Following from the 'Missing Teen' thread, does anyone have experience of Asperger's?

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RE: original query.

Yes me. An array of autistic spectrum stuff & more.

But I always seem to spill too much personal info on this forum then get slated. So I shant go in to it too much.

I can say that I never got any help for it, and only got partially tested for my conditions in my early 20's after years of chasing. It caused every attempt at education from primary to university to fall apart, even though (sorry to blow my horn) I was in most aspects the most gifted student and achieving highest exams grades etc. Its really really dreadful, but I think with the right support it can easily be turned round into something productive & marvellous.

My uncle is an ass burger - he's got it 'quite bad' too (he wasn't diagnosed until late into his adult life which resulted in a difficult childhood for him and all of my Dad's family). He's only ever had a handful of 'freak out' moments though, generally speaking you might just read his behaviour as slightly unusual idiosyncrasies. There are lots of foods and chemicals that spark him off and generally he avoids them which keeps everything running smoothly. He works in an office where people understand it which has helped immensely - he was unemployed for a long time because he can be quite difficult to be around.

He used to work for London Underground driving the tube trains - one interesting thing about people with aspergers is that quite often they have one thing that they are very passionate about and for my uncle this is trains. He has a London Underground board game which he expects me and my siblings to play with him at Christmas (it's quite fun actually). Last year we got him trapped in Harrow by closing Baker Street station - we got many lols from watching him quietly fume as we beat him at a train related game haha.

As it's come up - I didn't find Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime to be a great representation of Asbergers - it might just be the broadness of the syndrome, but from what I understand of the spectrum, the main character seemed to be leaning more to the autistic side of things. It's still an excellent read - something that I think would be beneficial to anyone who doesn't have experience with people on the autistic spectrum. I actually think it would be great if it was read in schools - a bit on understanding goes a long way and I think there are significantly more people with some degree of aspergers than are diagnosed.

EDIT AFTER DFP:

It's interesting that the aspergers community is split in to two camps - people who want help, or to be 'cured' (sometimes referred to within the community as curebies) and people who accept who they are and don't want any help. I don't think there's a right or wrong, I guess it just depends on how strong you are as a person to resist the grief you might get from people for just being who you are, and I have a lot of respect for people who choose that because it can really make life difficult sometimes.

but I think with the right support it can easily be turned round into something productive & marvellous.

Productive ?

They can be trained to work in shoe factories if the right voltage is applied.

My uncle is an ass burger

:D

There is a big selling Christmas card there.

There are lots of foods and chemicals that spark him off

There is no evidence that suggests autism spectrum disorder is 'triggered' (triggered not caused) by anything environmental at all - this is a little like saying colour blindness is triggered by cheese.

Don't get me wrong, I am sure he may well get "funny' after a cheese roll, but this is not ASD kicking in because of the cheese.

if by any chance some one with AS read this page and hadn't logged in as a member then the google ads would offer them 2 choices. Firstly the offer of help and testing on autism and secondly the offer of a brand new fuji track bike for £299.

I am in two minds to which the best offer would be to them.

+1 for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Excellent read, and enlightenling for those unfamiliar with Aspergers.

I don't think true accuracy was aimed for though, but it certainly well introduces main traits.

Calm down you fucking fuck, I meant the good AIDS, the gays only use the bad AIDS.

See.

Someone has been watching brass eye a little too much.

Reading through the thread, it seems as though no one has yet owned up to being fully diagnosed. So far the highest bidder seems to be deadly fanny pack who claims to have been "partially tested". Who's prepared to bid higher?

Anyway, I have quite a lot of experience with autism and Aspergers, including being one of the organisers of a yearly three day residential conference type thing for autistic people. Right, now I've said that I don't really know what else to add on the subject.

Oh, I could add that a lot of autistic people were really annoyed about the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I can't even remember fully what everyone's reasons were as it's now years ago that it came out. I remember being annoyed about it but also finding that it captured some aspects of Aspergers very accurately. The problem was that the kid in it seemed to be a composite character based on a number of different people so he seemed to combine almost every autistic trait that's ever described, whereas in reality different people have different traits to varying degrees. He was also pretty extremely asocial if I remember correctly, which not all people are. That's not a criticism of the book as such, but I think the risk is that some people could walk away from the book with the impression that this is what all autistic people are like, when it actually isn't at all.

Oh, I'm using autism and Aspergers interchangeably because increasingly these days the thinking is that it's all part of one spectrum and there isn't really a definable difference between the two.

Someone has been watching brass eye a little too much.

You're wrong, and you're a grotesquely ugly freak.

17.

Someone has been watching brass eye a little too much.

Someone has watched Brass Eye once, but used their autisticospasmodic powers to store and consequently recall information verbatim.

I'm pleased to see that this thread has turned into a fun but spazzy take on AS.

I would now like to see 'I haz assburgerz' t-shirts in Carnaby St and on Sesame St. Thank you.

Bump.

They're out there...

Has anyone been through the process of being formally diagnosed on the autism spectrum as an adult ? If so, has it helped you in any way ?

Not quite the answer you want, but I went through an assessment this year (aged 28) and found it frustrating. Was entirely focused upon basic symptoms, and there seemed to be no interest in actually understanding my situation, and for instance, the fact that at 28 I might have found coping mechanisms which mean that I don't present as a standard case, even though the issues are there.

Thanks. I'm at the point where I know I'm somewhere on the spectrum, and having had a chat with my GP about it they more or less agree. My GP has found a contact to refer to for a formal assessment, but I'm unsure if it's worth going through it all. In your case it doesn't seem as though you've found it beneficial ?

I didn't, but that's probably just down to a bad experience. If you have your GP on board I'd imagine that might help a lot. Not sure how much having it formally recognised would have helped - in my own case it's just one part of a wider ranging issue - but I doubt it would be a bad thing, and it might give you a better idea of things to be aware of, and things you can work on to manage it

I'm quite self aware about it now and can understand why I react in a certain way. The awareness only came about after being hit by a car and the resulting head trauma caused some self analysis as I initially had problems with concentration and memory after the accident. So at least one positive from it...

Anyhoo, I guess what I'm after is other people to talk to about the condition and how they cope with different situations. I guess getting formally diagnosed will give me access to things like that ?

I used to work with autistic people quite a lot. If you need to access certain kinds of support, the diagnosis can be worthwhile, and I've known people who have benefited from it. Then again, for some other people it may not be a good thing, and there, too, I've known people who felt typecast and hemmed in.

The 'autistic spectrum' idea has benefits in that it opened the door for a recognition of autistic people beyond those with serious behavioural difficulties. However, there is also the problem that the 'spectrum' is cast rather wide, and (especially as it is symptom-based) it encompasses all sorts of different people.

Are you saying that you acquired 'autistic' symptoms following the crash or that it merely led to a period of introspection because of the concentration problems you mention?

(You shouldn't need a diagnosis of autism to be able to talk to someone about your condition.)

Feel free to PM me for some anecdotal advice.

I don't want to go into details on a public forum but it's a been a life long thing that a period of introspection helped me come to realise and has helped me explain some of things that have happened in my life.

Thanks VanUden, may well PM you