The PBS kid’s show Arthur did an episode on Asperger’s syndrome, with a carefully done and touching analogical description of what it feels like to live with it.
“Imagine you’ve crashed landed on an alien planet. It looks like Earth, but there are lots of differences.
For one, a lot of people seem to talk really loudly. And even though you speak the same language, you sometimes have a hard time understanding what they mean. And things that seem hilarious to you aren’t funny at all to them.
You wish the scientists back on earth had given you a guide book to this strange planet, but they forgot to pack one. So you have to try to learn things all on your own.
Maybe there’s one thing in particular that captures your interest, and you study just that. Hopefully, the people on the planet begin to understand you a little better, and you might even learn to fit in. But you’ll always feel a little bit different.”
