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Autism - Welcome to the Spectrum

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E

Eye for an Eye

Member
HP_Wuvcraft said:
Resources, methods of dealing, diagnosis, shooting down fake shit.
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Okay. That would be cool.

This is just my idea obviously. You can take whatever direction suits the needs of the forum. My only emphasis is creating a group specific to those that have questions, but are not on the spectrum. Targeted forums tend to attract rubber neckers, and devalues those that are actually affected.
 
H

HP_Wuvcraft

Banned
I've taken into account what other forums have, content wise, and I don't wish to overwhelm people with a thousand different categories. I'm still working on it.
 
R

Ratrat

Member
Is this thread still active? I'm incredibly ignorant on this topic. But someone I know has what I think is aspergers. Today I just noticed he had cigarette burns all over one hand. They looked new and he was clearly trying to hide it.

Obviously, I want to do something, but don't know what.
 
H

HP_Wuvcraft

Banned
Ratrat said:
Is this thread still active? I'm incredibly ignorant on this topic. But someone I know has what I think is aspergers. Today I just noticed he had cigarette burns all over one hand. They looked new and he was clearly trying to hide it.

Obviously, I want to do something, but don't know what.
Click to expand...

Explain more. Why do you think that's autism and not, say, abuse?
 
R

Ratrat

Member
HP_Wuvcraft said:
Explain more. Why do you think that's autism and not, say, abuse?
Click to expand...
Sorry about the lack of details. I've heard from other people that he's 'disabled' but nothing specific. I'v talked about him with my mom who works with mentally handicapped children and she said she thinks its aspergers. Basically he comes off as strange to people due to personality things that seem to be out of his control.

I think what I generally want to know is, in these cases if its okay to flatout ask about it. Both things seem to be things he wants to hide. Would it be better to just try to be a nice, supportive friend or should I try addressing it directly, even tell others?
 
E

Eye for an Eye

Member
Ratrat said:
Sorry about the lack of details. I've heard from other people that he's 'disabled' but nothing specific. I'v talked about him with my mom who works with mentally handicapped children and she said she thinks its aspergers. Basically he comes off as strange to people due to personality things that seem to be out of his control.

I think what I generally want to know is, in these cases if its okay to flatout ask about it. Both things seem to be things he wants to hide. Would it be better to just try to be a nice, supportive friend or should I try addressing it directly, even tell others?
Click to expand...

Burns on his hands should be address with a professional. If your mother works with disabled kids, I'm sure she has contact information with local centers or be able to report it to the proper people that can intervene. Having or not having ASD is not really of your concern. If it's something that he has been diagnosed with, then it's his choice to reveal that information if he chooses to. There are plenty of adults that have gone a lifetime without being diagnosed, but it's not really your place to step in and say something because you heard something through the grapevine.

If he has quirks that are upsetting to other people/friends when you're hanging out, you can say "hey, this behavior makes others a little uncomfortable. Can you try toning it down when they're around?" If you're extremely close friends with the person, then you could delve deeper into it. It's really unacceptable for acquaintances to blatantly point it out that he's "weird". Making him all that more self conscience about his actions and less likely to interact with people.
 
R

Ratrat

Member
Eye for an Eye said:
Burns on his hands should be address with a professional. If your mother works with disabled kids, I'm sure she has contact information with local centers or be able to report it to the proper people that can intervene. Having or not having ASD is not really of your concern. If it's something that he has been diagnosed with, then it's his choice to reveal that information if he chooses to. There are plenty of adults that have gone a lifetime without being diagnosed, but it's not really your place to step in and say something because you heard something through the grapevine.

If he has quirks that are upsetting to other people/friends when you're hanging out, you can say "hey, this behavior makes others a little uncomfortable. Can you try toning it down when they're around?" If you're extremely close friends with the person, then you could delve deeper into it. It's really unacceptable for acquaintances to blatantly point it out that he's "weird". Making him all that more self conscience about his actions and less likely to interact with people.
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He's not a close friend, but I can see he's lonely and wonder if he has anyone else to talk to. I don't think its my place to report it, he's confided in me about other things in the past and asked me not to tell anyone.
But yeah, I'm going to talk with my mom about it. I was just in a bit of shock at the moment and wanted some immediate advice.
Thank you.
 
