glider18's Wonderful World of Autism

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Earlier this week my family attended our second autism support group meeting for autistic children. Besides my son, there is one other child there with Asperger's. Since I have Asperger's, we might be the only three there with Asperger's. The others? Well, they are more likely around the classic autism category. At one point during the meeting, one child ran off so quickly that no one could catch him. We ran out of the room and began blocking exit points. After about five minutes, someone found him at a computer in another room. Another child, after the meeting, tried to stick a library card into the disc drive slot of a computer. These children were rocking, flapping (more intensely than I do), muttering unknown sounds, and keeping their parents on 110% alert. I am thinking, "My God, we don't have these problems, what are we doing here?" The other Asperger child's parent expressed to me later that she felt this way too, but the coordinator of the program said Asperger's children should be there too. Yes, our Asperger's children have their challenges, but I am quickly learning about these other challenges of other parts of the autism spectrum.

So I began thinking about this thread about my wonderful world of autism. Is it really? Hmm...Well, were these children unhappy? Definitely not from what I observed. They were smiling and busy doing the things that gave them pleasure. But they are very young...perhaps they may find difficult struggles later in life---I don't know.

But...this thread is more aimed at high functioning autism---Asperger's.

Research Time---Yesterday I got on the internet and began researching Hans Asperger and his view of what he called "autistic psychopathy." How did he see the children with this autism? Well...Dr. Asperger was convinced that many of these particular autistic children would use their special talents in adulthood. He kept in touch with one of these children into adulthood and this now grown-up child had corrected some of Sir Isaac Newton's work! Hans Asperger viewed the autism that would later bear his name in a positive light. Yes---a positive light---he saw this autism as a potential gift for those diagnosed with it. This was in stark contrast to the patients Leo Kanner was studying. Obviously, Kanner's subjects were of the more classic autism category, while Asperger was studying the high functioning end of autism.

I felt good that Dr. Asperger held this view of AS because it is how I feel about it. I believe we with AS have the potential to reach the stars---literally. We can focus on single topics with such a sharp beam that only the sky is our limit. We can have fun with our interests. However, I have heard from some of you that you say you do not have these special intense interests and are unhappy in life. For those individuals I would like for you to search your soul---is there at least a little something that you are interested in? Perhaps it is this little something that can become your guide to happiness in life. I believe we are all deserving of happiness. And I believe you can find happiness if you keep trying. Never give up. And for those of you who are happy with your autism like I am...let us keep our journeys in life moving toward the stars. Sometimes, we do change the world.

Hey glider, nice to see you again. Well, college is going well for me although i don't like the structure of it. In my free time I'm creating things like art, writing, and different types of games like board games, card games, and, well, games in general.

As I didn't tel you, games are one of my passions. I would even play childrens game just to experience the gameplay and feel. Right now I'm creating a Trading Card Game--well, it's been a board game at first, but aflash of insight told me Ican makethis gameinto a card game. So now i have to start ovr from scratch, which isn't very far from whee I've been (just four game boards on four posterboards. The game should be more interesting as a card game.

As for writing, I haven't been writing much lately, probably because off the transition, but I'll find that spark again.

I actuall have to tell you something. It's a book I've bought. It's called The Da Vinci Method. This book is mainly for people with ADHD, but I think anyone can benefit from it. Well, it basically talks about how society can make you neurotic and unproductive, leading to ADHD, bi-polar, and other disorders, but by letting go of society's standards and following your heart (or impulses), one can be successful by being productive as an artist, entrepreneuer, inventor, political leader, etc. THe reason why they call it The Da Vinci Method was because Leonardo is a likely canidate to have ADHD, and he didn't complete most of what he started, but what he did complete was a masterpiece. Many people with ADHD have Da Vinci's temperment, such as risk-taking, ipulsitivity, craving risks and excitement, and rebelling against authority. These symptoms might seem bad, but people with ADHD tend to be more creative than the average man.

I think this book can definte help people with Autism because ADHD and Autism have similar aspects. They say some of the most imaginative people have ADHD and/or Autism, so this book can help. Iknow it sounds like junk, but it's really helpful if you try. It's like therapy, only without the therapist.

Well, I know I'm done for the night, so I'll see you later.

Hi Batz, I've been wondering how college has been going for you. I always like board games. Some of my favorites besides Monopoly are Creature Castle, Which Witch, Green Ghost, Flintstones, Stratego, Risk, etc. (1970's era mostly). Creating those games sounds exciting.

