Life with Aspergers

Today I want to talk about a you tube video made by an aspie, Alex Olinkiewicz . Have a look at it, it's embedded below. It's insightful, the way it talks about aspergers as a kind of half-autism. There are several places in the video where Alex talks about a kind of "split-personality". Aspergers isn't schizophrenia and I don't think that Alex is suggesting that. He's simply making a point that sometimes we "switch gears" and act in quite different ways. He talks about having adult maturity combined with childlike behaviour. While it's a good analogy, I think that the childlike behaviour is probably more impulsiveness than anything else. I certainly don't seen any reason why a normal (NT) teenager couldn't or wouldn't watch cartoons like Spongebob. Of course, being obsessed with Spongebob would be different. Alex also talks about not fitting in, which is a major part of Aspergers. Most aspies don't feel like they fit in...

I was recently directed to an interesting video on Youtube (embedded below this article). Basically it suggests that there are eight major types of Aspergers and that aspies are usually a mix of one, two or three of these. Note: This is not accepted research - just a set of ideas that someone put forward to help those who were self-diagnosed. The types are named after people. I'm not sure that I agree with the list or with the descriptions. I'm even less sure that these people are definitely aspies but it is still good food for thought. I've reproduced a lot of the content and added some of my own thoughts ; 1. Spielberg (Based on Steven Spielberg ) A sociable, sporty, extroverted aspie with average IQ but poor spelling and grammar. Of all the types, this is the one I disagree with the most - the traits aren't very aspie at all. In fact, I really can't see any commonality with this and other forms of Aspergers. 2. Einstein (Obviously based on Albert Einste...

Although it's not part of the official diagnostic criteria for Aspergers, low muscle tone is nevertheless an condition strongly associated with Aspergers. Why is it so Confusing? When most people hear about "low muscle tone" they assume that it has something to do with bodybuilding - I certainly did at first. This is particularly confusing since many newly diagnosed aspies are children and it's quite uncommon to see any child with a well-developed set of muscles. Most parents will either simply ignore the condition or assume that a bit of outdoor activity, eg: playing soccer, is required. The other confusing thing is that there are adult aspies out there who regularly attend the gym and who have "better" muscles than many NT people. How do they fit the criteria? I saw a great line on a web site discussing Hypotonia . "Your kid seems perfectly good with their muscles - they are strong, they run round with boundless energy, but they have tro...

As I mentioned in my last post, many of the problems with aspie love stem from the aspie's inability to find love or to receive and interpret appropriate signals from partners. There are a number of factors influencing aspie courtship and these include; General Shyness Aspies are usually fairly "shy" beings - not just with the opposite sex but with everyone. This shyness is even more problematic with people in whom they have an interest. Often, the aspie will simply look or smile at their intended partner and assume that this is enough to "call" the other person's attention. If the aspie stares too long without proper conversation, it becomes "creepy" and they will lose any opportunity they may have had. Aspies generally need to be approached since they'll rarely do any approaching of their own. The Naive Mind Aspies tend to appear very naieve and sometimes, we are. More often however, while we are well aware of the scope of human endeavors,...

Just thought I'd post a link to an article on Aspie Employment which was posted on the Parenting Aspergers Blog today. It reinforces a lot of what I've been saying about the importance of the special interest.

Although the answer to this question may seem simple, it recurs with alarming regularity on aspie forums everywhere. Often, it is confused with the aspie's ability to find a partner or the famous aspie empathy problems - these are different things altogether which I'll hopefully discuss in follow-up posts. Emotional Behavior in Aspies Aspies are very capable of loving but they often confuse the issue by adopting an altogether too rigid view of love. Despite popular mis-belief, aspies are generally fairly emotional beings. We have intense feelings of happiness and even more intense feelings of sadness. The smallest triggers can produce huge emotional responses in us. While a bad day at work may make an NT grumpy, it could make an aspie feel suicidal. Similarly, when something good happens an aspie may seem to be over-reacting or overly happy. Most aspie adults have long since learned to control excessive displays of happiness but it's very apparent in aspie children...