E

Eye for an Eye

Member
Ratrat said:
He's not a close friend, but I can see he's lonely and wonder if he has anyone else to talk to. I don't think its my place to report it, he's confided in me about other things in the past and asked me not to tell anyone.
But yeah, I'm going to talk with my mom about it. I was just in a bit of shock at the moment and wanted some immediate advice.
Thank you.
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It's one thing to ask someone to keep a secret, it's another to hide abuse or self harm. Neither one of those things should be kept a secret. Now if you know where the burns came from, it might help narrow down who to seek help from. But your first indication that that something isn't right should be that he asked to keep it a secret.
 
R

Ratrat

Member
Eye for an Eye said:
It's one thing to ask someone to keep a secret, it's another to hide abuse or self harm. Neither one of those things should be kept a secret. Now if you know where the burns came from, it might help narrow down who to seek help from. But your first indication that that something isn't right should be that he asked to keep it a secret.
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The secret thing was something else. He apparently wasn't eating properly and I was worried and gave him some advice, which he says he is following, but didn't want me to tell anyone about it(he came off kind of frantic).
He is a smoker so its not a mystery how he got the burns.
I think I'll try to talk to him about it in a way that he wont feel to uncomfortable.

Edit: I invited him to go out for a drink tomorrow, which we've never done. He seemed quite happy about it. I just feel really bad for all the times I've been annoyed by him in the past.
 
H

HP_Wuvcraft

Banned
I got a lovely "two sides to every story" rant from my mom tonight because it's apparently my fault for putting myself in a social setting to appease her and yet not being a social butterfly. This isn't the first time she's done this shit, either.

Ratrat said:
He is a smoker so its not a mystery how he got the burns.
Click to expand...

Please don't make assumptions like this just because you believe he has AS.
 
C

Ceej

Member
Hey SpectrumGAF,

You may have seen me around helping out, but I'd like to provide a quick intro.

I was diagnosed nonverbal at 3. Autism diagnosis was rare and it took seeking experts and specialists to get the help needed, but as a result I was received early interventions therapies that greatly increased my functioning. Yet, I still struggled and like many of you I was bullied relentlessly and had issues in school. Whenever I thought about how I was different I felt shame. I was directionless, and my energy was not put to good use.

This continued through my fourth year in college, when I made the decision to change that: to confront my challenges head on refused to be a victim. Today I am a Chemistry Ph.D. Candidate. I have learned a lot about what it takes to overcome any of the negative challenges from being on the spectrum and harness the positive as my superpowers. I have compared my own story to others I know on the spectrum and was saddened by what I found. Instead of being encouraged to take on difficult tasks and reach higher, they were encouraged to only strive for minimum wage jobs or community college. We are selling people with autism short and everybody loses as a result: companies are missing out on so much untapped talent, and people on the spectrum are settling for a lower quality of life than they deserve.

In response,

I have started the website www.autismachiever.com because

1. I want to help people with autism achieve ANYTHING. We need to show the world that being on the autism spectrum is not a limitation.
2. I want to show everyone else that people on the spectrum are capable of achieving massive success, and that we should encourage people on the spectrum to strive for the MAXIMUM not the MINIMUM. I want to change the way we talk about autism.

On my site I will be posting practical advice about ways to overcome autism's challenges, how to build a winning mindset and motivational images. Let me know if you have any thoughts, questions, content you would like to see or how I can help!

Thanks for checking it out!
 
H

HP_Wuvcraft

Banned
Ceej said:
Hey SpectrumGAF,

You may have seen me around helping out, but I’d like to provide a quick intro.

I was diagnosed nonverbal at 3. Autism diagnosis was rare and it took seeking experts and specialists to get the help needed, but as a result I was received early interventions therapies that greatly increased my functioning. Yet, I still struggled and like many of you I was bullied relentlessly and had issues in school. Whenever I thought about how I was different I felt shame. I was directionless, and my energy was not put to good use.

