Asperger's syndrome...

[Cybrvanr]

For those of you all that replied to the "being tortured in school" thread, take a look at the information on this unique pschological condition. It's very fascinating, and describes my mindset to a tee, and many of the issues that I faced as a kit growing up in school. Being that it's a rather new topic, only coming about in 1994, there is not a tremendous amount of information concerning it, but I have been able to find lots on the internet of primarily issues relating to childhood development.

Asperger syndrome - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[mattywashboy]

This is an incredible condition to study, i have studied it for various college assignments. If anyone wants any 'simplified' infor then feel free to email me: [email protected]
Matt

 

[toggleswitch]

Mind-blindness?

Mind-blindness?....THIS is a VERY good read!

 

[tomturbomatic]

I proposed that we try to get medical financing for our appliance museums by classifying them as Assburger Treatment Centers. We could have a few dryers with windows in the door, tumble washers and combos, a few dishwashers with Plexiglass tops and kids could come in for calming therapy, because repetitive motions, sounds or musical beats, etc. are another fascination. We would not even ask them about their insurance information before we let them in.

 

[jasonl]

I can say that I do exhibit some of those qualities (NOT symptoms) of Assbur... ahem... Asperger's.

I do have the lack of social skills. If someone is joking with me, especially something negative like "Loser" or something like that, I have a hard time realizing that the person is kidding and not really insulting me. Unless a facial expression is obvious I do have a hard time telling the person's emotion.

I ABSOLUTELY have the "focused interest" thing. All through life I've been from one particular thing to another. Like cement trucks, sewing machines, Peter Pan (yeah, go ahead, laugh), roller coasters (lifelong), cuckoo clocks or mechanical clocks in general, washing machines (lifelong), Harry Potter, record players, televisions, Volkswagens, music (lifelong), and most recently, accordions. Even my parents taunt me about this "You get interested in one thing only and you care about talking about anything else but that one thing and then after a few years you go to something else. What's wrong with you, boy?" Orrr, I've often heard "We don't want to hear about your damn (whatever it is I'm into at the time)" Again, misunderstanding parents and teachers. I keep telling myself I'm going to stop this and just enjoy different things but ohhhh no... I had WALTZ right into a cajun music shop and touch that accordion. I'm sure my parents are thrilled of the idea of hearing badly played cajun music coming out of my room (that is until I get good at it).

I had an imaginary friend who was a carpenter and drove an old white pickup truck =) . Now my imaginary friends are female :-D. I often "spaced out" in school. I'm very good with wordplay, satire, song parodies (like Weird Al). And I've already demonstrated my "poet and didn't knowit" attribute (writing something that rhymes without even knowing).

I think alot of this is trying to cope with the mixture of my Moebius Syndrome, outcasting and bullying from school, ADD and possibly some of the features of Aspergers. I can't say I have Aspergers but I have the traits.

Owa tagu siam.

 

[jetcone]

I think we have all been

tortured by our peers at some point, in or out of school.

But Asperger's is much deeper. My nephew has AS. He has alot of frustration trying to relate to his peers and his environment. But the most damadging thing and I pray he outgrows it is the sensory overload. It is paralyzing to him.

His father explained it this way to me-- Suppose you go into Target on the day after Thanksgiving with 5 friends. You are all talking about the sales on appliances -all 5 at once, all around you are metal carts rolling around you , and the aisles, there are store clerks whizzing up and down the aisles and all the time store announcers bleating out the latest sales on the intercomm, and to top it all off they have decorated the appliance department with blinking Xmas lights.

Now you or I would be able to follow the conversations of one of our 5 friends because we have the ability to block out specific information when we choose. We can tune out all that nonsense around us by sheer will.
My nephew would have ALL of this information colliding inside his head at the very core. He would not be able to shut any of it down.

IT makes him very angry and he turns red with frustration and can end up spinning around just to try to blot it ALL out. Talk about losing your peace of mind. I would go crazy!

I can see in him it is very dibilitating. I think his response is very normal because that is what I would do to make it stop. Whats not normal is that he can't tune it out to begin with. But unfortunately it is the response everyone sees and remembers.

Cybrvanr thank you for posting the link, I needed more education on this syndrome even though I have been experiencing it for many years now. I am glad they say these children can grow up and function in a field of interest.

My nephew is VERY intelligent and can tell you about any character that ever lived or died in Star Wars. He can tell you what they did outside of the movies in the books of Star Wars, he is so well read for a 12 year old.
He knew all the planets of the solar system and their characteristics by the time he was 7.
I got my degree in Astronomy but I would still have to look up the mass of Mars versus Saturn!

I am glad to read that someday with encouragement he will be able to surmount this. I have thought long about what his future might be.
His parents shoulder on magnificently. They are the wind beneath his wings.
Good on them!

 

[westytoploader]

Very informative article Steven; thanks for posting! I never knew Asperger's was such a recent discovery or had so many characteristics!