Like you, I haven't been writing much---on the novel that is. I can't claim college transition for me though---I just haven't been that motivated to write on it---but the ideas in it are still exciting for me. But I have been working on an autobiography of my life with Asperger's. I've never published any writing before, so this will be a first for me.

The book you talk about sounds interesting. I think it sounds like very relevant reading.

Thanks for keeping in touch---and I hope college goes well for you,

glider18

Thank you Greenturtle74---you have explained this better than I ever could, because I think you understand it better than me with these kids. After that meeting, I really went to bed thinking about this. But there were those happy faces. We are going to continue with the support group meetings---and we meet this coming Tuesday. There is something I find magnetic about autistic children---like I am pulled toward them. Maybe it is because I am autistic with AS, and I feel a since of belonging to this wonderful group of individuals.

It is unfortunate that the negative side is all a lot of people ever see. You mentioned the word "confused." Yes, that sounds accurate. My son with AS came home from school one day (last year) and said, "Dad, I am different than the other kids." He wanted to know why.

I am needing help on something. He is eight years old, and we have not told him he has AS. But yet we attend the meetings. He is going to find out before long. We are finding it very awkward to tell him. I enjoy having AS in my life, but how will he react to learning he is autistic? He is so trying to fit in right now...I don't know if we should tell him or not.

Anyway, thank you again for the wonderful comments here...I appreciate your knowledge on this and your final words of reality coexisting with a wonderful world of autism.

Glider18,

About your son. You should tell him something, and as where he fits is still an open question, and coming from you, Asperger's Syndrome, sounds like an amusment park ride.

Perhaps try pointing out that some of his classmates are different, they are called girls. While they cannot be figured out, just be nice to them, it pays off later.

Some of the boys know the name of everyone in school, others know sports, and a very few do their school work and make good grades. Children are different because they grow to be adults that are different.

Starting from the general will make the later fine details easier. I would avoid over defining, for the next DSM is said to be dropping Asperger's, so it is something he may never hear of.

The concept that works is everybody is better at something, and also everybody is the worst at something. Using your better and keeping an eye on your faults will make you a better person overall.

You cannot be the best you can be without looking at your faults, for while somethings may come easy, faults left undealt with will cause problems.

A more general approch to life can be refined later.

Thank Inventor for your advice here. It is tough to handle this, but it will work out well in the end---we hope. He does have friends (at least one probably on the spectrum too) and he enjoys life. Like me, he has fun---in addition to the challenges.

Interesting is that your approach suggestion is basically the same as our guidance counselor at the school where I teach used for her son who has AS. So this does sound like the logical way to handle telling him. Thank you.

I agree, over defining should be avoided. It looks like we are moving to one big autism category rather than the individual ones.

I like to think of faults as challenges---and I do have them. That was one reason why I went to therapy for AS challenges. I needed ways to be a better father and husband.

Thanks again for your words of wisdom.

It's been awhile since I have added anything to this thread. But here is something to consider. Sometimes our interests can be used for getting things done that need to get done. My basement is an absolute mess and overflowing with old things. But, it also contains almost all of my HO scale models and amusement park models. I have most of the boards up for the HO layout. But I have been unable to put everything together because of the clutter down there. So---if it weren't for my HO obsession, I would have no real desire to clean up the basement. But this Winter, since I want to get the layout assembled, I am making every effort to get ready to clean out the basement so that my layout can be completed. Because of this, I have already begun helping my wife with cleaning up a lot of our clutter in the main house since some of that will need to be stored in the basement. So, the basement must be cleaned not only for that, but also for my layout. See---it all benefits from each other. And, had it not been for my obsession, I am sure the basement and main house would continue to stay in a mess.

So, with our special itense interests, maybe we can look at ways they can benefit those around us. I can see this with my music too. Because of my incredible interest in the organ, I have been playing the organ for our church since 2003. I enjoy playing for the church, and they enjoy me---so they say. As for roller coasters, I haven't exactly figured out the benefits yet, except that I have ridden around 100 different roller coasters in my lifetime. Oh---there is something there---my favorite roller coaster has always been the Swamp Fox at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. When the park was ready to close in the late 1980's, I talked the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) to go to the park to ride the Swamp Fox. They did, and they ranked it in the top ten coasters. The park got some extra tourism and fame, and the owner kept the park open long enough for an interested buyer to purchase the park---due in part to the world fame the Swamp Fox was getting over the ranking. So, I think I may have helped save that roller coaster's life. It still operates today.

