I have a son who is 16. He was Rx’d as PDD-nos some time ago, which means Pervasive Developmental Disorder - not otherwise specified. That means he has something that is considered to be on the spectrum of Autism, but not anything specific. Like, they say he wouldn’t be considered to have Aspergers Syndrome because he’s “too social.” Of course, you’ll get a different answer from every phsyc doc you ask.
Often, when I look at behaviour of kids and adults around me, I wonder if they know how much some of their behaviour looks like Autism of some stripe to me. The thread about eye contact made me think of it.
I really loved the comment in that thread about email being a level playing field for people with autism. I’m going to mention that idea to my son’s case worker to pass on to the other teachers.
Do you sometimes wonder if you are mildly autistic? I know I do, especially since I have a child who is. I think I have face-blindness, whatever that’s called, for one thing. I can seldom remember a face, which can be a problem. I tend to remember people’s voices better than their faces.
From time to time. Like you, I’ve got face blindness, but that may have something to do with my inability to make eye contact. I’ve also got a touch of the OCD but can keep it in check using distraction, so I’m none too worried.
I do have a friend, though, who’s musically gifted but socially retarded, and counts every step he takes. He may be a bit further along the social/Asperger’s scale.
I’m always confused about the Asperger’s diagnosis. Sometimes it is so mild that it’s difficult to discern the difference between a non-diagnosed, simply shy or socially inept person and one that is diagnosed. I’m not sure what it is about the ones who do get diagnosed. Does anyone else out there wonder if there really is something “wrong” with many of these people? Can’t they just be different from us without having a “syndrome?” Don’t get me wrong; there are more severe and obvious cases – it’s the people with just “a touch of Asperger’s” that I wonder about.
I used to work for a company that provided the psychiatric staff for prisons in TN – I had more than one of the doctors comment that I should get tested for Aspergers. So, yeh, I do wonder sometimes. I have a lot of very autistic leanings – most notably that I abhor being touched in general – my mother actually mentioned once that she considered having me tested for autism as a baby because I so loathed being touched. Meh.
I actually thing this need to “normalize” every child by redefining personality quirks as “syndromes” is going to result in a depressingly drab art world in about 30± years.
Yeah, there seems to be a wide range of people labeled as AS.
That’s kind of where my kiddo is at though, Kalhoun, a Shadowsyndrome boy. He’s not someone you would usually pick out as “having a syndrome,” but he does have definite Autistic Moments. Kids his own age notice his differentness right away. I’m not sure if they think he’s just a jerk or if he’s defective somehow. Teachers, at least at first impression, most often seem to think he has a bad attitude, quite possibly from a bad example. Often, people want to blame his behaviour on his parents or his family life. Teachers have delicately asked how my son’s relationship with his father is for instance. Our family life is stable. We’ve lived in the same house since this kiddo was 9 months old. No divorces, separations, drama at home to speak of other than his own hypersensitivity over sensory stuff like clothes with tags on them. I used to have to cut off all clothing tags and hide new clothes in his drawers after I washed them a couple of times. If he thought they were new, he wouldn’t wear them because they were not his. I’ve spent a lot of time looking for identical clothing items in larger sizes.
Not that I’d wish it were worse for him so there would be no doubt, but I’ve spend a long time wanting to tell teachers “I told you so.” Nearly every year of elementary school from maybe 1st to 5th, I had each new teacher tell me near the year’s beginning “Well, I just told him firmly to stop <that behavour> and he did. You just have to treat him more firmly.” Yeah, he can put out 110% effort on some occasions, but just not 100% of the time.
And even with that all said, I can totally understand how people would come to the conclusion that it was not a syndrome, just a boy being a brat. I’ve lived with him all his life and I still sometimes don’t get where the line between helping him with his differences and hindering him by helping too much lies. It doesn’t help that the danged line keeps moving around as he moves through Teenagerville, Hormoneland.
Still, the more I learn about Autism, the more Autistic-seeming people I notice out there in the world. Often these are kids who I know do not have a diagnosis and are getting no help with it. Often these are adults who I have no history of so
I never know, still it makes me wonder. I bet there’d be a lot more people diagnosed with it if there were a blood test to prove it one way or the other.
