Asperger's

[Scarlett]

I have a workmate who I am sure has mild Asperger's Syndrome. I was at school with him, and back then he was very rude, blunt and "superior". he spoke as he found. Now he is a new teacher and he finds it very difficult to get on with and relate to the students. They bully him. he seems to have no sense of humour, he is a phenomenal bass player, and has memorised ridiculous amounts of trivia about music and pieces. He also seemed to not understand the consequences of postponing a certain lesson for a week. He became quite concerned that the scheme of work wasn't going exactly to plan, rather than being glad he would have a week off!

Am I reading too much into these symptoms, or do you think I may have a point? I have taught many students with Asperger's over the years, but have never come across it undiagnosed in an adult.

[curiosity]

I too think my colleague is on the autistic spectrum, so do many of my other colleagues. He is very skilled and knowledgable, great at running meetings etc, but he really struggles at unstructured gatherings, where he can't be sure of what is expected or what is going to happen, he also has a few odd mannerisms and if he happens to be walking down the corridor towards you, he kind of slides along the wall so you arn't too close, which I've observed in lots of kids with Aspergers. There are some very high functioning autistic people or also eccentric.

[lindapinda]

I think you're right Scarlett. I have a nephew,who has Aspergers,and, all these reactions seem like the "norm"..Because,Aspergers is not so "mainstream" or serious as autism,it can be missed.Especially,in a generation,previous to the last 10 years or so?

[rosyrussell]

An aquaintance of mine was diagnosed as being Aspergers at the age of 50.

[Lonnie]

As you probably know, Aspergers is part of the Autistic spectrum, and its a widely held belief, that everyone is Autistic to a degree, just that some are more than others.

[morg_monster]

Especially the blokes! The psychologist Baron-Cohen has a theory that most men are on the very mild end of the autistic spectrum. This supposedly explains why many of them sometimes find it hard to relate to other people, especially women, and all the other things we sigh "Blokes, eh?!" to.

(Interesting fact - he is Sacha "Ali G" 's dad)