Before we think our interests are just for our amusement, think again. Look at ways they can become beneficial for those around us. No matter how minute our contributions may seem, they do have an impact that makes a difference. And if you can identify no personal interests (as some of you have said), you are obviously interested in autism or you would not be here at the WrongPlanet. Your life stories and experiences with autism are of extreme potential value to the world. What you say does have an impact. And it does influence. Let us think what our purpose in life is and live to fulfill it.

Hello, glider. I figured I'd post some of the traits of Autism that I find to be a gift, even though I don't have a diagnosis yet. If everything goes well, though, I should have an assessment in January and a diagnosis following a few sessions.

I am aware that some of these traits have been mentioned repeatedly in this thread but I figured I'd repeat them once again.
Traits I view as a gift:

Intense interests: Without my intense interests throughout my life, I wouldn't of been happy. From Thomas the Tank Engine to Pokemon to Yu-Gi-Oh! to World War II and now Physics. My interests bring me perpetual joy and also provide a place where I can retreat to when I feel down or depressed-like. My latest interest, physics, has even allowed me to choose what I want to study in college and to hopefully make a career out of. I want to be a physicist.

Routines: My routines give me a sense of order, which helps combat the anxiety that I experience with uncertainty and change. I've heard stories from my mother and grandmother that when I was a child, I hated change. I still detest change.

Detail-oriented: Despite not knowing exactly what this trait is, I think I have a pretty basic idea. I've always been called observant and I seem to notice things that other people either ignore completely or miss, which has been helpful in completing physics problems.

A different perspective on the world: A good example that I thought of: when I was visiting my grandmother in the hospital, on Thanksgiving, this year. (Her appendix ruptured.) We were heading down to the cafeteria to eat Thanksgiving dinner and there was a particular wall that had circular shapes, of varying sizes and colors, laid out in an interesting pattern. I took a look at it and noticed that there was a sine wave pattern embedded in the way that these circles were laid, it was subtle though. (I have pictures on my phone, I will try to send them to my computer and post links. )

Thank you TheLilAsimov for posting such an interesting post---I appreciate you sharing your personal experiences here. I am glad that you have found great things with your interests. I truly believe they can hold an important part of our being happy. And it is good that your interest in physics is paving the way to your future. Welcome to the list of those of us who find positives in autism. I wish you luck in your upcoming diagnosis.

Glider18
Garyww
SpongeBobRocksMao
Millie
Pensieve
DeLoreanDude
GeomAsp
BobTheMartian
Inventor
Sunshower
Outlier
Poopylungstuffing
Morgana
Fiddlerpianist
WaterWater
AnAutisticMind
Starr
Scorpileo
ProfessorX
Danielismyname (your poetry is a gift whether you think so or not)
CanyonWind
Sora (I think you have described autistic gifts in your life whether you realize it or not)
Itsallrosie
Gaya
Dustintorch
Ghfreak13579
TheDoctor82
Lionesss
ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo (in finding something positive about social aloofness)
Dianitapilla
Lita101 (I added your name because you stated that you want to find the good things in autism---that is positive)
Batz
Joshandspot
Prim8
SteveeVader
Tory_canuck
Alba
Odin
SplinterStar
Willmark (made comments about figuring out life---perhaps trying to look for the positives?)
Southwestforests (noted an interest in HO scale trains that is satisfying)
Seanmw
DarrylZero
LinnaeusCat
CockneyRebel
Dadsgotas
9CatMom
Ebec11
CerebralDreamer
AuntyCC
Visagrunt
Nightsun
TheLilAsimov

Hey, glider. I have a new idea for a saga. I don't know if it's appropriate to share it though, but I thought it could be a what-if for the future. Here it is:

The year is 23xx. Normal people (called Infallibles) try to evolve synthetically by using eugenics, not to make everyone the same, but to enhance their abilities with animals and eventually aliens who landed on Earth; however, despite this, they haven't gained the ability to cure disabilities yet, so they send the group with disabilities to different isolated lab camps, where the scientists use every means necessary to experiment on them for results of a cure. Most people with disabilities die however. A boy, diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in the book, is sent to one of the labs. But when he and a comrade use their advantages to help them and others escape, they travel to the only place of refuge where people with disabilities can tread freely--Antartica, the headquarters for the Mavericks: people with disabilities, old androids, and the aliens.
Now the boy, the comrade, and the group are a part of the rebellion, and there's no turning back. The only way to escape tyranny is to survive, and the only way to survive is to win. But with disabilities and disadvantages, not to mention a non-professional army not paid, can the Mavericks pose a challenge to the Infallibles?

