La primera vez que escuché hablar de autismo fue en la televisión, se traba de una película sobre un niño que padecía de este trastorno psicológico y estaba encerrado en su propio mundo. Yo estaba pequeña, vi la película con mis padres y solo recuerdo a la madre del chico luchando contra los pronósticos médicos hasta sacarlo de ese mundo interior, tuvo un final feliz porque el niño dejó atrás esa condición.

Con el avance de la ciencia, comenzaron a diagnosticar otros tipos de autismo, entre ellos el Asperger. Confieso que el autismo no es un tema del cual tengo mucho conocimiento, sin embargo, trataré en lo posible plasmar en esta publicación mi poca experiencia.

¿Saben cómo me enteré del Aspeger?, nuevamente fue por la televisión. Esta vez fue por una novela venezolana donde la protagonista personificó a una chica diagnosticada con este síndrome.

Recuerdo que en la primera escena demostró habilidades cognitivas impresionantes, sabía datos bastante particulares sobre la comida que le servía al protagonista en el restaurante donde trabajaba. Lo describo así como impresionantes, porque no es común saber esas cosas, en cambio, ella parecía memorizar libros de una manera extraordinaria.

Otra característica que vi en ella, era que le molestaban los ruidos, se ponía muy nerviosa, se alteraba demasiado. El contacto visual era casi nulo y el leguaje lo asimilaba de manera literal, los mensajes con metáforas u otras figuras literarias estaban muy distantes de ser entendidos. De momento, cuando pasaba esto en algún diálogo, recreaban la escena como ella lo entendía y de verdad resultaba bastante cómico. Por ejemplo, si alguien se refería a otra persona como cara de queso en alusión a que su rostro estaba marcado por el acné, ella se imaginaba a una persona con un pedazo de queso en el lugar de su cabeza.

Estas fueron las características y cualidades que pude deslucidar en los pocos capítulos que pude ver, realmente no me puse a ver la telenovela de principio a fin. No obstante, también pude observar que se relacionaba bien en su núcleo familiar, con su madre y hermana. También en parte hacía vida normal porque trabajaba, se enamoró y formó una familia. Si mi memoria no me falla, ella junto a su esposo procrearon una hija que heredó el mismo tipo de autismo.

Era obvio que el comportamiento de aquella mujer era distinto al resto y por eso podían darse cuenta que presentaba alguna condición que la diferenciaba de los demás. En casos como este, el bullying hizo acto de presencia, pero la chica se defendía de manera inteligente de esos ataques.

Esa fue mi primer roce sobre el Asperger, de esa manera me enteré que existía. Obviamente para dramatizar al personaje debieron investigar sobre el tema. Quizás antes de su diagnostico muchos conocimos a personas con este síndrome y es muy problable que pensáramos que eran tímidos porque no se relacionaban con nadie o que eran unos cerebritos.

Un día conversando con mi vecina, me enteré que su hijo tiene autismo leve, me confesó que es Asperger. Creo que el chico tiene más de 20 años, lo he visto desde niño, pero nunca lo he tratado, si acaso un saludo o un par a lo máximo. Nunca me imaginé que presentara esta condición. Ya siendo un joven con edad universitaria, su madre decidió emigrar a otro país. Un día conversando con ella, me dijo que no sabía qué hacer con su hijo, que no quería trabajar, ni estudiar, ni hacer nada.

Cuando le dije que hablara con él porque debe colaborar con los gastos de la casa, aunado a que no siempre iba a contar con ella, me confesó que el odiaba a la gente, no le gustaba relacionarse con nadie porque era autista, del tipo Aperger. Me quedé asombrada, ella estaba realmente preocupada, en plena pandemia no la ayudaba prácticamente en nada y la situación era más difícil para ella. El chico no aportaba económicamente y la ayuda en otras cosas era casi nula. Lo que significaba que ella sola mantenía el hogar, donde también vivía su pequeña hija.

Hace poco regresaron al país y nuevamente tocamos el tema, el chico no quiere hacer nada por su vida. Por otra parte, se refirió a que el podría arreglar computadoras, pero al yo sugerirlo como un emprendimiento me dijo que no. “Sabe arreglarlas, pero solo lo hace cuando está de ganas”, ella le insistió, pero él se limita a responder que “le da miedo” porque podría echarlas a perder. Quizás, no tiene el estudio técnico, pero, ella alegó que un día que estaba aburrido se puso a arreglar una computadora que estaba arrumada y la puso a funcionar. Mi vecina insiste que él sabe el oficio pero no se atreve.

Las veces que mi vecina me habló de esta situación con su hijo, yo me preocupé mucho, los padres no son eternos, razón por la que deben criar hijos independientes para que sepan defenderse cuando llegue la eterna ausencia. No puedo evitar pensar en ello, de seguro, este chico no lo ve de esa manera porque está joven y cuenta con su madre y otros familiares, como su tía y sus abuelos maternos que ya están bastante mayores.

En los tiempos que tocamos el tema, mi vecina pensó en llevarlo al psicólogo, sin embargo, la situación económica frenó este paso.

En cuanto a su comportamiento y relación con los demás, tal vez no tenga problemas para relacionarse con su entorno. Lo ve visto pasar con chicos de su edad y no se nota que tuviera esta condición. En mi caso, una vez me saludó y me sorprendí, porque por lo general me ignora. Su madre me dijo que si lo veía actuar así no era por antipatía, era por su condición de Aperger. El par de veces que he hablado con él ha sido amable.

