Asperger's and Autism

[Sophus]

I wasn't really sure where to start this thread but I would like for it to serve as just a general resource on the science of Aspergers and Autism as well as a discussion area for people with it or would like to learn more about it if that's okay with you, Whitney.   It's not something I think generally needs "fixing" or therapy especially if you're able to function well and are completely happy with your life.  I came across this article and don't know if I agree with it. I don't think special treatment was ever necessary for me as a child. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123527833

[Whitney]

I know people who have Aspergers/Autism.  From my understanding there is a statistically greater chance of producing a child with aspergers if the parents are both good in math.  I think this explains why there is a marked increase of Aspergers in the freethought community since being good at math would also be associated with applying logic.

Do you think this might be more helpful if it were in the parenting section?  Aspergers is one of those challenges someone can have without it being obvious and there are probably a lot of parents who don't even know they need to help their child be aware of why they are a little bit different so that they can learn how to adjust as is necessary to have social interactions.

Also, I know a couple people who are able to get along well with others in social settings but absolutely do not work well on group projects then don't understand why people get upset with them (even after the specifics of why people are upset are pointed out).  Could it be possible that they memorized how to act in a social setting and are actually somewhere on the autistic spectrum?  I'm just curious because it would make it easier to work with them if I knew why they don't work well with others.  Whatever these people are, they either aren't diagnosed or aren't revealing that they are diagnosed with something.

[i_am_i]

Yes, I have been diagnosed with Asperger's. To be absolutely honest about it I just don't give a damn. Okay, so that's what it's called. I see a psychiatrist twice a year, I take my pills for depression and anxiety and I take my sleeping pills and I just go about being myself. Not really all that big a deal when you think about all the really dire things that a lot of other people have to deal with.

Edit:  I know what it's like to struggle with being different and messed up, being alone and wondering how everyone else handles all this people stuff so well, and I don't mean to belittle any of that. It's just that eventually you've got to move beyond that and decide that it's actually okay to be weird, and fly your freak flag high.

[AlP]

I think I'm slightly autistic. I spend most of my free time looking through option chains and calculating profit / loss on hypothetical bets. Today I found some stats for historical total market capitalization for the AMEX, NYSE and NASDAQ exchanges. I just had to divide that by historical nominal US gross domestic product. Apart from HAF and one other forum, spreadsheets and numbers are what I spend most of my free time on.

I wish my parents had recognized this... I taught myself how to program computers when I was 8. I just read the manual with no help from anyone. 1 year later I wrote a video game for my younger brother. How many 8 year olds could do that?

I've given up on therapy. And psychiatrists are so fast to prescribe. I figure I'm not broken; it's the world that's broken. The secret to escaping my mental illness was to realize I'm not ill. I'm abnormal. Fuck the world: I like being abnormal.

[i_am_i]

I think I'm slightly autistic. I spend most of my free time looking through option chains and calculating profit / loss on hypothetical bets. Today I found some stats for historical total market capitalization for the AMEX, NYSE and NASDAQ exchanges. I just had to divide that by historical nominal US gross domestic product. Apart from HAF and one other forum, spreadsheets and numbers are what I spend most of my free time on.

I wish my parents had recognized this... I taught myself how to program computers when I was 8. I just read the manual with no help from anyone. 1 year later I wrote a video game for my younger brother. How many 8 year olds could do that?

I've given up on therapy. And psychiatrists are so fast to prescribe. I figure I'm not broken; it's the world that's broken. The secret to escaping my mental illness was to realize I'm not ill. I'm abnormal. Fuck the world: I like being abnormal.

Nothing wrong with taking the meds. I  love my pills! They work, you know.

[AlP]

^ Which meds? I was on major tranquilizers and anti-depressants for years. The doctors were trying to make me "normal". That seems to be what they try to do. What they didn't understand was that to be happy I just had to accept that not being "normal" is not necessarily a problem.

[Sophus]

I think I'm slightly autistic. I spend most of my free time looking through option chains and calculating profit / loss on hypothetical bets. Today I found some stats for historical total market capitalization for the AMEX, NYSE and NASDAQ exchanges. I just had to divide that by historical nominal US gross domestic product. Apart from HAF and one other forum, spreadsheets and numbers are what I spend most of my free time on.

I wish my parents had recognized this... I taught myself how to program computers when I was 8. I just read the manual with no help from anyone. 1 year later I wrote a video game for my younger brother. How many 8 year olds could do that?

I've given up on therapy. And psychiatrists are so fast to prescribe. I figure I'm not broken; it's the world that's broken. The secret to escaping my mental illness was to realize I'm not ill. I'm abnormal. Fuck the world: I like being abnormal.