I'm still working on this since I thought of this just a few hours ago, but I think it might forment some people because it seems like prejudice. But oh, well; I want to show people through this saga that 1) even though you're different, you aren't disordered by societal standards, but rather have advantages some society can use, and 2) an intention to dispose people different from the majority can provide reprocussions. Please see if this is a good idea for a saga.

Hi Batz, good to hear from you again. Let me be honest about your synopsis. I have a lot of books with detailed descriptions of storylines---and as I read yours, I felt like I was reading something that could easily be there---like in my anthology book of horror and sci-fi movies. Your plot sounds very good to me---and original. You gained my attention and curiosity because I kept anticipating a resolution. I am willing to bet that you haven't figured out a resolution yet? I think it will be challenging to come to a resolution on this storyline---and again, that is good. Many great movies/novels have hard to predict outcomes. I think this story has a lot of potential. Because of its subject matter of disabilities, I think it would get a lot of public attention. Keep working on this one .

Visual Reasoning topic

Glider18, I would like to ask for information, since you teach gifted students.

I recently took the Raven Test that measures visual reasoning. I scored 104, which is the same score I get in Spatial reasoning in WAIS tests. I score very high in verbal/math/logic/abstract reasoning subtests.

I am AS, and do think/reason in pictures, and have done so since I can remember (now over 50 years since my first memory was laid down). I have always enjoyed patterns and interesting visuals. Why would I not score higher? And if a person does score above average in this area, what does it mean?

Thanks for your input.

This is an excellent question, and one that requires careful thought. Let me first begin with my theory on this based upon my experience. Obviously, we both have AS/autism. And, as with many of us, we think/reason in pictures. That is our standard mode of thinking. If you take all people, NTs included, we find that people have three basic learning styles: 1. visual, 2. auditory, and 3. spatial. And a person can be a mixture of those learning styles---possibly having a dominance in one of them. And as already stated, we autistics tend to deal more in the visual realm. My thought here is that just because we favor the visual mode and learn with it doesn't mean we must excel in it. It is simply our learning style.

But...you scored in the very high range in verbal/math/logic/abstract reasoning subtests. So that would seem to indicate that you would get a higher score on the Raven and WAIS according to you---and that does make sense to me too. And to add to your argument, you have always enjoyed patterns and interesting visuals.

So why would you not score higher?

Let me relate first to me. I have discovered that the things I enjoy I tend to memorize incredible amounts of data on. Right now I can tell you the 9 great comets of the 20th Century and year of perihelion passage for North American viewers:

1. Comet Viscara (1901)
2. The Great Daylight Comet of 1910 (1910)
3. Comet Halley (1910)
4. Comet Skjellerup-Maristany (1927)
5. Comet Ikeya-Seki (1965)
6. Comet Bennett (1970)
7. Comet West (1976)
8. Comet Hyakutake (1996)
9. Comet Hale-Bopp (1997)

Ok...so I just rambled those off from memory. In fact I have never even tried to memorize them, they have just stuck in my head because I love comets. I also know certain things about these comets such as (by the number I assigned to them above):

2. visible several weeks before the much anticipated return of Halley in 1910. Many people seeing this comet mistook it for Halley. It was visible in daylight.

3. during this close approach to Earth, Halley passed so close that it was determined we would pass through its tail. One famed astronomer discovered that Halley's tail contained cyanide gas and many predicted the end of the world. But, on that potentially fateful night of doom, we survived. No one died from cyanide posioning. But did we really pass through the tail comet, and did it really contain cyanide? Yes, and yes. But the cyanide was so scarce that it posed no threat to Earth---our atmosphere protected us from what little amount of cyanide was there.

4. there are accounts of people playing baseball at night because of the extreme brightness of this comet. My grandmother recalled reading a newspaper at night from this comet's light.

6. this comet was the first I remember seeing. It was beautiful. In the Middle East it nearly caused a war as some nations believed they were seeing an Israeli missile---but it was just the comet.

Well...I could go on with the other comets, but...you get the idea. Am I an expert on comets based upon what you have seen from me? Actually, I am not an expert by any means. I just know a lot of facts and remember some stories. I used to think I knew a lot about astronomy and comets until I took an astronomy class in college and struggled a bit.

What am I saying by this example? My autistic narrow focus beam in comets has allowed me to remember information that even many experts would not be able to recall instantly. But my knowledge here is just that---narrow. The wider perspective of knowledge on comets is lost to me because I am not interested in the spectrum of light bandwidths, contents of the tails (gasses and dust), etc., and the particulars of the elliptical orbits. But, with autism, I can probe deeply into a narrow channel of a subject---such as the historical roller coasters of Harry Traver in the 1920's.

