i'm 36 years old. i was diagnosed with asperger syndrome (and adhd and add) 2½ years ago.

what about you?

here! on both items!

Apart from the relatives who have strogn AS traits but have never been diagnosed, no. However my favourite pub is a trainspotters paradise (with timetables, parts, signs etc. all over the walls and train collectibles for same etc.) and I've had my suspicions about some of the regulars there.

actually the adhd/add/asperger syndrome specialist i was referred to (professor christopher gillberg in gothenburg) isn't 100% sure of *what* i "have" - is it asperger syndrome or "just" asperger syndrome traits?
:confused:

i'm probably going back to see professor gillberg later this year/early next year (he's a *very* busy man, see...;-), and hopefully he'll have figured it out by then...

i've met two other people who've been diagnosed with asperger syndrome, and although i can relate to *many* of their "peculiarities" (no offence!), there are also a lot of things that i *can't* relate to...

I would have said no but that list you posted includes an awful lot of behaviors (like ADD) that are pretty common in lots of folks.

http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9709

i have a good friend who has a son that has this.

I worked with a few students with asperger's. A couple of years ago the classroom that I was working in had a student with Asperger's. I thought he was such a really interesting kid. The class room was too much for him though. He did a lot of rocking back and forth. One time I asked him why he rocked and he told me it helped him to relax.

He was such a bright kid and I'm sure would flourish if he was is the right type of environment. A room with 25 other kids was just way too much for him.

Actually, I had never even heard of "Aspergers" until I found this forum. But I am working on educating myself about it!

-Anty

I'm a speech therapist & I work at a school for kids with autism & other "neurologic differences." There are a couple of kids with aspergers at our school, although not too many.

Have you ever read "Elijah's Cup"? It is written by the mother of a child with AS, but instead of trying to illustrate treatments (like most ASD books written by parents), she just describes her journey through life, her search for knowledge & understanding of Aspergers ...so that she can get to know her son better. It's a book of love & acceptance.

Also, Autism Network International is "an autistic-run self-help and advocacy organization for autistic people"
http://ani.autistics.us/
ANI has a yearly gathering/conference. It sounds pretty cool, like an entirely different world where being autisic or aspergers is "normal."
http://ani.autistics.us/autreat.html

Asperger's fascinates me. I encountered my first student with it during student teaching in 2001. Since then, I've worked in a school with a special program and curriculum for students with various forms of autism. Just last year, the boy I nannied for in high school was diagnosed. He's going into fourth grade. There's just so much going on for children with Asperger's. I love to observe!

Marie

I really wish I could meet some people with AS "in real". There's a forum of a group in a city nearby but the web forum is constantly bust so I rarely get to even visit there, even though I have met some people from my town on there, I can't get to the forum fo rweeks to repsond to their messages :(

The only pub I go out to is a trainspotter's paradise (it's at the railway station, and has tons of railway paraphenalia and collectibles all over the walls etc.) with several people who may be Aspies (including one guy who rocks all the time).

I have actually met some people with AS from nearby on forums but have later found out that they are also members of a large forum where my ex posts and I don't feel comfortable confiding in them because they are so active there.

I've never meet any one, my program suport teacher indicated to me that there are other students at the college, that share the same condition i have but i've never meet any of them.

I have nonverbal learning disorder. Neuropsychologically, it's related to Asperger's syndrome. I think I'd get along pretty well with an Aspie, actually. :-)

I have nonverbal learning disorder. Neuropsychologically, it's related to Asperger's syndrome. I think I'd get along pretty well with an Aspie, actually. :-)yeah, well...
i'm beginning to think i may not have asperger syndrome, but nonverbal learning disorder instead...
somehow the "aspie" diagnosis just doesn't quite "fit"...
but, until i can get a doctor to realise this, i'm "happy" to be an "aspie"...
;)

I think a person in my fraternity has it.

One of my dearest friends has a son with A.S. He's in my son's class and does really well I"m told that many of her friends don't like her bringing her son to their house's; but, he's always welcome at my house. I honestly don't see a whole lot of difference between Ben and my kids except he's maybe just a little more serious, no joking with him or it breaks his heart.

Yes, I am pretty sure a family member has it. She gets really obsessive about facts and misses many people cues. You would never know it to look at her because she is very beautiful and fashion conscious. But something is a little off. She has the basic social skills: Smile, handshake, appear to be listening. Eventually it will strike you however. If you are not interested in the subjects she's interested in then she's not really interested. But wow what a memory for the small details of her obsessions: sci-fi and nutrition are her latest.

