(This almost took me two months to do this list! This was hard work!)
1. At 37 years old in 2002, I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder.
2. I was also diagnosed with Nonverbal Learning Disorder at the same time.
3. I was misdiagnosed in 1989 with Intermittent Explosive Disorder because Asperger's Syndrome wasn't listed in the DSM III, which came out in 1980. Asperger's first appeared in the DSM IV, which came out in 1994.
4. I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea in 2005. I use a CPAP machine while I sleep now.
5. I have two websites and a blog. The first one is Uncommon Bostonian, http://www.yvonnechristian.unimstores.com , the second one is Uncommon Bostonian's Uncommentary, http://www.christianmall.unimstores.com , and the blog is Outside In, http://journals.aol.com/yechristian/OutsideIn/ .
6. Outside In, my blog, was quoted on the back of a book about autism called Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew by Ellen Notbohm.
7. Favorite author: Kurt Vonnegut. I met Kurt Vonnegut in October 1995 at a writer's festival in Boston. Favorite books: Breakfast of Champions and Slaughterhouse Five.
8. I also love Agatha Christie novels.
9. I live in a penthouse condo in. I moved in here almost ten years ago.
10. Before that, I lived in a one-bedroom apartment just off of St. Botolph Street for 4 years in the South End.
11. Before that, I lived in a studio apartment in the Fenway area. It was broken into in October 1991. Only laundry money was stolen. A very scary experience.
12. My first apartment after I graduated from Emerson College was on Marlborough Street, which only one block away from my old dorm, Charlesgate.
13. I am originally from Washington, DC. I was born on December 17, 1964 at Freedman's Hospital, part of Howard University.
14. I went to school at Rollingwood Elementary School in Chevy Chase, Maryland; Leland Junior High School in Bethesda, Maryland; and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Chevy Chase, Maryland. All public schools.
15. I went to Katharine Gibbs for a year and got a Corporate Assistant Certificate in 1999.
16. For nearly three years (2000-2003), I did a home correspondence course called "Breaking Into Print, " a magazine writing course from the Longridge Writers Group. When I finished, they surprised me with a diploma they sent to me through the mail. It took me a long time get the diploma because the Post Office sent it back to them saying that my address was wrong. They had it correct all along. The diploma is hanging over my computer today.
17. Back on June 8, 2006, I passed my "Intro to Property and Liability Insurance" Exam, given by the Insurance Institute of America (IIA).
18. My favorite Beatle is Paul McCartney. I am very glad he's divorcing Heather Mills because maybe I can have a chance with him.
19. I am the youngest of five children. My older siblings are James (DOB: 10/08/50), Vera (DOB: 02/28/52), John (DOB: 05/05/53), and Alfred (DOB: 07/13/61).
20. One of my older brothers, Alfred, died in June 1980 because of a head injury he suffered in a car crash. His Camero hit a tree.
21. I have three nieces: Maya, Marcie, and Megan. I have one nephew named Roger. Just recently, Maya gave birth to a baby boy named Alexander on March 31, 2006.
22. I live with two cats named Storm and Cap. They are named after two of my favorite comic book superheroes: Storm of the X-Men and Captain America of the Avengers.
23. My favorite soap opera is "One Life To Live."
24. My favorite actor is Clint Eastwood.
25. Favorite Clint Eastwood movie: "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly."
26. Second Favorite Clint Eastwood movie: "Dirty Harry."
27. Favorite all-time movie: "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
28. I graduated from Emerson College in Boston in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science Degree. Major: Theatre Arts – Acting. Minor: Mass Communications – Radio.
29. Right after college ended in 1986, I briefly worked as a disc jockey at a small radio station that went out of business because of lack of funds and the general manager didn't know what he was doing.
30. At my 20-year college reunion this year (2006), I met actor and fellow Emersonian Henry Winkler (The Fonz from "Happy Days" and Class of 1967).
