A few questions I need your help with.

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I am hoping that someone out there can give advice, perhaps you or your child do or have done what my 10 year old aspie son does.

J is currently dx'd with aspergers and is now also being investigated for possible seizures (don't know if this has anything to do with whats been going on, just wanted to give the full picture)
J tells me from time to time (at least once a day) that "I don't feel right" (meaning himself), or "it doesn't feel right" then he gets a paniced look on his face and will at least half the time even go into very dramatic body movements ie, his hands/arms will pull up to his chest or sides, curl in then stretch out, his legs will kind of buckle then straighten again, his head will roll around, it looks like a wave of very complex drawing in then stretching, a little like how someone might react if they had seen say a spider or something else that freaked them out. he will then most often clinge to my arm and he looks scared. I have asked him to stop it, he still does it, I have asked him why he does this, he says he can't help it, he feels like he has to.
This body movement thing started about the time that the eye rolling stopped. He used to get the same look on his face and tell me he didn't feel right then his eyes would roll back and his legs would go wobbly. I havent seen this for approx 6mths. The curling stretching thing doesn't last long seconds only really. Sometimes he is tired after it, sometimes just very cranky, usually he needs lots of reasurance and then to either be home (if we are out) or to be left alone.

The next thing I want to ask is memory, short term memory. J's long term is great. Short term not so great and even worse right now. we think its bad right now because he has been under alot of stress with lack of support at school and transtioning to a new school. I am hearing I don't know so often at the moment. I ask how was school, I dont know. What did you do today, I dont know. J did you do this, I dont know. etc etc or he says he cant remember. I ask him if he really cant remember or if he just doesnt want to talk about it, he will give me a quizical look then say I don't know, what did you say? J is even commenting that he has a bad memory but he can remember things from a long time ago just not stuff right now. Do your kids do this? Anyone?

J is not in good shape emotionally right now, his moods are all over the place, he is screaming at people at the drop of a hat (he never used to do this) He is getting angrier quicker, he is hitting out at people (he never did this, he used to just hit himself) Is this possibly just this time of the year, stress with all the changes or is this maybe a hormonal change? I know it could be all or none I would just like you opinion please.

thanks for listening, I am extremely tired and not sure how straight I'm thinking right now.

All boys at that age do this, NT or AS. If you want an answer, you have to ask specific questions, and then they still may not remember. For example, did you play with anyone at lunch? Did you get to do algebra today in math? If it's a short term memory problem, he wouldn't be able to study for a spelling test. If it's a developmental boy thing, he can remember recent learning for a test, but not remember what he ate, wore or did. In many ways, they just don't find it important, and don't see why we care, either.

As for the other questions, I am clueless on seizures. Emotional issues - I vote for warning sign that something is stressing him out. Some boys get the hormone thing at that age, but it seems early. My son did a group counseling series when he was 10 and it seemed to help.

I have epilepsy....

What you describe isn't seizures. My best guess is it's some emotional thing tied into the aspergers. If it's a seizure, you will certainly know. It's unmistakable. However, I know a few minutes before I have mine that I'm gonna have one and I can usually just fight my way through it without any harm. The sixth sense he describes is associated with seizures, though.....hmmm....I may have done a 180 here. He needs to see a neurologist, obviously. Hope you like Indians (dots, not feathers).

The eyes rolling back into the head coulda been mild seizures....

To me, they sound more like stress induced seizures. More formerly known as non-epileptic seizures. I get something very similiar to non-epileptic seizures under high stress times. I dissociate, which from what I can understand is much like a non-epileptic seizure.

Have you tried any therapy with him? Like with a psychologist or a social worker? If he can work on calming techniques, he may stop having them as often. Just a thought.

You think it has to do with them being male or that age? OK, I won't lie! I am male, and older. My mother may STILL ask questions like that(I am in my forties, and she is close to 80), but I never bothered to remember such things. I guess my memory has ALWAYS been something like an old computer where there was time and effort to switch modes but, once I switched, I was very able to work with the info.

If he can do well, WHO CARES?

Sounds like he is putting tension in his muscles and doesn't know how to deal with stress any other way. Have you considered meditation or yoga?

