Alphazebra

Don't you just tell the to say AAHHHH ;-)

This is an interesting question for me as an AS individual who has not got children yet. I have always wanted to be a parent at some point. I have always got on well with kids and assumed it would be like that. Only recently when friends of mine had a new baby did I find that there might be an issue. Bless her she is lovely but when she starts screaming it just cuts straight through my head. It really shocked me becuase I had never had that before, but it immediately worried me that maybe I would not be able to cope if I did have kids. All the noise, mess, confusion and lack of definate timetable seems a horry to me at the moment. It made me realise that there is a lot that would need to be thought about with regards to simple logistics. Crazy thing is how can that be enough to put someone off of having kids - but it certainly adds a worry.

Hi all, I've just gotten through reading the whole of this thread and have some comments I'd like to add. First it is worth noting several things: 1) I am 27 and have Aspergers Syndrome (Not officially diagnosed). 2) I have no experience of any other form of ASD. 3) I have very little knowledge of all of this apart from what I experience. Primine - It sounds like you are really trying to help these children, just like all the parents and people here, and thats great. It also sounds like where possible you are being aware of what you are doing so as to correct, adjust methods for specific situations which is also a good thing. I think the research on stimming would be a very valid and worthwhile idea. I do also agree that is very comlpex and has many factors and influences. I hope you keep getting the kind of information that helps, I know these guys have loads of good stuff. My stimming: I think in my case stimming breaks down into several types. There is the most obvious one, stress induced stimming. This is when a situation is bothering me and so I find something to focus all my attention on to attempt to disolve the stress (sometimes I can't just leave the stressful environment i.e. work and sometimes I am the stressful environment i.e. my thoughts). Stimming in this way ranges from twiddling keys, counting things, reading things. Then there is the stimming because I am bored / not focused on what is going on around me. This normally is of the form of tapping (be it feet or fingers), bouncing (in the form of contracting and relaxing muscles e.g. thighs) and my own speciality lining things up between my eyes and fingers. Basically I find something symetrical in my field of view and I line up to it with my fingers and then map those lines onto other objects always maintaining right angles and symmetry. This type of stimming I normally do and only become aware of whilst doing - it isn't conciously initiated and is not conducive to learning / focussing on other things. Then there is the stimming which aids the understanding, learning, memory etc.. because it seems to help balance my thoughts or stop my mind from racing on to other things. This stimming is also not conciously initiated. The thing is this can also include tapping and bouncing. Sometimes I tap when I'm bored and sometimes it helps me focus. Both times I can do it without realising I'm doing it, it just depends on what the situation is. Eye Contact: I know bid wanted to get a comment in on this and I am sure that anything I say will not encompass all views anyway so there will be plenty of room if I make a comment first. Eye contact can in some cases be very uncomfortable and very distracting. I concentrate far better on people when I am not looking at them that when I am. Whenever I look at peoples faces I am left thinking: 'I know what you look like, so why am I looking at you? Oh, yes, eye contact - meant to be a good thing. Now what is it, I should be able to tell what your thinking by what your facial expression and eyes are telling me. Well they look like your face and eyes. Nothing seems to have changed there. Yep, you look the same as you did last time. Nope, I'm not getting anything. Can your eyes speak up a bit because I must be a bit deaf. Hang on, have I been staring. Am I now making you feel uncomfortable. What should I be looking at, should I be moving focus to different parts of the face. HOW DOES THIS WORK???? HOW DOES ANYONE MAKE SENSE OF SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T TALK???? Ok, now I feel uncomfortable even if you don't. AAARRGGHHH. I hate this.' All that runs through my head in about a second. So the point about have I made 'you feel uncomfortable' hasn't even had a chance of happening yet. But the main point I am trying to make is I DO feel uncomfortable. Instantly. My concern is that although NT's associate a lot of emphasis with sight of a person and the reassurance in someone else's eyes. In my case this is completely the opposite. I would rather look at the sky and talk to you than look at you. No offense meant ;-).

It sounds like, for your family at least, is was the right thing to do. I am glad that you and he get that kind of benefit. I have had a look into the Opioid Excess Theory and it seems quite interesting, i'll have to read up on it all a bit more. Up until now I have just assumed that because I am by no means anywhere near as affected on the scale of ASD there was not really anything to do about it. I kind of was feeling that I would just always feel the way I do and that would be that. This has added at least an avenue of investigation worth looking at, Thanks.

Thanks Jaded I appreciate the advice. I will try and track what I eat a bit more and see if I can pin it down a bit. As I say the headaches are when I need to eat and not after but someone else previously suggested a link to foods that my body was craving due to addictive qualities in those foods. Either way I think food certainly is part of it and I'll only get to the bottom of it with more organised investigation on my part. Luckily, thats something I am good at ;-). If you don't mind me asking, what initially drew you to the GF/CF diet as a possible aid for your son and does he find it helps in general?

