Published: 2 February, 2012
by PETER GRUNER

FOR almost 50 of his 58 years, antiques trader and former Hampstead  schoolboy Laurence Mitchell knew there was something seriously wrong with his life, but no amount of medical and psychiatric could help.

It was only after a visit to the Priory clinic 10 years ago that Mr Mitchell, at the grand old age of 47, was finally was diagnosed with a condition that should have been picked up when he was a young child – he had Asperger’s Syndrome.

It would explain the peculiar symptoms that have dogged him since his youth, but went completely unrecognised by his parents and the medical fraternity.

Asperger’s Syndrome  is among a group of conditions where people experience difficulties with communication and social skills, which can lead to isolation.

Because there is a wide range of severity and symptoms, the conditions are collectively known as autistic spectrum disorders.

Symptoms vary, from so mild that the person can function as well as anyone else around them, to so severe that they are completely unable to take part in normal society.

Now Mr Mitchell has become a mentor for others and is seeking a publisher for a book he has written about his own search for acceptance.

He has also launched a website, called Life Beyond Labels, to help parents and other potential sufferers of this form of autism.

Mr Mitchell runs an antiques shop in Camden Passage, Islington, with his partner Yvette Pathare.

He said: “As young as two years old my parents recognised I lacked certain personality traits normal in other children of that age.

“By three, they saw me lacking in confidence and that I didn’t make friends easily, and from that age onwards until I was nine years old they sent me to see a child psychiatrist.

“When my visits ceased it was because my parents were told that I would probably grow out of whatever I had. Perhaps it was more so because of a lack of understanding.”

Although now a successful antiques collector, Mr Mitchell had a terrible time in secondary school, where he was bullied.

“I was picked on because I was different, they thought I was weird,” he said.

His late wife saw a documentary on Asperger’s on television and suggested it might be worth investigating.

“Being diagnosed was quite a shock,” said Mr Mitchell. “But it explained so many things. I discovered that even today, with modern methods of detecting this condition, many children slip through the net.”

• To contact Mr Mitchell visit www.lifebeyondlabels.com