As far as the curling, it could just be that his muscles are getting too tight, and he is resetting them. I know it seems weird, but I do the same thing. If I sit for too long, my muscles will ache a bit, and I will have to stretch. He could mean that his muscles hurt, and he is stretching them out? Then again, it could also be a partial seizure. I dont really know. If he was rolling back his eyes before, that really doesnt sound like stretching, seems more like a partial seizure to me.

As far as forgetting pointless facts, I do that too. I think all men do that. If asked to close my eyes and describe what I am wearing I probably wouldnt be able to tell you. Likewise I dont bother remembering what I ate, who I ate with, and pointless small talk conversations that I have to make throughout the day. Unless I consider it important, I cant get it to stick in my memory. This means that I will forget somebody's name 30 seconds after they tell me. Its not that I dont want to remember it, its just that my mind automatically filters that out.

While I have no problem remembering information I learned in elementary about factoring, I cant remember the name of people whom I met earlier this morning. If his memory is horribly bad, you may want to get it looked at, but just forgetting things like names, times, and small conversations is a normal male thing.

As far as the emotional problems, seems like he needs a vacation (from people, not school). Odds are that the first semester is ending and he has a few reports/projects/test due. Large gatherings of people for social purposes (Christmas parties) is pretty much my biggest source of stress. Knowing that such events are coming up soon may be stressing your son out. And of course, your son has been in school for 3 months without a break, so the stress is already piled on. Combine with problems at school from exclusion, bullying, and homework and you can imagine that he isnt having a fun time.

Late childhood (age 10-13ish) was the worst time in my life, and I was rather depressed. Nearly suicidal actually. I would just let your son have a vacation from people, and leave him alone for Christmas break. Try to exclude him from family parties, and let him know that he doesnt have to be social, or do any school work, or interact with anybody unless he wants to.

My thought particularly after hearing "feel like I have to" is tourettes. I'm not a doctor though, a professional needs to examine the symptoms.

try creating a symptom and see if your child adopts it, if he/she does it may be psychosomatic,
I know for my self at times when I get really stressed or have a bad reaction to a bad memory
I have a reaction thats akin to shaking off the tensions, kind of a shiver or trembling that can be body
wide or localized or both, either that or I flap.

The seizure thing sounds more like a sensory integration issue, which is common to Aspergers. Basically, the brain gets overloaded with sensory material and can't process it. My 8 yr old son will react in a way that he says he can't control, if he is in social situations for too long (mainly school) and also particularly with constant or loud noise. My son starts kissing and hugging everyone at school , because he craves proprioceptive input, but actually can't determine his need for it himself. Try looking into a few books on sensory issues, and some of it might match what you are describing. It is probably also related to stress and meltdown behaviour - my son's main emotion during this sort of thing is feeling scared too.

Regarding poor working memory, ditto with my son. He did a giftedness test a few months ago, and this area came up significantly weaker than the areas he was way ahead in. From talking to a few people, apparently this is common in gifted or Aspergers children. I think it's also related to poor executive dysfunction (eg. organisation skills and planning) which is an AS trait. Lately I have been teaching my son the meaning of the word "focus" and when to focus. I have seen some improvements. I'm also experimenting with Phosphatidyl Serine and am going to start with ToCoQ10 soon - both are supposed to naturally help with attention issues.

I would say that the mood thing is part of his ongoing frustrations, and perhaps an age/hormone thing. He is possibly struggling a lot too with accepting he is different, and not knowing how to handle this. If you went to medical people, they would probably recommend medication for anxiety. I would probably try other things first. I've heard of natural products like Clarocet and Fish Oil (in a ration of 7:1 EPA/DHA, specifically for mood and depression), which I'll probably be heading for if/when my child exhibits this (he already does to some extent). I also find that talking with my son about what he is great at and the things he needs help with, is helpful.

I seem to remember that you live in Australia(?), so hopefully that means that school holidays are just around the corner, and that the pressure goes off a bit with not having to deal with school. I'm in NZ and we finished school yesterday, so I can kind of "breathe out" for awhile, as parts of school this year were pretty horrendous.

I think you should take him to a doctor. There are seizures that don't look like the stereotypical seizures seen in epilepsy. This does not sound like a stim to me, because he's afraid of it, his legs get wobbly, etc. I would get him in to an MD qualified in such things.

How often does this happen?