I’ve always wondered if I was autisitc but was always told the symptoms of that were rather profound. Since I heard about Asperger’s Syndrome a few years ago, that is probably what I have (even if it is a self-diagnosis).
Yup. Heh – if I had $ .01 for every time someone thought I should be tested for some mental disorder or another, I’d be a very wealthy woman. Never let it bug me, but I have read up about Asperger’s and can see how I could easily be in that category.
JohnT, I agree completely. I have moaned for years about the rush to label any kid with more energy than the average dead snail as ADD or ADHD and fill them full of drugs. “Junior’s trying to run outside during PE, he must be ADHD, where’s the Ritalin?” And people wonder why the heck kids are so danged fat nowdays?
Sounds like my husband. He has to cut the tags off his clothes. He wears his underwear inside out because he doesn’t like the tags or seams. He also gets very attached to clothing…to the point where I can read small print through his threadbare t-shirts. And his clothing style rarely varies. He likes his stuff the way it is.
In an article about a psychiatrist who studied AS, he said that he gives talks at medical schools, and often wonders who in the audience of faculty had AS. He once gave a talk at an engineering school, and wondered who didn’t. I’m so face blind I didn’t recognize my own daughter once - though in my defense I met her unexpectedly on the street, and she was walking a friend’s dog.
If your child must have particular clothing then next time you buy new clothing buy several sets in graduating age-steps to allow for growth. So a blue tshirt he’ll wear at 5 but outgrows at 7 can be sneakily swapped for a near-identical blue tshirt sized for an 8 year old. etc.
My oldest son has been diagnosed with sensory integration disorder, in addition to autism and ADHD. (Also, PDD-NOS, but only for a while. Then he was upgraded to autism.) He reacts similarly to new clothing, tags, anything that touches him, and he has a multitude of other weird reactions to any sensory stimuli. I don’t think it’s a commonly diagnosed disorder, as I had to explain it to his neurologist last week.
The spectrum of autism is still so broad that it’s difficult to diagnose accurately. There is no blood or genetic test for it, and there is no known cause. I can’t think of anyone I know who doesn’t have at least a few of the symptoms of ASD. I am not a social person, and I dislike eye contact, so does that put me on the spectrum? My middle kid bangs his head on the floor when he’s angry. My baby rocks back and forth at times. Do they have ASD? I don’t think so, but all I know is what I’ve researched on my own and been told by the half-dozen doctors who help us with my oldest son.
I have pretty strong opinions about this topic due to personal experience. When I was four years old, local doctors diagnosed me with autism. They apparently based this diagnosis on the fact I would spend long stretches of time by myself. They (according to my mother) were going to send me off to an institution and have a therapist from Boston treat me. That plan ended when the therapist angrily announced they had misdiagnosed me.
Do I have problems socializing with others? Most definately. Has this hindered me in life? Absolutely. Was it worth removing me from society and doping me with medication that probably would have great effects on a young body? Hell no. I often wonder how many kids now are used as doctor’s playthings just because they happen to be different.
Kalhoun
Besides being somewhat withdrawn socially another symptom I have is oversensitivity to visual and auditory stimuli. I always wear sunglasses outside (except at night ) and I’m really sensitive to sounds. I absolutely hate that cheap tick of those crappy one tick per second battery operated clocks. (I have had a grandfather clock for several years, and neither the pendulum tick, nor the quarter hour chimes nor the hourly chimes bother me at all. (I had a feeling it wouldn’t, otherwise why buy the darned thing?)
When I was a kid, I used to drive my parents nuts by this aggravation at certain sounds. Absolutely no windup alarm clocks in the house - ever.
There’s lots more about the sound sensitivity but that might give you a good idea.
I’ll have to look up Asperger’s Syndrome again to see what other symptoms I have.
Sometimes wondered if I was autistic because I preferred being alone than with others.
Often wondered if I had ADD because my mind wanders easily.
Occasionally wondered if I was sociopathic because… well, just because.
Then I figure, I have a high-paying job that involves doing things that few others can, a happy marriage and a family life that’s successful by most measures, so why mess with what works?
I’m so face blind I didn’t recognize my own daughter once - though in my defense I met her unexpectedly on the street, and she was walking a friend’s dog.