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My 6 year old has Asperger's, and attended a great program called Stepping Stones run through NHS (Northwestern Health Services). He went the entire summer, 3 hours 4 days a week, all for social skills with other children on the spectrum. Now that school is back in session, he goes once a week for 3 hours. I don't think their website says much but here it is. Home
Currently I have Autism.. its not an easy handicap to live with. but its better then MR or musclar distropy.
Social life is difficult but being autistic I discover and learn MUCH more about odd things such as pet food, trees, nature then most.... I would say 80% of the population. For instance I can drive by a MN neighborhood in a friends car and ID 10 different tree species., even note the states of growth/age
Some of the worlds brightest minds were thought to have autism or autism like traits,
Currently I have Autism.. its not an easy handicap to live with. but its better then MR or musclar distropy.
Social life is difficult but being autistic I discover and learn MUCH more about odd things such as pet food, trees, nature then most.... I would say 80% of the population. For instance I can drive by a MN neighborhood in a friends car and ID 10 different tree species., even note the states of growth/age
Some of the worlds brightest minds were thought to have autism or autism like traits,
I am encouraged by your happiness and success. I really hope my son can find that. He is 24 and has been misdiagnosed since he was 5. They said he was ADHD with a bunch of other disorders too. They had him on every medication on the market but nothing was helping. It just seemed to make him more introverted. Not one of them MANY doctors that he had ever mentioned Aspergers Syndrome. It wasnt until we moved to Maryland and we took him off all meds that we started to see improvement in him. Then we got him into DORS (Dept. of Rehabilitation Services). The doctors there did their own assessment and told us he had AS. For the first time things made sense and he was getting the help he needed. Unfortunately for us, they lost funding in the program he was in and now we are back to where we started. They did say that he is a good candidate for independent living with minor assistance. The reason I came to this site is because we are moving to Charleston SC in the spring. I could get him in the program here but I dont want to be that far away from him. People tend to hurt him and take advantage of him if I dont keep watch. Is there any programs in that area?
Currently I have Autism.. its not an easy handicap to live with. but its better then MR or musclar distropy.
Social life is difficult but being autistic I discover and learn MUCH more about odd things such as pet food, trees, nature then most.... I would say 80% of the population. For instance I can drive by a MN neighborhood in a friends car and ID 10 different tree species., even note the states of growth/age
Some of the worlds brightest minds were thought to have autism or autism like traits,
There is hope for your child
Well said.
My daughter is autistic. I suppose I could moan about the fact that she's appallingly literal sometimes, and has poor motor planning and tends to pace until I'm ready to HOWL. But she is also exceptionally bright, loyal to a fault, has perfect pitch and a photographic memory, and wouldn't lie if her life depended on it. (And she's a far easier preteen to deal with than her neurotypical sisters were.)
There are far worse hands to be dealt, IMO.
The terms "high functioning" and "low functioning are actually currently slowly going out of vogue in autism circles, because they're subjective and imprecise. They're not standardized terms and therefore are highly controversial. What one person would deem high functioning, another may not, etc., and it's possible to have autism spectrum traits and have skills very highly developed in one area and not in another, thus being both "high functioning" and "low functioning" simultaneously. All in all, not very useful, as descriptive labels go.
The most notable difference between Asperger's and other Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) is that Asperger's is marked by there being either no delay at all in the acquisition of language, or a very minor delay at most....other forms of autism have a delayed to totally absent onset of typical verbal communication development, noticeable in the first year of life. Not so with Asperger's. But other than that, Asperger's the same as other ASDs ...a tendancy toward ritualistic, repetitive and compulsive behavior and resistance to change, restricted interests, and impaired social interaction capabilities. The level to which each of these things are manifested, and how they affect an individual's independence, however, are totally unique to the individual.
Many people think that people with Asperger's are typically highly intelligent, and while this is true in some cases (just like with other forms of autism), it is also just as true that they may be of average intelligence or possess learning disabilities. The cliche is that all people with Asperger's are gifted, but it's not true (though some certainly are, just as in the neurotypical population). It is true that many with Asperger's have subjects of obsession...but although they may be adept at cataloguing all facts and information about a particular topic, this doesn't necessarily translate to being gifted. There have been, throughout history, rare cases of "autistic savants," but it's a mistake to assume that all skills an person with an autism spectrum disorder may evidence translate to savant qualities.
With all forms of autism, not just Asperger's, impairment exists within a range. Some people with ADSs evidence mild symptoms and will have few problems living independently. Others have social interaction impairment and communication impairment to such a degree that they will always require assistance. And there's a wide spectrum in between.
I have a son that was truly asocial. He had no friends at all until age 15 and even then very limited but he didn't want any. He was happy, he isn't autistic but would act autistic in crowds but at school he was very well behaved but didn't do well because he had no desire to please teachers. He would catch on to math problems, do a couple and then sit and dream or whatever but refused to do the drills, homework. They would pass him because he could come out well enough on exams and in science he was always knowledgeble and more cooperative.
At home he wasn't much of a problem except for taking eveything apart. He was and is immune to peer pressure. He gets obsessed with certain things like tomato plants or some invention he's working on. After age 15, he began to socialize to a small extent but saw more need in having friends or else he came across people he shared enough odd-ball interests in as he grew older.
According to teachers, other kids liked him just fine, he was happy in school but clearly a loner, and that's how he was around family members like cousins. He never joined in even when invited to join the group, preferring some activity off to the side, not anti-social but asocial. As a young child the only problem was the way he would freak out in public places and crowds. He would dart around like a wild animal, making a scene. In the home his behavior was fine but even then he would often prefer to miss family dinners and work on some project alone in the garage.
Hello! I just ran across this thread. Our boy we believe to have aspergers. We found out thru researching. I have seen so many different types of stuff with him over the years and it was hard to point a finger at any one thing. For instance, he is hunched over a little bit when he walks, turns real pale in the face on occassion, has problems socially, such as getting along with others. Has trouble picking up on normal math. But he is very smart and intuitive and remembers things very well! Well you get the idea. Hes a great kid though! Any who how do you reverse things as far as trying to get a real relationship with someone like that. We messed up with him in his earlier years, we just didn't understand him at the time and now he is 16 and it just saddens me not being able to do anything with him. He prefers to stay in his room playing his ps2 and watching tv. etc. any suggestions?
I would try doing something together with him where you can teach him something or have some type of joint activity. Maybe teach him how to bbq cheeseburgers on a grill, something he could learn and would help his confidence and esteem around you.
I have a 13 y.o son with Aspergers Sydndrome.
It may be "high functioning" compared to severe autism, but is still performance limiting over a whole range of academic and sporting functions.
Many from the older generation have not heard of Aspergers,
however autism is well known.
As stated, there may be "geniuses" amongst this group, but I would suggest that the vast majority are below average.
The ability to "stay on task", and/or think laterally to solve a 2 or 3 step problem eg in maths, is developmentally delayed.
Many concepts you think they have taken in, you realize soon after that they never really "got it".
Without the right guidance, and ability to plan and organize, as well as motivate their activities, most will never live up to their potential.
My son is in mainstream education, and gets some special needs extra help, but thats about all he gets.
It is a frustrating disorder, and requires plenty of patience.
He was on Zoloft as a very young child, when at that stage it was still diagnosed as an obsessional anxiety related problem.
Apparently current medication can exhibit Parkinson's disease type side-effects, so in this case have decided that the benefits are less than the risk.
Just curious if anyone else has used medication for AS.
Derek
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but its better then MR or musclar distropy. 
