Lack of Self-Consciousness Part II

Continuing on this thread of a lack of self-consciousness being a good thing --

This weekend Will went to a bowling birthday party for a friend from church. He has attended this party for the last three years, and it's a party where he is the only boy that doesn't know all of this friend's other friends (who are from his class at school). Well, not knowing everybody else is never a problem for Will -- he just kind of drops himself into the fray, and acts as if he knows everybody else (sometimes this is good, sometimes this is a little bit weird). The bowling birthday party is a good idea, because it gives all of these boys a common thing to focus on, and it makes it very easy for them to socialize.

This year was different. This year, the friend invited four other boys from church as well, and fewer school friends, but the mix of church friends to classmates was about 50/50. Will did his usual thing -- we arrived, he got his shoes and his bowling ball, and he just dropped into the social fray as if he knew everybody. The other church friends, though, were somewhat intimidated by the fact that they did not know everybody. They were in a social situation where they felt they were at a disadvantage, and they didn't quite know how to act. But, oddly enough, this is one of those situations where Will's ability to NOT be self-conscious comes in very handy, and gives him an advantage.

How cool to have something that's part of Asperger's that is a social ADVANTAGE!

Kris