Aspies For Freedom

Each person is unique, if you have been diagnosed, and don't find that you are very different from someone with AS, I wouldn't really doubt it.

I would guess that there are very many on the Spectrum whose experience of life was very similar to your own.

You belong in here with us!  :smile:

Stella

Kingdomofrats, is sensory overload one of your main problems, and causing the lashing out etc?
There is sensory integration therapy, I knew a woman who had it, and was pleased with it, it was a gradual process between her and a therapist. It may be hard to come by in this country though, not sure where you are situated in the world.

Kind of. I can't visualise things that I have not seen, i.e. I can't imagine visually, and can't translate descriptions into pictures. At least not consciously, and immediately. There is often a delay, for example when reading a book, nothing happens in my head, but when I re-read it, it often triggers memories of some places in the book that my brain seems to have translated into pictures in the meantime.

I tend to get more spontaneous flashes (i.e. I breeifly see a cartoon-like picture of it in my head), especially when I hear idioms that don't make sense (i.e. most of them!), and this can make me giggle seemingly "out of the blue".

Many autistics have very visual memories or photographic memories, but it all depends on which 'mode' is your strength (my visual and auditory memories are less than satisfactory, at least I cannot access them easily consciously. I do however often remember things that I could not access consciously/deliberately when I hear or see something related to them).

For me it is kinaesthetic and tactile memory. When I think of a place, or of a direction to a place, I literally 'feel' the place in my mind, I can 'walk' through it and re-live what the surfaces feel like, often also what they smell like, taste like or sound like (when tapped or stroked). I am very good at remembering routes, but unfortunately not so good at communicating this to others (since that kinaesthetic memory does not translate into words too well).

Kingdomofrats, do you mean picture thinking as described by Temple Grandin?



This is a very detailed page on sensory integration therapy from the NAS, and it has contact numbers at the bottom -

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=299&a=3766

http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/phpBB2/v...php?t=1946

Hi enzo, have you seen the thread of online tests yet?

Okay, take a deep breath!  Stop panicking and freaking out!

(((enzo)))

You're still the same person.  You've not changed.  What it might do is make you look back over your life with a lot of hindsight and realise that lots of things now make sense that never quite did before.

Getting to knowing yourself better also means accepting yourself, and your limitations and also your strengths.  It means that if you have sensory or other issues about certain situations, you no longer have to force yourself to go along with things to try and be 'normal', you can opt out of things that cause you distress, get help with things that cause you difficulties, and explore and capitalise upon your strengths.

It's a journey though, don't expect things to change totally overnight or to find out all the answers.  P.S. Enjoy the ride!  And welcome!

What you have described above sounds very typical aspie. :smile:

Weather is one of my obsessions, I compare and contrast 3 for or more internet weather forecasts hourly or more frequently, and will talk for hours on end about them, however I don't think that that's really what my NT colleagues want to hear when they start a discussion about the weather...

However I've some progress on my diagnosis,I finally got a copy of the psychiatist's report from my appointment on 10th October. She said the following:

'I think it qute likely that Paul does have Asperger's syndrome, plus some cognitive difficulties - a degree of dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia. The rate at whcih he processes information is slow (though accurate) and cetainly on todays performance it would seem that he would very easily become overwhelmed.

'I am not an expert in Asperger's syndrome and it may be therefore helpful to have Paul assessed by somenone who is an expert. Not only would that hopefully bring us to a clearer diagnosis but might also mean that he could have some help to deal with his difficulties..."

I'm a bit annoyed that this report was apparently written on 18th October but she forgot to ask her secretary to copy it to me (or the secretary forgot she had asked her) but although progress is slow and halting, it does still seem to be progress.

Good progress fozzie.


enzo said "Whenever I'm in a room with ceremic tile, I take mental note of the grout line arrangement, taking special note of any unusual geometric layouts."

Tiles on the walls, and floor tiles, yes!

When I hear music, I can actually feel it. I mean, I feel each pitch change, duration, etc. And I can see it too.

Have you heard of synaesthesia (sp?) it sounds like that. We have a thread on it in the general forum.

On a more serious note, does anyone have any short term memory issues? I never forget a face, but can never remember a name.

Can't remember faces or names, lol.

Where do you live? (It really depends where you live, not everywhere gets you 'in trouble' and in the US and Canada, some psychologists diagnose but 'keep it off the records')

Kingdomofrats wrote

Maybe that is the kind of poor identification of sounds in words that can sometimes cause dyslexia. Maybe your auditory processing is a jumble. You can get tested for Central Auditory Processing Disorder or APD by an audiologist. It seems to be often found with autism/AS. I'm not sure if it is treatable, though. If you do have CAPD I think that is something that would cause a lot of difficulty in classroom type settings where there is a lot of noise and different voices all at once, so your college should try to do what they can to accomodate CAPD, if you have it. I have been tested for CAPD, but was not bad enough to get a diagnosis. I did poorly in school subjects that involved a lot of lecturing or a lot of noise from other students. One of my kids also has issues with classroom noise.

Enzo, autism/AS does run in families, so it seems quite possible to me that both you and your son could be autistic. If this is the case, you could be a very special person in your son's life. Some relationships within autistic families are terrible, but I have also seen very loyal and lasting relationships between aspie family members.

A lot of people seem to think that autism can only be understood and learned about after an official diagnosis. I don't understand this. No one needs to have a diagnosis to read books about AS or to read and participate in online aspie forums. You don't need to have a diagnosis to think about your own life and experiences or to observe other people who are on the spectrum too.

For some, it might be. For me it is certainly the closest I can see insofar as "lack of imagination" is concerned. If I haven't seen it, I can't imagine it. At least not consciously, or immediately (I can sometimes spontaneously imagine or make up things, but I can't seem to steer it, I need to be triggered by the right suggestions or questions, such as when given an essay subject).

Mostly, yes, I just don't see them (feel them in a way, remember what they feel like, where they are direction-wise, height-wise etc.).

I don't rely on my sight a great deal anyway (vision quickly gets overloaded), long before I was diagnosed I started accepting that I "walk around/think like a blind person" to some degree.

Lorna Wing also mentions this in 'The Autistic Spectrum', as it being common for autistic children to find their way around in the dark, and not switching on lights sometimes if they are alone (I thought that was touching, becuase she seemed to imply they were very considerate, only switching on lights for the benefit and comfort of others).