"Parallel Play"

"developmental stage of social activity in which children play with toys like those the children around them are using but are absorbed in their own activity and usually play beside rather than with one another.Children in this stage may comment on what they are doing or imitate what another child does, but they rarely cooperate in a task or engage in dramatic play or formal games with others." ( http://social.jrank.org/pages/452/Parallel-Play.html)


After reading this definition, i really appreciate the title of the essay. It really fits the syndrome that the author has. I don't really understand how Asperger syndrome is anything more than a type of personality. The author is obviously very intelligent he just thinks an interacts socially a little bit different than normal. But what is normal? I can relate to this essay even though i don't have the syndrome myself. I supposedly have mild obsessive compulsive and anxiety disorders and I also have now taken seven different medications for ADHD. You never know what someone might have wrong with them or what they have to deal with every day.
There is a ton of outside sources included and a lot of them were things i didn't know about, more like references. The style of writing sort of shows the personality and even way of thinking that the writer has. I think the essay is trying to communicate his own personal experience to bring understanding to people who may not know about Asperger's or other " syndromes" and to relate to those who do.