This continued through my fourth year in college, when I made the decision to change that: to confront my challenges head on refused to be a victim. Today I am a Chemistry Ph.D. Candidate. I have learned a lot about what it takes to overcome any of the negative challenges from being on the spectrum and harness the positive as my superpowers. I have compared my own story to others I know on the spectrum and was saddened by what I found. Instead of being encouraged to take on difficult tasks and reach higher, they were encouraged to only strive for minimum wage jobs or community college. We are selling people with autism short and everybody loses as a result: companies are missing out on so much untapped talent, and people on the spectrum are settling for a lower quality of life than they deserve.

In response,

I have started the website www.autismachiever.com because

1. I want to help people with autism achieve ANYTHING. We need to show the world that being on the autism spectrum is not a limitation.
2. I want to show everyone else that people on the spectrum are capable of achieving massive success, and that we should encourage people on the spectrum to strive for the MAXIMUM not the MINIMUM. I want to change the way we talk about autism.

On my site I will be posting practical advice about ways to overcome autism's challenges, how to build a winning mindset and motivational images.

Thanks for checking it out!
Click to expand...

Awesome! I'll be sure to check it out and give you my thoughts.

As well, I'll be PMing people with updates on my site and generally asking advice later today.
 
D

deadlast

Member
Ceej said:
Hey SpectrumGAF,

You may have seen me around helping out, but I’d like to provide a quick intro.

I was diagnosed nonverbal at 3. Autism diagnosis was rare and it took seeking experts and specialists to get the help needed, but as a result I was received early interventions therapies that greatly increased my functioning. Yet, I still struggled and like many of you I was bullied relentlessly and had issues in school. Whenever I thought about how I was different I felt shame. I was directionless, and my energy was not put to good use.

This continued through my fourth year in college, when I made the decision to change that: to confront my challenges head on refused to be a victim. Today I am a Chemistry Ph.D. Candidate. I have learned a lot about what it takes to overcome any of the negative challenges from being on the spectrum and harness the positive as my superpowers. I have compared my own story to others I know on the spectrum and was saddened by what I found. Instead of being encouraged to take on difficult tasks and reach higher, they were encouraged to only strive for minimum wage jobs or community college. We are selling people with autism short and everybody loses as a result: companies are missing out on so much untapped talent, and people on the spectrum are settling for a lower quality of life than they deserve.

In response,

I have started the website www.autismachiever.com because

1. I want to help people with autism achieve ANYTHING. We need to show the world that being on the autism spectrum is not a limitation.
2. I want to show everyone else that people on the spectrum are capable of achieving massive success, and that we should encourage people on the spectrum to strive for the MAXIMUM not the MINIMUM. I want to change the way we talk about autism.

On my site I will be posting practical advice about ways to overcome autism's challenges, how to build a winning mindset and motivational images. Let me know if you have any thoughts, questions, content you would like to see or how I can help!

Thanks for checking it out!
Click to expand...
Wow dude that's really great. I'm checking out your site now.
My son has been full of surprises this year. He is kicking butt in spelling and math. He doesn't mind homework at all and was happy to get a math packet to work on. School is being a little shitty because he is having trouble being still and listening, though he does have an IEP. I wish he could go to a school that was academically challenging without having to worry about all of the social nonsense.
 
C

Captain Tuttle

Member
Ceej said:
Hey SpectrumGAF,

You may have seen me around helping out, but I’d like to provide a quick intro.

I was diagnosed nonverbal at 3. Autism diagnosis was rare and it took seeking experts and specialists to get the help needed, but as a result I was received early interventions therapies that greatly increased my functioning. Yet, I still struggled and like many of you I was bullied relentlessly and had issues in school. Whenever I thought about how I was different I felt shame. I was directionless, and my energy was not put to good use.

This continued through my fourth year in college, when I made the decision to change that: to confront my challenges head on refused to be a victim. Today I am a Chemistry Ph.D. Candidate. I have learned a lot about what it takes to overcome any of the negative challenges from being on the spectrum and harness the positive as my superpowers. I have compared my own story to others I know on the spectrum and was saddened by what I found. Instead of being encouraged to take on difficult tasks and reach higher, they were encouraged to only strive for minimum wage jobs or community college. We are selling people with autism short and everybody loses as a result: companies are missing out on so much untapped talent, and people on the spectrum are settling for a lower quality of life than they deserve.

