Gary Numan: ‘My Asperger’s is an absolute advantage’
I was a very difficult kid. I’d get hyper, argue and make trouble. My school got fed up so I was kicked out. I went to another school and got thrown out, too. I ended up going to a technical college, just to keep my mum and dad happy. Then the college asked me to leave.
A child psychologist diagnosed me with Asperger’s, I must have been about 14. I don’t remember much about it, I just found it quite annoying. My mum seemed to take it badly, as if it was a slight on her. Neither of us really understood.
I was an aeroplane pilot, but everyone I knew got killed. I’ve had four aeroplanes, and bought one for my brother too. I sold my last one when I moved to America. I ducked out of it when my children arrived.
Eye contact is something I find incredibly difficult. I count all the time when I’m talking to someone to make sure I do it right. Anything less than two seconds is considered rude, more than five seconds is too intense, so I have to look away. I worked that out myself. I find conversations incredibly stressful.
Being under house arrest in India on suspicion of smuggling and spying was unexpected. Another air-display pilot and I were flying around the world in a little aeroplane. We landed in a small village on the coast of India and got arrested on suspicion of smuggling and spying. It was madness. The policeman asked if we were taking photographs of the Russian submarine base. I said I wasn’t, but asked where it was. He told me it was 20 miles south!
Read the full article here
