Autism

[collareddove12]

Can Autism run in families? I have 2 brothers whom each have an autistic grandson - one just diagnosed. I don't have any grandchildren.

[rowanwitch]

I really don't like social touch at all, I have a need for a pretty big personal space. The strange thing is Dave could get close in ways no other person did. I think it was because his needs were greater than mine and that made it ok.

Ummmm do you find you try too hard to please people because you are not quite sure what is enough?

[1ozzy]

I've just been described by a few people, I think.

I prefer to think of high functioning autism as an eye for detail.

Can't handle crowds myself, thinking time is paramount.

[rowanwitch]

The appeal of web contact, if it gets too much it is easier to walk away, and you don't have to hug webfriends

[1ozzy]

Personal space.

[Zacs-Master]

It wasn’t until one of my best friends remarried recently and we got talking about her sons, one of whom is autistic, that I had several lightbulb moments.

When I was a child I found large groups / parties excruciatingly awkward. I used to shut myself away in my bedroom and draw for hours. I loved organising things (and still do). My ‘discovery’ of alcohol helped enormously in my teenage years.

[ummmm]

No. Ginge and the kids accept me for what I am. Because of my upbringing I can pretend to be something I'm not. Growing up in a pub I can pretend to be friendly....when I'm not. My middle child barley left my arms. I carried him everywhere. The youngest, autistic, only let me pick him up to be fed. Strange though....our cat guarded him like a guard dog. She'd scratch anyone who tried to touch him :-)

I do like people though. I find different personalities fascinating. I could sit and observe all day long. Most people are really nice despite all the doom and gloom posted on here.

[collareddove12]

Reading all your replies and more info on websites it proves you can lead a good and fulfilling life. I suppose it's the shock at first that makes you concerned.

[ummmm]

Zacs....My son would scream if I took into a shopping centre. Too many people, too bright, crap music.

[Zacs-Master]

Ha, just had another lightbulb moment(pardon the pun). I hate bright lights, especially in a domestic setting.

[Zacs-Master]

Collarddove, that’s why it’s possibly best left undiagnosed. A label can become a stigma or, as some have said, an excuse for bad behaviour.

[1ozzy]

My youngest offspring was "diagnosed" .

Didn't change the person one bit but it did helping us to understanding and support.

[ummmm]

They diagnose it they just don't statement it.

If they get statemented you can receive benefits. Doctor advised against it. Too intelligent to be labeled.

[Zacs-Master]

I used to be mad about my toy cars (as a lot of children are) but I used to do this strange thing where, after having them for a while, I’d take a hammer and completely destroy them. Is this a trait of autism (or am I just crackers)?

[rowanwitch]

I destroyed things too, partly to see how to do it, partly because when I finished with something it was finished and partly because the act of destruction released a whole lot of negative pressure.

I use bright lights for crafting, the rest of the time soft or none at all. I even play rock music quietly. Hell is a nightclub.

[Tilly2]

We all have our little foibles and idiosyncrasies. No one is 'normal'.

It doesn't mean we're crackers though.

[ummmm]

Crackers :-)

My boy was obsessed with Polly Pockets. AND he used to wear clothes pegs in his hair :-) and used to peg tea towels to his hair and flick it around like 'look at me with my long hair'

It was funny.

[1ozzy]

You should have been a stunt driver for the "Fast and Furious" movies Zacs, sorry to say but you have missed your true vocation.

Lot's of action and destroying cars ;-/

[Zacs-Master]

Rowan, yes that’s exactly it ‘when it’s finished with, it’s finished’. Almost as though their wasn’t room for the old toy cars and the new ones.

(Good therapy this......cost a fortune with a shrink)

Ummmm, OY!!! ;-)

[Zacs-Master]

1ozzy, I was very fortunate that my drawing obsession led me to my vocation.

Although I do look a bit like a poor girls Vin Diesel.

[Peter Pedant]

interesting ideas here
esp that patients may do better without intervention

( not seen in oncology for example)

you are obviously all readers - didnt Kanner first describe this ( as a rare disease ) 1929 and the numbers have ballooned since then ?
In which case experiences about treatment twenty or thrity years ago may have less relevance to today - because the set yo are dealing with is different...