Does anyone here know what Asperger's Syndrome is? I hope I'm not being rude or anything by asking.
umm.. no.. sorry i dont know what that is
It's a form of Autism.
To quote Wikipedia:
"Characteristics of Asperger's vary greatly from person to person but often include: intensely focused areas of interest, sensory integration/sensitivity issues, self-stimulating ('stimming') behavior such as rocking, difficulty interpreting facial expressions and other social cues."
I. . .I knew it was a form of Autism. I know many things about it. I was asking if anyone else knew about it. I have to deal with it in my line of work.
Oh.
I knew what it was, just not very well. ;)
Well, that's one person who knows. Anyone else?
Magmarfire for one, I think he's said that he has Aspergers.
It is said that 90% of those with Aspergers are males, sooo...
What's your job if you work with Autistic kids?
Heh... >_> even I have been suspected of being in an autism spectrum disorder. But I'm very antisocial and weird.
I might be autistic, I don't know. I show signs of it, but I don't really think that... really means I'm autistic. I'm just a little bit messed up.
I work with an autistic kid, though. Only for this week and next week, but who knows... I might end up helping out more kids in the future. (hopefully with a profit next time; not that I don't like helping, I just need money.)
I can give you a really good description, my closest friend (my cousin) is autistic. What do you need to know, exactly, and why?
It's obvious that he knows... But I'd like to hear about your cousin.
My line of work is something that I can't exactly discuss. Along the lines of "If-I-tell-you-,-I-have-to-kill-you" kind of job. Just my luck I also have it. Very helpful when trying to study certain subjects.
Okay...my cousin, as I've aleady said, is autistic. Luckily, he's high function autistic, so it isn't nearly as bad as it could be. However, you can definitely notice the difference. He abhors anything intense. For instance, when we went to see Transformers, for most of the fighting scenes he curled up and looked at his knees until it was over. However, when he isn't in a seat and there's intense action, like when we're wrestling or after a big fight on a game or something, or if he just gets excited, he'll walk around flapping his hands and jumping and such.
He is extremely smart, but hates writing, as his creativity is almost nonexistent. Whenever he makes even the slightest story, it involves characters from games and such that he already knows about, and things that they've done and events that happened. He also hates P.E. and singing, but aside from those three classes he gets amazing grades.
Almost his entire life is video games, he spends all his time on them, since it's on a set path. Most autistic people like routine and order, so a game where everything happens one way is right down his alley. His goals are to conquer games. He loves game music and listens to it constantly, probably because of the repetitiveness of it. I once experimented with several of my favorite songs, and the only one he really liked was 'Take Me Out' by Franz Ferdinand. I figure it's because of how the song slows down near the beginning, and gets a very firm beat. If you want to hear it, it's right here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_9GR9kdZ3o). Notice how it repeats after about 45 seconds.
He is very cynical about a lot of things, mostly physical activity. I've been trying to teach him to ride a bike for a year now. He just won't try to balance, because he didn't grow up riding a bike, and he likes it to stay that way. Which stinks, because I walk with him to Wal Mart to game shop a lot, and it would be so much easier to bike...
You want to know more?
All of a sudden, I feel normal.
NOT.
But that's interesting... I think I share certain traits of autistic people, but it might just be because of my antisocial tendencies/isolation.
I think I may have the staring part, 'cause alot of times when I'm not being talked to and I'm bored and I'm watching T.V. my eyes just stay open and do nothing. It's kinda hard to explain... But I may not have it... ::)
Umm..where did anyone say staring was a part of Asperger's...?
I've done that too. It's weird.
Staring isn't a part of Autism or Asperger's. It's a part of being human. Then again, if it is one of a person's intrests, than it might be connected to it.
Yeah, autistic people usually have a passion, like video games for Scotty, and that's about all they care about.
No, they can like other things, but it would take a gradual allowment into an Asperger's schedule. It helps if the thing is somehow connected to an existing interest. I should know, having to change my schedule because of a change.
Yeah, I've experienced that many times with Scotty..do you know of any way I can help teach him to ride a bike? He just won't try...I can't really think of a way to connect it to games or chess either..
Well, there is a very low chance you could. But, I have heard that there are adult-size tricycles, not demeaning in any way, that could fix the problem. That is my only advice.
So THAT'S who Scotty is. I was thinking he was your brother or something.
Nah, my brother wouldn't live a few houses down from me. ;)
Hmm...It would help him get to Wal Mart to shop for games and stuff faster, plus he's been promised fifty bucks if he learns to ride one, which is practically a game. (I get a hundred ;D)
Shika, your cousin sounds a lot like me. If no one's noticed (I doubt that :P ), I, too, am a very avid video game player, and a lot of the stuff I know is from video games and stuff that I expose myself to. I sometimes try to put those things in context with what people are talking about (word of advice: DON'T DO THAT; BAD IDEA).
And JQ, I may have said that I had it because my mom's absolutely convinced that I had it after knowing me for my seventeen years of being alive. Even if I don't get a diagnosis for it (I've still to take an official test for one ??? ), my mom's still going to think that I have it because of my past behaviors and the behaviors I still have.
For those of you thinking that Asperger's is a bad thing, it's actually a trade-off. Of course, it's one that we have no choice but to accept, but it's still a trade-off. The positive sides are we're very passionate about what we obsess over, giving us a very good chance at succeeding in a career field in said things we obsess over. The bad side...well, as JQ also mentioned, many of us are antisocial, and I'm one of those. Because of that, it's considerably harder to make friends and get into relationships. I truly HATE that about me, but I have to live with it. Maybe things will start to change after a while. ^_^
Yeah, Scotty despises intimacy, won't even think of liking a girl...then again, his stepmom kinda drilled that into him...Anyways, he doesn't make many friends, but when he does, he has no problem talking with them.
Understandable. We Aspies (I'll just assume I'm an Aspie because of my personality setup and by my mom being convinced that I have it) are comfortable with what we're familiar with. With friends, we know what they're like, so we're more at ease with them. With strangers, it's the other way around unless we really try to keep our cool.
As MagmarFire said, it is a trade-off. Both are true, but there is one thing that can be added: Name calling. After telling some people about my condition, I got surrounded by the names "Assburgers" and "Assperverts". As you can guess, both were extremely annoying. But, as I said, it can be avoided. And, Shikamaru, the intamacy thing is a problem, but if a person can find a girl that shares the person's intrests, then it can be fixed.