In elementary school, students are always faced with the “troublemaker.” The one student that always manages to get everybody else in trouble. In junior Nathan Arel’s case, he was the troublemaker. Arel was tested in his elementary school thought and it was positive. He had Asperger’s.
“It’s a social retardation, if you could say that,” junior Nathan Arel said. “You don’t really pick up on social cues. It’s almost like a heightened sense.”
According to his mother, Carmella Arel, Nathan has made huge progress with his condition, but some situations are still difficult.
“In school, he has trouble if he has to sit in the back of the class, being able to concentrate on the teacher who is way up front,” Carmella said. “He has to filter through how many people are sitting in front of him. He hears every little noise; if someone’s in front of him erasing or kicking the desk. He hears all those noises so by the time he filters through all of that and hear what the teachers saying, it’s difficult for him if he sits in the back of class.”
Compared to when Nathan was first diagnosed, having minor difficulties concentrating is a large success.
“Kids would bump into me in the lunch line and I would turn around and punch them in the face,” Nathan said. “We practiced at my house. My mom would stand in front of me and my dad would stand in back of me. My dad would bump me and I would turn around and punch him in the stomach. We would have to do that until I didn’t punch him anymore.”
Once Nathan was diagnosed, his parents attempted to help him adjust to social norms.
“I would find out what his difficulties were and we would sit home at night and I would have him practice,” Carmella said. “I would print off schoolwork and I would have him sit at the dining room table and practice focusing and doing his schoolwork without doing other things.”
According to Nathan, his parents were largely successful. When somebody learns that Nathan has Asperger’s, they are usually shocked.
“They did a really good job at rehabilitating me,” Nathan said. “Nobody really can notice the effects. They say I’m a little strange, but a lot of people say that everybody’s a little strange.”
Junior Michael Eback learned that Nathan has Asperger’s during their freshman year.
“He’s really open about it,” Eback said. “He doesn’t care, so right off the bat I found out. It didn’t really faze me.”
Even though Nathan is diagnosed with Asperger’s, Carmella was quick to prove that he should not get special treatment, but that Nathan will instead work harder to succeed.
“I think it’s very important to help children who have difficulties like that to learn to survive in society,” Carmella said. “A lot of times I think accommodations are made for them and when they become adults and go out into society, the professors in college and their bosses are not going to be making their accommodations for them. So they need to be able to learn to succeed in society.”
Eback agrees with Carmella saying that although Asperger’s is a large part of Nathan’s life, it does not determine his personality.
“With me it’s not like it’s because of Asperger’s, it’s just Nathan,” Eback said. “I don’t really think Nathan cares what people think, to a point. There is a point that he does, but him just being, ‘This is who I am. Deal with it,” is Nathan’s nature.”
With Nathan’s bold personality, Eback finds no surprise that Nathan can easily become the center of attention.
“He’s very out there,” Eback said. “He puts himself in your life. He will try his best to make him the main character of your life.”