SallyAspie

Seems pretty common among those of us on the spectrum. Mine is no secret although I think I do a reasonable job of covering it up.

Check out http://www.think-differently.org.uk/campai...tion%20now.aspx and email your MPs/directors of social services (including of course a few personal experiences/fears). The more people get behind this campaign the better!

Does anyone have experience of being a parent with AS? I'm guessing that in some ways it could be a good thing as kids need routine like aspies and we're good at sticking to rules etc.

The queen normally sends out congratulatory telegrams for diamond anniversaries. Does anyone know if she's sent one to herself and/or Prince Philip?

Well done for not punching him Jim. We do learn to handle things better as adults and stop the meltdown from occuring in public places. Doesn't mean we're not still aspie though.

I'm on antidepressants because of the stress of having and ASD myself. Why wasn't that an option on the poll???

I used to love camping when I was little but got bored with it at about 11 to the point where I dreaded going and counted down days till I could go home.

Once they've taken the step it might hopefully boost their confidence to do it again.

The NAS are gathering information to try to get the SEN system improved for ASD kids. They would like people with experience of it in England or Wales to fill in their questionnaire at http://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly....380&a=13718 by 6th July.

Well I'm into amateur theatre. People are surpised that I'm prepared to get up on stage but I love it. I enjoy stage management too.

Sounds aspie to me.

ALL childcare providers must make reasonable adjustments for ASD kids under the disability dicrimination act. We need to act if we find any that fail in this duty.

Give the passport advice line a bell on 0870 521 0410.

Well basically I got thrown into a world of NTs, expected to be just like them and frustrated because I couldn't be. Probably what happened to most aspies of my generation.

I think it would be interesting to see a reality TV show in which 19 aspies and an NT are given the task of working and socialising together for a month. Thing is the NT doesn't know that all the other participants have AS and has to deal with being the odd one out with no idea why (rather like what happened to me).

You're right it's not mild, I should know I've been struggling with it all my life. High functioning autism is a more appropriate description of it.

I went through something similar when I was her age and felt suicidal but never seriously contemplated it. Like her I didn't feel brave enough to do so. I can't really offer much advice but things did get better when I started university at 18.

No kids yet so I can't check one of the boxes but I was dxed last year at age 30 (after a clinical psychologist told me I couldn't have AS due to the fact that I was working).

Sorry I forgot to mention that the fire blanket only works if a spat with my husband caused the meltdown in the first place although that's usually the case as I tend to hold it in when around other people. If hugging someone in meltdown mode gets you bruised don't do it but they might like a hug afterwards.

I'm 31 and still have the occasional meltdown. A few years ago (before I was diagnosed with AS) they were quite frequent and getting too much for my OH. He would try to reason with me and/or blame me for the way I was which just made things worse and even after I had calmed down on the surface I would still be very stressed inside and ready to explode again. I likened the meltdowns to a raging inferno which was left to smoulder in between and his responses to throwing on more fuel. We came up with a fire blanket which consisted of him hugging and reassuring me to help banish the negative feelings and it not only helped me out of meltdown, it made me feel a lot better and the meltdowns became far less frequent due to not having fuel left over from last time.

Nice to know I'm not unique. I don't have quite the same problems as some of the people who've posted on this topic (ie I can recognise familiar faces) but there are people who sit near me at work that I don't recognise. It gets a bit embarrassing sometimes. My husband's cousin came up to me in tesco and thanked me for an outfit I'd made for his baby and I didn't recognise him. I'd just sold some other hand made baby clothes on eBay and wondered how one of the buyers (none of whom lived near me) had managed to put a face to me. I was more out of sorts than usual at the time as I had a bad ear infection and was on the way to collect a prescription for it. Also I run raffles at the local theatre sometimes and can't remember who I've already sold tickets to so I use a slightly different tactic to other sellers (ie approaching people as they arrive then making more general offers at the interval). Oh and I forget names too although I'm good at remembering trivia!

I have Aspergers and am slow to register faces. For example, I won't recognise a stranger who served me in a shop a few minutes previously when (apparently) most people would. Does anyone else have the same problem?

I'm right handed but do certain things left handed. When it came to doing high jumps in PE at school I could never decide which leg to lead with.

I remember being an (undiagnosed) aspie kid. I wanted to play with other children but concepts such as imaginary play (unless on my terms), spending time with guests, eye contact, talking about what they wanted to talk about etc were totally alien to me. There's a lot to take in about social interaction when it doesn't come naturally. It might help to work on one thing at a time - eg start with getting him to ring the doorbell when he goes round there, then work on taking turns to choose activities etc. He may also find it easier to play with just one child at a time rather than all 3. It sounds like the eldest is prepared to look out for him and he may get on better with the youngest than with a child closer in age to him (something else I found at his age). Also, games with a definite set of rules are easier than imaginitive play, hanging out etc. If he does play with all 3 it might be better off for it to be at theirs so that he can come home when he's had enough. It's good that you know what's going on at a relatively young age and can tackle it. Going through adolescence and early adulthood with undiagnosed aspergers is not something I would recommend.

I think HFA and AS are basically one and the same. Apparently some drs tend to diagnose HFA in kids because they feel that it will muster up more support than AS. Also, some people may not haver heard of aspergers but if you say autism they'll know what you mean.