An Intimate Look Into Life With Asperger's Syndrome

    Photographer Leah Nash has spent several years focusing on individuals with Asperger's Syndrome. What she captures reveals the complex diversity that exists across the spectrum of Autism.

    Gabriel H. Sanchez
    by Gabriel H. Sanchez

    BuzzFeed Staff

    First documented in 1944, Asperger's is a high-functioning form of Autism. Individuals with Asperger's Syndrome can be quite gifted, but are often socially awkward and unable to make friends. They may be physically clumsy and have limited eye contact, alongside repetitive behaviors and interests in unusual topics.

    This project was started keeping in mind the recent controversial revisions to the DSM, the diagnostic encyclopedia of American psychiatry. In the 2013 edition, the term Asperger's has been discarded, replaced with the broader diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

    Leah Nash

    Twenty-one-year-old Anna Bauer lays on her prized possession, a 24-second shot clock. Anna has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of high-functioning Autism, which includes a tendency to fixate on certain subjects or objects. For her, it's scoreboards.

    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash

    "Ever since I got this shot clock, especially when I am home alone, I feel less lonely and I feel like it is another friend to me and it actually give me company," say's Anna.

    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash

    Wife, mother of two, and ballet dancer, Elesia Ashkenazy is on the Autism spectrum and is also profoundly deaf. She says that she has spent most of her life pretending to be normal.

    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash

    When you ask 11-year-old Willie Rates about life with Asperger’s he seems comfortable with his place in the world, both figuratively and literally. “Well, you’re indeed not usual, which I’m perfectly ok with. It’s like I’m Portland unusual, or Los Angeles unusual.”

    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash
    Leah Nash

    Leah Nash is an editorial and assignment photographer based in Portland, Oregon. To view more of her work, check out her website at http://www.leahnash.com/.