This speech was given by Anton Novak, a person with Asperger Syndrome

Hello there. My name is Anton. I am here today to talk about myself and how my Asperger’s affects various things, such as my hobbies, my interests, etc. If any of you have any questions, please hold them until I’m finished.

First, my learning style. I learn very visually. I need to see or do something to really understand it. I have a hard time just “picking things up” like most of you do. So I ask a lot of questions when I don’t understand something. An example of this is when I was young, four maybe five, a teacher asked me to put something in the garbage. I didn’t know the word “garbage”. My family always called it the “trash”. Most of you would have heard both words at sometime and figured out they were the same. I didn’t. I had the same problem with “tissues” and “Kleenex”. I also sometimes need to hear something a hundred times before I learn it and other things I learn the first time. This can be a problem. I have to work a lot harder to do well in some things.

My hearing is also very sensitive. I hear many sounds that most people just filter out. My brain listens to it all. So I can be distracted by these extra sounds and not pay attention to what I should be listening to. I have found that if I wear a set of noise reduction head phones I can filter out the extra sounds and stay more on task. These headphones were developed to help air travelers block out the airplane sound so they wouldn’t be so tired at the end of a flight. Your brain can get worn out trying to do the filtering yourself.

Many doctors have said people like me have very creative imaginations. Our ideas can be wonderful and truly unique compared to most people. On top of that, we may show it off visually to people in our artwork, or other ways. Think about it. If you had brains like we have, you could enjoy coming up with such interesting ideas. Of course, I enjoy it myself very, very much. Almost every day, my imagination goes wild with ideas. How is this possible? Since I am quite a visual person, I take a look at other ideas or designs I may see, and put them in my head for great examples of what to come up with.

However, I must be careful with my ideas, as I do not want to illegally copy the ideas. Sometimes that will scare me. So I use my time wisely, and think about how to make the idea very creative, but legal. Sometimes this could be a problem because someone might think they resemble already created ideas. This is quite frustrating to me at times.

What type of artwork do I use to make the design? Well, it’s one that doctors have noticed is a favorite of many young people with Asperger’s. It is called Anime! Yes, I, too, am a fan of Anime. But many of the adults might ask, “What is Anime?” Well, I’m happy to explain it to you. Anime is the very popular Japanese style of animation. It is very stylistic and has a unique way of explaining excellent stories. Anime and tell such unique stories that may involve, for example: mythical Super Heroes, Transforming Mecha, Outlaw Gunslingers and Giant Robots. As well, as Women Warriors, Martial Arts, Romance Comedies, and the most recognizable, cute, furry little animals (even fictional ones) Anyone remember pokemon? Actually, to tell you the truth, I love this art soooo much!

Along with drawing, my other favorite hobbies are playing video games, especially Nintendo games, watching movies and building Zoid model kits. I started playing Nintendo games when I was about 3 years old. Because of my excellent memory, I can play the games very well. I can “see” the game in my head and remember what to do, where to go and who will be waiting for me there. I like RPG, adventure, some platforms and competition games. I tie my gaming with my art work because I like to draw the characters in the games.

I enjoy watching movies a lot. I can learn the dialogue and, once again, my memory allows me to “watch” a movie in my mind even if there is no TV around. I have done this since I was very, very young. I watch a lot of comedies. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of my favorites. I also like many of the Mel Brooks movies.

Speaking of comedy I also like Bill Cosby’s stand up routines. I’ve been able to memorize many of his hilarious jokes and I really like to act them out for my family and friends.
In the last year or so I have begun collecting Zoid model kits. I like to put them together and expanding my collection. I have over twenty so far.

I hope I’ve helped you understand me a little. I wanted you to know that basically I’m a regular guy. I have some extra challenges and some unique talents. I hope that if you meet me or someone else who has autism or Asperger Syndrome that you will give us a chance. We can be loyal friends who respect each other’s beliefs and interests.