Aspies For Freedom

Okay...so I have always known my husband was a little different...that was always part of the attraction.  I've always known ALL of our kids were a little different.  I've never personally had a problem with their differences, because I am always looking at them with my mom glasses.  I still appreciate everything about them, and they amaze and frustrate me everyday.  (Who wouldn't be amazed at a kid that learned long division at about the same time he learned to ride a bike...and not on the same schedule for either of those things with NT's. Or a 3-yr.old that can read, delete files on my computer, and get to level 6 on Super Mario...but still needs me to dress him and help him with potty issues?) But after our move to Alabama (from Georgia, the most wonderful place on earth), I decided to get my middle child an "official" diagnosis.  He was being bullied in the new churches we were visiting and in the sports and other activities we were trying to put him in.  (He's 8, and we homeschool.)  I am NOT going to tell him he can't play a sport he wants to try just because he's "no good at it" by the world's standards.  Period.  I am not here to debate that.  My question is, did I do the right thing by taking him to the psychologist?  I mean, there is no doubt his picture is probably right beside the encyclopedia entry for AS, but this psych chick wants me to do the GFCF diet with him and my whole family.  She tells me to read Starving Brains (THAT author is nuts) and when I tell her I'm not going to do the diet she insults me by telling me we are going to have to go backward before moving forward...then she recommends Attwood's books and ends our $200 dollar session!  (and I've already read those books anyway.)  Anyway, I really just wanted a diagnosis so I could officially tell coaches and other adults in charge that he is going to require just a little more understanding than the cookie cutter kids they were used to dealing with.  I thought maybe she'd refer me to a slp that could help him not sound like a 45 played at 33& 1/2.  (He is so stinking wise if you have an hour and a half to listen to him! Which I don't and neither do most of the people I know.)  I hoped I'd get some advice to pass on to him to help him avoid bullying, etc.  The other stuff is really not important to me.  But I will not treat him or my other 2 like science experiments.  And I will not take away yummy food to boot.   And now that I'm in Alabama AND I'm homeschooling, I kind of hate that I drew attention to something and then might not pursue treatment!  Any Advice?  
Tina
Mom to DD w/ OCD, DS1 w/AS, and DS2 w/PDD-NOS  (all geniuses, of course.)
Wife to a groovy aspie TV engineer who personifies and defies the engineer jokes at the same time  

Also, am I going to be persecuted on this site for being a Christian?  Some of the posts on other forums seemed a bit hostile in this area.  I don't really see what religious preference has to do with this neurological difference.

Brava, Lady for the attitude!  hold tight to it because you are right and everyone else is wrong!  You're kids are just fine, and brilliant, and different!

That said, darlin', I left the south because of the type of people you have encountered.  Narrow-minded, and as such, dangerous, in a nut-shell.  I simply cannot advise as per the official diagnosis, because in my south (rural Carolina), the schools would turn you into Social services for not following recommended criteria, or threaten such.  I would suggest finding someone else.  No one can fault you for shopping psychs.  People here might be able to suggest more options in your capital or local city.

Christian myself.  Welcome!  Don't know if we'll agree on things Theosophy, but I can definitely agree on the Christ.  This place is like anywhere else.  Some show more enthusiasm, respect or tolerance than others.  Most only expect tolerance in return.  There are sections where like meets with like.

Welcome!

Hope you wont flame me for calling myself the devil, it's just meant to be humourous.

I hope I won't offend, but you sort of remind me of our NYC street prophets...the sign-board guys "The End is Nigh!".  I love those guys!

Of course, a healthy reminder now and then that change is inevitable and that one sows what one reaps is a good thing

Persecuted, not likely. Some may tease you for having invisible friends, but that is likely to be as far as it goes. Well, I hope that gentle ribbing wasn't offensive, but ah well. We all have our personal likes and dislikes.

Yes, please break up your writing into paragraphs, it makes it much less painful to read.
  

You'll be attacked for it, but nobody here has the power to actually persecute you.  They can just be big, fat jerks about it.

More seriously:  Does AS really cause any problems for your lives?  If so, address those specific problems.  AS is not a disease, so it does not need to be "treated" or "cured".  However, specific behaviors might benefit from adjustment.  Specific issues might benefit from counseling.  Even specific problems MIGHT benefit from low doses of various medications.  However, my hypothesis regarding all the above is that none of the "problems" are "caused by" AS.  Instead, they are side-effects of having to live ones entire life in an actively hostile environment and society.

If a man is abused every day decades, the NORMAL response for him will be to act in "abnormal" ways.

PS:  Ditch your idiot psychologist.

AFF isn't just radical and pure idealistic, it's also rational.

basicly here anything expet spaming and ovesive lauguge goes and poeple have the right to say what they want withen reason.