Asperger's Syndrome

[Dustin]

Hello I just want to tell you about my Asperger's Syndrome. It may explain to some of you about my annoying behavior at times. Excuse no. Do I want folks to feel sorry for me? Heck NO I just want to share an informative post with this learning community about this developmental disorder and maybe share some insight on how it affects me. Of course I have it so I should know first hand. I really want to share with the world what this thing is and how we can understand this disorder instead of make fun of the people with it. It happens so much and I want to be an advocate to this make these injustices stop.

What is Asperger's Syndrome? Asperger's Syndrome is a developmental disorder. Usually the typical symptoms of it as a little kid will be talking later than normal kids. But when this kid starts talking they will be like the "little professor." They will usually have profound special interests. Such as trains, or airplanes or what ever their interests may be. Mine happened to be as a little kid, colors of crayons. I knew all the colors and would talk about it non stop. I also always liked Christmas decorations and do to this day. Pretty much individuals with Asperger's Syndrome will lack athletic skills. This is a really hard thing if you are a boy. I tend to put you in the uncool group if you really suck at sports. A lot of times it will be really hard for a person with AS to ride a bike with balance and coordination skills. Also kids and adults with AS tend to like to follow the rules to a tee but there is a 10% of folks with AS that will like to be a little bit on the devious side. They tend to like to test other people to see how long it will take to get them mad or see how much they can get away with. I would say that I would be a mix of those two to a tee. A bit closer to the rare 10% perhaps.

Socially people with AS really fall behind. Nonverbal clues are not an easy thing to read for normal people but for people with AS it is almost impossible. If someone says something we tend to take it for truth while normal folks may be able to interpret a lie through nonverbal clues. Kids just don't plain get another kid with AS odd interests. They are like why does that kid talk about planes all day long? Or why does he always say what if this happens or what if that happens. So children with AS tend to be rejected by their peers. It is a really annoying thing especially when a kid becomes a teenager to have this constant rejection from peers. So a lot of kids with AS will develop secondary problems such as obsessive compulsive disorder, ADHD, or depression for examples. Some kids with AS may need medication to combat these potentially harmful side effects.

My call against public schools and social skills classes. I have seen social skills classes. It makes children that have AS into idiots. Why would we want to change someone to be "normal" it pisses me off. So what do they teach you; Go say H....IIIII to the bully and ask him if he would want to play with you. (In a mocking tone of voice) The bully I am sure wants to be your best friend if you go and talk to him. That does not usually happen.

I have been spared with some of what I have talked about. My parents decided not to send me to public school and have decided to home school and in a good faithful environment. I know a lot about my special interests. AYou see until I was like 10 or 11 I did not care that my peers did not like me or look up to me. It just went over my head. Now I have come a very long way from those days. My peers like me better and I have made a lot of new friends over the last year or 2. And it has been great!

In July of 2005 I found my next favorite interest. Weather forums! I think I like joined the TWC boards in mid July. I came in and asked tons of questions. I was not liked a lot for that but I managed till all the TWC board shut down. In late august I started my own board called Rockin Weather. That lasted for a few months. In late October I started my first "paid" for board called The Weather Vane. (duh) lol

I try to care about everyone that I meet and I try to show everyone kindness. I am overcoming my faults and becoming stronger from it. So I can leave my AS behind because it is not a crutch and I will not let it hold me back from the great things I will achieve. So I hope people will learn from this. I hope where ever you are if you see someone that may have traits of Asperger’s Syndrome that you would treat them like anyone else. If they come onto a weather site and cause trouble ban them. If they start acting "odd" in school send them to the principal. But remember sometimes they will not be able to keep up. They may fall. Always have an open and loving heart for all of humanity what ever their trouble may be. I am no expert though. Feel free to check out this site at http://www.aspergers.com for more info.

I wrote this in Feb of 06......some stuff still is meaniful while other stuff is not so relavent but I am posting this so people will know what it is, and a broad view on how it may affect people, although a lot of what I said does not apply to me personally....but just some broad ideas, from what people have acted like and said about this development disability. I don't know if you guys are interested in this or not, but its out there for those that are.

Thanks for reading this.


Dustin

[george_r_1961]

Great post Dustin! Looks like you wont let anything get in your way!

[Cryomaniac]

I have Asberger's syndrome too. My main problem is social skills, although i'm a lot better than I was as a kid (I'm 20 now). I don't consider most of the other symptoms to be disadvantages, they can be quite useful .

[Stephanie]

We've had and still have a lot of members at S2K with AS. I think you were the first one to really describe in detail what it is like and what you are feeling.

There's alot more information out there about AS and autism. Like everything else, education is key to understanding. Great job and thank you for sharing!

