In recent times, I've been having problems with teenage Aspies. Not all of them, just a select few - two in particular (and possibly a third who's age I am not certain of). And I'm not going to name them.

I'll start by making a general statement about growing up. We've all done it - gone through a stage in our teens when we won't listen to the adults - whether it be our parents, our teachers at school, or any other adult who told us what to do. It's called teenage rebellion. It's been going on for centuries - part of the hormonal change associated with puberty and just basically growing up. It affects everyone. We go out and experiment - and think we know it all.

Once we become adults and actually start experiencing life as an adult - most of us pull our heads in and realise Mum and Dad were right at least. Maybe some teachers would get some more respect as well. Occasionally the rebellion continues beyond that point, and those are the people who never see their parents again and are the most likely to enter into shady lifestyles or end their lives early - either by their own hand or by the hand of others.

Now we move into the Aspie tangent. Early intervention is working in places - and that's great. I wish I had known about Aspergers when I was at school. My education focus would have been changed and I'm sure I could have got straight A's at maths at high school instead of straight B's. I could have avoided the distractions of subjects that I really wasn't interested in. And I could have got a better foot hold in areas that I was - such as Accounting and Economics. A lot of things could have been different.

I'm happy to see Aspie teenagers take this early intervention and get the advantages I missed out on. And I'm not complaining, because it's an advance in understanding and that's something I've been arguing for throughout my Internet presence.

But there is a negative side - and it goes back to my opening general statement. I've come across a couple of teens who have a go at me and more importantly my life experience. One of them is definitely still living with their parents. The other two I'm not sure of, but chances are they are. The key word that changes everything is "independence".

What really annoys me is one of them treating me almost like the NT world does. Now this is an aspect of the early intervention that frightens me - the line of thinking that insinuates that the symptoms of Aspergers have been overcome. This is completely untrue. What has happened is that these teens have found a niche. That's okay within itself, but in the teen years the age of true independence is yet to come. And that is the real test time. When a person gains true independence they rely on themselves 100 percent. Can an Aspie do that? If they find a niche they can maintain - maybe. And I've been searching for that niche for a long time knowing the importance of it. But if you don't find that niche - independence is flat out scary because there is absolutely no routine and no autonomy unless you withdraw from society completely. And I will never advocate that even though I'm not far from it myself. The reason I won't is because it's a one way ticket to becoming a vegetable.

Some might say I've been trying to scare the teens I've been fighting with my angle of debate. If I have then it's either been unintentional - or it's been "tough love" (a variety thereof). The reality is I've been there. I've tried to be independent. It took a long time, and I couldn't have got where I am without the support of my wife. The niche issue is the biggest problem. I never want to see these teens suffer as I have - particularly from the work place.

I wrote a song in 2000, as I started what was the last legal battle for employment justice. It described looking for work as "a game". The title of the song is Game Over, reflecting the fact that I couldn't play the game - and without mentioning it seething over the CMO report that cost me my job with the Defence Department. The lyric They've got away with it, the filthy little swines was mostly about that. Sometime in 2008, I'm hoping to put that song to a video clip on my You Tube account.

Mind you, it might not be the case that I'll never work again - if the Battle for Respect (as I call it) ends up in a victory. That has a political focus now and has done since 2004 when the legal battle was forcibly ended. But it depends so much on the removal of the CMO report AND re-jigging my life again to fit work in. That's what has happened - in order to avoid being a vegetable, I've got myself involved in doing things (like this website, my football project and the wrestling involvement). My time is taken up so much by interests I just don't have room for work at the moment. I have to finish up projects before I can do that - and having to move house every two or so years doesn't exactly help! I also really don't have time for legal action, but there have been times when I don't have a choice!

The thing is - life is not a game. It's not a soap opera. It's real, it's varied and it can swallow up an unprepared teenage Aspie who thinks they know it all. Whilst the teenagers of today may be better prepared than I was when I was their age, that doesn't give them an excuse not to at least listen to what an experienced Aspie has to say about life as an Aspie. It's not easy. You'll cop prejudice. You can't act out an imaginary life, because NT's can sniff it out and make you pay for it. The best thing you can do is be prepared for it. I wasn't (as I again reflected in the lyrics of Game Over) and it was a sickening roller coaster that I wouldn't wish on anyone - even my Aspie Enemies. And the roller coaster continues through the laughter aimed at me by fools who think they know better. Putting anyone on a roller coaster without their permission is cruel no matter what. I've only ever done that once - but only because they put me on it first. I don't like playing tit for tat, but sometimes one doesn't have a choice when all else fails.