Además de mi vecina, un compañero de trabajo mencionó que su hijo es Aperger, fue un día que el niño no tenía clases y no quería dejarlo solo porque “se ponía inventar”. Han pasado unos años de eso, ahora es un adolescente. Perdió a su madre en medio de la pandemia y vive solo con su padre. Cuando le pregunté por él me dijo que estaba bien, es estudioso e inteligente, se aprende las lecciones de manera sorprendente. El único fallo era que le encantaban los videos juegos y quiere pasar mucho tiempo en la computadora, típico de los chicos de su edad. En cuanto a las relaciones personales, tiene amigos y se está desenvolviendo de manera normal, podría decirse que su condición casi ni se nota.

The first time I heard about autism was on TV, it was a movie about a child who suffered from this psychological disorder and was locked in his own world. I was little, I saw the movie with my parents and I only remember the boy's mother fighting against medical prognoses until she got him out of that inner world, it had a happy ending because the boy left that condition behind.

With the advance of science, other types of autism began to be diagnosed, among them Asperger's. I confess that autism is not an autistic condition. I confess that autism is not a subject of which I have much knowledge, however, I will try as much as possible to express in this publication my little experience. Do you know how I found out about Asperger's, again it was through television. This time it was a Venezuelan soap opera where the main character played a girl diagnosed with this syndrome.

I remember that in the first scene she demonstrated impressive cognitive abilities, she knew quite particular facts about the food served to the protagonist in the restaurant where she worked. I describe it as impressive, because it is not common to know such things, instead, she seemed to memorize books in an extraordinary way.

Another characteristic I saw in her, was that she was bothered by noises, she would get very nervous, she would get too upset. Eye contact was almost null and language was assimilated in a literal way, messages with metaphors or other literary figures were very far from being understood. At the moment, when this happened in some dialogue, they recreated the scene as she understood it and it was really quite comical. For example, if someone referred to another person as a cheese face in allusion to his or her face being marked by acne, she would imagine a person with a piece of cheese in place of his or her head.

These were the characteristics and qualities that I could see in the few chapters that I could see, I did not really watch the soap opera from beginning to end. However, I was also able to observe that she related well in her family nucleus, with her mother and sister. She also partly lived a normal life because she worked, fell in love and started a family. If my memory serves me correctly, she and her husband had a daughter who inherited the same type of autism.

It was obvious that the behavior of that woman was different from the rest and that is why they could tell that she presented some condition that differentiated her from the others. In cases like this, bullying made its presence felt, but the girl defended herself intelligently from those attacks.

That was my first brush with Asperger's, that's how I learned it existed. Obviously, in order to dramatize the character, they had to do some research on the subject. Perhaps before its diagnosis, many of us knew people with this syndrome and it is very likely that we thought they were shy because they did not relate to anyone or that they were brainiacs.

One day while talking to my neighbor, I found out that her son has mild autism, she confessed to me that he has Asperger's. I think the boy is over 20 years old. I think the boy is more than 20 years old, I have seen him since he was a child, but I have never dealt with him, just a greeting or a couple at the most. I never imagined he had this condition. As a young man of college age, his mother decided to emigrate to another country. One day while talking to her, she told me that she didn't know what to do with her son, that he didn't want to work, study or do anything.

When I told her to talk to him because he had to help with the household expenses, plus the fact that he would not always be able to count on her, she confessed to me that he hated people, he did not like to relate to anyone because he was autistic, the Aperger type. I was astonished, she was really worried, in the middle of the pandemic he was not helping her in practically anything and the situation was more difficult for her. The boy did not contribute financially and the help in other things was almost nil. This meant that she was the only one supporting the household, where her little daughter also lived.

Recently they returned to the country and again we touched on the subject, the boy does not want to do anything for his life. On the other hand, he mentioned that he could fix computers, but when I suggested it as a business venture, he said no. "He knows how to fix them, but he only does it when he feels like it", she insisted, but he just answered that "he is afraid" because he could ruin them. Maybe he doesn't have a technical background, but she claimed that one day when he was bored he started to fix a computer that was lying around and got it working. My neighbor insists that he knows the trade but doesn't dare.

The times my neighbor told me about this situation with her son, I was very concerned, parents are not eternal, which is why they must raise independent children so that they know how to defend themselves when the eternal absence comes. I can't help but think about it, for sure, this boy doesn't see it that way because he is young and counts on his mother and other relatives, like his aunt and maternal grandparents who are already quite old.

At the time we discussed the issue, my neighbor thought about taking him to a psychologist, however, the economic situation put the brakes on this step.

As for his behavior and relationship with others, he may not have problems relating to his environment. I have seen him hanging out with kids his age and it is not obvious that he has this condition. In my case, once he greeted me and I was surprised, because he usually ignores me. His mother told me that if she saw him act that way it wasn't out of antipathy, it was because of his Aperger condition. The couple of times I have spoken to him he has been friendly.

In addition to my neighbor, a co-worker mentioned that her son is Aperger, it was one day when the boy had no school and she didn't want to leave him alone because "he would get made up". It's been a few years since then, he is now a teenager. He lost his mother in the middle of the pandemic and lives alone with his father. When I asked her about him she said he was fine, he is studious and intelligent, he learns his lessons amazingly well. The only flaw was that he loves video games and wants to spend a lot of time on the computer, typical of boys his age. As for personal relationships, he has friends and is getting along normally, you could say that his condition is hardly noticeable.