Aspergers from the Inside

Paul Micallef, better known online as Aspergers from the Inside, is an Australian YouTuber who makes videos about autism.
==Personal life==
Paul grew up in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jpxANfrfxw&t=51s At the age of 16, he had a job at a Christmas tree farm.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSGdMpDMD4c&t=79s
Paul plays the drums,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGEk1OWZzng&t=63s and the .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY6GSVbg8vM Paul’s special interest is a combination of emotional intelligence, psychology, neuroscience, thinking styles, behaviour, and motivation. His background is in aerospace engineering and he “sees the world in systems to be analysed.”https://www.patreon.com/aspergersfromtheinside Paul becomes non-verbal when tired.https://aspergersfromtheinside.com/2018/01/08/when-i-am-non-verbal/#more-471
In 2015, Paul was a mentor for the I Can Network, which took 40 teenagers on the Autism Spectrum away for a camp.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYA3cuHexUY In 2016, he ran a half-marathon for the Network.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHCN3gGacrE
On April 2, 2018 (), Paul was interviewed on ABC News.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jpxANfrfxw
===Diagnosis===
Paul did not initially suspect he was autistic, because his idea of what autism was “didn’t really fit him at all.” He was, however, in the “special and gifted” class at school, and “knew more about dinosaurs and planets than any other adult that he knew”.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpiBy-PXRkQ&t=374s Paul was working for Boeing as an aircraft structural engineer when he first looked up autism and Asperger’s. He “ basically got a list of things he shouldn’t be good at.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpiBy-PXRkQ&t=566s He was concerned about misdiagnosing himself’ so he “diagnosed himself as an engineer”, arguing to himself that many engineers have autistic traits.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpiBy-PXRkQ&t=652s One of his in-laws was “so stereotypically Aspie, it was not funny.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpiBy-PXRkQ&t=689s Based on this, he decided he wasn’t on the spectrum.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpiBy-PXRkQ&t=750s
Paul later suspected he might be autistic whilst reading , ’s autobiography. Paul began researching autism, and took the . The result was “probably”.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaKmw-F8Rj4&t=110s He then found an online support group.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpiBy-PXRkQ&t=106s During a discussion, Paul found that he had similar questions and issues to the rest of the group.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaKmw-F8Rj4&t=288s
Paul then decided to speak to a psychologist about an official diagnosis.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvcT4MzNg2M&t=30s The psychologist very quickly said it was “really, really clear that Paul was on the spectrum.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvcT4MzNg2M&t=97s He got a preliminary diagnosis of autism at the age of thirty, in early March 2015.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaHCTnLa8fY, and was advised against going any further.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvcT4MzNg2M&t=193s Paul did not go through with the official diagnosis process.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvcT4MzNg2M&t=460s He described this as “a life changing, revelatory kind of moment.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvcT4MzNg2M&t=534s Paul has stated that, at the time of diagnosis, “Asperger’s put a name to something that I felt like I’d been struggling with my entire life.” He had always “felt like he was different, and that different was bad.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpiBy-PXRkQ&t=9s
====Dreadlocks====
Paul had his dreadlocks made for him at 16,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaHCTnLa8fY&lc=Ugy3R3KKXdFFLtFrmcN4AaABAg.8Z-JgBrIHlU8Z-UuELnMui and described them as a “free ticket to instant acceptance.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTLx8ITVmNA Paul’s ex-wife told him that if he cut them off, she wouldn’t marry him.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ7YJloKdsM&t=31s He had been growing his dreadlocks for 15 years, but eventually realised they were a “mask” and a coping strategy, which “radically changed how other people perceived him”.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpiBy-PXRkQ447s In June 2015, he chopped them in support of the I CAN Network.https://twitter.com/I_CAN_Network/status/614625838126927872/photo/1
==References==
Category:Educational YouTubers
Category:Australian YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2015