The Complete Guide to AS by Tony Attwood

[nan]

I have posted on here previously about my grandson - not diagnosed, but it seems as though AS might be possible. I bought a book called A Complete Guide to Aspergers Syndrome by Tony Attwood. I can't recommend it highly enough - it is really extremely informative but in a positive way. I had bought another book called Aspergers Answer Book by Susan Ashley, but to be honest I found it quite depressing. It portrays AS in a very negative way.

 

The Tony Attwood book is a bit heavy on the statistics/clinical side but there are also lots of 'snippets' from AS adults which give real insight in the thought processes. A number of things 'rang bells' and having read it through I can now understand why my grandson says certain things - like when we sat in a local pub the other day, with our drinks in front of us - he asked 'what are we waiting for?' which is the logical side of him assuming we must be waiting for something!

 

My husband listens to me with a bit of scepticism. Like all of us he doesn't like 'labels' and I think his viewpoint is where is the line between someone who is 'querky' or a bit 'eccentric' and someone being diagnosed with a 'syndrome'. I can see his point too but they way I see it is that if it is recognised early enough then support can be put in place if it is needed. Interestingly, the Attwood book states that AS people have a much higher than average number of engineers among their parents/grandparents than the general population - my husband is an engineer, so was my father and also three of his brothers.

 

My grandson is still 'on' lightbulbs! He was talking about light emitting diodes the other day - he is only four! The fascination with lightbulbs started when he was a baby but also includes plumbing, wiring, burglar alarms etc! I wonder if he will stay with electrics or whether he will go onto something else.

[Kazzen161]

My son was also into all things electrical from a young age - he has also done ponds, plumbing, computers and DIY and is now into tree surgery!

[nan]

I was just wondering, if there is one child with AS in a family, is it more likely that brothers or sisters would be affected too? Also I believe that other family members might have some similarities, such as parents or grandparents - does anybody have any experience of this?

[pearl]

I was just wondering, if there is one child with AS in a family, is it more likely that brothers or sisters would be affected too? Also I believe that other family members might have some similarities, such as parents or grandparents - does anybody have any experience of this?

 

Hoooooo, yesssss!! We have diagnosed and (sure as I can be) undiagnosed aspies on both sides of the family.

JP said something very interesting on our big family hol which we've just returned from. His cousin came for part of the week & shared a room with JP. After 2 days, JP came up to us & said, he is WAY more Aspergers than I am! And, I think he is right, because it was never spotted by his parents (we did but you can't say anything), so he has never learned the social skills which JP has. A fine and endearing young man, but, my goodness he made quite an impact on our environment.

 

Interesting about the engineers in your family too. I've told this joke on here before but its worth repeating:

 

How do you spot an extrovert engineer?

He looks at your shoes when he's talking to you!

[kirstie]

My Grandpa was an engineer!!!!

 

Nan, Not sure about other siblings having AS (ASD) or what the prevelance is but i will say that i have 16 year old son- no ASD (dyslexia though) a 9 year old with AS a 3 year old with Autism and a 17 month old with Autism. Probably genetics play a huge part in this in our case, however no-one actually knows for sure why and who will/will not be affected. No-one else in my family has any ASD although dyslexia features in a few of my female (interestingly) cousins children and with my own son. My son with AS is by my ex partner and his cousins child has AS so who knows. Very interesting subject but the answers remain elusive. Maybe one day.............

[**Mia]

Is there a book as good as this but the complete guide to Autism and not Aspergers Syndrome, where you can compare both!

 

Enissa

[nan]

Enissa - I'm not sure whether Tony Attwood has written on autism as well - I'll have a look on Amazon in a bit x

[chris54]

My son A has AS diagnosed a few month ago , I now realise that both I have and my father had AS to some extent and am/was dyslexic. At first we thought A was dyslexic but if anything the opposite is now true.

My grandfather was a mechanic of some kind, aircraft fitter in ww1. My dad was a frustrated mechanic always tinkering with things. I have always been interested in anything mechanical especially electrical things. I managed to electrocute my self when I was 3 years old, unconsius for 12 hours so I am told. And then on leving school at 16 I did an aprentaship as an electician.

That was a long time ago I'm now semi retired which gives my the time to look after my son now aged 8. Not that he need a lot of looking after but I am his or should that be he is my constant companion.

I was the same with my dad that is when he was not at work which he was most of the time. I remember always feeling lonely which is what my son has said he sometimes feels when at school.

My dad had very few friends, none at all in later life. I won't say to much about my dad or it will set me off.

 

My son is into things mechanical as much as his motor skills let him, makes do with Duplo etc.

 

My wife and her two grown up children have AS to some extent, not diagnosed but I can now see it.

 

What really led to my son being referred and then diagnosed is that he had very poor motor skills and was a very late reader.

 

As I have said in an earlier posting I did not see his AS as he is to much like my.

 

And so you see I would say that yes AS/ASD dose run in families and yes there dose seem to be a mechanical bent.

 

Well that is it for now.

[Jannih]

Hi Nan , I did read that if there is a child on the autism spectrum , then there is a 50% chance of other siblings , either being on the spectrum or possessing autistic traits. I am not sure where I read it but I think it was in "Thinking In Pictures" by Temple Grandin.

 

My younger sister is autistic ,without a doubt. She was referred to a psychiatrist as a child in the early 1960s but autism was never mentioned ! As such she has never been formally diagnosed . What is interesting is that two of her 3 sisters , including me, have autistic traits and are probably either just on or off the spectrum. I also have a 2yr old great niece who appears to be displaying problems with interacting with others and communication difficulties. We have not said anything to the mother but we may, within the next few months , suggest she gets the little girl assessed.

 

My 89yr old dad was an engineer and he had a cousin who he described as being " backward" . This cousin lived with my dad's family after losing his father in WW1 and his mother in the Great Flu Pandemic. He never spoke other than to say "yes Auntie Maud" and "no Auntie Maud" but he seemed to come alive when he made a crystal set, a type of old time radio, which were very popular in the 1920s. There were lots of lithographic printers in this branch of the family and so it does make you wonder.

[ScienceGeek]

I find this engineer thing quite interesting. While I have no interest in engineering personally, my dad was an engineer and my grandad was a mechanic ( I think he was an engineer before then).

[owl]

I was just wondering, if there is one child with AS in a family, is it more likely that brothers or sisters would be affected too? Also I believe that other family members might have some similarities, such as parents or grandparents - does anybody have any experience of this?

Hi Nan, Yes i think it's true to say that there are sometimes 'clusters' of autism in families,of varying dgrees. it is certainly true that my father and his brother had strong indications of Aspergers, ( although of course it haD never been heard of when they were younger> I have ason ( Young adult now) Who was diagnosed at 9 yrs old, and a nephew who is a.s., 18 yrs old, and a niece who is intellectually gifted but has various sensory/social difficulties. Another nephew who is 23 was diagnsed as having 'social anxiety disorder' but i would very much say he was AS too. t does help give you an insight when this happens! OWL x

[cmuir]

I was just wondering, if there is one child with AS in a family, is it more likely that brothers or sisters would be affected too? Also I believe that other family members might have some similarities, such as parents or grandparents - does anybody have any experience of this?

 

 

Hi

 

Absolutely. In my family there are several family members on the spectrum (Aspergers and Tourettes), some of whom have formal diagnoses/others undiagnosed. My son's consultant advised that although no one knows the cause of autism, that it is not unusual for it to run in families.

 

Caroline.