When you're on the spectrum, or have a child who's there (or both), you've seen a lot of stuff in the media that is old, obvious that other people who are just hearing about it or you and want to bring to your attention. There's always a new "cure" or "treatment" or heart-catching article on the whole thing. And of course, there's always the "But you seem normal to me" folks (as many or more as there are the "what's wrong with you?" folks). I've come out here before (or in the chat room) as being on the Autism-Asperger's Spectrum. It's an integral part of who and what I am. Further, in discussions of people like me, I always want to point out:

I think you should know:
Autism affects my actions, reactions, behaviors, interactions, perception, communication, thoughts, and feelings.

To cure me would be to make me someone else.

I think you should know:
Asperger's affects all that I am, my whole being, everything I've ever seen, done or been a part of. There is no me separate from Asperger's as experienced in me. It is my neurological reality -- part and parcel of my existence. It is NOT bad or wrong or defective or criminal; it is just one variation of normal.

At any rate, there's an interesting series of articles on the subject that I found worth sharing here. I hope many will be interested in it. If you're not, that's fine. Consider this my Christmas present to my self.

Catching the Snowflake: A photo story of Asperger’s Syndrome (Part one)

The Comfort of Acceptance: A photo story of Asperger’s Syndrome (Part Two)

Pretending to be normal: A photo story of Asperger’s Syndrome Part Three)

The man I am: A photo story of Asperger’s Syndrome (Part Four)

Merry Ho Ho Ho, everybody.

I'm fairly far out on the ADD/ADHD spectrum, but was surprised that I tested more or less normal on the autistic/Asperger's spectrum.

I have to admit I'm fairly suspicious of classifying pretty much anything non-typical as being a "disorder" when many of these "disorders" seem actually to be abilities.

I'll probably go into this more later.

Absolutely. In my opinion, the entire human race will be much more advanced (and radically different) when we learn how to observe without judging.

I’m ADD/ADHD and dyslexic.

As far as being normal goes, actually I don’t believe there is any such thing as normal. I mean seriously, do any of you know a single person that you would consider completely normal? No, some are just more reasonable than others, and some are over the top on one thing or another. (And then some are just OT. )

Speaking of Aspergers, I just read a great book “Saving Max” by Antoinette van Heugten. It was the story of a teenage boy with Aspergers, and his mom (single and a Lawyer) who was intent on saving her son from the facility he’s been sent to for evaluation. I really enjoyed it.

http://www.savingmaxbook.com/

Hey, Doggie, I've known about your struggles with Aspergers for quite a while. I don't think you've ever posted anything that would be considered inappropriate, either here or at the Statesman Journal. You wear this like a minor deficiency. Kudos.

FWIW, I didn't know that it had been discussed in the past, and I knew nothing about your situation until you just mentioned it.

I haven't been aware of anything noteworthy about your demeanor. We've got quite a spectrum here, along many dimensions, and you fit right in.

Party on!

I'm perfect.

Although a little grumpy sometimes.

Welcome to the club. The club being the mere existence of being "human". Your words I could speak for myself with a mere replacement of Gay for Autism/Asperger's. I don't say that to trivialize your struggles, but, rather, to smash the use of offensive labels.

This medium is quite comfortable for me. I gets to carefully see what you're actually saying, giving it my full attention since I'm not having to worry about keeping my social mask from slipping. And I can choose my words and get them pretty much in the right order without dealing with the social anxiety of being with you, behaving normally. Face to face, with or without other people present, can be difficult.

I have recognized myself in a way to the Kristofferson character in the movie, Convoy. His handle in the movie was Rubber Duck, and he had a fighting duck for a hood ornament. His explanation for why they call him the duck is at about 48 minutes and 20 seconds of the movie, and for me, that explains how much work I'm doing in social situations to look relatively cool on the surface in public. It's tiring and not real good for the peace of mind.



And it doesn't get a heck of a lot easier over time, although getting to know folks helps some. But anyway, yeah, there's no "normal" even though a whole lotta folks think there is. And these folks, like the Streisand song in another Kristofferson movie (A Star is Born), believe that "strange" is a word for "wrong" (at about the 2:20 mark below).



