Do you have close family members on the spectrum?

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Robin_Hood
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18 Feb 2010, 5:35 am

SInce I was semi-diagnosed with ASD a couple of months ago I have been obsessively reading about autism.

In my reading I have discovered that both my mother and brother might be on the spectrum too. My brother I would say is 100% on the spectrum as he has always been different in many ways and fits the male trainspotter stereotype almost to a tee. I remember as a kid he used to go around writing car number plates down and was and is obsessed with train timetables. If you ever want to know which train to get on and at what time he's your man.

The funny thing was that initially he didn't think he was but after doing a test online he is now starting to look into it. It really amazes me that his was never picked up because he had a lot of problems growing especially in the social and anger management departments. He was even sent away to boarding school for bad kids and then went on to a special school. I just don't get how he wasn't diagnosed. Let alone myself but then unlike him I was pretty much under the radar and in his shadow growing up.

Anyone else have a family like this? And were you the catalyst to their diagnosis?



pat2rome
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18 Feb 2010, 5:45 am

Hahaha, I've always heard the train timetables example used but never heard of anyone who actually had that obsession.

My dad is definitely Aspie too; he figured it out after I got diagnosed.


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Danielismyname
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18 Feb 2010, 6:45 am

My nephew was diagnosed with an ASD. My father would be subclinical AS (he ain't severe enough to have the disorder).

That's it.



regularcat
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18 Feb 2010, 6:51 am

not that i know of...i wish i had more autistic friends...i feel like they're the only people i can truly relate to....that is why i come to this site, i LUH YA'LL! hehe



Autumnsteps
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18 Feb 2010, 7:47 am

I suspect my brother and more so my dad. My son was diagnosed with adhd when he was younger but he's much more autistic than adhd these days, if that makes sense so I wonder if they made a mistake



CockneyRebel
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18 Feb 2010, 7:48 am

I think that my grandma - my dad's mum might have had it.


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PlatedDrake
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18 Feb 2010, 8:57 am

Let me see, had an uncle (died a few years ago) who we are certain had it (AS range we believe given his social and personal stigmas). He obsessed over languages (self taught 5-6 different languages: Spanish, French, German, Russian, and i forget the rest) and worked for the IRS (managed to outdo a field group in an operation . . . did in one day what they couldnt in 6 months). Im also thinking my father has it (some of his random actions and his limited social life, but he has pride issues and wouldnt be one to admit his wrongs). Only two i know of in family . . .



League_Girl
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18 Feb 2010, 12:48 pm

I'm the only one diagnosed. The rest, traits or none. My parents think my grandma has it but I don't know if they were just saying that to make me feel better. My mom said my uncle might have it and I can remember her saying she is wondering if her sister might have it. She says her daughter and I are lot a like. She is also shy and doesn't do well with her peers so it makes me wonder. I wonder if my great uncle had it but he is dead. I don't place the label on my family over a few traits. I have to know more about them and what other traits they have than assuming.



kc8ufv
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18 Feb 2010, 12:50 pm

Autumnsteps wrote:
I suspect my brother and more so my dad. My son was diagnosed with adhd when he was younger but he's much more autistic than adhd these days, if that makes sense so I wonder if they made a mistake


I'm not certain how old your son is, but that is definitely the mistake that was made with my parents' son....



pat2rome
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18 Feb 2010, 12:52 pm

Autumnsteps wrote:
I suspect my brother and more so my dad. My son was diagnosed with adhd when he was younger but he's much more autistic than adhd these days, if that makes sense so I wonder if they made a mistake


I was diagnosed with ADD when I was 10 and finally diagnosed with Asperger's a couple months shy of 19. Get him to an Asperger's specialist to find out for sure.


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ursaminor
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18 Feb 2010, 12:55 pm

My cousin has an ASD.
You would be better off saying ASD instead of AS if you do not know if there was a language delay or not.
But if you do, you could specify.



Autumnsteps
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18 Feb 2010, 1:03 pm

pat2rome and kc8ufv, my son is 12 now and was diagnosed when he was 7 I think. I can't remember exactly. I am going to bring it up at his next appointment. Other than that I'm not sure who I should see (for either of us to be honest)



Uriel_sola
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18 Feb 2010, 1:18 pm

My son (age 8) was recently diagnosed AS. He had an earlier Dx of ADHD, and does have significant issues with activity and attention, but as he gets older his social difficulties seem to compound. He doesn't understand kids' reactions to his behavior, which frustrates him to the point of outburst, and then a pattern emerges. Interestingly, his special interest seems to have taken hold a lot more than in the past. (Does anyone else have experience with that? He used to spread his interest around 3 or 4 topics, but now he's really zeroed in on one.)

I have a boatload of AS traits, but don't know if their severity would be clinical... this is after years of muddling through coming up with my own coping skills. I wish AS had been on the radar in the early 70s, that might have saved me a lot of torment.



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18 Feb 2010, 1:30 pm

Mother, father, and little sister. Dad was speech-delayed, obsessive, and introverted; Mom's loud, unaware of her own social cluelessness and sensitive to everything; little sis is a hyperlexic gifted kid with obsessive interests and very formal speech who doesn't see the point of friends. And me--totally nerdy, constant stimming, learned to make small talk but not keep relationships, and insane executive dysfunction issues. The only one in my immediate family who isn't autistic is my immediately younger middle sister; she's introverted, quiet, perceptive about other people's thoughts and feelings, and easily keeps a small number of close friends.


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poopylungstuffing
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18 Feb 2010, 1:38 pm

My mom is very ASish...very very very....She might have gotten her traits from her dad, but she is the only one among her siblings who exhibits them that I am aware of.
My dad has immaculate social skills for his job of selling high-end pianos...but a few AS-ish latent tendencies, and some very AS and OCD traits run all though his family...



Autumnsteps
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18 Feb 2010, 2:30 pm

Uriel_sola wrote:
My son (age 8) was recently diagnosed AS. He had an earlier Dx of ADHD, and does have significant issues with activity and attention, but as he gets older his social difficulties seem to compound. He doesn't understand kids' reactions to his behavior, which frustrates him to the point of outburst, and then a pattern emerges. Interestingly, his special interest seems to have taken hold a lot more than in the past. (Does anyone else have experience with that? He used to spread his interest around 3 or 4 topics, but now he's really zeroed in on one.)

I have a boatload of AS traits, but don't know if their severity would be clinical... this is after years of muddling through coming up with my own coping skills. I wish AS had been on the radar in the early 70s, that might have saved me a lot of torment.


This is like my son. His life would revolve around computer games and he total freaks out when he can't do what he needs to and dies, like to the point where he throws the controllers, punches the tv or has even sat banging his head against the tv, hard. He is then very aggressive towards us even if we try and help. I try to limit his time as I have found that if he takes even short breaks it helps to avoid this explosive behavior but it's like an addiction he cannot leave it even though he knows that he should and would cope better/play better if he did