Hello

[Eeyorific]

My ds was just dx'd with PDD... possible Aspergers He's 4 yrs old and has Celiac disease. Thankfully, he's been GF/CF for past 2 years (casein free whole life) He's also intolerant to corn.

The developmental side of things is all so new to me, I would love to connect with others who can relate!

Kristie

[cckids]

Well, you can see our profile. Our middle child is going to go for a more in depth assessment to try to get a better idea where he's at. the oldest fits the asperger's dx to the T, but Zach is not the same at all. In ways there ae similarities but there are also obvious differences. Does he have a certain fixation point? I find it interesting what those are.

[Lara]

Hello!
Just wanted to let you know that the Autism Forum (http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=97) always seems to be busier than the AS Forum here. We all seem to congregrate there as autism spectrum. Lots of wonderful people. Same with Child Neurology Forum.

There has always been a very busy Gluten Sensitivity/Celiac Disease Forum (http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=152) as well. You might find that helpful.

take care,
Lara

[Melody]

Just wanted to say hi.
I'm usually over at the Neuropathy boards because my husband has Peripheral Neuropathy but occasionally I come here and look.

I have my own forum on Delphi called Parents of Young Adults with Aspergers.

My son was not diagnosed until he moved away at age 20. He had a full scholarship to college, but moved out and crashed and burned. He was diagnosed at age 21 and is now in a room and board in California. He takes 4 meds. He is on Topamax (just recently switched from depakote), he is on buspar, prosac, and trazadone.

All he does all day is go on his computer and play in a virtual realty world. He is a robot in this world. I have communicated with many many parents of aspies and with many aspies themselves. The aspies all have anxiety disorders and are most are on mood stabilizers. They all seem to have one thing in common. They DO NOT like to be around people. It seems to get more pronounced as they grow up.

My son was never like that as a child. He had his quirks but they came out as bad behavior in school. He did have some friends but not many. He started being a loner by the age of 14 and then it became full blown being a loner. He would go to college, come home and be by himself in his room. He is sometimes quite arrogant and thinks he knows more than anyone. You can't reason with him. He has never worked a day in his life and he never intends to. He is on SSI. He was denied 3 times but finally an arbitrator gave it to him because his psychiatrist wrote a note to the Social Security Judge. The judge said "I would never give this kid SSI but I won't go against a doctor".

So my son is happy as a clam being in a room and board. His ultimate goal is to get Section 8 housing and be all alone by himself on his computer and watching tv. This is what he does all day long. He does not need family or friends. He just enjoys his solitude.

Sure, we email back and forth and he does call but I have not seen him in over 5 years. I have almost been destroyed by this but I have had to pick myself up and think of my own mental health in all of this.

Aspergers, as they mature, and they mature very slowly, is much harder on the families than on the kid themselves. They are happiest when no demands are made on them. They seem fine with this. It's like they lack an empathy gene. There are many support forums on the internet.

I hope that as your youngsters grow, they can find some treatment plan or some kind of therapy that will help them assimilate better in society. They need social skills. My son refuses to go to groups and won't even consider them. He likes his life the way it is. He is also a compulsive gambler. He maxed out all his credit cards after he moved out and was left homeless but being a very smart young man he was always housed and given a roof over his head. He is absolutely brilliant but lacking in compassion for his mother and dad.

Very long and very hard road. Believe me, I've travelled it.

So I wish all of you well on your journey. All aspies are not alike. I hope none of you have to go through what I went through.

Mel

[clouds z]

theres autism asperger chat at starlink irc

[clouds z]

http://williamslake.bc.ca.starlink-irc.org/

click channels or one of the other things

[WellLovedMom]

Hi there!
I drop by here every so often, but don't often post. I'm over at the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy board, but my 8 year old son has both ADHD and Asperger's. The classes offered by our health care helped initially educate us, and later we learned by web, books, and his behavioralist. Initially he had serious sensory issues - the sounds of the flouresent lights in class hurt and he would yell in class "BE QUIET" over and over. He couldn't stand anyone to be near him (personal space issues), so the behavioralist came up with the idea of using masking tape on the floor to make boxes FOR EVERYONE so that my son wouldn't feel singled out. This taught the entire class about personal space. Facial expressions and empathy are still areas we are still working on, and I only allow Game Boy when we go shopping. Keeps him from throwing fits about being bored, and limits computer/gameboy time. At home I don't let him play on the computer, as I'm TRYING to force him to interact socially more. It has helped quite a bit, but then I have the NORMAL issue of brother/sister arguing. I'd prefer that, than allowing him to withdraw. We read books, and when we watch movies, I hit pause and we talk about "what type of look is on that person's face" and "what do you think they are feeling." He took off in WalMart last week (playing hide-and-seek with sis!) and we had to call a code Adam. He DID get empathy when he saw my tears and I asked how he would feel if someone stole his sister, hurt her, then killed her. He got big puffy eyes and a frown and replyed he would be really sad. YEA! A connection!!! He still has a hard time having empathy for friends or classmates at times, but he has really made progress.

Anyway, just thought I'd share some of the progress we have made.
Maria

[tammyjh]

Hi, I'm new here as well. My oldest is 13 and was dx'd with Asperger's when she was around 9. Her case may be a little different as she comes by AS through brain surgery but as a lot of her symtoms are very close to AS, she was given the dx.

Abigails biggist problems has always been relating to family. She has a hard time making emotional connections with us and while she can "say" the right things ("I love you"), there's not much feeling behind it. She often tells us that she doesn't like living with us and would rather live elsewhere (in a matter of fact way, not just when she's angry....she's just being honest). Her current counselor used the analogy that she sees people like cookie dispensers and when one dispenser isn't dispensing the right cookies, she goes on to the next one. Its an apt description for her. She also prefers to be around adults rather than children her own age. Adults are more predictable than children and if there's anything she likes, its predictability. She likes a routine....especially it its posted somewhere that she can keep looking at it to see whats next. She has very little empathy or tolerance. When her counselor explained to her what tolerance was and asked her if she would like to work on having more, she said "no, not really." I realize what I've typed has been mostly negative and I apologize for that. On the positive side, Abigail has very good manners, she loves to read, she loves big words and talking. She's also pretty good with writing poetry although she doesn't like to think she is. She says she would rather be an author and write stories but she has a hard time getting past the first sentence;)