But I've ranted enough for now. Except for this: The sekrit is that we Aspies are actually direct descendents of the aliens that brought you (among others) the Illuminati, the Bildenbergs, the Masons, and Barack Hussein Obama.

I'm perfect and not even grumpy. Modest too.

But I do have kind of a big butt...

I was gonna let you say that, although I believe that's entirely the case for GLBT's and others who are "different".

Correction: It's "LGBT(Q)" these days.

The only way I know of your situation, 'dog, is your confession. Thanks for letting us talk about this.

I wonder when you were diagnosed? How was your family? Were they supportive? D you have sibs? Are they also? Was Anxiety a part of your life? From what age? How did you do in school? Were you Sheldon Cooper?

I have more. I'll save them.

I was gonna let you say that too, neon!

Kate - I never watched The Big Bang Theory so I don't know the Sheldon Cooper character. I recognize some of what the wiki says about him but not all -- certainly not asexuality! Keep in mind, it's a spectrum because we're all different to one degree or another. They rightly say, if you've met a person with Asperger's (or Autism), you've met one person with Asperger's. The human brain is still in many ways a mystery. I'm going to plant the rest of this in my intro so this thread doesn't become about me.

Teaching Social Skills to Kids Who Don't Have Them
http://www.ldonline.org/article/14545/

Thanks, Plutodog, I learned a lot. I think that Autism/Aspergers is not my son's problem, or he's very on the edge of the syndrome, though he has that "zero in and focus on a particular item like a laser" and extreme intelligence, he has none of the social aspects.

He had not passed a math class since first semester in HS, but at college when he finally realized a History major still had to take math, he passed Algebra I and II with A's and no use of a calculator!

I remember the song "Convoy" but had never watched the movie (even though I was a fan of Kris Kristofferson). Thanks it was a fun couple of hours.

^^^This.

I've come back to this thread a half-dozen times to read the links and, well, just to digest it.

But when all is said and done, Neon's comment sums it up for me. And I think (hope) it embodies the difference between most of the active members on this site and _____ (fill in the blank).

{{hugs}}

PDawg -
Thanks so much for this info. A few months ago a friend and her son were diagnosed as Aspie. She's insistant that I am also on the spectrum for a variety of reasons, many of which are on the various checklists you find roaming around on the intertubez. I just don't want ot be one of those that walks into my doctor's office and says "I have X, diagnose me". Some day I may bring up the subject.

But first and foremost: Thank you

All I can tell ya, Jez, is that it's much easier to deal when you know what you're dealing with. It changes nothing physically but knowledge is both power and a measure of peace. Plus you don't have to go through years of not quite fitting in with the wrong support group (like NA/AA for me).

(Although I still recommend the 12 steps as mental and emotional housecleaning for all manner of difficulty relating to life on life's terms. I dunno if it will work for birferz but maybe...)

There may be a real fight brewing in the American Psychiatric Association about the DCM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, revision 5, due in 2012).

The proposed changes would pertain to the definition of autism, lumping Asperger's, classical autism, and "pervasive development disorder, not otherwise specified" into a single category, autism spectrum disorder, excluding higher-functioning persons.

There would be predictable effects upon schools' and governments' practices in providing special assistance, and upon insurance company reimbursements. This would constitute a cost savings for schools, governments, and insurance companies. One wonders what is driving this new definition.

There is speculation that the number of persons diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder would drop dramatically. Among other things, this could reverse the apparent upward trend in diagnoses of this disorder and perhaps reduce the number of research projects that have been trying to explain that trend.

"New Definition of Autism Will Exclude Many, Study Suggests" or http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57362781-10391704/proposed-changes-to-autism-definition-may-mean-new-diagnoses-for-people-with-aspergers/ if the NYT is not open to you.

There is some agreement that the present definition of autism is unclear. There is no consensus that autism has been over-diagnosed. I am curious about Fogbowers' reaction to this, especially reactions from those who are personally, professionally, or both personally and professionally concerned with autism spectrum disorders.

I don't know yet. I don't assume benign intent.