31. At my 10-year college reunion, I met comedian and fellow Emersonian Steven Wright (Class of 1979).
32. My favorite TV talk show host is Johnny Carson.
33. When I went to school in Maryland, other children picked on me harshly. I got upset a lot. They were unrelenting in their daily verbal abuse of me. The overwhelming stress and frustration of it all led me to start yelling at them and then hitting them. Having an autism spectrum disorder made it difficult for me as child to cope in that hostile environment.
34. My parents were emotionally and verbally abusive towards me because they thought I decided to be different just to anger them.
35. When I told my parents that I have Asperger's Syndrome in 2004, my mother had a fit. She left a bunch of telephone messages that had her cursing me and the doctors who diagnosed me. My doctors and social worker insisted I tell my parents about my diagnosis because I was having personal and financial problems at the time. I didn't want to tell my parents because I knew my mother would get mad.
36. My mother has had a habit of getting mad at me at the slightest provocation, and she still does.
37. The only two men that both my mother and I mutually like: Don Adams (Maxwell Smart) and Former President Bill Clinton. Of course, we both love my father more than them.
38. People who claimed that they liked me would abusively accuse me of doing and/or saying something bad to them. When I asked them what they are talking about, they would say "But you know what I am talking about." I would say, "No." Then, they would yell at me and sometimes stop being friends with me. This type of conversation also happens with my parents and older siblings.
39. Because I have Asperger's Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disorder, it is hard for me to socialize and understand facial expressions and body language. For many years before I was diagnosed, I had no idea that there were certain rules to follow when it came to having relationships with. I never know what the other person is thinking.
40. Even though I sometimes see a facial expression, it is impossible for me to understand what the non-verbal message means.
41. I started wearing glasses in 1982. In 1988, I started wearing contact lenses. Sometimes, I wear my glasses, but most of the time, I'm wearing my contacts.
42. I used to have short hair from 1984 to 1996.
43. My hair was blond for many years. I used Dark & Lovely's™ Honey Blond hair color on my hair from 1988 to 1996. Then, I went to a professional hair stylist who would bleach my hair before she colored it blond from 1997 to 2003. I changed my hair coloring to auburn because the bleaching damaged my hair badly. It was falling out in clumps whenever I combed and brushed it. Today, it's healthy.
44. I am 5 feet 11 inches tall.
45. I am a member of the Boston Beanstalks, a Hub Tall Club that is part of Tall Clubs International (TCI). I joined in 2002.
46. I tried out for the Boston Beanstalks' Miss Tall Boston in 2003, 2004, and 2005. I lost every time.
47. Being taller than my peers when I was growing up bothered a lot of people at school, especially the guys. It was another reason for them to pick on me.
48. During my years in high school, my parents sent me two different modeling schools: Wendy Ward School of Modeling at the Montgomery Ward in Wheaton, Maryland, in 1979 and The Precola Devore School of Modeling and Charm in Washington, DC, at the National Press Building from 1980 to 1981.
49. However, none of my modeling school experiences led to a career in modeling because of my low self-esteem, weight problems, and shyness.
50. I developed an interest in broadcasting after watching Johnny Carson on TV and listening to the Q107 morning team of Dude and Doug (Dude Walker and Doug Limerick) on the radio during my years in high school in Maryland.
51. "WKRP In Cincinnati" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" were two TV shows that also influenced me to pursue a career in broadcasting.
52. My interest in broadcasting also influenced my interest in writing.
53. In 1982, I took a writing lab class during my senior year in high school. My teacher, Mrs. Alberts, told us to start writing in journals. I still write in a journal, despite having a blog now.
54. There have been a lot of long gaps between months in my journals because of not having time to write. There was one long gap in 1992 from June to November because I was going through a lot of serious problems at the time.
55. One time, during the 1990s, I sat down and wrote a journal entry that was 30 pages long!
56. The first time I was published was in the Boston Tab Newspaper in September 1994 in their "Letters to the Editor Section." The editor titled my letter "Hub Radio Fizzles."
57. My parents yelled at me once after I mentioned that my hair was long as Yoko Ono's, the wife of John Lennon of the Beatles. The following night, my father told me that John Lennon had been shot and killed in New York City.
