Is your Father on the Autism spectrum?

Post Reply New Topic

Some of us have Fathers that have ASD. Does(did) your Father have ASD?

What was it like interacting with him?
Did he meet your needs as a child?
Was he a 'good' Father?
How did your friends view him?
Did it help you to have a Father who had ASD just like you?

My father has never received an official diagnosis so I can't be sure - he was born long before ASDs as we know them now were diagnosed in "higher-functioning" people, but he shares many traits with me, if only less pronounced. He's also really brilliant and we used to watch Jeopardy! together and play along and keep score - he always won. That's one of my best memories of him. I think we did bond a lot because we were both a little weird. Secretly I think I was closer to him than my sister, though my parents aren't the type who'd admit that sort of thing.

My father could be a weird sonofagun---but he was NT, all the way.

1. It was okay. I was a kid, he was my father. I wasn't really into "confiding" in people at that time. All I cared about was hanging out with him going bowling and ice skating, then having pizza afterwards.

2. He probably met most of my "needs." I didn't have much "needs" when I was a kid. All I wanted was to be able to play ball or read in peace.

3. He was decent, I thought. He wasn't perfect. I think he's, overall, a decent guy with good intentions. He did imbue me with the desire to learn all the capitals in the world.

4. My father used to work, and come home for dinner. I didn't have many friends. Nobody ever expressed any opinion of him.

5. He didn't have ASD.

My dad and I are very much alike. We can spend a whole weekend together and barely say anything to each other. It's not that we dislike each other, we just don't give a crap about small talk.

My dad has few friends and has very narrow interests. He's lived alone since my parents divorced about 25 years ago. As far as I know, he has never dated anyone since the divorce. I'm asexual and mostly aromantic, so I can totally understand the lack of an interest in dating.

We both are definitely the odd ones out when we go visit his side of the family. Most of my family is pretty extroverted while my dad and I are quite introverted unless we're talking about our hobbies or interests.

He's the only one in my family who said they understood how I felt when I talked about getting my autism diagnosis.

I highly suspect my 86 year old dad is on the spectrum.

Narrow interests while not being aware he bores people with his interests.

Noise and light sensitive. Dress clothes greatly bother him.

Often came home from work exhausted with a splitting headache

Good with small groups but crowds bother him.

Flusters if he has to multitask or something is out of place or not done exactly to his specifications.

His dad I also suspect, I have 2 cousins on his side of the family diagnosed.

While he did not hug us he did pay attention and did emphasize people are different so I can't complain a

My father is definitely dyslexic. He once asked me how to spell music.

He could have Aspergers. He's always telling long stories about his activities at work long after everyone has stopped feigning interest. He really likes playing with old cars and tractors. The most strangest thing he does is watch Youtube videos of dams, trains going through piles of snow and clips of people welding things.

My Dad is probably the happiest person I know, to a disconcerting degree. He's got a real Santa Claus persona, always grinning and chuckling. I don't think it's an act either.

For most of his life he's lived in the same part of rural Australia, and people tend to wave at him. He has no idea who these people are, so I'm thinking Proposognia, the face-blind thing. He also gets my name mixed up with my two brothers, and refuses to do any public speaking.

My Dad is a pretty weird guy.

I'd like to be just like your dad. I have a Forrest Gump component to me.

He has dyslexia, ADD & probably Obsessive Compulsive Personality but he's not on the spectrum.

My father had ASD. I didn't find out for sure until after his funeral but I suspected for many years.

What was it like interacting with him?
-We never really interacted. He didn't speak except for odd tics and I wasn't very vocal either.
Did he meet your needs as a child?
-No. I didn't have many needs to be met. I was in my own world most of the time, and so I suspect, was he.
Was he a 'good' Father?
-He wasn't horrible. Wasn't good either. Mostly indifferent. He was like a living piece of furniture that we had to edge around. Sometimes he would have violent outbursts and bash my mother. Chased me with the axe one time. When my brother was about 6 he drove him to another town and left him there. Didn't provide for us (couldn't hold down a job) Left when I was 14.
How did your friends view him?
-N/a. I didn't have any friends.
Did it help you to have a Father who had ASD just like you?
-In a way. I know where I got it from.

My dad's NT all the way. He reminds me of John Wayne in the movies - amiable but tough and independant.

I've said for years that my Dad is the last of the tough guys. He's been through hell with his health in recent years but always kept his head up - I wish I was a strong as he is.

Very likely, though we didn't know of ASD when he was alive.

Generally pretty good while I was young. He'd explain things very clearly. He had a lot of sympathy about what I wanted, more than anybody else I'd ever known. He did a lot to build my confidence.

Yes, as much as anybody could (see above).

Yes.

He was good with reasonably well-behaved kids, so they generally liked him.
[/quote]
It was a double-edged sword. He did support a lot of my Aspie characteristics. I suppose that being autistic himself he thought they were normal characteristics, and so had an empathy with anybody getting into Aspie problems. But he would sometimes neglect giving me time when he was immersed in a special interest and I could tell he was in a world of his own. He was also a very rigid thinker, which made him rather uncompromising. Not being NT, there was a lot of social stuff he didn't know. His idea of how to drive a car was very individualistic, logically thought out but with little social understanding about when to bend the rules. He had little interest in anything outside the confines of his own familiar world, so for example I didn't know the west side of the city (and the breathtaking countryside beyond) existed until I was a teenager. He only knew the east side, where he'd grown up. He had little luck getting help from authority figures, found it very hard to be assertive with them, so my training for the big world was limited in ways like that.

1. I don't really see my dad a lot since he's usually at work, or has rehearsal for something, (he does a lot at the local theater), but whenever I do, we get along really well. He has a lot more patience than my mom or my sister, so it's pretty rare that we get into any sort of conflict.

2. I'd say so. I think he really tries to help me as much as he can.

3. Yes.

4. I can only think of one friend that's met my father before, but he thought he was a pretty nice guy.

5. He is not on the spectrum, but he is really introverted, so we can relate a little more on that level.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was ... but I'll never know, he died thirteen years ago and I got diagnosed three years ago.

Both of my parents have a lot of ASD traits, but neither would consider themselves to possibly have aspergers, they both seem to have outdated stigmas about such things. My dad has some very striking traits, he makes a noise when he is concentrating that he isn't aware that he does, he also paces while thinking, and he has this habit of day dreaming while you're talking to him, and then he interrupts you in the middle of what you're saying to start talking about something totally different. Plus my dad is rather tactless and rude. My mother has very awkward social skills which seem acted, and she very much likes routine, and hates trying new things that change her routine. She also doesn't seem to "get" normal people.

My father who passed away in 1988 was diagnosed a profoundly classic schizophrenic. Although my mother who passed away in 1997 was never diagnosed with ASD or any other neurological condition - I'm quite certain that she did have ASD of the Asperger's - high function variety - but quite significantly so.

My dad is amazing.

He's an introvert and doesn't like gatherings, but I think he's probably NT. I guess I didn't know him as a child, so I don't know if he's just learned to suppress any other symptoms. My grandmother worked with children with disabilities though, so she might have clocked... then again, she didn't clock with me or one of my friends.