You mean beyond the highly probable cost savings to schools, governments, and insurance companies? There is a large quack industry for "treating" autistic children and adults, and I think they would be hurt by a narrowing of the definition. That could be part of why the APA is acting. This industry includes chelation therapy for supposed cases of heavy metal poisoning, behavioral therapy that sometimes amounts to physical and mental abuse, medications and herbal remedies that may do little but cost money, special diets that may be nutritionally inadequate, and a profitable sideline of counseling parents of autistic children. This quack industry operates without regulation and in the shadow of honest professionals who are actually trying to help. Parents often move to quacks when professionals seem not to be helping.

I wonder whether some people who have been diagnosed with Asperger's, autism, or other behavioral disorders might benefit from being told that they do not have a mental disorder; they are simply different in how they approach intellectual tasks, the social world, or both. Perhaps unfortunately, we are now "treating" people at either end of these two continua: the highly focused and those unable to focus, the socially outgoing who may experience problems with authorities and the painfully shy. But I don't know whether a change would be good or bad. What the APA seems to be preparing to say is that some people who were previously diagnosed as on the autism spectrum have no mental disorder at all.

The people who might be hurt the most would be the shysters who tried to make big money off of their opposition to MMR vaccination, such as Andrew Wakefield. "Predators, Jackals, and Rackets in the Autism Industry".

Any beneficiary other than schools, governments, and insurance companies come to mind?

The problem is that people are generally not "diagnosed" with something unless there's something at least subjectively wrong with them or how they're interacting with other people. The problem with narrowing the definition, though, is that someone severely autistic may just be on the extreme end of a spectrum, part of which is within a normal range, at least in our society. Those same people, though, may have a higher likelihood of having children with the kind of autistic spectrum symptoms that actually severely limit people.

At least one theory about the seeming rise in autistic spectrum people is that we now have professions, like computers and engineering, where people who might in past eras have been consigned to monasteries are now quite financially successful and more likely to have families, and more likely to have them with people of the same type. It may be that a single dose of the kinds of genes associated with high intelligence give you a high IQ nerd who can be quite successful, but a double dose from both parents is more likely to result in someone profoundly affected. At least some of this is based on pure speculation and anecdotal data from places like Silicon Valley, where there is a seeming epidemic.

The APA is kind of torn between two problems with something called a "diagnostic" manual. One is that not everything that isn't "normal" is a "disease." The other is that a spectrum like the autistic spectrum disorders provides a useful framework for thinking about how brains and minds work, and the line between a treatable illness or condition and something neutral or even positive doesn't make a useful demarcation. Asperger's and other non-neurotypical conditions like ADHD are a mixed bag. The very traits that may cause enormous interpersonal problems may at the same time be the precise traits that make it possible to be a professional success.

At the same time, I look at this and see it as a great way for insurance companies to save a lot of money, and that the insurance companies basically own what we call "medicine" these days, and I can't just assume their motives are pure.

I'm also down on the DAN folk. The cure is a lie. It is also a killer because Autism/Asperger's is not something I 'have'. It is part and parcel of who I am. I do fear that not just quacks but psychiatrists as well are all too ready to have a prescription answer which may only be good for those who have to deal with or support the Autistic person. What those who aren't neurotypical need is help fitting into a world they don't dominate. And understanding -- generally speaking a diminishing on the moral/character misjudgments so often visited on the "different" And I'd like to see some of that social opprobrium visited on those who would pick on those who are vulnerable, "different". Still, I'd be careful about throwing "quack" around for all those who are prosecuting "cure" and special diets. There are some desperate true believers and parents who haven't been able to accept/cope with having an Autistic child. You don't get through to them or help them with the "Q" word.

So--special diets, cures and medication are not generally good answers. Sometimes medication that is off-label and not optimum is the only answer until we're able to do better. But what is needed in many cases would actually cost a lot more in more than just financial terms so this narrowing of definitions doesn't help anything, best I can tell.

Just telling someone they're different doesn't really tell them anything useful. Knowing that we're different because we're differently wired is a lot more descriptive, helpful. It also points out that the silly "cure" stuff is BS. I'd prefer that description for all rather than "disorder", because we're differently ordered and there is a good side to that, a benefit to society and the gene pool as a whole.

But to me, that doesn't mean there is any help in narrowing the dx. Not at all. I smell a skunk.

http://thautcast.com/drupal5/content/pa ... -diagnosis

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/healt ... _r=1&hp%22