Jonah wants you to know that he has Asperger’s Syndrome. Yes, he says, it has hardships but his autism comes with many strengths. One of his greatest is his imagination. He uses it in a positive, creative way to help him through day-to-day tasks or when he needs to go to a place where he knows he’ll be understood.
Jonah’s special interests include movies, television shows, and video games. Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z, Spiderman, and Batman are three of his long list of characters who live with him in his imaginary world. He calls on characters like Vegeta or Batman when he needs encouragement and support.
“Exercise is very hard for me so I will daydream and imagine a few characters from my favorite games or shows and they will be right there with me giving me motivation to keep going. They help me push past my limits.”
When he’s feeling lonely, his characters are there to provide comfort and entertainment.
“When I’m lonely I can imagine myself in a story with them fighting bad guys or going on adventures with them or I imagine them in real life with me and they just talk to me and keep me company in a world where it feels like no one understands me perfectly.”
Each of Jonah’s character friends do something different for him. Some are for motivation, some help him talk through problems, some are a shoulder to lean upon, and all are like friends who understand and accept him.
“Even though they are not real, they are real to me.”
If you liked this story, you may also like:
- Hear Our Spectrum of Voices Comic
- Mighty League 1 and Mighty League 2 comics about an Asperger boy with a great imagination!
- I Wish the World was a Comic Con
Image is Jonah’s personal avatar
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