moon gazer

Sesley, apparently ASD can be a mix of genetically inherited and environmental factors, so I'm not surprised if families of ASD children show strong traits in family members. I know my Dad and Mum show some strong traits themselves and can find cousins, nephews, etc. who show traits too, but people don't often seek diagnosis unless the traits are to such an extent that is making daily life hard for the person (or his carers) to manage. Also in the olden days, HFA wasn't really considered a real condition, was it? When I told my Dad that me and my daughter had it, and that I thought he might have traits of it in himself, understandably, he was in denial. In his generation, to be diagnosed with some sort of mental incapacity of some sort seemed to be considered a shameful thing.

Oh yes, another thing I noticed is that she likes to make up as many variations as she can if she's found a tune she likes. So for instance, she recently learnt this little ditty (at her skill level really, its mostly just playing little short pieces that last about 4 to 5 bars of notes) from her piano book. And she went and made up at least 4 different variations around the same "theme", so she'd play it slightly different every time or with different bass accompaniment, but it'd still be recognisably the same tune, IYSWIM... haha... interesting. Mozart himself might have been ASD (or probably high-functioning, or Aspie, since he seemed to be). In his famous piece "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" (i.e. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to most of us), he wrote 12 variations of the same theme/tune.

Just wondering if people on the autistic spectrum have a preference for repetitive music? I know my daughter just loves trance music. She hums along to the melody/line that repeats and this sort of music just sort of calms her down. Of course, I suppose it could also be due to DH's influence She does enjoy music on the whole, she likes choir and piano too.

I have AS and have done yoga on and off for the last 13 years. I think its good exercise and relaxation at the same time, helps me feel more in tune with my body and have a better posture so walk and look more confidently as a result. I have a yoga book for children by Thia Luby called "Children's Book of Yoga" which my children find quite enjoyable to follow though some of the steps they find more tricky than others, but its not a yoga book tailored for ASD children in particular, though my eldest daughter who loves doing yoga is AS herself. I do feel I get a lot of benefit out of practising meditation and visualisation as well (just a pity I don't always have time to do it daily!). When I used to do antenatal yoga whilst pregnant, the teacher often had a short session of meditation and visualisation alongside the actual yoga, and I think all these things go very well together to create a more peaceful and calm mind. I have placed an order for "Starbright: Meditations for Children" which I've researched quite a lot on Amazon and think it sounds like it would be useful for my children to practise before bedtime to help them wind down and sleep better. Just waiting for it in the post now!

You can watch the entire movie free online here : http://www.metacafe.com/watch/5442835/temple_grandim/ I've watched it quite a while ago - my friend forwarded me the link. Really good movie.

Hi Bid

I'm an Aspie mum, with a young Aspie daughter with selective mutism. Sometimes I feel like I must be a ###### mum because I too struggle at times with social situations and feel like my daughter might be learning all the wrong lessons from me! The only benefit of our relationship is that: 1) I can totally *get* her 2) Knowing what a hard time I had growing up and which areas I really struggled with, I know which areas of hers need improvement and am determined to find every resource I can for her to help her improve the areas which she is weak in, for instance, social skills. So a blessing and a curse, that's how I see it. However, I have a dad whom I believe is AS. He was very cold emotionally all those years when I grew up under his roof. I hated him for a long time because I thought this man never loved me or valued me for who I was. Only recently have I seen another side of him as we started getting into contact again - only by email, as we live too far from each other to visit regularly. He's old - 70 - and I sense he just wants to maintain contact with his estranged daughter because he feels his time is short. But his emails expose a very different side of him which I'd never been aware of, and for that I will always be grateful - its brought me closure, and I realise now that he did really care about me, he was just incapable of expressing it in a way I'd have understood. He had huge problems in his marriage with mum, which I think his AS personality might have played a part. Also his emails are quite odd emails, always includes lots of detailed factual info which are not really useful to me or relevant to the spirit of keeping in touch - i.e. not really stuff people say to each other when they're trying to catch up. Okay, so as an Aspie woman, I feel that on some levels I seem a bit more clued up to social interaction than my poor old dad ever was. Am curious if anyone here parents an Aspie child and he/she himself/herself is an Aspie too?