I think my 26 year old brother might have mild autism.?!
Question: Everybody has always said he "has his own little world". He does OK for himself. He has a job, pays rent, has a car, a cell phone, cable tv.
He has never been good at expressing himself. He shows many other habits that fit into the description of aspergers syndrome.
His "social" life consists mostly of going out to do things by himself. This seems to be satisfying for him, but I am afraid that inside he really is frustrated. I have always thought to myself that he needs a good girl - a reason to think more of himself and someone to open up to.
My suspisions about autism are new. Should I make this information about autism and aspergers syndrome available to him? I'm afraid that suggesting he has some kind of syndrome might hurt him more than help him. If anybody has any personal experiences or good references about diagnosing an adult, please help.
Answers: Everybody has always said he "has his own little world". He does OK for himself. He has a job, pays rent, has a car, a cell phone, cable tv.
He has never been good at expressing himself. He shows many other habits that fit into the description of aspergers syndrome.
His "social" life consists mostly of going out to do things by himself. This seems to be satisfying for him, but I am afraid that inside he really is frustrated. I have always thought to myself that he needs a good girl - a reason to think more of himself and someone to open up to.
My suspisions about autism are new. Should I make this information about autism and aspergers syndrome available to him? I'm afraid that suggesting he has some kind of syndrome might hurt him more than help him. If anybody has any personal experiences or good references about diagnosing an adult, please help.
go online and find the asperger's support groups. there you can look at archived conversations/questions. If you live near an area with good schools there is probably a group called septa that meets monthly. even though you are talking about an adult there are specialists scheduled to speak at these meetings which you can attend for free. I have a magazine called "Spectrum" with lots of info. Our area has them in the library meeting room, sometimes in a school cafeteria. There are yahoo groups for aspergers-concerned family/friends, etc. If I find the website that has helped me I will come back and edit this answer and add it for you. the best thing for me has been to start a file (just a primitive folder) and keep track of phone numbers, specialists, meeting information. the free meetings have helped me the most. at one a doctor spoke at length about this. Go to a border's bookstore or barnes and noble (ie big) and look at this best-selling book written by a guy with aspergers; has a photo of scowling grimacing kid on cover. then sit in the aisle and read what you can. maybe eventually if done in the right way it will help him understand things. in the spectrum magazine a beautiful model who was on a model-search reality show is featured in this current issue. she is in her 20's and speaks openly abut it. check the show's website and maybe you could use things like that (hip gorgeous young woman who makes it less taboo) and NOT say "you have this" but maybe "she has an interesting story--do you relate to any of that?" without the whole magazine but just the article (or another from another source perhaps) give us an update if you can!
My video on Asperger's might help you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbgUjmeC-...