Wow ginga great links!!!

"Autism is not an impenetrable wall
You try to relate to your autistic child, and the child doesn't respond. He doesn't see you; you can't reach her; there's no getting through. That's the hardest thing to deal with, isn't it? The only thing is, it isn't true.

Look at it again: You try to relate as parent to child, using your own understanding of normal children, your own feelings about parenthood, your own experiences and intuitions about relationships. And the child doesn't respond in any way you can recognize as being part of that system"

". It's as if you tried to have an intimate conversation with someone who has no comprehension of your language. Of course the person won't understand what you're talking about, won't respond in the way you expect, and may well find the whole interaction confusing and unpleasant.

It takes more work to communicate with someone whose native language isn't the same as yours. And autism goes deeper than language and culture; autistic people are "foreigners" in any society. You're going to have to give up your assumptions about shared meanings. You're going to have to learn to back up to levels more basic than you've probably thought about before, to translate, and to check to make sure your translations are understood. You're going to have to give up the certainty that comes of being on your own familiar territory, of knowing you're in charge, and let your child teach you a little of her language, guide you a little way into his world. "

.."If that prospect excites you, then come join us, in strength and determination, in hope and in joy. The adventure of a lifetime is ahead of you."

gabriela,
I'm not sure if I know any aspies, but I am interested in learning more!

My son was diagnosed with Asperger's and Tourette's last October, right before his 15th birthday. After 12 years of telling people something is just not right and all I got was he is a troubled kid.

My son was diagnosed with Asperger's and Tourette's last October, right before his 15th birthday. After 12 years of telling people something is just not right and all I got was he is a troubled kid.
At least you got it figured out before he became an adult. If he's anything like me, he probably is a troubled kid, because the other kids tease him and such. I don't have AS, but I do have nonverbal learning disorder, which is similar in many respects to AS.

At least you got it figured out before he became an adult. If he's anything like me, he probably is a troubled kid, because the other kids tease him and such. I don't have AS, but I do have nonverbal learning disorder, which is similar in many respects to AS. (dr) *amen* to that, exeter...
:(

i was diagnosed three years ago (adhd/add and as - which i actually think should be nonverbal learning disorder, but...), and it was *hard* being a child that was so "different" without anyone (except my mother, and then later on, me) ever thinking there was/is something "wrong" with me...

i'm also finding it *hard* to find the help and support i need in order to handle my everyday life - i'm "simply" *too* verbal for my own good!
:confused:

Honestly, is there such a thing as "too verbal for your own good?" I think more people need to stand up and defend themselves and their disibilities and not stand for a lot of bullying. Gab I think your perfect just the way you are...stay verbal.

Honestly, is there such a thing as "too verbal for your own good?" I think more people need to stand up and defend themselves and their disibilities and not stand for a lot of bullying. Gab I think your perfect just the way you are...stay verbal. aaah, well...
i *very* much enjoy being verbal, futs, but the problem is that the people who're supposed to help me with the things i have a hard time managing myself (because of my adhd/add/as) just *can't* get it into their heads that it actually *is* possible for a person (i e *me*) to be *very* verbal but/and at the same time *very* incapable of organizing, prioritizing, structurizing and so on!
:confused:

one of my best friends (her name's malin) has friedreich's ataxia - a degenerative neurological disease. because of this disease she's in a wheel chair. *she*, too, is *very* verbal, but neither she nor i have *ever* heard *anyone* say "you're so verbal, malin - how come you can't manage *walking*?"!!!
:mad:

I met my girlfriend on the internet. We lived in neighboring states. I moved here a month after I met her in person for the first time; I had driven here every weekend for a month. We now live together in an apartment, and we are going to marry after I finish college.

I was wrongly diagnosed with Aspergers at 13 (my other disorders were mistaken as autistic behaviours eg: stereotypic movement disorder and vocal tic disorder) and correctly diagnosed with ADHD for the 2nd time at 16, I've spoken to some people with Asperger Syndrome and I find them facinating and VERY VERY highly intelligent however I feel as if I'm on a slightly different wave length to Aspies but on the exact same wave length as ADDer's, some Touretter's and Ticcer's.

Also I feel that my step-grandfather has Aspergers or a personality disorder that affect's his social skills.