In response,

I have started the website www.autismachiever.com because

1. I want to help people with autism achieve ANYTHING. We need to show the world that being on the autism spectrum is not a limitation.
2. I want to show everyone else that people on the spectrum are capable of achieving massive success, and that we should encourage people on the spectrum to strive for the MAXIMUM not the MINIMUM. I want to change the way we talk about autism.

On my site I will be posting practical advice about ways to overcome autism's challenges, how to build a winning mindset and motivational images. Let me know if you have any thoughts, questions, content you would like to see or how I can help!

Thanks for checking it out!
Click to expand...

This is great, I'm going to pass it along in some groups if you wouldn't mind
 
H

HP_Wuvcraft

Banned
TheMan said:
What do you guys think about Atypical on Netflix?
Click to expand...

I just had a conversation about it with my friend who told me they handwave him being an abusive boyfriend cause he has autism, so now I have to see it.

Also, I love how they give the stunt casting to the only actual autistic person on set.
 
B

Bubbavelli

Banned
What's up bros. Im an RBT in california whos been doing it for the last year or so now. Being a bigger male, I usually work with severe teenagers but work with the occasional toddler every now and again. I'd rather not jerk myself off by saying how hard but rewarding the job is, just wanna soak up as much info as I can.
 
H

HP_Wuvcraft

Banned
I'm going to be PM'ing some of you to ask about Autism-Aspergers.

Bubbavelli said:
What's up bros. Im an RBT in california whos been doing it for the last year or so now. Being a bigger male, I usually work with severe teenagers but work with the occasional toddler every now and again. I'd rather not jerk myself off by saying how hard but rewarding the job is, just wanna soak up as much info as I can.
Click to expand...

Hello!
 
M

Muppet of a Man

Member
Ceej said:
Hey SpectrumGAF,

You may have seen me around helping out, but I’d like to provide a quick intro.

I was diagnosed nonverbal at 3. Autism diagnosis was rare and it took seeking experts and specialists to get the help needed, but as a result I was received early interventions therapies that greatly increased my functioning. Yet, I still struggled and like many of you I was bullied relentlessly and had issues in school. Whenever I thought about how I was different I felt shame. I was directionless, and my energy was not put to good use.

This continued through my fourth year in college, when I made the decision to change that: to confront my challenges head on refused to be a victim. Today I am a Chemistry Ph.D. Candidate. I have learned a lot about what it takes to overcome any of the negative challenges from being on the spectrum and harness the positive as my superpowers. I have compared my own story to others I know on the spectrum and was saddened by what I found. Instead of being encouraged to take on difficult tasks and reach higher, they were encouraged to only strive for minimum wage jobs or community college. We are selling people with autism short and everybody loses as a result: companies are missing out on so much untapped talent, and people on the spectrum are settling for a lower quality of life than they deserve.

In response,

I have started the website www.autismachiever.com because

1. I want to help people with autism achieve ANYTHING. We need to show the world that being on the autism spectrum is not a limitation.
2. I want to show everyone else that people on the spectrum are capable of achieving massive success, and that we should encourage people on the spectrum to strive for the MAXIMUM not the MINIMUM. I want to change the way we talk about autism.

On my site I will be posting practical advice about ways to overcome autism's challenges, how to build a winning mindset and motivational images. Let me know if you have any thoughts, questions, content you would like to see or how I can help!

Thanks for checking it out!
Click to expand...

Hi, I checked out your site. Very cool insight into what a person with what I presume is classic/moderate autism experiences and what you've went through growing up. I admire your strength, resilience, and acheivement in a world where people have little patience for those who are outside of the realm of what is considered neurotypical.

With that being said, my son was diagnosed just shy of 3 years of age as having classic/moderate autism. After his diagnosis, he's been regularly engaged in early intervention therapies including Early Intervention Pre-school, In-home ABA Therapy, OT, and initially Speech Therapy. Just having turned 4, he is slowly learning to use language more contextually (i.e., contextual use of echolalia in addition to construction of simple 2 to 3 word phases and sentences) and can sometimes, when relaxed enough, initiate and be somewhat conversational, especially when he wants or needs something as he has more intrinsic motivation in those moments.