So my question is---are the patterns and visuals you enjoy actually narrow focus beams that could cause you to not score higher in a wider range of spatial and visual reasoning?

I am very good at seeing patterns in things I like, but often fail to see them in things other people notice. I believe this is one of many reasons why autistics and NTs compliment each other. Autism can cause us to have these deep narrow focus beams into subject matter that can be challenging to NTs.

I really don't think I have done a good job at answering your question. It is just some thinking I had on it this morning after reading your post. By the fact that you score very high in those other areas would suggest that you could potentially score high on the Raven and WAIS. Sometimes a test can overwhelm us to the point that we don't do as well on it as we should. Perhaps your score really is higher, but the tests have caused you some anxiety and negatively affected your score?

I need to hear feedback from you and others reading this, because I may be completely on the wrong tangent here---and I will not take offense to others', or yourself's, contradictions to my theories. Interpretation of test results has often been a puzzle to me.

(Sorry for any grammatical mistakes here, I am trying to be not so obsessive about re-reading what I write and correcting everything I find).

This is something I've been writing this night since I couldn't sleep. Well, here it is (a scene. mind the grammar and punctuation since it's a first draft.):

There I was in the middle of the battlefield--and in the home of the civilian Infallible woman and her daugther hugging, or rather, clenching each other.--glaring at Major Sharkteeth with eyes seeming to tear him to shreds, only it didn't seem to push him back. Rather, he smirked at me with his eyes half-concealed and his eyebrows firm on his lids, and then swoosh! and a flash from his arm and he pulled out the Dissolver 9 mm. And when you thought, or at least I, that the staring gun drawing contest would end, he guided his hand into his pocket and Flash!--a nail crossbow. That smirk of his went higher than usual, even more usual than the time his comrades defeated Akira and Domuja in the Thai Empire. "You wouldn't hurt an officer now, would you?"
I gritted my teeth--gritted them harder than anytime in my life until a piece of my molar chipped off and caused the artery in my lower jaw to pulse. Black boots--my boots that is--rooted me to the ground and tensed my legs and connected to my heart like one of those football players in Atlanta who would charge in and take a risk to run the ball into the pile or noticing the only way to win is to experiment. Well, football players are one sort, but the battlefield? Me? The major? The woman and her child? Hmm... Our creator created us for his game and amusement for his friends, right?
"No answer, eh?" Sharkteeth said. Greased and oiled fingers cocked the Dissolver's trigger, but the arm pointed once at me then at the woman and her child then back at me. Back...forth....back....forth..... Guessing game, most likely, one of those Russian Roulette games, only you have a middlemen. Or maybe he's thinking like Two-Face, only without flipping the coin.
Back...forth...back...forth.... Stop. I widened my eyes the moment the major's decision came to a close--a tunnel leading the train out and onto the target--woman and child. A daughter's lanky arms quivered and cried and cried and pulled her squirell tail closer to her--then cuddled it and screamed a scream that could quiver cream--that is, if cream is far less supreme than dreams. "Momma," she said, "if we die, will papa be able to go to heaven?"
The mother foraged her daughter's head and planted it on her breasts, the child's tears waterfalling on her shirtcrevices then puddling onto the ground, her tremor wavering the mother. "Only God can determine that, even if we brought this upon ourselves." Must be my imagination, as far as when I can go into my own world, but for once I can see the two's aura's intermingling and swirling to form into one and coiling around me. Oh, if death be upon me now, take me up with them when Ragnorak comes.
"Well, then, looks like we have our share in victory," Sharkteeth said. Cock. Cock. "Now." Cock.
"Noooo!" I said. As if God winded me up like a dinosaur action figure then let me go, I ran and ran--and ran, my boots thumping against the ground harder than the time Ralph stomped to get the army's attention--harder than ever before that I cracked the dirt. Faster, faster toward the target. Acid shot through the dissolver's nozzle towards the mother and child. Steel-plated boots pushed my feet back, but I kept running--running with determination. God, if I cause a death of the civilian, who knows what might happen in my future.
Tap! went my boots beside the mother's dress. She clenched the daughter and held her tighter than a teddy bear, so much her back muscles bulged from her backs as if to protect her from the spinach-like spit. "Damn it!" I said. And leapt I did, right toward the mother and child, the spit getting three yards from the three of us.