Tisha

I already knew too, didn't make it any easier. Take some time to let it sink in and be really kind to yourself.

shoe

Yes, we got it in central London, HUGE flakes too, but its more sleety now. I got camera pics and little videos : )

Sounds great : ) I also stopped trying to be normal and it also helped me see situations which were very stressful, so I removed myself from them and am much more content. Yes, at least when you know why things haven't always gone well in life, at least there is an explanation.

I like mine comfortably warm but not hot. I don't have ducks or snorkels.

London.

That gave me such a jolt, I had no idea she had died. I have a selection of her books and found them helpful. I hope the site stays up.

The National Autistic Society has a book list indexed into areas such as relationships, children etc. I found that quite useful. I liked Autistic Spectrum Disorders by Rita Jordan, this is a bit more on the academic side and at the other end of that I enjoyed all cats have asperger syndrome by Kathy Hoopmann - this is mainly a picture book of cats and each page has an aspect of AS on it put in a fun way : ) I liked Asperger Syndrome in the Family by Liane Holliday Willey because it lists the strengths and struggles of an aspie. There are quite a few life stories around and that would be a matter of preference too, I liked Overcoming Aspergers by Robert S Sanders because I thought he was the most like me out of all the ones I had read. Hope you find something useful anyway.

When I was diagnosed, it was the fact that my language development was fine that helped them decide it was Asperger Syndrome and not another ASD. Not to be confused with being mute, which just means that although the language ability has developed normally, the child does not speak.

I was non-verbal until around age 10 when I did begin saying the occasional thing to the boy who sat next to me in class. I didn't start talking to other children properly until I was 14 and then it was limited to mostly outside school. From my own point of view, it wasn't a problem but it seemed that everyone around me wanted me to speak and that included teachers, children, family etc. The problem when I did start speaking was saying the wrong thing - bet they wished they had never asked : )

I was tentatively diagnosed around age 40, but I wouldn't accept any labels so it was all worked around by talking about it and not actually saying it directly. It was about eighteen months ago that someone finally said it to me. It took me a year of all kinds of feelings and upset to come to terms with it but now I am at peace with it and everything has settle down.

I wasn't diagnosed until way into adulthood but when I said that I paced and had tried not to by making myself sit back down in the chair, the psychologist told me to allow myself to stim if I noticed I was doing it. The damage done by making us conform can sometimes go inside and come out years later as suicidal feelings etc., so this is clearly a bad thing to over-control in this way. It makes me quite sad actually.

Thank you all so much for such a warm and lovely welcome to the ASD UK forum Tisha

Its Mount Rainier near Seattle - I have several friends that live there and I would love to go and see it for myself one day.

Hello purplehaze and loobylou2 I am also supposed to be studying a short course but this is much more fun : ) Tisha