The AUTISM SPECTRUM Thread (Now with extra rainbows!)

[Never]

Hi! I'm Never, and though I was originally diagnosed at being on the "line" of High-Functioning Autistic and Aspergers, the doctor said that just classifying me as High-Functioning would be better because I'd get more benefits from the system, and so I am officially registered in my various documents as High-Functioning. The level of correctness of this diagnosis varies from day to day; on my better days I can be one of the funniest people you'll ever meet, on my bad days, I just hole up in a corner.

Onto my school life. I was pulled out of second grade due to brutal bullying; which I conveniently don't remember, thanks to my brain's ability to briskly wash away bad memories. I was then Homeschooled until Middle School, where I joined an entirely Special Ed Program and met someone whom I'm starting to think would be my Kismesis if we were still in contact. Ex-Moirails are nasty business. Anyways, I transferred to a different Program at a public school shortly after we "broke up", and I was overall much happier there. I graduated this year, and am now in college. I'm doing pretty well for being a natural slacker.

On my creative side:

I'm actually pretty grateful for my autism, because all that time alone in my own shell gave me a huge and winding imagination. I say a lot that I've got an entire galaxy of worlds in my head. not bragging, but I'm sure that the complexity of all my worlds, when combined, is just a few notches below Hussie's. Actually, Hussie's kind of my role model, story-wise(along with Tolkien). I want to interlace symbols and humor and plot twists like that one day. the point is that, if I weren't autistic, I would never have let that little Bilious Slick grow as big as it has. and I don't know what I would be without it.

Personally? This is me, only I am the amplified version of this trait. I can think for hours on a prompt that I'm given, and can probably dream up worlds on the complexity level of Hussie over the course of a few days of staying up straight. I have yet to actually attempt that.

Oh, and Misc.:
I love hugs, pressure, being (safely) suspended from things, and fast movement when there's no danger of bursting my eardrums due to wind (Or dying).
My favorite types of music are Rock and metal, but I'll listen to just about anything that isn't super explicit rap, country, or bluegrass.
I think in pictures.
I speak like a serial killer, according to Dictionary.com's article on the subject. (I use cause and effect to justify things about half the time, and I use "Uh" and "Um" like no tomorrow. I am not sure what to make of this.)
My thought process is similar to that of a more maturely minded 9 year old--Though that's not to say that I'm not smart as my peers (or even smarter), it just means that I think simply and innocently.
On the flip side, when I get ridiculously angry I go into a ancient bloodrage, or something like that.

[Zarth]

I am normal... sort of.

[Inconspicularity]

Yeah, I'm a pretty good imaginer too.

The most complex thing I've invented in my head is a teleporter which can transport you to any location in a 6*10^15 kilometre radius (in all dimensions up to 0006.0014[2].0002).

The second most complex being the dimension stacking method. You can't store the theoretical coordinates of all the infinite dimensions on a one-dimensional ordering system, so I made one that is theoretically infinite data in a confined space.

e: I'm getting as confusing as Isoraqathedh... that ain't a good thing.

[TakeV]

Checking in. Aspergers. Formally diagnosed. That is all.

[chameleonCircuit]

My sister has Aspergers. She found out last year. When I told her.
bythewayshe's14 =/

[incorrectEnglish]

I mentioned in the 3srs thread that my son has a diagnosis of Autism, my brother too. I've been told I'm possibly a carrier of some form of genetic defect that could cause it to be passed on, although genetics haven't put a definite on that yet, still a long way to go and it's all theory for now.

I have some of the traits myself, but I'm considered too old for diagnosis here in the UK.

[KnittingHamster]

My 9-year-old son has a diagnosis for Asperger's/high-functioning Autism. Now, my brother and I have never been diagnosed, but a lot of the behaviors that my little guy has are ve-e-e-e-ery similar to ones that lil' bro and I demonstrated while growing up. Now, I'm not saying I'm on the spectrum - I don't plan to have myself tested, because at my age, what point would there be? I'm already working and pretty much finished with school (unless a sudden unexpected windfall will make funding that degree actually possible... hey a girl can dream...), and my family and friends understand who I am and what I am like. Would giving me a label make it any different? I'm going to guess not.

