This website is a showcase for my writing. However, I don’t just write fiction. Three years ago, I got myself diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (AS), which remains a poorly-understood condition, particularly in women. Following my diagnosis, I set out to understand the causes and effects of AS.
In short, I did a great deal of reading and delved deeply into the scientific literature, which itself is far from reaching a consensus. My reading pointed towards AS being a hypo-dopaminergic disorder (similiar to ADHD, although very different in its visible symptoms) and this is the idea I pursued. To order my thoughts, I began to write them down.
This evolved into a scientific paper of my own, which is a review of the literature on hypo-dopaminergic conditions and my hypothesis on how AS fits into this model. Since I am not a qualified neurologist attached to an academic institution, paying the fee necessary for publication in a recognised scientific journal is beyond my means, although I would greatly prefer to publish it following peer-review. Therefore I present my paper here in the hope that it might eventually contribute in some way to the ongoing research on AS.
https://independent.academia.edu/SwainstonStephanie
https://www.academia.edu/39324643/Dopamine_Turnover_in_Asperger_Syndrome
Steph Swainston 
I don’t know if many researchers have fans, but you are now an example of a researcher with at least one devoted fan.
Further evidence for mitigating effects of estrogen on dopamine turnover, through decreased expression of DATs (the dopamine transporter). Therefore one of the possible mechanisms for the “female protective effect” in Asperger Syndrome:
https://www.academia.edu/26712856/Estrogen_and_the_development_and_protection_of_nigrostriatal_dopaminergic_neurons_Concerted_action_of_a_multitude_of_signals_protective_molecules_and_growth_factors?email_work_card=title
https://www.academia.edu/26712880/Oestrogen_Regulates_the_Expression_and_Function_of_Dopamine_Transporters_in_Astrocytes_of_the_Nigrostriatal_System?email_work_card=interaction_paper
Dopamine has been similarly observed to regulate social reward-seeking behaviour in animals: male starlings with reduced dopamine signalling stop singing to attract mates. Female starlings with reduced DA signalling become less likely to respond to male overtures.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2603065/
https://www.karger.com/Article/Fulltext/448191
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19356680
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26079111
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28985327
More on estrogenic protection:
https://www.academia.edu/26712850/Estrogen_regulates_tyrosine_hydroxylase_expression_in_the_neonate_mouse_midbrain?email_work_card=title
https://www.academia.edu/26712829/Gender-specific_role_of_mitochondria_in_the_vulnerability_of_6-hydroxydopamine-treated_mesencephalic_neurons?email_work_card=view-paper
https://www.academia.edu/26712858/Estrogen_and_the_regulation_of_mitochondrial_structure_and_function_in_the_brain
I don’t have AS but have battled depression all my life. I still research it sometimes but today I mostly just accept it. I recognize the symptoms as depression, not valid emotions and feelings, and just try to do the best I can. I’ve had years of deep, dark depression where life just wasn’t worth the pain but I endured. Today with treatment, especially medication, and recognizing what I need to do to manage it I have a mostly happy life. I’m 76 and happily married. My life doesn’t just belong to me; whatever life throws at me I just have to do the best I can.
I wish you the best in life and hope that you’ll be able to write more. Your books have been one of the things that help me to keep hanging on.
Thank you, Wayne. Glad to hear you’ve found a way through everything. I’m OK and will write more when I can. Since I got over cancer I’ve been training to be a pharmacy tech.