Living with Asperger's

MILLERTON — To the untrained eye, Jesse Saperstein is just . . . a little different. That could be said about many people, but the life he’s led is a unique one, explained in his debut book, “Atypical: Life with Asperger’s in 20 1/3 Chapters.�

Saperstein, the son of Saperstein’s village department store owner Louis Saperstein, was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome as a teenager.

Asperger’s is a mild form of autism, and people with it often have difficulty with social interaction and show restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests.

“We have an expression: When you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism,� Saperstein, who turned 28 recently, elaborated, saying that Asperger’s can manifest itself in many different ways.

“They could be overly passive or meek or outgoing or polite or rude,� he said. “But there’s always something about them that’s just a little bit different.�

The journey that Saperstein has taken to reach the publication of his work is both roundabout and quite literal. The author explained that it began with a thru-hike of the entire Appalachian trail he completed more than four years ago to raise money for pediatric AIDS.

He decided a book on his experience on the Appalachian Trail would be a good outlet for the restlessness he felt upon his return, although he will be the first to admit that writing is a difficult task for him and is not always pleasurable.

It took him two years to draft 300 pages, and then he suffered more than 120 rejections from literary agents before finding a believer in the Jeff Herman Agency in Stockbridge, Mass. But Herman and his wife, Deborah, encouraged Jesse to start over, and focus his writing more on himself and his experiences with Asperger’s.

A manuscript from that angle went through several drafts before a structure emerged. It was ultimately published by Perigee Trade, an imprint of Penguin Books.

“The book [as it’s published] is a series of essays that focus mainly on Asperger’s syndrome,� Saperstein explained. “It’s about all the challenges I’ve faced in my life, and all the foolish things I did. It’s a mix between mildly inappropriate behavior and my triumphs, like the Appalachian Trail hike. I wrote it for a reader who does not have Asperger’s.�

Saperstein hopes the book will serve as a conduit toward tolerance and acceptance of the condition.

But it’s a two-way street, and he is quick to point out that having Asperger’s doesn’t give anyone the excuse to act inappropriately. It’s a constant struggle to interact with people on a day-to-day basis, he acknowledged, and there is little comfort to be found in phrases like, “be yourself,� or “stop trying so hard,� because that’s the complete opposite of what Saperstein deals with every day.

“Before I was diagnosed, I just thought I was extremely weird,� he said. “It was nice to know that it wasn’t just a character flaw. But I may have let my condition be an excuse for inappropriate behavior. I’m learning so much in adulthood, and I know I’m going to face the same consequences as everybody else. It’s important to differentiate Asperger’s from inappropriate behavior, and it’s something I’m trying to work on. And you do have to try really hard.�

Jesse Saperstein will read from his book and sign copies Saturday, May 22, at 7:30 p.m. at Oblong Books and Music in Rhinebeck, 6422 Montgomery St. (Route 9).