That said, I still look into what I can to make things easier for my son. I know he's always going to be a little bit different from his peers, and luckily he's been pretty okay with that so far. He's been through some years of physical therapy and occupational therapy to help him catch up coordination-wise (he had a lot of motor delays), and now he studies martial arts and plays clarinet in the school band. He channels his energies into creating music and art, and doesn't seem to let his diagnosis bring him down. Terminally cheerful, that lad.

[incorrectEnglish]

Hehehe my son's a bundle of energy too!! He's been playing ball regularly to get his co-ordination skills up to scratch, and he's an avid singer. Since I'm a musician myself I'll probably try him with an instrument to see how he goes, although his attention span is painfully short.

[Crazy-8]

Diagnosed with Aspergers at a young age, I now believe it was rather hastily diagnosed however. I do not believe I actually have Aspergers, I could be wrong though.

[KnittingHamster]

Oh it's like that with my guy too. Attention span as short as a... really short thing. EXCEPT when it's something he's fixated on. Sometimes it's pretty cool (he spent about a year drawing pictures of Mega Man, and was able to draw pretty much international flag from memory for a while) but it can get tiresome after a while. I figure it's just par for the course.

[incorrectEnglish]

It pretty much is. Although my brother is also autistic (to a greater degree than my son though, I don't know, even though they have the same diagnosis my brother seems much less aware than my son is) and he is the opposite: his attention span is painfully long. Probably because he outrightly refuses to do anything that doesn't involve computers, and the silly people that look after him simply oblige rather than encouraging him to get out more. My son sounds more like your little one!

[DPErny]

I was sitting at the table thinking about my past and how I had such terrible social skills and how I think about things differently from everyone else and how I was bullied and whatnot.

So I says to my mum: "What if I have/had some kind of autism spectrum disorder, and that was the cause of all of my problems as a child?"

She says, "Oh, we've known that for years."

I still have no idea if she was serious or not.

[Token]

My younger brother is autistic, and I was diagnosed with Aspergers at eleven. I hate it, don't see any reason to be proud of it, and it's effectively crippled me socially.

Yay.

[Liza]

I come from a family with high-level Aspergers and full autism on both sides - I "escaped" with a relatively low-on-the-scale case. I still am highly light-and-noise sensitive, and have social anxiety and odd behavioral tics - but none of it severe enough to warrent treatment, I've been told. At least, not enough to justify the (potentially severe) medication interactions with my anti-depression meds (THAT I have a rather severe, uh, "life-threatening" let's say, case of).

I know my brother is proud to be on the Autism spectrum, but he can barely function, and my one cousin can't function independantly at ALL, really, and I've had so much trouble myself at times.

So... yeah. :/

[martia]

which I conveniently don't remember, thanks to my brain's ability to briskly wash away bad memories.

oh me too!! yay! it is a wonderful ability. i like it.

I speak like a serial killer, according to Dictionary.com's article on the subject. (I use cause and effect to justify things about half the time, and I use "Uh" and "Um" like no tomorrow. I am not sure what to make of this.)

tavros nitram speaks like a serial killer? =x

in the 3srs thread

i still can't find it. how many posts do i need in order to be able to see it?

EXCEPT when it's something he's fixated on.

hyperfocus, you mean?

I hate it, don't see any reason to be proud of it, and it's effectively crippled me socially.

how old are you? i used to feel like that...... about 6/7 years ago because it was annoying not understanding shit that other people say and all of the 10 sentences they hide behind 2 statements. it also makes me unhappy that i make other people around me sad or angry when i don't even know what i did that they were reacting too.

now i kinda just accept it, that there are some stuffs i don't understand as well, and will take a longer time to learn. my family/friends also know the sort of person i am, so they are patient with me. sometimes it is not fun, and being with people are scary, but i've come to accept that different people take to situations differently, and it is not necessary for me to feel awful that i process my environment in a different or unexpected manner.

I still am highly light-and-noise sensitive, and have social anxiety and odd behavioral tics - but none of it severe enough to warrent treatment, I've been told. At least, not enough to justify the (potentially severe) medication interactions with my anti-depression meds (THAT I have a rather severe, uh, "life-threatening" let's say, case of).