We've focused for the past year on him regulating his behavior since he constantly seeks propreoceptive/movement-based and deep pressure stimulation (i.e., he's under-stimulated in that capacity), but he's overstimulated when it comes to noise, light, heat, light touch, and mouthfeel/textures. He's made great progress in these areas, which has opened up his avenues for social and language-based learning. We think it is time again to reengage more frequently with speech therapy now that he can pay attention better and engage socially in a more proactive manner.

My wife and I try to be as loving, engaging, patient, and accepting parents as we possibly can. But it is still hard for us, and we still seek assurances from others to help us on this journey with our son.

So if you don't mind me asking you, what was your journey like in your first few years of life that you can remember when engaging in various therapies, especially those that emphasized the development of language and socialization? At what age did you consider yourself to be a conversational speaker? At what age did you first actively initiate social engagement with your peers (rather than just parallel play)?

Thanks ahead of time for anything you can share. Anything that helps us better understand and better help our son is so very appreciated.
 
C

Ceej

Member
Muppet of a Man said:
Hi, I checked out your site. Very cool insight into what a person with what I presume is classic/moderate autism experiences and what you've went through growing up. I admire your strength, resilience, and acheivement in a world where people have little patience for those who are outside of the realm of what is considered neurotypical.

With that being said, my son was diagnosed just shy of 3 years of age as having classic/moderate autism. After his diagnosis, he's been regularly engaged in early intervention therapies including Early Intervention Pre-school, In-home ABA Therapy, OT, and initially Speech Therapy. Just having turned 4, he is slowly learning to use language more contextually (i.e., contextual use of echolalia in addition to construction of simple 2 to 3 word phases and sentences) and can sometimes, when relaxed enough, initiate and be somewhat conversational, especially when he wants or needs something as he has more intrinsic motivation in those moments.

We've focused for the past year on him regulating his behavior since he constantly seeks propreoceptive/movement-based and deep pressure stimulation (i.e., he's under-stimulated in that capacity), but he's overstimulated when it comes to noise, light, heat, light touch, and mouthfeel/textures. He's made great progress in these areas, which has opened up his avenues for social and language-based learning. We think it is time again to reengage more frequently with speech therapy now that he can pay attention better and engage socially in a more proactive manner.

My wife and I try to be as loving, engaging, patient, and accepting parents as we possibly can. But it is still hard for us, and we still seek assurances from others to help us on this journey with our son.

So if you don't mind me asking you, what was your journey like in your first few years of life that you can remember when engaging in various therapies, especially those that emphasized the development of language and socialization? At what age did you consider yourself to be a conversational speaker? At what age did you first actively initiate social engagement with your peers (rather than just parallel play)?

Thanks ahead of time for anything you can share. Anything that helps us better understand and better help our son is so very appreciated.
Click to expand...

Something to consider is that aside from the fact that I no longer remember much, when you're that young I think you don't really have the analytical skills to consider how your life is different. I remember therapy in the context of being an activity I was taken to. For example, with OT I remember actually enjoying it because I liked the sensory things like crash mats and bouncing on balls, and I too loved the muppets, and there was this DOS computer game with muppets coming out of windows and making faces to teach emotion. I was nonverbal until I was 3, and then I did not talk in full sentences, mostly just repeating things I would hear. I remember being conversational at 6, but looking back I can tell that I really lacking social awareness. I would just try and talk to people about my current obsessions (a certain song, the World Almanac, legos, etc.) I didn't really know how to have a 2-sided conversation.

The hardest thing to balance socially is that my experiences and observations lead me to think of this as being not a lack of ability, but a lack of instinct: it can be learned, but the programming for social interaction is initially absent. So practice and experience improves the skills. There are two keys here: it is easier to initiate social interaction when you have a common ground. Two: it is easier to interact socially when you have previous experience with similar social situations. For example, a couple of years ago my professor invited me and some other people in the department to a party at her house. It was scary for me beforehand because I didn't know how loud and how crazy it would be, or how it would differ from the parties seen on TV. But I made some plans, did some breathing exercises for the anxiety and the second party I went to I had no problem because I survived and had a great time at the first one!

