Year of birth: 1962About the Aspie Mentors
Dr. Patrick Suglia
Year of birth: 1962
Country where I am currently living: USA
Favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: The creative ways my mind figures things out.
Least favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: Not being able to get the social clues and making myself look clueless in more ways than one.
Last completed level of education: Professional doctorate.
Current job: Chiropractor.
One line of advice I would give to someone with Asperger’s/HFA: Don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff. Don’t take anything personally, and remember that you are never the cause of someone else’s frustrations.
One line of advice I would like the world to know about Asperger’s/HFA: This isn’t going away. We aren’t going away. If we did, there’d be nobody around to save your butts when you get into a bind.
Debbie Denenburg
Year of birth: 1958
Country where I am currently living: USA
Favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: I’m usually right! I love researching and giving factual information. This has the result of people trusting what I say.
Least favorite part of Asperger’s/HFA: Not being understood. I feel like I say things straight up, but neurotypicals (NTs) seem to think that there is always something unsaid instead of taking my words at face value. This leaves me confused and frustrated.
Last completed level of education: High school.
Current job: The disability benefit is my main income but I always work. I am an artist and I have an Etsy shop online where I sell mostly vintage items. I have also written a movie screenplay. It is in the hands of a filmmaker, but there has been no action on it yet.
One line of advice I would give to someone with Asperger’s/HFA: Believe you can be loved for who you truly are.
One line of advice I would like the world to know about Asperger’s/HFA: By opening your mind to allow a knowledge of Asperger’s, you will be increasing your opportunity to understand a bigger picture of humanity.
Richard Maguire
Year of birth: 1966
Country where I am currently living: United Kingdom
Favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: It’s an adventure, fun being different and being an original thinker.
Least favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: Anxiety, tiredness and socializing.
Last completed level of education: BA in theology and religion from Oxford Brookes University, January 2010.
Current job: Self-employed, running my own business, Autism Live Training, providing training and mentoring, speaking and autism advice from the point of view of an autistic person.
One line of advice I would give to someone with Asperger’s/HFA: Learn to enjoy being Asperger’s, take control of your life and make your own luck.
One line of advice I would like the world to know about Asperger’s/HFA: We are lively, emotional, feeling people; please become still enough to hear us. We are good to have around and have much to share.
Larry Moody
Year of birth: 1950
Country where I am currently living: USA
Favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: I routinely think outside the box, and I’m not overly concerned about what people think of me… I know who I am and what I’m capable of. I march to a definitely different drum!
Least favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: I just can’t seem to appropriately interpret people’s facial expressions, thus I miss out on a lot of the unspoken communications around me, resulting in many social faux pas.
Last completed level of education: Bachelor of Science in civil engineering.
Current job: I retired early from engineering, at age 50, successful and wealthy. I am currently on the Board of Directors of two non-profits, the Autism Society of Minnesota, and Autism Works. I also function as a speaker and advocate on autism issues.
One line of advice I would give to someone with Asperger’s/HFA: Be persistent. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!
One line of advice I would like the world to know about Asperger’s/HFA: We are different, not defective… Whatever your estimate of us is, it’s wrong! If we can discover our gifts and talents, and can find the resources to develop them, watch out! We will astound and amaze you with what we can do.
Paul Isaacs
Year of birth: 1986
Country where I am currently living: United Kingdom
Favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: I like that I can see the world from a different perspective.
Least favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: Stress levels and anxiety.
Last completed level of education: General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) (NVQ Level 2); Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Intermediate Course.
Current job: Autistic speaker, trainer and consultant for Autism Oxford.
One line of advice I would like the world to know about Asperger’s/HFA: Do not fear people with autism, embrace them. Do not spite people with autism, unite them. Do not deny people with autism, accept them for their abilities. And they will shine.
Ruth Elaine Joyner Hane
Year of birth: 1940
Country where I am currently living: USA
Favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: My unusual sense of humor reveals the lighter side of life.
Least favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: Sensory overload is most challenging. People expect me to respond and function well in spite of loud environments and major distractions.
Last completed level of education: Bachelor of Science/Home Ecology, magna cum laude.
Current job: Research in vision/prosopagnosia (face blindness).
One line of advice I would like the world to know about Asperger’s/HFA: Live fully in this precious moment.
Mitch Christian
Year of birth: 1962
Country where I am currently living: USA
Favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: Remaining reasonable when confronted with overreactions.
Least favorite part aboutz being Asperger’s/HFA: Hypersensitivity to sound.
Last completed level of education: Four-year college degree.
Current job: Computer programmer.
One line of advice I would give to someone with Asperger’s/HFA: It’s going to be okay.
One line of advice I would like the world to know about Asperger’s/HFA: You need us.
Anita Lesko
Year of birth: 1959
Country where I am currently living: USA
Favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: Diversity and my “laser focus.” Thanks to my Aspergian gifts, my life has included: administering anesthesia; jumping horses over six-foot-high fences in competition; ice dancing; becoming an internationally published military aviation photojournalist; learning to fly a helicopter; writing my autobiography—Asperger’s Syndrome: When Life Hands You Lemons, Make Lemonade—in two weeks by writing 16 hours each day; heading the development of a hippotherapy center at the world’s largest Snoezelen complex; and starting the Flying High with Autism Foundation.
Least favorite part about being Asperger’s/HFA: Asperger’s is an invisible syndrome, yet how is it that neurotypicals “see” it immediately, even before you say one word?
Last completed level of education: Proudly graduated from Columbia University in New York City in 1988 with my Master of Science in Nurse Anesthesia.
Current job: I have been working as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist for the past 25 years, and have been at my current job for 15 years.
One line of advice I would give to someone with Asperger’s/HFA: Don’t focus on the fact that you have Asperger’s. Get out there and use your extraordinary gifts to make a difference in this world!
One line of advice I would like people of the world to know about Asperger’s/HFA: Aspies feel like we’re from another planet because neurotypicals make us feel that way by their reactions and behaviors towards us. I’d like the world to know that we are real people too, and find it in their minds and hearts to allow us into their world, so we’re not always on the outside looking in. Two powerful words of advice: accept difference.
Contributing Artist
Marilyn Cosho, USA