Case 2: Galip

Personal data

Name: Galip

Age:   18 years

Situation at home

My parents have been divorced seven years ago. During the first few years after the divorce I have lived at my mothers’, together with my two younger sisters. It worked passable until my mother got a new friend. Now I live at my fathers’ since two years. I scarcely am in touch with my sisters any more.

My father is seldom at home so I have got all freedom. Yet I want to go and live on myself soon. If I can get a room in the neighbourhood of my school I’ll take the chance with my both hands.

History

I am pestered many times during primary school and during my first secondary school. In my childhood I already have had a big vocabulary. They used to call me ‘professor’. Nowadays this isn’t troubling me any more, but I think this is more thanks to my environment than to myself. When I moved to my fathers’ I also had to visit another school. Previously I didn’t like it at all. All my daily routines would be changed. The removal took place during summer holidays, just before my promotion to the next form. The new school might have been worse, but this can be caused by the fact it was an independent grammar school in which only the most intelligent pupils reached the higher forms. So there were no stupids to trouble me any more. (My first school was an institute with many different levels of education.)

Complaints / restrictions

I have got many problems with complicated rules of social interaction and non verbal communication. Sometimes I don’t notice if people are lying to me or only make a joke and this happens to me from time to time. Irony, sarcasm, I don’t get it at all.

I absolutely cannot act. Don’t speak to me in metaphors for I take everything literally.

I also have difficulty with distinguishing spoken and written language. Sometimes people think wrongly that I am angry. This is because my intonation in speaking doesn’t fit with my feelings. For me it’s a big problem to start a chat with other people. Even if the initiative is from the other person I don’t always know what to say; a lack of self confidence?

I prefer to study on my own and on my way. I hate group assignments, especially if there are no precise agreements about everybody’s role. It can make me very afraid, sometimes even panic.

I always have to plan and organise my work very well (as well as keeping my planning). Furthermore I need silence and rest around me. If anything diverts me, I am not capable to work any more.

Daily life

In my life I follow a rigid scheme: getting up, taking a shower, eating breakfast, dressing, preparing bread for lunch (two slices of bread with cheese and two with strawberry jam, alternatively in my lunch box), packing my satchel, skimming through the paper, getting my bicycle from the garage etc. everything in a permanent order and everyday as often as possible on the same moments, even if the lessons start on different moments. By the way I cannot understand why the school couldn’t start and end on the same moments every day from half past eight till four o’clock. Unexpected cancelling of lessons disrupts me totally; what do they expect from me on such a moment?

Coming home I follow a similar ritual: placing the bicycle on the stand precisely on this tile which lies sloping a bit, hanging up my coat on the most left peg, putting my lunch box in the dishwasher (disturbing if this isn’t emptied yet), satchel on the fourth step of the staircase, eating an apple, going through the post (seldom containing something for me) and so on …. until half past ten, bedtime.

I cannot stand a surrounding with many stimuli, (a combination of) many and loud noises, many colours, many odours: I hate them. I never go out; too many people, not enough light, noise, smoke: it is a disaster for me. I like good movies (by the way there are not much of them) but I always wait till I can hire them from the videotheque, because than I can see them at home, quiet and undisturbed.

Perspective

I am looking for a profession with structure and certainty. I prefer something I can do on my own. And if contact with other persons is necessary, I hope they are not stupid because I hardly can stand stupid people.

A few times I fell in love with a girl but that stayed unnoticed: apparently I cannot transmit the right signals (love-shyness is a well-known phenomena at persons like me).