little Professor, “The Benefits of Asperger’s Syndrome,” (no date or author provided), http://www.yourlittleprofessor.com/benefits.html
[33] Editor’s note: I see what you did there, Michelle!
[34] Morning tea = morning snack
[35] Landon Bryce, “How We Fail Girls and Women,” The Autcast, 17 April 2012, http://thautcast.com/drupal5/content/how-we-fail-autistic-girls-and-women
[36] Baron-Cohen, S., “The extreme male brain theory of autism,” In: Tager-Flusberg, Helen, (Editor) “Neurodevelopmental Disorders,” MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999, pp. 401-429
[37] Janeen Interlandi, “More Than Just ‘Quirky’,” The Daily Beast, Nov 12, 2008 7:00 PM EST http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/11/12/more-than-just-quirky.html
[38] Haier, Richard et. al., “The neuroanatomy of general intelligence: sex matters,” NeuroImage, Volume 25, Issue 1, Pages 320–327, March 2005, quoted in: Carey, Bjorn. ‘Men and Women Really Do Think Differently.’ LiveScience. Jan. 20, 2005. http://www.livescience.com/health/050120_brain_sex.html
[39] Gurian, M. (2001). ‘Boys and girls learn differently!: A guide for teachers and parents’. San Fransico, CA: Jossey-Bass., page 27
[40] Grey, Dr. John, ‘The Male vs. the Female Brain’, ThirdAge.com, April 27, 2011, http://www.thirdage.com/love-romance/the-male-vs-the-female-brain
[41] Haier, Richard et. al., “The neuroanatomy of general intelligence: sex matters,” NeuroImage, Volume 25, Issue 1, Pages 320–327, March 2005, quoted in: Carey, Bjorn. ‘Men and Women Really Do Think Differently.’ LiveScience. Jan. 20, 2005. http://www.livescience.com/health/050120_brain_sex.html
[42] Note that in May 2013 the DSM IV was updated to the DSM V in which Asperger’s was reclassified as part of the Austim spectrum. In the chapter, however, I’ve chosen to keep the DSM IV definitions as I think they do a better job of describing Asperger’s specifically.
[43] Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., pp. 70-71) Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994.
[44] Stir = playfully tease
[45] Face washers = washcloths
[46] Capsule = a detachable style infant car seat
[47] “Aspie-Quiz evaluation,” RDOS website, as at 08/05/2012, http://www.rdos.net/eng/aspeval/