Tally

Well done Are you going to take a car for a test drive? It's a good way to make sure you like it.

Knickers are a major sensory issue for me I've seen seamless knickers for adults (very comfy by the way), but I expect you can get the for children too. Or you can be cheap like me and just wear normal ones inside out (no one has to know!!!)

Your employer has to allow you time off if it falls within the law. Are you a member of a trade union? If not, now would be a good time to join. Even if you're not a member, a union rep may be able to tell what you're entitled to. You don't work for Sir Ken, do you, because it is a lot like him to have this kind of policy?

It's legible most of the time anyway. My camera's not that great though And my drawings are . . . immature

I often look unhappy when I'm not. Sometimes people ask me what's wrong, and there's nothing wrong. I always say, "I'm just relaxing my face." I tend to react in an understated way to things. For example, instead of laughing, I just smile. I think that's why people think I'm sad, but it's just that I show it differently.

When a moderator moves a post, they have the choice whether to "Leave a link to the new topic in the source forum." If they do this, the title remains in the folder where it was originally posted, but when you click on it, it takes you to the post in the folder it has been moved to. This is when the symbol shows, to show that the topic you are clicking on is actually now in another folder. If the moderator chooses not to leave the link in the source folder, the post just appears in the new folder as if it were posted there originally.

My employer is a lot like that. And the moral of the story is . . . next time, tell them you are sick.

I love music a great deal, and at some times, a particular musician/band has been my special interest. But everyone's different. Computing is supposed to be a common aspie interest, but knowing how to use the basic features for my own enjoyment is as far as my interest in computers goes. I don't think it's AS that makes you disinterested in music. I think that's just your personality.

I talk really slowly. If I try to talk fast, I just 'trip' over the words and end up talking rubbish.

I'm applying for a job working at an animal rescue centre. I've always wanted to volunteer at one, but any spare time I've had has needed to be used earning money. Now I could get both at the same time! Wish me luck!!!

My crash-helmet size is Large, so my head must be larger than the average. Not noticeably so though.

My mum wouldn't let me out alone until I was at secondary school, aged 12. She never took me out to 'practice' or anything though, so I still didn't know what to do in the shops. I had to go with a friend. It's good that you want your children to do things, because I didn't have a clue when I left home aged 20, and I made mistakes as a result.

ceecee, magazines often use actors to pose for photos and use false names in this type of article. If you explained the need for anonymity, they may well still be interested in your daughter's story. You might also write a letter to the magazine. Most don't publish letters from anonymous senders, but you can request that your name be withheld from publication.

I would be interested in attending this, and I think my husband would come too. I live in Devon, but I can travel. London/Surrey would be particularly convenient as I could stay for free at my parents' house, but I could get anywhere really.

I've always watched people's mouths when they speak, as I have some hearing difficulties. People have commented that I make good eye contact, but I never look in their eyes because then I find it even harder than usual to concentrate on what is being said. So I would suggest that watching the mouth is also a good way to look like you're making eye contact.

I wouldn't have thought Jessica had AS if it weren't mentioned. It possibly would have been missed if her other condition weren't investigated. Jenny's behaviour was completely different to an autistic child having a meltdown in a stressful situation. When the others were able to argue, Jenny made some very spiteful comments, burst into tears, and wanted to ring her mum. She was sent home because she couldn't cope with the same things that the other kids could, not because she was picked on any more than the others were. Maybe there are things we aren't aware of - her mother hinted at some depressive symptoms, but she was the one with the problem, not everyone else.

I would prefer Scafell Pike to the woman next door right now, who is telling one of her kids to "shut the f#@& up and get to f~@&ing bed, f@#&ing quickly." Her husband has been doing some DIY in the shed over the Christmas holiday, starting at 8am and finishing at about 10 at night. I suspect that a deadline is not his main motivation for spending so much time out there.

I've just spent ages wondering why there are suddenly so many people from Salisbury Hill. You'd think I'd learn

I watched this, and found it really interesting, as I've never really known anything about Tourettes before. I understood the Jenny/Jessica thing very differently to how you are discussing it here. Jenny couldn't cope with teenagers being teenagers, and wanted to run to mummy when she didn't get her way. I don't think Jessica did anything wrong, and I think it was right for Jenny to go home. They didn't bond from the start, and then it turned nasty when Jenny told that boy she didn't want to go to the dance with him, as she wanted to go by herself. Fair enough, that's her right. But to then turn up with another boy was going to be hurtful to the first boy. It was when Jessica told people about this that the big fights started. Maybe Jessica was wrong in the way she dealt with this, maybe she should have dealt with it privately with Jenny, but then she has a condition which causes her to make social mistakes. Fact is, Jenny was not mature enough to cope with being with a group of her peers for that amount of time. I don't think we saw enough of Jessica's social conduct to judge properly. Teenagers will be drawn to someone like her, who has such an air of confidence about her, and walks round swearing and not caring what other people think of her. It doesn't necessarily mean she had a deep and meaningful relationship with all these people.

It's really hard to cut a relative out of your life, but sometimes it is the best thing, in the long term. In my case, after some time, we were able to make friends again. Our relationship is different now, but it's better than it was before. So it doesn't necessarily have to mean forever.

Congratulations for trying something new, and succeeding.

I only found out about Asperger's in adulthood, and I spent most of my childhood feeling like a freak (and being told my other kids that I was a freak). Knowing wouldn't have prevented the things that other kids said, but as an adult it has helped me to be less bothered by what other people think. Rather then believing I am stupid and/or have a mental illness or some kind of defect, I now realise that I think differently, cope with things differently, understand situations differently, and am actually better at some things than most people seem to be too. Different is not necessarly inferior. If I am happy, who cares what other people think - as long as I am not hurting other people. What I'm trying to say is, if your child recognises that he is different from other children, it is (in my opinion anyway) important that they come to accept this difference, rather than thinking that they are inferior. With regards to the assessments and appointments he will have to attend, Carole's idea about "he wants to see how clever you are" sounds great, or you could tell your son that they want to find out how to help him with the things that he finds to hard.

My new avatar is a picture of my cat Mitzi participating in one of her favourite hobbies. Isn't she cute

I got married in a register office. It was really nice, except that the registrar was really ugly and seems to have turned up in all of the photos. You can have a civil wedding in all kinds of places, although it can be expensive (although they seem to charge extra for the wedding room at a register office now - as if it were a separate location, often only the registrar's office is considered the register office, and you can only get 2 guests in there). We only had very close family at the actual wedding - parents, grandparents and siblings. Then we had a big party in the evening for all our family and friends. Congratulations!!! Whatever you do, I hope you have a really great day.

I saw the name of mountains next to people's user-names, and I assumed it was their location, because that's where the location goes on other forums I use. I was thinking that there were a lot of people from Snowdon on the forum. Now I have worked out that it's membership status, to do with post count, but it took a while