Sel:)

I have met and known several aspies. One whom I know is a programmer. Another works as a waitress. With my bizzare hypersensitivities, I have wondered if I have it and perhaps my add is just a result of continual sensory overload. I think that ADHD can mask asperger's and it can be hard to tell for sure.

Me :D

Gabriela,

What is asperger syndrome ?

Thank you!!!!

it is a form of autism. "Aspies" are frequently very high functioning, some are very talented, and some have severe sensory problems, especially with hypersensitivity to sound.

Me :D

Some people with ADD/ADHD have sensory issues due to too much stimulation...ADD/ADHD and AS have overlapping symptoms so there are similarities but there are major differences too....

My girlfriend was dxed as an Aspie 20 years ago, then she went to a mental hospital several months ago and they re-dxed her as PDD-NOS. We get along very well and it seems we're on the same wavelength (e.g., I can tell her about my experiences and she can relate to them and then some, and vice versa).

I know I have some of the indicators, but I'm not an Aspie. I don't know what I am, but I've been a bit 'odd' all my life, even for a gifted kid. It says something when you go to a smart kids camp where you're supposed to meet 'your kind' there and fit in...and you don't. But I've always had my almost obsessive interests:

health care, starting from a book my grandma gave me when I was 9. it was fun learning about rickets and the like.
microbiology, starting from 9th grade; I later became known for my knowledge of it
trivia, all my life. It served me well in quiz bowl.

And social cues escape me; it's only been within the past few years that I've started to sort of pick up on them. Social interactions are scripted, but if anything deviates from that unexpectedly, it's a bad sign for me. And I'm sensitive to some sensory things (I hate classroom noise, even in the form of whispering, but that may be more the ADD than anything). There are others, but those are the main ones.

Aspies are mostly very easy to get along with. They tend to be gentle, sensitive and loving people.

Me :D


I have nonverbal learning disorder. Neuropsychologically, it's related to Asperger's syndrome. I think I'd get along pretty well with an Aspie, actually. :-)

it is a form of autism. "Aspies" are frequently very high functioning, some are very talented, and some have severe sensory problems, especially with hypersensitivity to sound.

Me :D
Aspies can also be low functioning,in terms of the symptoms the aspie has-there is a sort of spectrum within AS itself as it can manifest itself between mild and severe-some people on the milder end of AS have no major difficulties and fit exceptionally well into NT life,other aspies cannot leave the house without being accompanied by someone,cannot use phones,have severe meltdowns in places with sensory overload,unable to be touched or hugged by another human,have a melt down if something is out of place or a routine is changed etc.

The parents I know with low functioning kanners syndrome kids say they are high functioning in various areas and the low functioning title is unfair,the autism spectrum is incredibly confusing-people tend to think of higher functioning autistics as having mild difficulties,and steriotyping low functioning autistics
as being below average intelligence,and with severe difficulties,but it can be the other way around.

Perhaps autism should be categorised in another way and not in terms of-
low functioning and high functioning,because it can make life a lot harder for all ASDers,and we are steriotyped unfairly-the 'low' functioners are not expected to achieve well,so it's given the child an unfair outlook before they have even started,and 'high' functioners are expected to have minor difficulties and not need much help,so they can suffer badly not being given the support and help they need.

Good points, EmmaS. I have heard the same things said about the labels of ADHD and
Pervasive Development / Autism Spectrum Disorders. The labels are too general and misleading and need to be changed.

Good points, EmmaS. I have heard the same things said about the labels of ADHD and
Pervasive Development / Autism Spectrum Disorders. The labels are too general and misleading and need to be changed.
I agree Imnapl,definately something needs doing with the way both autism and ADHD is viewed-they are all too complex to just steriotype into one functioning level-we're all individuals.

-Much of society creates their definition of these conditions by what they see in the media and it has made life a lot harder for autistics and ADHDers.
To many,the ADHD person is a naughty,cheeky hyperactive screaming kid(never seen as the adult),the HFA/AS person is "just like the character in rainman" and the LFKS person is of poor intelligence,mute,disruptive etc.

They could remove the 'low' and 'high' labels associated with autism,and let peoples strengths and weaknesses be judged on an individual basis rather than the one label fits all diagnosis-the same goes for ADHD.
The current system discriminates towards people,the severity of a persons' condition shouldn't be judged just by looking at it's name.