Man Writes About Life with Asperger's

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - As a child, he was called quirky or eccentric, and it was not until he was well into adulthood that the true diagnoses came, explaining so much about his past and future.

33-year-old Nick Dubin is a confident, successful author, but looking back at his life, he sees a different little boy.

"When I was in second grade, I was trying to open the door to a classroom. I was turning the door clockwise, and I was so rigid in my thinking that I didn't think that the door could be turned counterclockwise. The teacher proceeded to humiliate me because I couldn't open the door," Dubin said.

Growing up in Birmingham, Dubin always felt he did not quite fit in, but it was not until he turned 27 that he was diagnosed with a disorder on the autism spectrum called Aspberger's syndrome.

"All the pieces of the puzzle weren't put together until I myself suspected it. I went to a neuropsychologist, got the diagnosis and ever since then, it's pretty much been a weight lifted off my back because I have a self understanding that I didn't have before," said Dubin.

Asperger's Syndrome has always been tricky to diagnose. In fact, it was only formally recognized as a developmental disorder in 1994. It has often been refereed to as high functioning autism, but the symptoms can be very subtle. It is often the socially awkward child, the child who does not understand social boundaries, does not make eye contact or the child who becomes overly focused on one interest.

"I've always had difficulty in social situations... and that affects all aspects of life, whether we're talking about relationships, employment... it affects all aspects of life that involve interpersonal communication," Dubin said.

"These are the children that can spend hours do nothing but working on LEGO models or doing nothing but making lists of all the spells that are in the Harry Potter novels," said Dr. Stefani Hines. She is a developmental pediatrician at Beaumont Hospital who says even though Durbin is a tremendous success story, it is the young diagnosis that is so important.

"The sooner that we can treat them, the better it is for them, the more they can get more out of their educational environment," Hines said.

Durbin is now getting his doctorate in psychology. He has written two books on living with Asperger's Syndrome and is slated to write a third, hoping to make sure the kids who feel like they do not fit in know they do.

"There's an old saying, 'If you've met one person on the spectrum, you've only met one person on the spectrum.' So, we're a very diverse group of people. We have an incredible array of abilities, talents, gifts, and once we're able to unleash those gifts, I really believe that the world will become a better place. ... That's what I try to help people with Asperger's do in my book," said Durbin.