But when you are starting out it's hard. It has always been easy to talk about obsessions, and if something you are super interested in is common ground that can make it easier for you to initiate the interaction, but unless that person is also on the spectrum they may be "interested" but not at the same level of detail and may be kind of put-off by the nature of an interaction on that level if that makes sense. This is why my best friends growing up were also autistic and why many higher functioning people on the spectrum tend to group up and sometimes stay within groups. It becomes a safe-space for people who communicate the same way and are interested in things on the same level (even if what they're interested in is different), but that's not really a good thing IMO.

I never had ABA and I'm frankly skeptical of it from what I've read. My limited understanding is that it may have the parent's desired result (to reduce unwanted behaviors) but I am concerned that it really is covering up the root reason for the behavior and conditions obediance to authority, which I think would be an obstacle later in life to living independently.

I won't lie to you: being a parent on the spectrum is hard and I put my Mom through hell, especially during puberty. But if it's any consolation, because we experienced the hardships together we have a great relationship now and how I'm doing today made everything she went through worth it in the end.

DId that answer your question?
 
T

Tylercrat

Banned
TheMan said:
What do you guys think about Atypical on Netflix?
Click to expand...

I only watched the trailer, but for some reason it does not look good to me. I guess it has something to do with every person on the spectrum has different specific issues. I feel like my issues are different than the main character in that show's issues. I'm glad they made a show about someone on the spectrum. I hope they make more stuff like that. But this specific show just looks a bit off.

Edit: I just watched part of the first episode. I think my issue with it is that it is focused on the topic of finding a relationship. Which I do relate to because I've never been in a relationship. However, the biggest way Autism affects my life is how to go to work everyday and do my job. I am barely employable. I think that most people on my level of smart enough to sound sorta intelligent, but dumb enough to get a severe headache from cashiering many times end up homeless. I don't look like the guy from Rain Man, so they are not going to give me social security disability. I hope they make tv shows about someone with a bad learning disability that against all odds is able to find success in his/her career through a strong work ethic.
 
M

Muppet of a Man

Member
Ceej said:
Something to consider is that aside from the fact that I no longer remember much, when you're that young I think you don't really have the analytical skills to consider how your life is different. I remember therapy in the context of being an activity I was taken to. For example, with OT I remember actually enjoying it because I liked the sensory things like crash mats and bouncing on balls, and I too loved the muppets, and there was this DOS computer game with muppets coming out of windows and making faces to teach emotion. I was nonverbal until I was 3, and then I did not talk in full sentences, mostly just repeating things I would hear. I remember being conversational at 6, but looking back I can tell that I really lacking social awareness. I would just try and talk to people about my current obsessions (a certain song, the World Almanac, legos, etc.) I didn't really know how to have a 2-sided conversation.

The hardest thing to balance socially is that my experiences and observations lead me to think of this as being not a lack of ability, but a lack of instinct: it can be learned, but the programming for social interaction is initially absent. So practice and experience improves the skills. There are two keys here: it is easier to initiate social interaction when you have a common ground. Two: it is easier to interact socially when you have previous experience with similar social situations. For example, a couple of years ago my professor invited me and some other people in the department to a party at her house. It was scary for me beforehand because I didn't know how loud and how crazy it would be, or how it would differ from the parties seen on TV. But I made some plans, did some breathing exercises for the anxiety and the second party I went to I had no problem because I survived and had a great time at the first one!

But when you are starting out it's hard. It has always been easy to talk about obsessions, and if something you are super interested in is common ground that can make it easier for you to initiate the interaction, but unless that person is also on the spectrum they may be "interested" but not at the same level of detail and may be kind of put-off by the nature of an interaction on that level if that makes sense. This is why my best friends growing up were also autistic and why many higher functioning people on the spectrum tend to group up and sometimes stay within groups. It becomes a safe-space for people who communicate the same way and are interested in things on the same level (even if what they're interested in is different), but that's not really a good thing IMO.

I never had ABA and I'm frankly skeptical of it from what I've read. My limited understanding is that it may have the parent's desired result (to reduce unwanted behaviors) but I am concerned that it really is covering up the root reason for the behavior and conditions obediance to authority, which I think would be an obstacle later in life to living independently.