[kevin]

I've played against enough people in Quiz Bowl on the college level to know the power of Asperger's Syndrome (some people are just too quick on too specific of material not to have this 'disorder' in my opinion, but I have never actually asked). An amazing gift when it comes to soaking up information. I liked your essay. Keep up the good work.

[tropicana]

Way to go Dustin! You are a trooper! A great example for others.
Thanks for sharing.

-justin-

[Jim Cantore]

We've had and still have a lot of members at S2K with AS.

Me included

[JonathanBelles]

i know first hand kids with AS as i was tutor for kids with the "advantage" for 2 years in middle school

[wxmann_91]

Weird. A lot of symptoms fit my description. Now I wonder, do I have AS?

[JQ Public]

You remind me of Coldfront. Does he still -post here?

[wxmann_91]

You remind me of Coldfront. Does he still -post here?

No. He was banned some time ago.

[HurricaneBill]

We've had and still have a lot of members at S2K with AS.

I'm one of them.

[Stephanie]

It's great to see that S2K is providing a good resource to those with AS.

[NetZeroZeus]

I had never known about the existence of this disorder, I am currently 15, and I do have ADHD, although the ADHD has been lessened since I had biofeedback treatment 4 years ago, and I have been medication free for 4 years, but I see that I fit almost all of the criteria of this Asperger's Syndrome, and I think I may have it. Now being in Puerto Vallarta not many people even believe in the existence of these "weird" syndromes...but I believe I may have this disorder.
Now with that, would you happen to have any tips or methods that you use to live a happy life?

[LAwxrgal]

I don't want to hijack Dustin's post, nor do I want to "take over" the thread or change its direction, but I have a confession to make....

I know what you're thinking, oh, joy, another one of LAwxrgal's winding journeys into cyberspace oblivion...but here goes...

I have picked and chosen the people I tell this to, and since I consider Storm2K something of a second family, it's only appropriate that they know.

Way back when I was a youngin I was diagnosed with autism. When you consider what time period this was, I shall only say, oh, late 1970s-ish, for fear of completely giving away my age. The medical climate of the late 1970s was such that any child who exhibited symptoms such as mine was automatically described as autistic. Since I don't consider myself classically autistic in the least, as I have all my communicative faculties (albeit in a somewhat limited capacity outside of the computer) having Asperger's is about as close to a description of my condition as there is currently in the medical community.

Considering how verbose I currently am, nobody would believe I didn't speak until I was four. A doctor warned my mother that when I began talking I wouldn't be able to stop. Guess he was right huh?

In addition to not speaking until age four, I was able to read before then. And I was in speech therapy until age eight. All this is pretty hard to believe. But it's all true.

I still have many of the classical AS symptoms, some of the ones Dustin was talking about, as I was diagnosed with AS in 2002, 4 years ago. I'm still socially awkward, especially in non-online situations. I have difficulty discerning humor, as I'm extremely literal. As a kid I was ridiculed a lot, nicknamed "Encyclopedia" and stuff. My teenage years were horrible. Being a girl without interests in boys, clothes, etc. was especially hard. I often "wore the wrong thing" or "said the wrong thing," etc. High school was horrible, college was much better -- except dorm life. I hated the dorms.

Yeah, I probably should write a book about all this. But I can't, cause it's too close to me.

[Stephanie]

Thanks for sharing LAwxrgal. I'm sure that sharing your symptoms and your experiences has helped alot.

[Jim Cantore]

I have it, I'm not ashamed about it, and I don't care who knows it. If anyone has a question, feel free to ask me.

[whereverwx]

Even though it's not technically Asperger's Syndrome but Autism, you guys should see this video. It's amazing.

[petal*pusher]

Great video calamity! Thanks for sharing!

When Asperger's Syndrome was discussed in a much earlier thread, I mentioned having a few students with this interesting challenge. This year, we have 3 Asperger's and 2 other Autistic students. From the information I read before, it is supposedly much more common in male than female.....2 of our AS kids are female. It is a very interesting "condition"......and I am happy with the acceptance the other students have shown. My opinion.....most of our kids have attended schools that have "Mainstreamed" (or "Inclusive Education") everyone, no matter what syndrome or condition may be present....and it is common to be in mixed classes.

Seeing the social improvement in just a few months of one of these girls has been a good experiance for the whole class! We've noticed her hairstyle, clothing, and even the interaction with others change! She still is very directed at her own projects....and seems to be an extreme perfectionist, but she is a joy to be around......MOST of the time! I still see her "in her own little world" sometimes, but usually she can be coaxed into working with other kids. She's an extremely bright student......can answer EVERY question presented with no hesitation.

I mentioned here before also that many Asperger's people have a keen interest in weather-related items. Interesting, huh??.........p

[george_r_1961]

I mentioned here before also that many Asperger's people have a keen interest in weather-related items. Interesting, huh??.........p

I wonder how many ppl with aspergers are pro mets. Im sure there are few.