Replies to '01/17 Extreme Disorders'

Thank you for writing and I do hope you will watch.  I know that this spectrum is vast and not all AS people will see themselves in our story.  Alex has ADHD as well as Mood Swing Disorders and all together it makes life pretty hectic for us all.  It has me sad as I have seen the good in my child and I want what is best for him.  But I too want a life and I am tired of the uncaring people around us.  I had to go to this extreme to get help for Alex and others like him. 

My niece has twins each with AS one is docile the other is Hyperactive.  I love them both and I will be supportive to her and to the twins and all others with this condition as I cannot imagine what is going on in the brains of an AS individual who often times feels so out of control of their own thinking. 

You will see how much we love Alex and we will continue to fight for what he needs to make it in this world. 

I had never heard of this disorder before, but I was perplexed by some of the aspects of it due to my own attempts to "fix" personality problems of mine.  Frankly, I recognised aspects of it in myself including the rages, which I haven't had one in a while, and the overall problems with making and keeping friends.  Dr. Phil's symptom for kids up to 11 having an encyclopedia like focus on a particular area of interest also is right on for me as a kid (and to a lesser extent now). Could I have this?  Is there anything beneficial to me about knowing if I did? 

I have been plagued my entire life by a problem with getting along with people.  I'm 31 and have been on anti-depressants for several years.  A few years ago I was diagnosed with tendencies of borderline personality disorder, and I recognized what I read about that in the book.  The anti-depressants smoothed things out and gave me longer-term perspective on my emotional waves, but I still have a general problem dealing with people.   

As my last boss told me (as I was getting fired), I have an incredible ability to make people not like me.  Another person told me that she thinks I don't even realize sometimes when I have been rude to someone.  It is as if I am going through life speaking a completely different language, unable to know what I should be saying and unable to read signs that most people pick-up on right way. 

I have been concentrating on just trying to work on my personality, thinking perhaps I just have an arrogant personality.  But maybe there is something else going on? 

DRMobile 

Good for you for carrying on.  As I've said on other postings, my nephew, now 23 and about to graduate from University has AS.  So does his father, who earned a PhD in Philosophy and is teaching at an Ivy League school.   

AS is what makes him charming, unique and and so focused. It is also what made the early years so difficult for his mother (my sister).  My nephew had delayed speech, until at the age of 3 he started speaking in complete sentences with an extensive vocabulary.  He didn't like toys, but prefered to dismantle anything mechancial in the entire house.  We used to have hide anything he could use as a screw driver.  At 18 months he could dismantle a door handle in 5 minutes flat.  He didn't like to be held or coddled.  He never, ever held his own bottle.  He didn't like the texture of foods and my sister had to blend everthing for years!  He had his "topics" that he became an expert in.  He taught himself to programme in C++ as a pre-teen.  He had an odd, monotone inflection in his speech--without expression or excitement (unless it was about his favoritie "topic" du jour).  He disliked sports - all sports.  He prefered to read history books and became more isolated from his peers.  Yet he had this unrelenting ability to pick himself up and get back in the saddle.  Kids were cruel.  He was invited to parties that didn't exist.  He was bullied by little thugs half his size and he would never, ever defend himself.  He has a strong sense of right and wrong and follows "rules" to the letter.  This made him an excellent employee on little part time jobs.  Thankfully, like your son, he made a good friend that saw him through the rough teen years.  We always told him, that he only needed one friend.  Yes, he had panic attacks and episodes that had in trouble with the law - although the police always figured out there was something no tquite right with him and sent him home.  It's a long and bumpy road - no question - but there is hope.   

Good luck to you and your family - your son will be just fine with you to guide him. 

Debbie in Canada 

There is an odd connection between AS and intelligence.  AS and depression are common elements in the highly intelligent.  Wish I knew why.  I always wondered why I was so "different".  As a child, all the other kids beat me up, stole my books, hit me and called me names.  I never responded.  When I got in my mid-thirties, that extreme pasifict went to extreme anger.  Seems to be no middle ground.  Now that I know that Aspies think different, think in pictures and often in terms of black or white, the world makes a little more sense because I understand me a little more.

I try to avoid conflict by avoiding people.  Maybe not the best choice of action should I really need to be social, but then, I don't care.  I do like me and my company better than anyone else, anyway. 

We all deal with our stress and strain differently, luckily for me, solitude is a voyage I truly enjoy.

I too am well educated, have children and work.  I think in terms of "what if's" often, and then picture of play of video of possible outcomes.  I see absolutely nothing wrong with a good working knowledge of our personal dvd players we have in our heads.  The world would not be as good as it is were it not for those great pioneers that thought things through in pictures and reels of film.  Many a great person was believed to be Aspie.  Proud to be Aspie?  You betcha'!!

Afterall, life is what we make it.  And mine is perfect for me!