Zebedee Report post Posted August 17, 2009 Hi Everyone! Our son is 4 and is under observation for possible ASD, most likely Aspergers. Next appointment in October. He shows a lot of symptoms but one thing that is really confusing me is that he has good imagination. He plays by himself and can occupy himself for ages! He also has an amazing laugh, it's infectious! Is it still possible for him to have an ASD? Thank you, Zeb x <'> Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chris54 Report post Posted August 17, 2009 The short answer is Yes. There is a lot of confusion about Autistic people lacking imagination. We all consciously and/or subconsciously continually predict many possible scenarios of what will happen next, and prepare our selves for the possible out comes. We map out hundreds of routes that the future may take. I'm not only talking about the long term, the next year, the next week, the next day, or event the next hour. I mean the next minuet or even the next second. It is this ability, this imagination that is (can be) affected by ASD. This is were the anxiety comes from, why there is need for planning and fixed routines. As others will tell you about their children, my son diagnosed ASD, spend many hours playing and making up games for him self and me to play. He has now taken to laughing out loud when reading his comics. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tally Report post Posted August 17, 2009 The "imagination" thing is very poorly understood - even by medical professionals. It doesn't really refer to the type of imagination needed to make up stories, etc. There are many types of imagination, including the ability to anticipate consequences described by Chris. It also refers to social imagination - the ability to imagine things from another person's point of view. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bettyhen Report post Posted August 17, 2009 My son, who is five, has just been diagnosed and he too has a super imagination and has done since he was quite small. He used to make up proper stories with a plot when he was 3 - though he's now stopped this. He prefers fiction to non-fiction too and loves acting (though only for us). It was this aspect of him that made us, too, doubt an AS dx. However, other aspects of him are definitely AS and he's getting more so as he gets older. The flapping has increased, the grimacing has developed, he is angry and inflexible and is very stressed by new situations. When he started school it was a nightmare as he assaulted staff and children - this was completely unexpected. Once he knew the rules and the children's names, he was fine! I can't say whether your son is or isn't likely to have aspergers but an imagination doesn't rule it out! However, at least with aspergers there is a lot of help out there. If he does get a DX look at barnardos who are doing a lot. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zebedee Report post Posted August 17, 2009 Thank you all for your replies. I'm astounded by what Chris said about understanding 'time', what is tomorrow, next week, as our son has real difficulty with this. I always knew he did but I never realised it could be connected with ASD.. Thank you. Zeb x <'> Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cmuir Report post Posted August 17, 2009 Hi Short answer is yes. My son isn't a classic aspie. He doesn't tick every box. He was diagnosed at the age of 4.5 by a specialist, despite opposition from some other professionals. Now 3 years on, it has become much more obvious that R clearly has AS. His eye contact can range from being very good to non-existent, he can appear to have a good imagination (though it is actually only based on films, etc), he can be affectionate (though it's on his terms), etc. I really think that that often why diagnoses can take such a long time - no one gives a label lightly and it does become more obvious with age/maturity. Caroline. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