I have so many qualities of this it's scary, but never knew what category it all fell into until now. I have the narrow, intense interests (washing machines, vacuums, vintage computers, and cars to name a few), and most wonder why I collect vacuums or washers. And Jason I get the same responses as you, such as "Why don't you collect stamps or rocks instead of washing machines?" Well, it's really quite simple...washing machines and vacuums and other household appliances, big and small, are what interest me, and stamps and rocks don't!

I also have little patience on things outside my areas of interest (I do classify myself as a highly intelligent underachiever), have used more pedantic/higher-level language than others my age for a long time, picked up Spanish quicker than anyone else (and not raised on the language...I can write/speak Spanish better than most Mexicans I know), varying degrees of sensory overload, and when I was younger I did fidget quite a bit. It is possible that I have ADD to some degree...not to be confused with ADHD as I'm not a hyperactive person.

Most importantly though are the social skills. It is worth noting that I don't have great self-esteem either...never had, regardless of friends, support, etc. I used to have a REALLY hard time with eye contact on certain people, though I've definitely gotten better about it in the past few years. I do like to use hand gestures while talking as well. As for the "mind-blindness", I don't have a problem judging others' expressions and emotions; it's harder using my own expressions/emotions, believe it or not! So 9 times out of 10 I'm generally happier or more excited than I look or sound (LOL)!

I didn't have any "imaginary friends", however, I have to admit, when I was 4-6 years old I created many alter egos for myself (most of them businessmen-type characters) with different names! Now don't ask Mom about THAT one...;-)

Like Jason and Jon said, Asperger's Syndrome is much more severe and goes much deeper than this, but I have a lot of the characteristics of it.

--Austin

 

[jasonl]

Right, my interests and general weirdness isn't debilitating, I guess just aggrevating to those around me. "Not everyone wants to hear about those roller coasters/washing machines/etc..."

"Imaginary lovers
never turn you down"

 

[westytoploader]

Well I don't have any sensory overload then...I'm just "easily distracted". In fact, I find going to Target and shopping during the "Christmas Rush" with everyone bustling around the aisles one of the most fun things to do!! It's also fun at my workplace when there are a lot of customers in LOOONG lines as well, but that's another story...

 

[jasonl]

One thing that does drive me nuts is the checkout section of any Wal Mart. Those scanners going "boop... booop... boop... boop..." all in different rhythms and different directions. Aargh.

 

[compactc9]

Well i felt I had to say something here... About 7 years ago I was officially diagnosed with Asperger's. I think its interesting how many people actually have this. I would say that I have gotten better about some things, but I still have trouble with eye contact, and just people in general. The best example I can think of is the first day of school, for me, it is one of the most frightening days of the year. I hate meeting new people and having to be in a social situation with them. The strange thing is the fact that I am fine with the customers at work, they don't usually scare me at all. I also definately have sensory overload, probably way too much too. Large crowds, too much noise, heat, and people are just a few of the things thet do this for me.
Overall, it counds like some people here don't have it as bad as I do, but I am definately doing better than other people, based on some people that I have seen and heard about.

 

[Designgeek]

We're not crazy.

Here are some useful generalities for mental or psychiatric illness: One or more of the following: Your mental state causes you much distress over a long period of time, for example chronic anxiety or depression. Your ability to take care of yourself is impaired, for example you can't feed or wash yourself regularly. Your behavior is a hazard to yourself or others, for example through substance abuse, recklessness or aggression. You have perceptual experiences that are internally generated but cannot distinguish these from external inputs (e.g. you're hallucinating and don't know it).

So, while AS may be a neurological divergence from the norms expressed in the mainstream culture, to my mind it doesn't qualify as an illness or disability unless it is accompanied by one of the above characteristics. And in those cases, the items above are the things that need treatment. BTW, anxiety and depression are highly treatable these days; and with regard to anxiety and overload, *occasional* *small* doses of a mild tranqulizer such as valium or its herbal equivalent, valerian root, are quite helpful.

Most of the geeks I know have some of the elements of AS. For me these include sensory overload particularly auditory, intense focus of interests, and a low tolerance for "small talk" and other forms of superficial interaction. However in some ways I'm too empathic; can't even handle violence in the media much less in person, and I can read peoples' emotions via subtleties in their tones of voice. Some people I've known in the geek universe have had serious difficulties processing emotional inputs, and other elements that more closely resemble the diagnostic criteria. In all of these cases we're talking about people who are clearly highly intelligent and capable in their fields.

What I find interesting is that many people who qualify for AS, are unusually honest, kind, caring for others, etc. If this particualar forum has an over-representation of AS, it also has much less nastiness and meanness than most of the places I hang out online.

If you're looking for something to worry about, read the criteria for adult antisocial personality disorder (sociopathy), and then read any reasonably objective biographical history of Karl Rove. Scary but true. I'd rather be surrounded by people who qualify for AS, than by people who qualify for what we may as well call Rove Syndrome.