Confessions of an Aspergic Professor

Basden, A

Abstract

"Computers were made by and for people with Asperger's Syndrome," goes the joke - but one with a grain of truth. "Academic life suits Aspies" goes another - but is it still true?

I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in 2003, though I had it most of his life, unknown. On discovering this, my wife, Ruth, and I began to understand many of the difficulties I had had. Especially in the academic life of today.

The purpose of this post, is to help us understand when academics exhibit Asperger's Syndrome. We usually see A.S. as a disability, but can also view it as a gift. It can be especially helpful when innovation is needed in academic or business life, but is often misunderstood. The post begins with a poem.

I am Professor of Human Factors and Philosophy in Information Systems - a rather long title that perhaps speaks of my aspergic attention to wide-ranging detail, of which more below. I teach on a number of programmes including Business Information Technology and supervise a number of MSc and PhD students.

Asperger syndrome is a form of autism, which is a lifelong disability that affects how a person makes sense of the world, processes information and relates to other people, this short animation from the National Autism Society outlines some of the generic points:

Citation

Basden, A. Confessions of an Aspergic Professor

• Other Type: Other
• Deposit Date: Jul 3, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Related Public URLs: http://blogs.salford.ac.uk/business-school/aspergers-syndrome/