I won't lie to you: being a parent on the spectrum is hard and I put my Mom through hell, especially during puberty. But if it's any consolation, because we experienced the hardships together we have a great relationship now and how I'm doing today made everything she went through worth it in the end.

DId that answer your question?
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You did answer my question and have provided me great insight into your experience. And I greatly appreciate that.

While I am not on the spectrum myself (haven't been diagnosed anyway), I may be uniquely suited as a parent for my son's needs. I have been diagnosed with pretty severe (functionally-impairing) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as a primary disorder, along with depression as a secondary disorder (resultant from the OCD). When I see my son intensely transfixed on a handful of subject matters (i.e., trains, water/swimming, songs/music, candy, jumping/swinging/dancing), I completely empathize from the perspective of being stuck in rigid/obsessive thought patterns and compulsions for extended periods of time. What I don't know is if he experiences the constant lingering and intensifying anxiety which results from being hyperaware of the fact that one is stuck in rigid/obsessive thought patterns and compulsions and cannot do anything of their own will to break the pattern. Because that is my terrible internal reality, which I sincerely hope he is not burdened with experiencing.

So, in your own experience, have any of your own obsessive compulsive tendencies caused you great anxiety? And if so, were you able to manage that anxiety and obsessive compulsive behavior?

P.S.
And as for ABA, while it is true that one of its primary goals is to manage behaviors that neurotypical society deems "disruptive", it has evolved to include many therapeutic components of other systems such as DIR (Developmental Individual Difference Relationship Model) including Floortime (following the child's lead, interests, activities, and getting into their world) and functionally serves a purpose in creating a space to allow the child to learn, since they should become better equipped to deal with stimulation found in the environment, and in turn be more receptive and focussed in socializing and learning. And it only relies on positive reinforcement at this point in its evolution (no penalties/punishment); instead, unwanted behaviors such as violent outbursts which include hitting, etc. are first approached with compassion, empathy, and an attempt to identify feelings that are being experienced in an accepting manner. If the tantrum/outburst continues, then a method called "extinction" is employed, where the child's unwanted behaviors are ignored and the adult removes themselves from the situation until the child calms down on their own, at which time the adult comes back and again offers empathy and also tries to divert attention to more positive, constructive activities.
 
C

Ceej

Member
Anxiety has been a huge underlying driver of the negative aspects of my autistic experience. Fear of new and unknown situations (especially social situations), overthinking and analysis/paralysis have always been huge obstacles. This is definitely one of the big things I want to address on my site because "getting comfortable with being uncomfortable", facing those things that are scary head on instead of avoiding the things that make me anxious (ie: algebra, talking to professors, making friends) has been the single biggest contributor to my success. But I didn't figure this part out until I was 26. One thing that really helped me was I found a book called Way of the SEAL, which talks about the mentality and performance training of warriors (as you may have guessed, Navy SEALS) who have to thrive under extremely adverse and terrifying conditions by controlling their mind to control their body. Autism is much the same way. If you have a reaction system that is hindering you (for example, with anxiety) you have to learn how to override it with new responses basically through breath control, self-talk, small goals, etc.
 
poppabk

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
So my son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder the other day. Not really a surprise, if it wasn't an autism diagnosis it would have been something closely related. He is level 1, so he is not significantly impacted, and he is very smart which helps mask some of his issues. He just entered first grade and loves it, which is a good sign.
 
D

deadlast

Member
poppabk said:
So my son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder the other day. Not really a surprise, if it wasn't an autism diagnosis it would have been something closely related. He is level 1, so he is not significantly impacted, and he is very smart which helps mask some of his issues. He just entered first grade and loves it, which is a good sign.
Click to expand...
My son is kicking ass in 1st grade.

Today he asked me if I had autism. I told him no. He asked if his mom had autism and I said no. Then he asked how he got autism.
I told people were researching how autism occurs because no one knows for sure.
 
