Organization

I think one way I discovered that IQ is not sufficient for achievement is through my own lack of organization. Given what my IQ is, I'm "supposed" to be a high achiever, but I am not. I'm a musician who doesn't practice, a writer who doesn't finish projects, a person who lives in a chaotic and dirty house, a person who misses doctors' appointments and other events because I try to remember them or I write them down and then don't look at the calendar.

Again, this is not moral failing, a lack of self-discipline--it is one of the struggles of Aspergers.

Some of us are VERY smart--we are able to pick up information quickly--the more arcane, the better. But the practicalities of dealing with life are things we do not intuit. Someone has to take the time to explain what to do and how to do it.

One answer, for me, has been the "Flylady," someone who very kindly takes the time to explain how to keep a house (flylady.net). Her main idea is to get rid of clutter until the house becomes easy to keep, and then slowly develop the habits that will maintain the house. I have been receiving her e-mails for several years now and have been struggling even so, until I discovered this Aspergers thing and figured out that even though I owned some nice furniture and other items, I am really not able to take care of these nice things. They were covered in a greasy film because my tolerance for cleaning activities is very small. So, I finally stopped guilt-tripping myself and put these items in the hands of people who like to clean and take care of things.

Now I have two rooms that are sparsely furnished and they are really easy to take care of. I'm working on spreading this feeling to the other rooms of this house. I now have a cleaning schedule I can stick with because it is not overwhelming--and at least those two rooms stay pretty good looking most of the time.

Another answer for me has been technology. Of course, you would not have the internet or a personal computer without a lot of people with Aspergers who felt more comfortable in the computer world than in the people world.

I am getting into the habit of writing by doing these blogs. What I like about blogs is that I can write my opinions without having to do so in an academic way (I am a professor by trade--along with computer corporations, the university has long been a haven for people on the autism spectrum. Of course, professors don't get rich like Bill Gates). I can publish what I want to, without having some "peer" review by people who have a vested interest in being gatekeepers and maintaining current paradigms--better not get on that rant right now--it could be too long.

Technology also helps me with organization. Awhile back, I tried a handheld computer for this purpose, but there were two problems. One is the games that I found for it--I ended up playing a lot of computer games on it instead of using it for organization. The other problem is that if I felt overwhelmed by what I knew I needed to do, I simply wouldn't turn it on to look at my schedule.

I now have a small laptop that I really love. It is lightweight and I can take it almost anywhere. It has a good battery that lasts quite awhile. I figured out how to make it display my calendar when I turn it on and I have started making my calendar entries and also typing out the things that I need to do. I found a "sticky-note" program that allows me to display sticky notes on my computer and I put up not only lists of things I need to remember but also reminders that when I work on the things on my list, I'm doing myself a favor in the long run.

I still haven't figured out how to practice music the way I "ought," but with knowing about Aspergers, I have begun to think systematically about my life in relation to my abilities and disabilities and how to make things much more do-able. I bet I will solve the music problem as well.