This book will reveal what it is like to live with Asperger's, with an Aspie in your life - someone who thinks differently to everyone else - and is thus in a vulnerable place. Throughout a life of abuse, bullying, tragic loss and social exclusion, the main character, Hartley, has to fight an almost ceaseless battle, with what he calls his `demon' mind, which is his Aspie. Aspie and Me follows this confused and tortured man throughout the development of his successful business in London's antiques trade, his global travels in search of rare pieces, his marriage and the birth of his three children; and his lifelong search for love and appreciation. The book tells the gripping story of Hartley looking back at his life and relationship with Aspie, who decides that the only way to achieve recognition is to commit a murder. The author intends that his first book will reach out to help many people and give hope to those people who are challenged with similar conditions or have been labelled unnecessarily.

About the Author
Laurence Mitchell has had a lifelong challenge with behavioural traits that prevented him from fulfilling his goals. At the age of forty-nine, he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and ADHD. If his diagnosis was not bad enough, his wife took her own life in 2004, leaving Laurence to look after his three children. Social services deemed his condition too dangerous to be fit enough for the role of a responsible parent and considerations were taken to put his fourteen-year-old daughter into care. His two other children were old enough to look after themselves. At a point of despair, desperate to be recognised as a responsible parent over the next couple of years, Laurence was supported by the advice of a specialist Asperger's support school to learn how to live with the condition and to get on with his life. During this period, he began to take an interest in personal communication. In 2006, he was introduced to a life coach who showed him a unique way to live a life free from the labels that had so long trapped him. He decided to devote his spare time between his antiques business in researching as much as he could about the communication challenges people suffer on the autism spectrum. He went on to launch, in 2008, an autism resource, www.lifewithoutlabels.co.uk, as well as speak at major professional autism conferences internationally. However, Laurence was holding onto a dark secret, which he was scared to reveal for fear of being thrown into jail. Simultaneously, with increasing press coverage about Aspies being deemed 'dangerous people' and the victimisation of Gary McKinnon, in 2015 Laurence struck up the courage to report to the police a historical incident where he had been victim to paedophiles since the sixties. But he had an unanswered question: why him? It was only later, during subsequent investigations, he discovered a condition present in not just people with autism but neuro-typicals too, Alexithymia. Could it be a simple cue, a facial expression, that attracts paedophiles to their victims and, being autistic, the sensation is amplified or exaggerated, making them more of a target? In part, Aspie and Me is Laurence's story based on real life events. His passion is to tell other people that they are not alone. It is time for them to bear their souls and he will do his best to offer his guidance and emotional support.


Book Information
ISBN 9781912256273
Author Laurence Mitchell
Format Paperback
Page Count 328
Imprint Filament Publishing Ltd
Publisher Filament Publishing Ltd
Weight(grams) 441g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 17mm