Me, Asperger's and Creativity

In my quest to write about and inform others about living with Asperger's Syndrome, I have discovered that people with AS come in two groups: arts and science.  I definitely fall into the former being a writer. Looking back over the years since I was a child, I was always interested in different arts. I remember when I was little, I used to love colouring in colouring books and making the pictures come alive with colour. As I got older, those books turned into pattern books with spirals and swirls, and I loved colouring them in too. In one of my last years of primary school, I got interested in tapestries, the cross stitch ones, and the first one I did was of a simple man and woman. Later on, they changed to more intricate ones of animals and cute characters. I still have a few I've finished in my mum's wardrobe to put up after my bedroom was redecorated. I also have a few that I've not done yet, and might in the later years of life.

But all through that, there was writing. I remember writing a true story in primary school which the teacher read out for me. My AS kicked in, and I was too shy to read it out myself. I also wrote short stories about different things, I can't remember what though. It has always been there, writing. When I started work, I wrote a short romance story about me having a crush on a man I once knew. Embarrassing. I don't have it anymore, thank goodness. Then way back in the 90s, when I ended up having to go to lunch on my own (one of the co-heads of dept, a nasty person) didn't like us all going together and said they had to go without me. I began writing then. That turned into my first romance novel, which is now in my wardrobe waiting to be rewritten. Since then I have written several novels, mainly romance for adults and  few for children. I can't think what to do if I didn't have my writing. It takes me out of my normal world and lets me forget about who I am and the hassles I have to live with.

So, that is how creativity has become part of my AS. Let me know if you have autism and are creative too. Be interested to know more people who are.