Asperger's syndrome : Are these sufferers or gifts to humanity?

A grandfather with Asperger’s syndrome has single-handedly built the world’s first stealth-jet simulator in his garden shed

We live in a world where, if you are different, you are either ostracised or looked upon with suspicion. Also, the chances are that people are likely to ignore, reject or even attack what they do not understand.

If you have Asperger's syndrome, you will probably be classified as a sufferer.

Incidentally, in a strange world, people with Asperger's syndrome often do what the so-called normal people would not think of or touch.



Take, for example, the case of Kenneth Mockford who has just built an F-35B flight simulator. 54-year-old Mockford from Burwell in Cambridgeshire, built as accurate a replica of the F-35B Lightning as possible by piecing together information he found online.

Hear Mr Mockford :
“I spent many late nights constructing the F-35 in my garden shed, then loaded it on a truck and moved it to a warehouse for flying.

“I started the plane with just a fuselage, which I acquired. All of the other components . . . I have made.

“Because I have [Asperger’s] I have the skill of being able to analyse things to the nth degree and I can see things in a way that other people cannot. I always say that it is my gift. It is my superpower.”

He has also built Boeing 737-800 and Lynx helicopter simulators since quitting his engineering job in 2014 to start his own business.