Mom with Asp. with teenager with Asp.

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I have aspergers, and my 13 year old son has aspergers. Over the years, I've learned to mask my symptoms, such as eye contact. Should I teach my son to mask his symptoms, or just let him just be free with who he is. I'm leaning toward just letting him be who he is, but I know how hard that can be in this judgmental world, so I'm unsure. Suggestions?

How long has he been diagnosed? Has he expressed interest in learning to hide it better? Is he currently complaining of issues relating to his AS?

If he has no interest or thinks he is not sufficiently impaired to have to mask it better, he may not be interested and may be offended. You could always just let him know you have had these issues and you have figured out work arounds without talking about his symptoms, and see if he asks anything about how you did it.


That would give him the knowledge that he can come to you for info on this.

When he was 3 he was diagnosed pdd-nos, and just last year they changed it to aspergers. He used to jump and flap his hands (stimming) but he doesn't do that around people anymore. For awhile he would jump waving two pencils around, but his teachers put a stop to that. Now he likes to carry two straws with him wherever he goes, and he doesn't like to make eye contact. He also talks VERY fast and that makes me think he thinks very fast. I can relate. He's expressed little interest in hiding it. He doesn't complain about it much, but he doesn't seem to like to talk about it. I worry about him socially. It took me long into adulthood to mask my issues, though. He is bullied and excluded, and he does say that it bothers him, but not enough to change who he is. He thinks people should be who they are, regardless of what others think about it (very wise for his age).