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EDITOR'S NOTE: JERRY NEWPORT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ASPERGER SYNDROME IN 1995. MOZART AND THE WHALE, A MOVIE STARRING JOSH HARTNETT AND RADHA MIITCHELL, IS BASED ON HOW JERKY AND HIS WIFE, MARY MEINEL-NEWPORT WHO IS ALSO DIAGNOSED WITH ASPERGER SYNDROME, MET AND MARRIED. AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY BEHIND THE MOVIE WILL BE PUBLISHED IN 2007. NEWPORT WILL BE SUBMITTING ARTICLES TO EP THROUGHOUT THE NEXT YEAR.
I'm 58 years old and diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. I am married to a woman with the same condition. I don't consider myself a mainstream example of autism because after all, I didn't get diagnosed until I was 47 years of age.
In many typical cases of people with autism, diagnosis happens a lot sooner. My main interest is issues that adults with autism face since most writers focus on covering issues that happen to children or younger people. My goal is to help Exceptional Parent magazine empower and encourage teens and adults with all types of autism to share their views.
About a year after our marriage, my wife, Mary, and I were featured in an article in the Los Angeles Times which appeared on the front page. The article must have caught the attention of...