Aspies For Freedom

thanks for your replies,its so nice to hear others stories and know my brothers not alone....all my life ive known he was different and i saw him get bullied all through our school life(im 2 yrs younger than him)and always thought he had a learning disability,i know  he hasnt but at the time you really dont know,and i went working for s.services in the learning disability field and after having much training i knew it wasnt the case,and the only way i heard about aspergers was through a work collegue whos son has aspergers,and after many chats with her about her son and my brother,we found they had an awful lot in common,so i started to research it,and it makes me very happy to know my brother and myself are on the right track.
as for my brother at the age of 15 he was put back a year in school so he actually left in the 4th yr aged 16,then he went working at remploy(for those of you who havent heard of it they employ people with all types of disabilities and hes worked there ever since,he appears quite happy there and his bosses get in touch with me if there is ever any problems.
he recently got threatened with a disciplinary for smoking outside in a non smoking zone,and the boss said if he apologised then it would be dropped,so my brother apologised but then said to him"but i still dont like you"
lol,it makes perfect sense to me to say what you think,but sometimes i have to tell him to stop and think first.
he hasnt said he wants to change jobs or look at other things just yet,so i know at least hes working and is coping with that,although i could do with some advice as im at a loss as to help him with something.....he goes on the computer a lot(up to 14hrs at a time at 1 point,and i know a lot of poeple do this,last year he was very interested in america and he stored every picture of every high schools cheerleaders in his computer and wrote down all their addresses,this went on for around 8months,then he completely lost interest which i was relieved about as it was all he ever spoke about.....but now he goes on a forum and chats to people,which i know is a good way for him to express himself and get his thoughts out,but now he has started writing down what he is going to say and sometimes can spend around 5 hours doing this,and also rells me what hes going to say,and my dilemma is will this stop,what is causing this,is he stressed?i know hes an adult but i find myself trying to stop him going on his laptop,i dont want to start bossing him about,but i only want whats best for him....he has also started to write little things on the forum like where he works and what bus he gets and also which cash machine on which st he goes to,hes also got his picture on this site so i am slightly worried about him.any advice would be most welcome,thanks.
sorry this was so long.

hi,thanks again for replies,regarding the cash machine,ive tried and tried to tell him not to give out personal info about himself,but he doesnt seem to listen,i really have tried all sorts,he is just keen to share his life on this forum with people that he thinks are his freinds,so now the thing id would like to change is him going on this forum,does anyone think this interest will just stop,and move onto something else.i go on this forum just to check on him(know i shouldnt and am too protective sometyms)and they take the mickey quite a bit out of him.
at the moment he has a 16yr old girl saying hes deluded and highly doubts he has aspergers,he is arguing with her and she is winding him up but he cant see it.if anyone wants to know the name of the site to give him some support please pm me,lol
as for an experienced diagnostician im in the north west of the uk and there really is no one here,nearest one is liverpool and that is the name im going to give my doctor,my gp is being great about this and i know he knows that i wont be fobbed off.he did try to say its just a label at first but i said in order to get some support he NEEDS a diagnosis.

i got my brothers report through this morning from the phyciatrist so wo ndandered what anyone on here thought......

diagnoses:1 Autistic traits/Aspergers syndrome
                2 Early learning difficulties but no learning disability
                3 Significant social needs/vulnerability to exploitation/prompting to maintain personal care/personal hygiene.

Follow up:There was no evidence of a learning disability or major mental illness and i have not arranged to see him again.his current needs are social.

MENTAL STATE EXAMINATION:
He presented himself as appropriately dressed.He was able to establish eye contact but his responses were stilted.He was very positive about the website and did not see there to be any difficulties associated with this.He did not appear to be anxious or depressed and there was no evidence of major mental illness.

TREATMENT/MANAGEMENT

His history suggests early learning difficulties.He was bullied at school and has longstanding difficulties with social relationships.He is currently preoccuppied with a website which he hopes will introduce him to new freinds.He has held down sheltered employment.There is no history suggestive of significant self injury or aggression.His independent living skills combined with his ability to read and to manage do not suggest a learning disability.
He has significant social needs and vulnerabilty to exploitation in the context of autistic traits/aspergers syndrome.He would benefit from a social worker to support independent living.

i missed out a few private details about him but have tried to include as much as possible.this is the letter that my brotheres gp will get so hopefully will refer him so someone more qaulified.again sorry was long.

the website is called chavscumforum,i hope its ok to put this on.
the thread is called any problems ask auntie.
the girl claims to have a friend with aspergers so that makes her an expert.im still learning myself and so is my brother,but he needs encouragement,not some1 telling him hes deluding himself.thanks.

i know,its frightening really,i cant go on there and say my brother does this and does that,like some of the aspie traits as i dont want to embarass him,but she was saying to him well you dont do this so obviously your not.he really just wanted to know that there was people he could talk to on there.i dont want him to start feeling embarrassed about being an aspie,as im always telling him he should be proud to be different.

Commenting on the 'weirdness' comment.

This makes me wonder (in frustration) Is being on the autistic spectrum behavioral or receptical/processing syndrom. Because someone who has learned to cope with all the stressful expectations of the crazy NT world may 'appear' normal to them, but that doesn't mean they aren't boiling inside at the same stimulations that those who 'act weird' do.

Growing up I was looked at as having low self-esteem, unpopular or just weird, but I learned to force myself to look people in the eye (after someone in college told me it was creepy that I didn't), to hold back my strange comments, to retreat to quiet spaces when I can't handle the stimulation and to enjoy my unique way of looking at the world by expressing it through creative activities that make people more receptive to me. (NT's like you to be 'useful' - even if just to entertain them)

I'm not 'weird' anymore, and people would never guess I would test positive for Asperger's, but I have taken the tests on line, and I relate to how autistics and aspies describe the world.  When I read "Nobody Nowhere" I couldn't put it down, it was like someone FINALLY understood how I saw the world.

Also, I can spot Aspies pretty quickly and I 'get' them and even before I had ever heard of aspergers I was defending people who were being picked on for not being 'cool' enough.

Another thought.  Sometimes I wonder if those who aren't 'weird' enough tend to have higher expectations on them, so when we do freak out (which I do from time to time when it all becomes too much) it is a shock and socially devistating.

I've lost it a few times when a situation becomes too stressful and someone pushed me and wouldn't back down and give me space.  Then I get the label of unprofessional and immature and what not. Thankfully now that I know what Aspergers is and what triggers the responses, I can identify the situation as 'dangerous' for me and can find someone who gets me to help take over before I start 'thrashing'. (Computer term for what I call my inability to function because of overstimulation)

Most people don't seem to understand the level of stress for them in the same situation is much lower than for me and I wonder if being 'Aspie' would give people more patience with me even though I'm not 'weird'.

Though there's still a part of me who thinks I am just immature.