Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi
I'm a woman with Aspergers Syndrome. Of course, I'm sure I've made a post similar to this before, but I haven't been on hear for quite a while so I just feel like I need to recap. I was diagnosed at about 6/7 years old, and have known for a long that there was something remarkably different about me. But to be honest, I'm quite glad I am. It makes feel like I don't have try to please or impress everyone. All in all, I think I'm quite proud of who I am. I mean, yes of course I know certain quirks, flaws and maybe one or two habits I need to break, but all in all, I'm pretty ok.
My situation isn't perfect though. Far from it in fact. I graduated from university back in July, and I'm still not any closer to finding a job on a permanent or long-term basis. All I'm doing right now is volunteering at my local theatre, and that's only once a week. I know it's good experience for me; it's something to put on my CV and I can gain another reference, but it would be really useful if I got some work that will help me progress both professionally and personally. You see, I graduated with a music degree, and I definitely want to put it to use. Ideally, I would to go into music education, either as a music teacher or a music therapist. I would also like to fit in performing somewhere along the line as well. But, if I'm perfectly honest, I'm not sure where to start with in terms of my musical abilities. Let me tell you, I'm no virtuoso, that's for sure. I definitely like I've let them slip for quite a while, even when I was at university. I play the piano, clarinet and voice. I definitely improve my abilities on all three of these and maybe also take up another instrument sometime in the future, preferably the saxophone. I had to play it for a module during a BTEC Music course 5 years ago. I've got no clue though how to set up a practice routine for all these instruments. If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to comment below. I'm still a pretty decent musician though; I'm good at musical improvisation and have the gift of perfect pitch. It's come in very handy with other skills such as aural listening and transposing.
Are there any other musicians on here? Please comment below about any musical experiences you've had and what special abilities you have, I'd love to hear them.
I've dabbled a bit, sometimes I feel quite creative and I learned piano to grade 5 as an adult. Also learned the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata so that I could play it and concentrate on the expression without the pain of having to look at (and physically handle! i.e. page turns etc.) the sheet music. But once I'd achieved that lifetime goal, I ran out of impetus to do more. I've looked at Clare de Lune many times but once the ridiculously fast arpeggios start I stop.
I used to play recorder as a child and once collected most of the variants from soprano to tenor (bass?). Every now and then I get into transposing, arranging etc but haven't for years. I have sometimes been fascinated by music theory as it can be slightly esoteric. I always wanted perfect pitch and used to try to train myself, but I just don't have it :-).