Aspies For Freedom

Hi!

It is often the case that we parents come on here for support because something our children are doing baffles or worries us.

We worry about what they will be like as adults, whether folowing their special interests will lead to a career.

Well, I would like this to be a thread with the opposite attitude. A lot of us here have adult offspring on the spectrum who, despite having possibly suffered dreadfully through the school years, have actually made a success of their lives.

I believe that sharing this information with parents of newly-diagnosed children will give them some much-needed optimism.

So, to start the ball rolling, I would like to boast about my older three.

My eldest was obsessed with music, and is now a concert pianist with letters after his name!



My second son, obsessed with Mutant Ninja Turtles and such, now has five black belts in various martial arts



And he is the voice of WT Defence; someone has posted the introductory video on YouTube. (He reckons it is good for a giggle!)



My daughter has been studying French and Politics at university, and is currently studying for a business diploma, all while working part-time at a restaurant and raising a family. Oh, and not to forget, while living in a pair of mobile homes (trailers) while helping to finish the building of our house while we have been stuck in Australia!

Over to you...

I have nowt to brag about, children of myself.

As I have amounted to nothing.

...yet, but soon!

You are a lot younger than them, don't forget - yet you are already starting on the long road to independence!

With all the headaches that come with it.

Whenever my parents try to brag about me, they usually get it wrong, As in, and I quote "He wrote an essay in the newspaper about some valley in Japan and rascism".(Um, that would be the Uncanny Valley phenomenon, actually. Not quite sure where the Japan part came in--maybe because the researchers were Japanese?)

My son has grown so much in the past 4 years, and is fine-tuning his obsessions into talents.  He has also earned the respect of his peers for his ideas, and that has been a joy to see.

He is only 10, so I can't list careers and degrees yet, but he has invented a card game that the school invited him to teach at family game night, and I still hear raves about the story he wrote for and read at a school event.

DW - that is the kind of thing I'm on about! Our spectrum kids are just as likely to make us proud as any other children, and it is very important that we SAY so - just as loudly as we can! Because they will hear/read so much that is negative, let's keep this thread positive.

The children don't have to be adult; I only listed my adult children because my twins were so desperately embarrassed the last time I posted about them, and that was only to wish them a happy birthday!

Natalie, thanks for the compliments! It wasn't a job to encourage their talents, it was a pleasure. Having been brought up myself in a family that encouraged hobbies, it was only natural to me! Proud as I am of them, I take no responsibility for their success; that has been entirely down to their own hard work and dedication. Oh, and I told my daughter off for operating that dumper with no helmet and with her seat belt undone! I'm still her mother, even if she is a mum in her twenties!

nathanww - of course your parents boast about you! But don't worry if they get the details wrong - I doubt that anyone they speak to pays attention to the subject of your essay; they are just impressed that it was published!

I forgot one other thing:

At my father's funeral a few months ago, my son agreed to do one of the Bible readings.  A few minutes before his turn, my mother looked at us, and her and I both questioned if my son was going to be able to do it.  He has crying so hard.  But when the time came he insisted he wanted to do the reading, and he sucked it all in, went up, and read beautifully.  My mother's friends talked for weeks about how wonderfully brave my son was, and what a good job he did.  And he was proud of himself, too.  He told me later that it helped having a job to do, a few minutes to concentrate on something other than our loss.

One of the funny things with my son is that life seems to be full of unbelievably proud moments, and incredibly frustrating ones, with very little in the middle.  He amazes me so often, and I realize that the burdens are simply the price for that, what it costs to hold so many gifts.

In slightly nicer news, all your children get the Ian Moore thumbs up of supreme approval

Especially the daughter, i'm shameless I know.

My six year old son Tyler has a special interest in trains. He can't get enough of them and loves talking about them. Then I have my mother who I suspect is Aspie (just like my boy and I) and she is a total clean freak.

Anyway, last Sunday night Tyler was having a sleep over at his granny's and he was talking about trains (as he does) and his granny says " I think you have a problem with trains" and he said "I think you have a problem with tidy" Lol.
My mum reckons she cracked up laughing. He's a classic.

My son is 6 and also very sensitive. He wakes up at night scared. He worries about stuff--just I worried about stuff--and continue to worry to this day. We are very much alike.

His sensitivity also has positives--he’s passionate about the things he enjoys and very knowledgeable. He’s a deep thinker--good at drawing and maths. He’s very hyperactive and great at gymnastics.

My other son is 3--and can play the Nintendo DS better than I can. He’s not sensitive. But has amazing strength of character. He doesn’t let anything bother him; knows exactly what he wants and how to get it.

My sons are very different…
I love them both very much and am very proud of them…and there differences.

I've gotten a lot of smiles reading this thread. Thank you, everyone!

I've already posted some boasts, but I discovered something new this past weekend.  Another parent's daughter now has the teacher my son had in 2nd grade, and who was very good for him.  That teacher apparently told this parent that in her opinion, there were 2 truly brilliant children in our school, and that my son was one of them.  WOW.  She never told me that, lol, although I certainly knew she thought highly of him.  Just, by necessity I guess, so many of our conversations which each other were about the problem areas.  Anyway, the idea that other people would be buzzing great things about my child when neither of us is there ... well, it is kind of cool.  We always hope to make a positive impression, and we believe our son can do well, but none of us are all that social, when it comes right down to it, so most of the time the idea that any of us have a positive image among others is more hope than knowledge.  To hear it means something.  I am glad the mom told me.

Thanks for you comments miss nomer.
Quackers is my wife…so she’s talking about my son too. lol

Congratulations to your son special award…it’s great to she our children’s achievements recognised. I bet you can’t wait to see him receive it!

We also had parent-teacher interviews recently (in UK called ‘parent’s evening’); just hearing they’re doing well and not having problems can be a great boost.

Wow, WfM - those pictures are awesome! (In the old-fashioned sense - they fill me with awe)

You have three fantastic children!

My daughter is 22, she was diagnosed with ADD while still at school years ago.  She's very stubborn and determined (a bit of a chip off the old block).  She's trained as a chef.

She was a very beautiful child, when she was a toddler we used to get stopped while out shopping or whatever and people used to say how beautiful she was.  After being told this so many times by total strangers I eventually took her along to a casting for a child model agency and they took a portfolio of photographs and signed her up.  Even as a teenager she did work for GAP, although she modelled clothes for internal style sheets as opposed to magazine or billboard ads.

She got married in May to a really lovely guy and has a beautiful smiley baby son.