; __ ; yeps, i'm sound/pitch-sensitive as well. and hyperosmic too (smell-sensitive?). nothing is severe though, and i can always cope with with social anxiety by bring out a piece of paper to draw something to calm my nerves.

[kyriaki]

I hate it, don't see any reason to be proud of it, and it's effectively crippled me socially.

how old are you? i used to feel like that...... about 6/7 years ago because it was annoying not understanding shit that other people say and all of the 10 sentences they hide behind 2 statements. it also makes me unhappy that i make other people around me sad or angry when i don't even know what i did that they were reacting too.

now i kinda just accept it, that there are some stuffs i don't understand as well, and will take a longer time to learn. my family/friends also know the sort of person i am, so they are patient with me. sometimes it is not fun, and being with people are scary, but i've come to accept that different people take to situations differently, and it is not necessary for me to feel awful that i process my environment in a different or unexpected manner.

this this this.

the thing about social acceptance problems is that they are at least 50% society's fault.

[fakt13]

Hey guys. I have Asperger's. Its great to know that there's a group of people accepting this sort of thing. It's kind of awesome.

[incorrectEnglish]

in the 3srs thread

i still can't find it. how many posts do i need in order to be able to see it?

I really wish I could remember!! Sorry about that.

[AnatidaeCollector]

I kind of wonder if I'm on the spectrum. I have a biological aunt who is, so it could very well be. Although something tells me that my mom, a speech pathologist who specializes in treating autistic kids from all across the spectrum, would have picked up on it all. But still, as a kid, I remember my pastime of choice being sitting there memorizing maps, and even to this day, I have pretty bad sensory issues (if it were up to me, I'd wear nothing but nice, smooth polyester- or better yet, wax paper), and as a kid, I had really fucking crippling emotional regulation problems. Autistic or not, I wish my parents medicated me.

[sjasogun]

Aspergers here. Nothing much to add, really.

[Edo Nagori]

I myself have a small case of Aspergers, however I don't find it too debilitating. It was more of a problem in middle school and freshmen year of High School, rather than it is now. However, I have been feeling random fits of self-depreciation and paranoia recently, don't know if that would be the Aspergers or something else.

[Benfclark]

I'm an Aspie, was diagnosed at age 7, but (sensibly) wasn't told until I was about 12/13. The rest of my family is pretty much 'normal', so I'm a bit of an anomaly in that regard.

I find socialising via any medium other than the internet absurdly difficult, and I constantly find myself inadvertently offending or upsetting people for no discernable reason. It's difficult, but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.

[sillySpindle]

I love having Asperger's, it is a huge part of my identity. I would be pretty boring if I didn't have it.

Sure it sucks when I misinterpret stuff people are saying, and when I get all anxious about change, but I think it's worth it for a completely different outlook on everything.

Also it is kind of like a big challenge. Right now my current mission is to practice phoning people, and also to figure out how much eye contact to make while walking beside someone. Actually I think I need to practice eye contact again I think I've been forgetting to make it. And I need to try and figure out how to not sound agressive when I'm talking to my dad even though he is really annoying. All his pestering and fussing and meddling! What is his deal?
I think it's my tone of voice that's the angry sounding bit but I'm not sure what bit of my tone of voice is the agressive bit... I will have to experiment further with this.

Gosh communicating with regular peeps is such hard work! But it is so rewarding when you figure it out.

[Beats]

I've more or less self-diagnosed myself with Aspergers since I meet the majority (if not all) of the criteria but I don't feel comfortable asking my parents to take me to be tested for an actual diagnosis, and the one time I presented the possibility to my mom she laughed it off. It's a better explanation for some of my issues with social interaction and relationships with people than I can come up with, anyways.

You know who I think might also have Aspergers? Isaac Brock, the frontman of Modest Mouse. But I've only come to this conclusion by studying what I know of his character and his lyrics.

Whether it's actually Aspergers or not, I'm jumping on the boat with others in this thread in saying that I can attribute some good things to it. Like Spindle I think that "it" is a huge part of my personality, and I'm pretty accepting of it. That, and my "condition" involving anxiety in social settings, conversations, extending and building relationships, etc. has vastly improved since I've made the effort.

[atomicHistorian]

Another Aspie here. Nice to meet you.