58. I was temping in Wellesley, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, on 9/11/01.
59. If I didn't have that temp job on 9/11/01, I would have been in New York visiting the World Trade Center.
60. I was interning at WHTT (now known as WODS-FM, Oldies 103) when the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up in January 1986.
61. My car radio was on WODS when I was in an accident on December 6, 2004. "Pretty Paper" by Roy Orbison was playing. December 6, 1988 was the day Roy Orbison died of a heart attack. After I got out of my car, I saw across the street the building that is the home of WODS.
62. In March 1981, I was riding home on the bus from my high school when President Reagan was shot at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
63. In March 1980, a year before the Reagan shooting, my mother, sister, sister-in-law and I were attending a fashion show at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
64. In March 1982, I had just listened to my Blues Brothers records before I turned on the radio and learned that John Belushi (Jake Blues) had died.
65. In March 1994, I was just finishing a work-out at my gym when I heard on its radio that actor John Candy (SCTV) had died.
66. In early December 1988, I was in bed when I heard Joe Martelle speak on the radio at WROR-FM that Roy Orbison had died of a heart attack the night before. I cried a lot.
67. In late November 2001, I woke up in bed and heard the morning radio team announce that George Harrison had lost his battle with cancer. I cried heavily.
68. In March 2001, I went to an Emerson event in Boston and met celebrity visitor John Ritter, who was doing a play with Emerson alum Henry Winkler at that time. Henry convinced John to visit Emerson on his day. John Ritter kissed me on the check when I told him I remember his first TV movie, Leave Yesterday Behind with Carrie Fisher. I was very upset when I learned about his death in September 2003.
69. I went to Emerson College around the same time as Carrie Fisher's younger sister, Joley, was attending. I lived in a dorm room across the hall from her, but I didn't know at the time that Joley was related to Carrie. I found out a few years later when Eddie Fisher, their father, came on Joe Martelle's "Saturday Night Live At the Oldies" radio show and talked about Joley finishing classes at Emerson College.
70. I come from a family who hates Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan, but my DJ mentor, Joe Martelle, is a Republican who is a huge fan of Nixon and Reagan. He even once named a dog after Oliver North, the Republican involved in the Iran-Contra Scandal.
71. I used to hang out with Joe & Andy (Joe Martelle and the late Andy Moes) during the late 1980s and early 1990s when they did their morning radio show. I was very upset when Joe & Andy were split up by the new program director in 1991 who changed their radio station's music format and switched their radio station's call letter from WROR to WBMX. Andy was fired while they kept Joe on for a few years. Joe was fired from WBMX in January1996 while recovering from life-saving lung surgery.
72. In February 1996, I called the WBMX program director and told him that firing Joe Martelle while he was recovering from surgery was a rotten thing to do and very cruel. I was crying the whole time I said that. Joe appreciated that when I told him about after he started working again in December 1996 at another radio station in Boston.
73. In 1994, I got a volunteer job at WBCN-FM, the Rock of Boston, assisting the weekend disc jockey known as Melissa. I was there from October 1994 to April 2000 because I could not get a job there.
74. While at WBCN, I met morning disc jockey Charles Laquidara and other disc jockeys: Mark Parenteau, Bradley Jay, Cha-Chi Loprete, Albert O, Steve Strick, and Oedipus, their program director. Networking with these guys never led me to any jobs in broadcasting.
75. In 1996, I attended a television producer workshop at the community TV station known as Boston Neighborhood Network. I did a TV talk show as my final project and got my TV producer certification. Unfortunately, none of the staff at BNN would assist me with any of my planned productions. They would not show up on the scheduled day of shooting, despite the many times I called to remind them beforehand. Whenever I complained to the management, they said the problem would be fixed. It never was.
76. Fortunately, one BNN TV producer was nice enough to invite me to do camera work for her TV talk show. I did that for a couple of years.
77. Eventually, I left BNN-TV in February 2001 feeling frustrated that none of the other staff would even talk to me about what I wanted to do. I wrote a letter of resignation to the General Manager and sent back my photo ID card with it.
