Asperger's?!
Question: I have recently been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome but know nothing about it. Could someone explain to me what AS entails?
Answers: I have recently been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome but know nothing about it. Could someone explain to me what AS entails?
My son was reciently diagnosed with AS. While I am still learning, I think you will find this site full of information and very helpful.
http://www.asperger-syndrome.me.uk/
it is a high functioning autism. with this you will see unusual facial movements, noise making, and/or hand gestures that you may or maynot be aware of. people will tell you to stop that - or that's annoying and you weren't aware you were doing anything wrong. typically, you choose friends that will bully you around. poor judgement in that area is common. excelling in one area of school, pickey eater - or desire to only eat one type of food all the time. does this help? there are many books now on the subject that can help too.
search on the net under Asperger's or Autistic Spectrum Disorders and you should find a lot of info. Good Luck!
autism at it's best
The only thing I know is people with Asperger's tend to obsess about something. I saw a show about it a few months back. There were two people I remember. The first guy was really interested in lightbulbs and he knew everything about them, he seemed to have trouble relating other people. The other was obsessed with lizards, he seemed to be pretty normal but if lizards or anything lizard like came up in a conversation he would lecture on and on.
I can't say much more than that just look on the web, wikipedia and so on. I am sure you can find a site dedicated to it that will help. The web has helped me with my dyscalculia.
You can look up those websites and get a lot of good information but the fairly short answer is that while it is on the "autistic spectrum", it is diagnosed in some people for whom its effects are extremely minimal.
I mean, I've seen some people diagnosed with it because, since it's less "stigmatizing" than autism, parents sometimes urge the doctor to diagnose Asperger's. (But many of these people looked a little more like true autism.)
It can be as minor as being a little overly sensitive to light, to sound, and having a slightly unusual social style. (It's so vague and wide-open - I think my second oldest son could be diagnosed with it if I suggested it to a psychiatrist. But what's the purpose? He's doing fine without a diagnosis...) These people tend to develop intense interests in one or a few specific things and do a lot of research into those areas or just learn a lot about those particular things. (Difference being with autism, people get kind of obsessed and for instance, might sit at an airport all day and stare at planes. People with Asperger's tend to do something much more useful with their interests.)
My point is that if you're able to write a letter indicating that you're concerned about what may be "wrong" with you, nothing is TOO wrong with you. (I swear, I feel like the day will come when every single person on Earth will have some kind of diagnosis. Then drug companies could sell medications to everyone.)
Asperger's has only been diagnosed in the last, oh, less than 20 years. Prior to that, some people who would have been described as eccentric or "marches to the beat of his own drum" probably did have Asperger's. But if it's very mild Asperger's, why pathologize something as minimal as a quirky personality?