I just finished reading "The Rosie Project" by Graeme Simsion, and I loved it. It's a quirky and hilarious book about a guy who decides to embark on this project to find a girlfriend, and in the process get's tangled up with Rosie, who is utterly unsuitable for him. The main character, Don,  is never explicitly said to have Aspergers but it's fairly obvious he does, as he is fairly socially challenged among other traits. I've worked with a lot of Aspie kids and it fascinates me. It was nice to read a book from the viewpoint of a different character like this, and I was wondering if anyone has read similar books? Fiction or non-fiction (although I suppose I did say novel in the heading).

I read a book called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night. It is the story of a teen boy with autism who, in spite of being challenged in the area of social interaction and physical touch, is highly intelligent and brilliant at math and computer skills.  The book was written by a man who has a lot of experience working with autistic individuals and was a really good insight for me into what life is like for these people.  I really enjoyed it and felt like I learned a lot from reading it.

I have Aspergers .

Have you watched Mary and Max? It's an animated film. I watched it and basically ended up in a corner frozen, freaking out. It was extremely confronting...to be watching that. My mum said it was a great movie and she loved it. So I watched. I ended up bawling like a fucking baby at the ending and the whole thing had me feeling like nails on a chalkboard in fight or flight mode...

It was the first time I was truly confronted with "another aspie". I completely understood him even if I don't react the same way I feel like that inside....and seeing him lose control was like seeing myself lose control, like my ultimate fears coming to life before me.

I have watched it since and enjoyed it but that first time was absolutely awful for me, it took me completely by surprise and off-guard. Still though, if I see an aspie having a meltdown I freak out a little. It terrifies me more than I could ever tell you. I can't describe how it actually feels to have a meltdown but trust me when I say it is an absolutely awful feeling.

Anyway feel free to ask me anything about it, I'm awesome with questions .

I have not seen this film but I would like to some day.  I want to learn a bit more about it so I can relate to people who face this challenge better.  I am absolutely convinced that people who are labelled with a disability are actually much more capable and intelligent than they are often given credit for, one just has to get to know the person more and learn how they think to be able to interact with them and discover all the wonderful things they have to offer, just like anyone else.

I've heard good things about The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee by Barry Jonsberg, but I haven't read it myself.

Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series has main characters with dyslexia and ADHD, and I was torn between, "Yay, representation of neurodivergent people!" And, "But wait, overly glamorizing it isn't good either...and in the world within the story, the neurodivergence is caused by, ermm, being a Greek mythological creature." The children of the union of mortals and Greek deities are usually diagnosed with both ADHD and dyslexia. Another character who comes in the second book shows developmental challenges (never categorically stated exactly what kind of developmental challenges, so it could be autism or something else) as it turns out, because he's a cyclopes.

A Cage of Butterflies by Brian Caswell is another sort of speculative fiction involving institutionalized autistic children. I'm sorry to say that the points of view jumping from one character to another was extremely off-putting to me when I studied it in class, for that same reason I cannot for the life of me get into Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series. It's such a shame because Mr. Caswell actually visited my school to give a talk about it! I knew even back then that it was a great opportunity, but I didn't know what to ask or say because I just didn't like to read his stuff!