78. During 1997, when Joe Martelle was doing an afternoon show at another station in Boston, I sometimes called him often and even visited him while he was doing on location appearances around town. Joe was happy to hear from me because we weren't in contact with each other for a few years. I kept in touch with him after he left Boston in 1998 for Houston, Texas for two years. Joe also lived in West Palm Beach, Florida, from 2000 to 2005. He currently lives in Mesa, Colorado.
79. In the early 1990s, I wasn't actively pursuing a career in broadcasting and wasn't talking to Joe Martelle, my DJ mentor, because I felt depressed over the death of my grandmother and the way my career wasn't working out. I was working at a job I hated. It was a telephone customer service job that stressed me out.
80. Another reason I wasn't in contact with Joe Martelle was because of his bad temper. I did not visit him at his public appearances for WBMX in 1991, and he got angry with me when I did show up at one in 1992. I got upset with him and didn't speak to him for a few years. Joe apologized to me after I contacted him when he started working again in December 1996.
81. In November 1997, Joe Martelle, my DJ mentor, was mad at President Bill Clinton about allowing his contributors sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom. When I talked to Joe about him, I kept on referring to the President as "Bill." Joe asked me why did I kept on calling the President by his first name, and I answered that I loved Bill very much. Joe, thinking that I was having an affair with Bill Clinton, asked me, "Can you ask him to resign?" (This is an example of people jumping to wrong conclusion about me).
82. In that same conversation in 1997, Joe Martelle's asking me to ask President Bill Clinton to resign surprised me. I couldn't think straight for a minute and asked Joe, "What do you want Bill to resign from?" Joe grunted. "Oh, you mean, you want Bill to resign from his job?" I asked back. "Yes!" Joe exclaimed. "You're kidding!" I said. Joe shook his head "no."
83. While I was convincing Joe Martelle not to plot a right-wing conspiracy against Bill Clinton in 1997, I told Joe that I never liked Oliver North. Then, Joe asked, "Do you want to hit him?" I stared at Joe and asked, "What does this have to do with hitting?" It took me a moment to realize out loud. "Oh, My God! You want to beat up Bill! But, you can't beat him up!" I cried out hysterically.
84. Joe asked me why I was against his idea of beating up President Bill Clinton in November 1997, "Do you think he has a chance of beating me in a fight?" I laughed out loud. "No, Bill would be toast in a fight with you," I replied. Joe Martelle is a former Marine and a Vietnam veteran.
85. When I begged Joe Martelle again not to beat up President Bill Clinton, he told me, "You have to ask him to resign if you don't want him to get hurt." I asked him, "Why do I have to do the asking?" Then Joe said, "Because you're sleeping him." I yelled back, "I'm not sleeping with Bill! I have a crush on him! If I was sleeping with him, would I be stupid enough to tell you, a Republican?" (This conversation happened November 1997 before the world found about Bill's affair with Monica Lewinsky).
86. I sometimes happen to refer to U.S. Presidents by their first names. One exception is Nixon because that last name is the best name for him. He never looked like a Richard or a Milhous. Two other exceptions are JFK and LBJ (John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Linden Baines Johnson).
87. I was 9 years old when President Richard M. Nixon resigned in August 1974. My family and I were vacationing in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the time. John and Alfred, two of my older brothers, cheered when they saw the news on the hotel's television set. Nixon's resignation gave me my hatred of politicians.
88. Joe accused me of being disrespectful towards Bill and the other Presidents in that same conversation in November 1997, but I argued with him over that. Joe also thought I was sleeping with Bill Clinton because I kept calling him by his first name. "Calling him 'William' is too formal. He's just a Bill. Yeah, only a Bill," I said to Joe Martelle, my DJ mentor.
89. In that same November 1997 conversation, Joe Martelle asked me why I haven't introduced myself to President Bill Clinton and tell him about my feelings if I am truly in love with him. "I did that with you back in 1988 and all you ask of me was to write you love letters. You didn't seem to love me at all," I said. Joe winced back at me.
90. During that conversation about Bill Clinton in November 1997, Joe Martelle's various facial expressions were hard to understand. I couldn't understand the nonverbal signals at all. The realization that I was unable to read facial expressions hit me hard while I was talking to Joe. "Oh, My God! I can't read faces at all!" I shouted out.