My diet consists of a crunchy and nutty flake cereal for breakfast ;-), then cheese sandwiches for lunch. For dinner I normally go for one of: sausage and mash tortellini pasta and cheese sause mince beef burittos chicken and rice chicken and noodles chicken and chips pizza burgers chicken chicken chicken (I like chicken) My major thing with food is that I eat what I like and thats that. I don't like vegetables or fruit. I have tried at different points to different extents but I just don't like them. Mum used to worry about it loads, but once I got to be 18 and over 6'2" she kind of accepted it. She still trys to ply me with veg when I go to my parents for food, but generally I don't eat it because I don't like it. I also don't drink tea of coffee oh an no alcohol. Oh, I like chocolate. Quite a lot really. If I get a hunger headache for a while and it isn't near time to eat and I can't just go and eat now then chocolate is normally my way of putting a hold on the headache.

I think that due to the nature of the width of scale of symptoms / abilities / actions that people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders show there is likely to be a large number of complex influences that all add up to pushing people different degrees along the spectrum. Myself I am aware of a troublesome birth (see above) which may have affected me but I also know for certain that many of my more unusual characteristics really started to become more obvious with stress and frutstration when I went to University. It was there with so many people different and such interactions going on that I really noticed being different and so found myself amplifying things even more. Melba, don't even think about whether you caused your son's situation. I just don't believe it and neither should you. Think of all the good you do for him now instead, I am sure he appreciates it even if he can't yet explain quite how much.

I have just read a post from another thread which mentioned GF/CF diets. This is not something I have heard / read about before. I am fairly new to all this having really only been identified as having Aspergers Syndrome in the last 6 months or so. I have a question with regards to food and Aspergers. For a long time I have had the following symptoms whenever I get hungry. I start of getting a mild headache, and then it gets more serious. If I don't eat then I get a stiff neck and that hurts too. Usually if I've been neglecting to eat (probably because I'm absorbed in something else in the way I seem to get) then I'll eventually feel so bad that I realise that I haven't eaten. These symptoms are far more powerful than any feeling of hunger I have. So, finally to the question. Sorry - I tend to ramble before getting to the point, but I always think a good background is required before decisions can be made and opinions voiced. Does anyone else have these kind of symptoms? Either way, has anyone heard of this stuff before and could it be related to what I eat and anything to do with the CF/GF stuff?

My mum was in labour for a rediculous amount of time with me. So long in fact that they sent my dad home because it wasn't worth him waiting any longer. He had time to go home, sort him self out, go get fish and chips for dinner (Mum had gone into labour around breakfast time) and just as he sat down in front of the football to eat, he got called back to the hospital. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with my AS, but it certainly seems to be possible. I mean if the first time I get sent out to meet people it takes me a day to sort myself out, what more can you say. ;-)

I am 27. I don't have an offical diagnosis although my counsellor is convinced I have AS. She was the first to even suggest or mention the concept to me and I had seen psychologists, clinical psychiatrists and psychiatrists on and off for approximately 3 of the 5 years before seeing her. I am not sure if a diagnosis at my age would really make any difference.

My favourite food is sausages and mash, oh and pasta (not at same time obviously). But thats just at home. It makes a difference where I eat. Once my girlfirend and I have eaten at a restaurant and I have picked something, I will always have the same thing at that restaurant. My girlfriend can reel off all the foods I eat at a particular restaurant and can order for me anytime. The main reason is the hassle of the decision. It is so much work trying to decide what to pick on a menu that once the decision has been made once I don't see any benefit in putting myself through all the stress to pick something else (unless of course I didn't like what I ordered the last time). The same goes for sandwiches, cheese sandwiches every day. Drove my mum crazy when I was at school. She couldn't understand why I always wanted the same. At the time I diddn't know either. It just made sense. (Oh I'm 27 by the way and have only this year been identified as an aspie.)

That makes sense, thanks for the reassurance.

I am 27, Male and based on the opinion of my counsellor and myself an Aspie. I exhibit most of the common diagnostic traits of Asperger's Syndrome although I have not offically been diagnosed. I have only been aware of Asperger's Syndrome for several months, I always just thought I was different from everyone else and never understood, not that I do now, why. One thought has come up over the last few weeks of whether I should tell my friends. As I said, I exhibit most of the traits of AS and that includes the limited social abilites and problems making friends. I don't mind this as such. I enjoy my own company and in many cases would much rather spend time on my own or with a select few people than any others. That is were my question comes from. I do have a select few friends who I do spend time with occasionally and have considered telling them about my AS. Has anyone else gone through these thoughts and what decisions did you make? Did you find telling the few people you do spend time with beneficial, or did you find it complicating? I should just say that my parents and my girlfriend do know about my AS, but currently they are the only people (apart from me, my counsellor and now anyone reading this post ;o) ).

I have recently, this week, finished reading "Asperger Syndrome and Long-Term Relationships" by Ashley Stanford. This may not be most appropriate to you due to the focus on couples but it does provide a break down of particular components of the AS diagnosis and what they mean. Due to the fact that it is written by the wife of an Asperger husband it is based mainly on what she has seen from the outside looking in, so to speak. I would definately recommend it, if for no other reason than it provides an interesting, first hand, outside view which can hardly be described as spectator due to the emotional relationship involvement. I love films and watch them over and over again. I'm gonna sign of with a little quiz question. Which film is this line from "Ah ah ah, you didn't say the magic word." - This is one for the whole family. AZ.