Forrest

I was the opposite - for ages I hated to be alone on my one, or even with my sister or a babysitter. I needed to be with my parents all the time. Now, at 18, I can manage almost a whole day on my own but it still makes me incredibly anxious, and I don't think I'd manage a night on my own. But if your son wants that bit of independence I think it is a great idea - at that age (and still now) I'd like to be less reliant on my parents, but I don't have as much courage as your kid

One thing I really suck as it arithmetic - I just cannot 'picture' numbers in my head and even basic calculations I need a calculator or a piece of paper and a pencil. I still don't know all the multiplication tables. But I actually managed with things like algebra and geometery, when the number was not just a random digit but actually something I could associate with. I was terrible at maths in primary school but I got a B in Higher/A Level Mathematics - so it is possible to improve.

I'd agree - even at my age I still get very stressed when Christmas comes around, mainly because everything changes. I freaked out when I saw Christmas cards etc. for sale in September (really, how early can it be?!). Holidays in general are bad for me, being a departure from routine, and also a time when you have to visit people and so on, and I definitely made things stressful in the past for my parents. But I hope your child feels better soon, and I know I'll try to be in a better mood for my parents as well!

I too have heard 'autistic' being used descriptively - someone is sitting alone and not talking and so is told they are 'being autistic' etc. I don't think that such a use of the word is unexpected - as Hidden Gem said, "As autism becomes more of a subject or topic in society, it will by nature become slightly trivialised." Words such as 'depressed', 'hyperactive', 'obsessive' and 'compulsive' are often used in a non-clinical sense to describe people, and so 'autistic' as an adjective is a logical progression from that. I do find it a little offensive, though, in two regards - firstly, such use of the 'label' shows ignorance, and ignorance in general offends me () Secondly, it is very unfair to associate a condition that is very debilitating to a lot of people, with something that is so trivial as the practises of one musician (for example). While autistic spectrum disorders have positive aspects (or rather are not wholly negative - depending on your perspective) it doesn't seem like something to use in a positive sense when describing someone. (Oddly, someone said something similar to my example to me, before I was diagnosed with AS...)

From an Asperger's perspective, having a 'phrase book' for translating idioms certainly seems useful (I have a copy of The Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms which was part of a set of reference books) although carrying it around for reference causing some embarassment! The hardest thing for me regarding idioms is simply how many there are, and the local variations on them. My mother often says something idiomatically that she's never said before, and we have to go through the whole arguement about what it means and why can't she just speak plain English, again. I don't know where she's learning all these new phrases from or why she would start to use them AFTER I get a diagnosis of Asperger's!

I'm told that I can give off a Kathy Bates vibe sometimes.

Greetings. I am new to this board and decided to make an introduction before posting. I am 18 years old, female, and I have a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome and OCD (made in 2001). I live with my parents in Scotland, and I'm at University.