91. In November 1997, Joe Martelle asked me why I developed a crush on Bill Clinton while I hate politicians. I told him that back in October 1994 Bill and Hillary Clinton visited my Uncle Robert and Aunt Doris at their house in California. They wanted to meet Uncle Robert who is a decorated Vietnam Veteran and former Marine as well as a highly respected Secret Service agent assigned to former President Gerald Ford. Uncle Robert and Aunt Doris invited me to come to their house when the Clintons were visiting, but I turned them down because I wanted to see Huey Lewis and the News that weekend.
92. I also told Joe Martelle in that November 1997 conversation that I wasn't always a fan of Bill Clinton, even though I did vote for him in 1992 and again in 1996. I thought Bill was stupid because of that long horrible introduction speech he did at the 1988 Democratic Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. I also hated the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" thing regarding gays in the military. I was furious at him for de-clawing Socks, the cat. I told Joe that I wanted to shove Bamboo shoots under Bill's fingernails for doing that to Socks. Joe defended Bill's decision for declawing Socks because he has de-clawed his own cats. "The furniture," Joe said.
93. In January 2002, I cried a lot when Buddy, Bill Clinton's dog, died after being struck by a car. I send Bill, Hillary and Chelsea a sympathy card.
94. In January 1994, I cried when I heard about Bill Clinton's mother, Virginia Kelley, passing away from cancer, despite the fact that I hated Bill's guts at the time.
95. On December 25, 1994, during a visit at my parents' house in Maryland, my brother John attempted to French-kiss me, but I yelled at him and ran away from him. My mother told me not to yell in her house. She, John and my father followed me around the house while both my mother and John were complaining about my yelling in the house. While they cornered me in the kitchen, John tried to French-kiss me again. Terrified, I threw the box of tea I had in my hand at him to stop him, but it missed him and accidentally hit my mother's head. Furious, my mother slapped me in the face several times before my father grabbed her wrist making her stop. I left the kitchen and went to the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror. My cheeks were red and numb from the pain. My mother and John were still complaining while my father asked me if I was all right. I told him I wasn't injured. Later, I realized that my family (except for my oldest brother, James, and my late brother, Alfred) had been emotionally and physically abusing me for most of my life. I cried heavily and became very depressed.
96. On December 26, 1994, I came down with a bad cold while my parents and I were traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada, to visit Aunt Dempey (her real name is Geraldine) and Uncle Jesse at their house. The next day, Uncle Robert and Aunt Doris from California arrived with a photograph of Bill and Hillary Clinton posing with them in front of their house during their October 1994 visit. I looked at the photo and saw Bill smiling like a little boy visiting Disneyland. Then, I realized that I was in love with Bill Clinton.
97. The reason I didn't pursue Bill Clinton romantically is because I have a bigger crush on Rock Legend Gary Puckett. I met Gary Puckett in June 1994, and we shared a great French kiss. Love is a very confusing thing for a female with Asperger's. Syndrome.
98. I met former President Bill Clinton in July 2004 at a book signing in Boston at the Barnes and Noble store in Prudential Center. He wore a very bright pink tie.
99. In December 2002, I went to the Temple Beth Avodah to see former President Bill Clinton do a speech about the Middle East. I didn't get a chance to meet him because there was a huge crowd around him after he finished his speech.
100. And finally, how did I convince my former DJ mentor Joe Martelle not to plot a right wing conspiracy against President Bill Clinton in November 1997? I told Joe that my cousin, Michael, would be very angry and would have to beat him up if Joe tried to beat up Bill Clinton. When Joe asked why, I explained that Michael, the son of Uncle Robert and Aunt Doris, is a Secret Service Agent!
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Comments: 10
Thanks for sharing some of your life. I would like to learn more about your life as an adult with Aspergers.
Your life is an inspiration!
My sons are 10 and 11, we are in Los Angeles. Look forward to reading more from you and getting to know you.
Bonnie Sayers
http://autismspectrumdisorders.bellaonline.com