C

Cotton McKnight

Member
For the past 6 weeks my little guy (4 year old non-verbal) has been attending a great school a couple cities away. They are super professional, and it is a return to the time we had him in a study at a local university. His teachers, therapists, nurses are all super attentive, and really enjoy the fact my wife and I are very on top of things in regards to his education and therapy.


They love the fact he uses iPad as an AAC device to talk up a storm, and can read and spell (he also has Hyperlexia syndrome).

So the one way 45 mile drive to his school is not as stressful, because he is laughing all the way into school. Nothing better than hearing the kiddo's laugh, it just puts a smile on my face.

Just really wanted to share a positive note in my sons life, for the first time in a year we feel very positive about the people that are helping him to learn how to be able to shine the way he wants to!
 
S

SomTervo

Member
Cotton McKnight said:
For the past 6 weeks my little guy (4 year old non-verbal) has been attending a great school a couple cities away. They are super professional, and it is a return to the time we had him in a study at a local university. His teachers, therapists, nurses are all super attentive, and really enjoy the fact my wife and I are very on top of things in regards to his education and therapy.


They love the fact he uses iPad as an AAC device to talk up a storm, and can read and spell (he also has Hyperlexia syndrome).

So the one way 45 mile drive to his school is not as stressful, because he is laughing all the way into school. Nothing better than hearing the kiddo's laugh, it just puts a smile on my face.

Just really wanted to share a positive note in my sons life, for the first time in a year we feel very positive about the people that are helping him to learn how to be able to shine the way he wants to!
Click to expand...

This is awesome
 
E

Eye for an Eye

Member
Finally met the Dr at UC Davis Mind Institute that is head of the Fragile X research. I had a two hour appointment with her. It was amazing to finally have validation of my problems and that it stems from Fragile X. All my current doctors are completely unaware of the problems associated with it and I feel like I'm giving lessons on my condition before they even attempt to help me. Even then, they don't know what is effective to help me medication wise. She's getting me enrolled in thier research program so I can be a guinea pig for them.
 
H

HP_Wuvcraft

Banned
poppabk said:
I couldn't register as the captcha was throwing an error.
Click to expand...

This is fixed.

Eye for an Eye said:
Finally met the Dr at UC Davis Mind Institute that is head of the Fragile X research. I had a two hour appointment with her. It was amazing to finally have validation of my problems and that it stems from Fragile X. All my current doctors are completely unaware of the problems associated with it and I feel like I'm giving lessons on my condition before they even attempt to help me. Even then, they don't know what is effective to help me medication wise. She's getting me enrolled in thier research program so I can be a guinea pig for them.
Click to expand...

Good luck.
 
J

JonnyDBrit

Member
Bumping this thread for UK-Gaf's purposes: The BBC just aired a small documentary called 'Chris Packham: Asperger's and Me'. He's a long running presenter for the BBC as a naturalist, and as it happens, is on the spectrum. It'son the iplayer, so if anyone wants to watch, I recommend it.

Hit me hard. Not hard to see why my mother saw a lot of me in Packham's explanation of his symptoms.
 
P

Palmer27

Member
My boyfriend has Aspergers - can anyone advice on something that happened this morning?

I'm a student - my other half's been sleeping in accommodation with me. We were both woken from deep sleep by a fire alarm. It's a particularly loud and obnoxious fire alarm. He has heard it before - it's pretty common in my halls.
This time instead of waking up like me, he was making a noise that was somewhere between a mumble and a scream and shaking violently. It's hard to guess how long these kind of things go on for but I held hold him and yelled his name about 4 times before he woke up properly.

He was kind of in denial afterwards that anything had even happened. I don't think he has an idea of what I should do anyway.

Slight tmi but relevent
I farted after we got back into bed later and he reacted the same way for a short amount of time.
He also seems to jolt/shake in his sleep from time to time for no reason I can see.

Really need any advice on what the issue is (besides fucking horrible noise) please and how I can help - for his sake and because his reaction is almost as terrifying to me.
 
E

Eye for an Eye

Member
As your muscles relax, they tend to jerk. I do it all the time in my sleep and as I'm falling asleep. As for the mumbling, he was probably dreaming. I've tried to have conversations in my sleep with some one talking to me in real life. Real life noises are some how incorporated into my dreams and I don't wake up from it.
 
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