The medical community is actually mulling eliminating the diagnosis "asperger's syndrome" because it is simply a form of Autism.

Check out the movie "Temple Grandin" or look her up on Amazon. She is widely viewed as the first person to be able to talk about what Autism is like. She has it and also has 2 degrees and several of the patents used in feedlots and slaughter houses all over the world. She was able to design them better because she could understand the plight of the animals heading to slaughter.

BTW, these kids are included in the "No Child Left Behind" testing in the US. Pretty fucked up huh?

I think of kids that have trouble expressing thier feelings. Im afraid i dont know alot about thier "Learning difficulties" do they have any? can they read/write/spell like a normal kid thier age?

My GF has a teenage son, she has Never told me what his "disability" is..just says he is a special needs kid. he has speech problems too..i can understand maybe 30% of what he says. he cannot read or add simple numbers. hes been in a special school most of his life & i feel bad b/c nothing has changed...no improvement that i can see.

But the hardest thing is my GF has REFUSED help for him. He was offered a tutor for free & a big brother. (she is a single mum) she acts like if she ignores the problem, it doesnt exist.

i know this is more serious than autism..the boy will be 19 next month & i cant imagine any kind of productive future in store.

tuning out because things seem too intense - ie sensory info comes at them too strongly, comfort in routine, patterns, repetitive behaviour, difficulty relating to others on an emotional level - maybe due to them processing so much info all the time?

Mars23 said:

i hope they dont...it would be like putting type I and type II diabetes under just diabetes..both are different, and require different treatment/care.

i know children with autism both high functioning, and high care and with aspergers.

When i think of autism, i think of how my son looks out for his friends brother...who is autistic

and he came home yesterday and said that he and another friend have an autistic child as a book buddy (the older kids are book buddies for the younger classes)
then explained the way the boy has a board in the class room, with the different activities he has to do. he picks off a sign, and does that activity...he (my rugrat) was fascinated by this...and said, "its great, coz it helps him to focus )
This boy has a twin in the class who is also autistic, but only needs one book buddy.

Im so proud of my son, the school must see the good in him also, to give him such a big responsibility

Possible Mild (Forrest Gump) 50 - 65
Moderate (Lower) Possible Moderate (Homer S) 35 - 50

I suspect
an ex of mine of having asperberg's syndrome (a very mild form of it)
and can see autism being in that vein, but I am totally and utterly
ignorant of it.

TheVoid said:

A client of mine has Asperger's. He has a job and is able to function normally, but that requires the right conditions, such as structure, clarity, tranquility and security.

For example, when his job instructions are not clear, he will have an idea by himself of what he is supposed to do, but he will be unable to perform it, because he will be pondering and worried about it all the time, possibly to the point of getting so tensed that he stops communicating.

Or when there is no rest at his workplace. For example, a while ago his employer hired a group of ex detainees and didn't tell him and his collegues that they would be working at the same workplace. The fact alone that they didn't tell him, freaked him out so much that he got serious problems focusing and concentrating on his own work.

Or when his employer fails to provide him with the coach he needs to regularly evaluate his job performances with. Or when his employer fails to answer him questions he has, or fails to provide him with the insurance that they will pay for damages he suffered during his job.
Or when his employer says that his job will not be so sure anymore, when he has to pay for a job coach too, like now.

Remarkably, he is still doing reasonably okay, tho' just hanging in there. When I talk to him about his affairs and let him do the talking, he starts to overthink and analyse things which usually ends up in one big pile of shit what is happening, without any coherence or clarity in his story and arguments, mixing one issue with the other and mixing fear of what might happen with what is really happening. Basically not seeing the forset through the trees anymore.

What I find helps a lot then is when I offer him the clarity, structure, security and tranquility he so desperately needs.

So I approach him very calmly and respectfully, and first explain to him what I want to discuss and in what order. Then I do most of the talking and clearly explain how things work and that some issues will be dealt with later and some, urgent ones, now, like him not having a job coach. This creates clarity and structure.

Then I do not tell him that "sure you will win and keep your job", but I honestly tell him that that remains to be seen and depends on several factors that are still uncertain. However, that I will have his back where needed, offering him the most security I can, but not selling him hot air.

He sure isn't dumb either and knows what he is talking about, I can tell you that. In fact, he told me his IQ is higher than average, which in case of insecurity adds, I think, to his strong tendency to totally overfeel, overthink and overanalyse matters.


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[Edited 3/21/10 4:51am]

Tremolina said:

Sounds like me, Everytime my boss loses his cool or rises his voice at me, I keep think of warnings and losing the job. I explained to them about my HFA (High Functioning Autism) at the start and I think all its done is given them ammunition and a way to fire me, and every little thing I do wrong they could try and blame on my 'disability' when I clearly don't have one. It also dosen't help my IQ is in the very superior range, but my social skills are in the Forrest Gump range.