I do some programming too. Mostly PHP stuff. Video games sound a lot more challenging.

I don't know how much one can rely on online tests but these ones claim to be pretty accurate if you want to give it a try:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

http://www.asperger-syndrome.me.uk/

Do you think this might be more helpful if it were in the parenting section?

That would be decent fit.

Also, I know a couple people who are able to get along well with others in social settings but absolutely do not work well on group projects then don't understand why people get upset with them (even after the specifics of why people are upset are pointed out). Could it be possible that they memorized how to act in a social setting and are actually somewhere on the autistic spectrum? I'm just curious because it would make it easier to work with them if I knew why they don't work well with others. Whatever these people are, they either aren't diagnosed or aren't revealing that they are diagnosed with something.

It's possible. Explaining why something upsets you wouldn't necessarily make me understand because I expect people to see things my way after I've done explained it. And by that I mean not just looking at things through both perspectives but completely agree with me and why I never agreed with you in the first place. This could just be more about my personality than having Aspergers. Another part of why I don't work well with others is because I don't communicate effectively in person and even attempting to do so is a chore unless I know you well.

I see a psychiatrist twice a year, I take my pills for depression and anxiety and I take my sleeping pills and I just go about being myself. Not really all that big a deal when you think about all the really dire things that a lot of other people have to deal with.

Edit: I know what it's like to struggle with being different and messed up, being alone and wondering how everyone else handles all this people stuff so well, and I don't mean to belittle any of that. It's just that eventually you've got to move beyond that and decide that it's actually okay to be weird, and fly your freak flag high.

I agree that it is not big deal. It seems to have more advantages than disadvantages.

[i_am_i]

^ Which meds? I was on major tranquilizers and anti-depressants for years. The doctors were trying to make me "normal". That seems to be what they try to do. What they didn't understand was that to be happy I just had to accept that not being "normal" is not necessarily a problem.

I really needed the meds. I was profoundly unhappy, prone to panic attacks and deep despair, couldn't sleep and was just generally miserable. I used to self-medicate with all kinds of dope and alcohol. I lived in a constant pot-haze. So, I'll stick with my meds.

[elliebean]

I don't know how much one can rely on online tests but these ones claim to be pretty accurate if you want to give it a try:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

http://www.asperger-syndrome.me.uk/

I didn't find a test in the second link, only another link to the first one. Anyway, I scored 40 on that test.

From the site:

In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher.

 lol

[i_am_i]

As a musician Asperger's has served me well in two ways. First, music is all I've ever really cared about and it has always come easy to me, and second, odd behavior in my business goes pretty much unnoticed. In fact it's kind of expected, especially from jazz drummers!

[curiosityandthecat]

My friend's family runs the Stynchula Foundation. They do all kinds of charities to benefit autism research.

[pinkocommie]

I don't know how much one can rely on online tests but these ones claim to be pretty accurate if you want to give it a try:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

http://www.asperger-syndrome.me.uk/

I didn't find a test in the second link, only another link to the first one. Anyway, I scored 40 on that test.

From the site:

In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher.

Yeah, I scored 36 but I don't think I have Asperger's, I'm just horribly anti-social and awkward.  

[Ultima22689]

I haven't been diagnosed yet but according to the doc I might as well be, he wants to be sure but I have all the indicators for it except for the good at math part. I'm actually terrible at math however, excuse my arrogance, the average consensus of my skill with  literature, biology and anything else that isn't related to math ( so I suck at physics and chemistry) is that I always excel above everyone else, assuming I can focus on the class long enough to care. I have ADD as well, it hasn't gotten any better since I was a kid. I could be in an argument one moment and be eating ice cream talking about how great my day was not even a second later.

[AlP]

I took an autism test a while back. In fact I posted it here and a lot of us took it! It was just for fun. I read the symptoms of autism immediately before taking the test so I regard the results as largely meaningless. I seem to remember I was at the autistic end of the spectrum for what it's worth.

[Kylyssa]

I was diagnosed with low-functioning Aspergers/high-functioning autism when I went through treatment for PTSD.  It made so many things in my past make sense.  Things like why I became homeless but had a full ride National Merit scholarship plus a half dozen others suddenly made sense.  I have major meltdowns when the rules suddenly change on me and my parents leaving was too big a change for me to handle gracefully.

A "normal" smart kid would have couch surfed with relatives or something until fall and then started college.

Being autistic probably increased the amount of time I spent homeless.  I was completely naive and blindly walked into dangerous situations, often by taking people literally.  And if my initial situation cased meltdown, the rapes and assaults and other horrible, unfamiliar situations common to homelessness brought on a dissociative reaction and froze me.  I probably would have tested as a low-functioning autistic at that point.