Aspies For Freedom

Hi Tallulah, right now my son does have enough features to qualify for ASD, but if just his speech picks up a bit more he will basically fall off the spectrum and into PDD-NOS range.

He has something in each category of the DSM-IV but each very minor, so mild at this stage that the docs believe he will grow out of those little behaviours like arm flapping and echolalia. He loves social interaction and is affectionate which means that he probably won't have too many social issues.

Hmm, what would make him autistic would be his hand flapping and his obsession with lining things up.

But then, we gotta remember that he's only three, so handflapping should be normal at his age.

I also used to put toys in groups when I was really little. I would take a package of glue-on plastic sequin jewels and sort them by colour. I would place the large ones in the middle of the groups of small ones, as if they were the leaders of the groups. If anyone tried to disturb the order and segregation of my plastic jewels, I got mad at them.

I still enjoy playing with sequin jewels today. =D They're so calming and relaxing.

~*~

Anyway, if he's the slightest bit of autism, categorizing wouldn't be necessary, Yet at least. In the future, he might be called "nerdy" by peers  because of his advanced reading ability, but he should do well in English and may grow up to become an editor or something. =D

Anyway, what you should do now is keep teaching him words until he can read an entire picturebook to you. Maybe teaching him more speech before Kindergarten arrives would be great. Teach him enough to impress his teachers. =D

Sounds like a case where lawmakers were concerned more with the money than they were with the facts.

And yet there's always money for that US$100K office renovation the state requires.   :roll:

*raises a hand*

I sort and line things up too, not everything but I have gotten odd looks from people because of it. Crocery is one such thing. I don't go around reordering peoples cupboards, but when I'm home and helping my BF with the washing up well.. then I'm merrily stacking the crocery by size and sets (we have two or three mixed sets of crocery). All the green one's get stacked together then all the blue ones on top, just as a quick example.

I do the same thing with books and small change. I'm forever taking the change out of my pocket, orgering it by size then putting it back in my pocket.

One of my other signs is I tap especially in idle moments, I tap my feet if I'm sitting for long periods, or standing waiting for something (a bus, a cue at the bank..). I sometimes also tap my fingers or pen against the table which is one of my little quirks that drives my BF up the wall.. and clicky pens.. they're another form of tapping.

:twisted: RE: Aspergers Syndrome
    

not sure if i have AS . but i do share some of the chracteritics of a AS mind . i dont remember learning to read at a early age . but i remembering reading extectively on the holocast , the civil war , politcs etc. while in the 1st. grade . during recess i stayed in class and read classics instead of playing outside .

where as your thing is math mines was history . ive always liked reading about historical figures . i remember doing well in everything but algebra and grammar . the only way i could understand grammar is if it was from a theorical stage , samething with algebra . so i taught myself most of the algebra and grammar i know now . and i hated learning it a different way in school with its frustrating steps and repetiveness it was very annoying . so my family got me a tutor she gave me a kind of placement test sort of . i got about 90% of the answers right except the solve problems unless im solving for X . what she didnt understand at first was how i could get the answers right and not show the work . so here i am sitting quietly and slowly shutting down not meaning to be disrespectful or anything , but how do tell your teacher u cant figure it out mathemaically but u understand it in theory and it makes sense but u dont know why it does . its hard to explain sometimes but when i do algebra or any other advance math i feel as if im some type of computer program processing infromation faster than the speed of light . a computer knows the answer is wrong or right but doesnt know why its wrong mathecially only in theory . for me it also by gut or 6th sense kinda . but i dont really believe in things like that . Basic math was always a problem for me . in school they would want u to memerize certain things . this was very hard fro me mainly because i was a resource student in school . so just like a person with AS i again taught myself muliplication and long division . it was really easy after that but they wanted me to know the answer from off the top of my head . i couldnt because they didnt teach it pictures or counters so i could firgure it out in theroy . even thought i took basic math i taught myself physics and chemistry . it was pretty easy after reading the intellectial stuff . i didnt have friends in jr. high school or elementry school it was a very lonely time for me . i got into a lot of fights in school just for being nerdy and black . i couldnt stand rap music , or basketball . i hated hearing that buzzer and the constaint screaming at the sametime . i aslo never really learned how to tell time . i can tell it just alittle . i can't stand wearing watches in general. when i look at my ceiling in room i see patterns in and really sometimes annoying pictures on it , others i just see it without looking hard sometimes just at a glance . i also have everything in room in ABC order . books divided by religon and religous theory and by which religon came first in first in history . sometime i spend countless hours during the day doing research and coming up with my own theories , often backed up by others work . i tried dating but it didnt work out i just didnt understand human relations in general or at least love . i just don't understand people period . i hate soap operas i find them very mind dulling , stupid , without any originally what-so ever . most of the time i'd rather go to a libaray or watch a documetary than spread any time with family . i hate ide chatter . i hate crowds of people at football games or at just about any function . loud sounds usually brother me , and i tend to space out alot . sometimes although i dont mean to i talk to and answer myself out loud fequently or i used to . i dont like going to social events alot , i never know what to say to people so i stay quiet and don't say much at all especially if i don't know you . i found that if im'm quiet i stay out of trouble . my short term memory is pretty terrible . i also have trouble remembering names of streets although i do find my way around pretty well when i talk to someone the rare occurence that i do it has to be intellectual or with someone that shares the same interest that i do . when i did start making friends i found out that they all had some sort of mental disability but it wasnt servere . most of them had ADD and ADHD and were actors and artists they cared about the earth liked lord of the rings and things like that . i also found it hard i determine if i was depressed . i knew it from a theorical or book knoweledge base . but determining feelings was at least for self was hard . my mother would always ask if i was depressed but i didnt really know which , i thought was strange beacause my described me as a empathic able to detect strong feelings and emotion with a person . i would try to help but it would out all wrong . i never know what to say to people sometimes ok most of the time . i just like being alone . but i want friends . friends don't try to change me and stay the course . i also can't stand synthetic materials (clothing ) i hate the tags in my shirt . im constantly annoyed by certian sounds , for example sudden or sudtle radio feedback , the licking sounds my dog makes when she licks her left paw only . i get easily distrubed when there is a change of daily routie although i never learned to tell time . i zone out alot . i have very vivid stories and fantanies mainly about by favorite author or about periods in history that i can't put in to words . i have no consept of time whatso ever although it depends on what it is . i can't stand hearing the phone ringing . i hate the sound of someone breathing into a Oxygen tank . come on is it nornmal to want to pull the cord out the tank and throw it out of the window despite knowing someone needs it for there life ? well thats all i guess .

i just want a more professional diagnosis .
Lloyd