Excerpt from the book "The Search for the Truth about Asperger's Syndrome", published by Spiss Forlag in 2011
Normal or abnormal?
The concept of normal or abnormal should be seen in the context of which perspective to evaluate all people from, I think. Shall we evaluate them based on their way of behaving and acting, or based on a functional level?
In addition to having normal language skills, I believe that a person with AS both can conform and behave considerately, be polite and tactful, and show respect and love, which most people think is normal.
All people can behave abnormally sometimes, but does that make a person "abnormal"? I believe that as long as one is conscious of one self and ones actions, and to a reasonable degree can evaluate one self and have some self-awareness of ones situation, one must be able to call one self normal - one could not ask for more. If we can not say that a person with Asperger's syndrome is completely normal, no one is completely normal. Then I think about if one were to evaluate normality using an elevated view of how a perfect human being should be and work. However, if one were to make measurements from an imperfect human evaluation, who would then set the criteria and limits for who is normal and not?
What is considered normal in this world is perhaps what 90% of people do and are passionate about, but that has got little to do with how normal one person is or if he or she is doing the right thing in a given situation. At least this is my opinion. Here is an example: Imagine a village with 1000 inhabitants on the coast where they are given a warning about an approaching tsunami. Everyone is advised to pull inward and also up towards the mountain tops. They have never encountered this situation before, so many people doubt this tsunami, and only 10% flees off to get to safety, while 90 % remain in the village. Who does what is normal here? Perhaps we can say that the 90 % still live their normal lives? But are they doing the right thing? No, of course not, they should have left their place before the flood came. The 10 % who fled, however, did what was correct. So in other words there is a big difference between doing what is normal and doing what is right.
Doctor Geir Flatabø says there is supposed to be a city in the U.S. with Jewish ancestry where the majority of the inhabitants of the city has Tourette's syndrome. He says that in the city it is those with Tourette's syndrome that are seen as normal, and then the others are "deviant or sick" because they lack Tourette characteristics.
When it comes to certain functions people with AS may struggle with, they are just like "most people", because I believe that all people have some weaknesses and errors. No one is infallible. Therefore it is not possible to say that a person with AS is generally slightly abnormal either. It is wrong in my opinion. That the people with AS may be slightly different and/or special, however, is something else entirely.
One must be somewhat generous in the kind of world we live in, I think, because there is a lot of strange things here. Within a certain standard dimension one can probably say that a person may fall outside the norm. Yet there must also be room for differentness and variations without the person concerned being labeled as abnormal. It must also be okay if someone feels abnormal and says this about themselves, because they feel that they fall far outside the standard. For me it is still puzzling, that they can even say this about themselves. Another thing is that many have additional problems or diagnoses that can make them feel somewhat on the outside.
The text is translated and qouted by arrangement with Spiss Forlag