Autism

[Straightshooter2]

BearBio, great post! My niece was LFA and, that I know of, never said a word. She did seem to like me though as, whenever we visited, she would gradually ease herself next to me as long as I didn't pay attention to her. If I acknowledged her, she would immediately move away. Then she would slowly move back. When she was 12, her spine was so curved they had to do surgery to put a rod in and two days later she passed away. Her doctor said there was no medical reason they could find and it was as if she just gave up. Thanks for writing that excellent explanation because Sarah's behavior, looking back, was very much like that of a cat.

CW

 

[BearBio]

I was in the field for a couple of days (oh, joy!) and came back to a couple of really good e-mails.

The first was that I had received an "A" in my class (I was taking it "Pass/Fail" but still a nice message from my teacher). She advised me to take it further and do more.

Secondly, and more importantly: A friend of mine for over 10 years is the Project Leader for a hatchery nearby. When I took our Leadership Course, he was a mentor (That's how I met him). He was in our Advanced Leadership Course and was a fellow student. He is also on the Regional Diversity Team (through our Regional Office in Portland). He mentioned my video and the Diversity Team wants me to present it at their quarterly meeting in June.

This will be the first step by our Agency and, if not the first in Federal Service, it will be ONE of the first on including the functionally autistic under our principles of inclusiveness.

I am so jazzed right now!

 

[Dennis The B]

Our son does understand that he has Asperger's, and to some extent, the severity of his condition.

However, from within the autistic's world, their behavior is "normal". It's a matter of comprehension, not from factual data, but from the realm of "feelings" for lack of a better term. If not pointed in "the right direction" autistics consider whatever contact they have with others as normal.

Our son, as I mentioned is in the mild end of the spectrum. And his relationships develop more as mentor/mentee, than peer to peer. His relationships with women are by and large, platonic.

At age 43, we've settled on the fact that he probably is incapable of romantic love, and developing the type of relationships required, resulting in marriage. This is why he's at the severe end of the Asperger's scale. He does have a girl friend but it's a long term platonic relationship, and will never go further than that.

Autism, it's spectrum, and adding Asperger's to the mix, makes treatment extremely complex, and it requires constant reinforcement.

 

[BearBio]

Our son does understand that he has Asperger's, and to some extent, the severity of his condition.

However, from within the autistic's world, their behavior is "normal". It's a matter of comprehension, not from factual data, but from the realm of "feelings" for lack of a better term. If not pointed in "the right direction" autistics consider whatever contact they have with others as normal.

Our son, as I mentioned is in the mild end of the spectrum. And his relationships develop more as mentor/mentee, than peer to peer. His relationships with women are by and large, platonic.

At age 43, we've settled on the fact that he probably is incapable of romantic love, and developing the type of relationships required, resulting in marriage. This is why he's at the severe end of the Asperger's scale. He does have a girl friend but it's a long term platonic relationship, and will never go further than that.

Autism, it's spectrum, and adding Asperger's to the mix, makes treatment extremely complex, and it requires constant reinforcement.

Understand: We don't fall in love. We "choose" who will love. However, DO NOT EVER betray us! We are nit-pickers. "Being back in a couple of hours" means to be back in TWO hours=2 1/2 and we are steaming because you lied to us!

My wife is the most intelligent woman I know. We tease a lot and she is perfectly capable of telling me you're being "autistic" (I admit she will sometimes tell me I'm being a "retard" and to knock it off!). Yet, knowing my motivations , or lack thereof, has been one of the greatest changes, episodes, revelations, or whatever, of our lives. We first got together while discussing the writings of the early Victorian explorers of Africa (her field was Victorian lit and my interest was in the early explorers). She is completely (20/20 questions) extrovert and I am completely introvert (19/20 questions). Our priest swore we wouldn't last 6 months; it's been 26 years in August.

It is the KNOWING that makes the difference! She once told me "Da---t, stop being so logical=I WANT to fight!"

 

[carpriver]

BearBio, Thank you for all the valuable information. I did work in the mental health field for man years. I wish I had had this information when I was working.

I have a learning disability of sorts. I have a hard time seeing words in m brain, It's like I don't have the mental blackboard were things are written so you can see words or numbers. I have a difficult time spelling or doing simple math. Yet I read at a very high level. I can tell when a word is misspelled but I could not tell what letter was missing or misplaced. I always thought I was dumb and something was wrong. I also have had emotional blunting. I done show emotion when someone dies or moves away. I feel the loss but it is more internal.

Anyway thank you for so much information.

 

[BearBio]

REMEMBER: Autism is a spectrum. It's like a true rainbow. There is no red, blue, green, etc. It all fades into each other=red shifts into purple, into black, etc., without borders.

There is no shift from Aspergers to HFA, etc. The difference for me in diagnosis was (to me) whether I had delayed speech or not (?). I stuttered. Did that make me an HFA (with delayed speech) or Asperger's (no delayed speech)? Does it really matter? Maybe to some doctor type? But to me the difference was learning I think in pictures and not words. Gee, is that "normal"==no, not to "normal thinkers" but to me thinking in words is "weird".

We are simply DIFFERENT! Like blue eyes versus brown!

 

[gregintenn]

As always, I find your writing invaluable for understanding something I've had trouble comprehending in the past. Thank you for sharing. I wish you could share this information with everyone.

 

[BearBio]

Hopefully, it will be soon, at least to more people. My presentation may be posted on Youtube (I have someone in the office who might help me upload it) and it will be shared with personnel from my agency's HR staff in June. It has already been passed out to some refuge staff in Alaska and our training center in W. VA.