Glad I found this place. It's been a strange couple of days.
My son just had his 4 year old checkup, and my wife, the day before the appointment, heard about Asperger's on NPR. He fits the bill completely, and she spoke with hs pediatrician. We've started the process to get a diagnosis, but based on everything I've read here an on other sites, he fits the description almost too well.
Obsessed with trains and letters, spoke words at a young age, can read and write a large number of words at 4, uses "shall" instead of will (among other unusual speech patterns), objects to new foods, haircuts, and specific clothing, day care staff refer to him as "different", refuses to take part in group activities, prefers to play by himself, can focus on one task for hours, tends to line his toys up in rows and patterns, takes things far too literally, is extremely sensitive to pain and loud noises...The list goes on and on...
The other part of it: I fit the description as well. Everyone in my family comments on how much my son acts just like me as a little boy, how I read and wrote at 4, knew every car make and model at that age ( I still know 70's cars really well), refused to wear anything with artificial fibers, hated loud noises, and so on. As I read up on this, it's like re-living large portions of my life. It's a strange revelation. I'm not quite sure what to do with this right now. I feel like I know what my son is headed for once school starts up for him, and it hurts knowing this.
Anyway, thanks for having this community. I'll just keep on reading for now.
08 Dec 2006, 11:54 pm
