Why do parents want to get in on the action?

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I have a question to the parents. I am a aspie and I would like to know if you think it is strange to want to go to groups for adults with asperger's. In my community I cannot find any support for adults. I thought about using meetup.com to start one for adults only. Yet all these parents keep wanting to come. I don't get it. If you understand why or just have an opinion on this phenomenon please post. I would appreciate all views and will not take them personally.

Sincerely,

spacedog signing off

P.S. I live in Oklahoma

Although I would never intrude on a group that was specifically set up only for those with AS, if there were a group where both parents and aspies were welcomed, I would definitely check it out. I think it would help me to better understand and relate to my son. Right now though I am just seeking a parents group in my area.

I found an adults with aspergers group on meetup.com. But they won't let me in, either that or it's inactive.

When you are a parent, you desperately want to understand your child even if he is adult. I keep wanting to shake my beautiful baby boy neurotypical son in the A.F. and shout, "Talk to me, dammit!"

When my son was first diagnosed, assessed I knew nothing about autism and so-called "high functioning autism". I was fascinated and found a whole slew of role models. But I read these stories. I didn't attend seminars or meetings to find communicative autistics. I read Amanda Baggs' site where she talks about it. This whole treatment of autistics as sideshows. They are welcome to share their storiese but not to receive services or participate as experts.
If I ever attend a meeting for adult Aspies it will be as an Aspie, not a parent. Besides my son isn't Aspie.

I'll take a guess at this.

As an adult aspie, who is much too old to have been diagnosed as a youngster, all I could do was to find my way in life as best I could. And I did well enough, as have the few other adult aspies who I've met face to face. But we are kind of a lost generation. Many of us learned to pass for "normal," most are still not officially diagnosed, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of willingness to accept that we even exist, it's as if there were no autism before 1975. Look for an academic paper on aspies over 30 some time. ANYthing about aspies over 30, any mention at all. You will find nothing.

So my thought is that there are probably a lot of parents who wonder what to expect that their kid's life will be like. They want the long term prognosis, and there's no information available. I bet they'd love to get acquainted with some adult aspies, and probably pick their brains a bit while they're at it.

I'd favor having a little privacy, myself, but maybe you could have a parents night from time to time.