[JohnVK]

how many of you are familiar with asperger's syndrome, and are familiar more or less with the varying aspects of the "geek culture" that is out there? if so, in what ways do you feel this subject may be relevant to this shift we're undergoing? i've heard a lot of input about autism already, but not so much about aspergers, so i want to see what kinds of understandings i can garner about this.

[jPNy2BP5]

a psychologist once suggested that i might have aspergers, then a psychiatrist insisted that it was a deep rooted case of social anxiety.

[Goalseexere]

aspergers is what i call a mickey mouse disease.

your basically diagnosed with symptoms of life which we all have.

doctor diagnoses you with aspergers cos you have trouble fitting in??? well millions of people are like that and simply get on with life, or work it through themself.

do you think a starving ethiopian would have such a disease?

did the multitudes of diseases we have now exist even 50 years ago?

i would say lots of young people just want attention and use 'hey im mentally ill' to encourage more self indulgence. when they are no more ill than the rest of us imho.

being diagnosed with something is a self fullfilling prophecy which need not be diagnosed in the first place. could be bad parenting, but dont wanna offend anyone, hope i havent.

[rionetrozasa]

i have to say i agree with strider. there is a word vor every personality type nowadays. if that personality is not the one society says is "normal" then you have a disease.

the amount of adhd children has been growing by leaps and bounds since they introduced a word for "problem children". yet kids have always been hyperactive and hard to control (some more energetic than others) one more thing to throw a pill at, one more thing telling you there is something wrong with you, one more thing to keep a method of fear or control.

aspergers is simply the feeling of the inability to interact with society or people. people have always been nervous, people have always been self conscious. back in the day people just "dealt with it" and went on living.

no body whined about it or made themselves out to be a victim, there are just timid people and outgoing people. its not a disease, its simply existing.

i would think if someone with aspie syndrome got a big boost of self confidence, went out to a party or social gathering and had a great time, was the life of the party and made new connections, their "disease" would probably dissappear very quickly.

continue spiraling ever upwards,
austin

[Goalseexere]

aspergers is simply the feeling of the inability to interact with society or people. people have always been nervous, people have always been self conscious. back in the day people just "dealt with it" and went on living.

no body whined about it or made themselves out to be a victim, there are just timid people and outgoing people. its not a disease, its simply existing.

thats summed up my views exactly! i dont think aspies have anything which cannot be overcome by observing there nature and working on it.

im sorry if anyones offended, but to me mental illness is cutting your wrists, or hearing voices in your head, not being a bit insecure.

[WelcomeMe]

wow! what a synchro!

my mother gave me this folder she had put together with fascinating articles and stuff she had collected regarding aspergers. i was just about to post one of them here when i noticed this thread! she thinks i have aspergers, but i was reluctant at first because of the label and thought that there are other explanations. however, everything seems to be coming together.

here is the beautifully written story on this great website for aspergers, which i was just going to post here:

http://www.aspergia.com/ethos.htm


link to the main website:

http://www.aspergia.com/index.htm

[WelcomeMe]

i've just read through the replies here after my other reply to this thread just now. just want to say....i hope we can keep an open mind about this. please try to be sensitive.

asperger's is definitely a condition brought about by genetic factors.

it affects females differently to males, therefore far less go undiagnosed, suffering through lack of understanding...not just from others but also towards themselves.

my second cousin has aspergers.... he is a boy....therefore through him this condition has come into family members attention; they know something about it.

just sharing my thoughts.

at the end of the day it is wise to listen to what some of the experts have to say on such matters rather than being judgmental.

throughout the ages, all kinds of things have left people to suffer from the lack of understanding from others. for example, not so long ago, people who were born handicap or suffered from illness were locked up in the most vial of places; certain to drive anybody more insane simply from the agony of being there. in some countries this still continues. m.e. is another illness people are only recently beginning to understand.

having said all that, i do think there is a reason for everything.

i feel that there are more, underlying spiritual reasons for why people are being born into the world with asperger's.

i think we all have a part to play in the world, in the greater plan........everybody.

in my opinion, this sums up the nature of asperger's:

"what god gives with one hand, he takes with another".

(not sure where that came from- i just heard it somewhere).

[WelcomeMe]

(if you don't know what asperger's is, click here: http://www.aspergia.com/whatisas.htm )

one in every three hundred people is born an aspergian mutant (am). you may be one them, and you may not even know it! there are an estimated 20 million am’s worldwide – enough to match the entire population of new york state, the state of texas, or twice the entire population of greece – and yet it is possible that you have never heard of them!

at school they are often viewed as normal children, if a little awkward or introverted – but childhood and adolescence are such turbulent years anyway that many am’s are missed completely. young am’s are inherently different to non-am children, and they grow to be very different adults. from an early age they tend to be very focussed on a specific subject or succession of very narrowly defined subjects. many of them start reading non-fiction titles at a young age, and mostly continue to prefer non-fiction informational reading throughout their lives. they have little or no time for long literary descriptions (“time wasting”, “not to the point”), or the human equivalent: small talk. if you wanted to capture their imagination with a good story, a play will do a much better job than a novel. they will very much appreciate their concentrated brevity.

am children often develop some “special powers” too. these are varied and sometime take years to discover. they may be far reaching memory skills (e.g. the ability to remember entire catalogues after one reading), extraordinary 3d simulating skills (e.g. the ability to visualise a whole building’s infrastructural composition as a 3d computer program would do) mathematical abilities (e.g. the ability to perform highly complex computational wizardry in their mind), superior language skills and many others. not all am’s have them, but those who do will be aware that somehow they possess a “different” trait. often they will hide it, so as not to be the “odd one out”.

when am individuals combine their strong personal focus with their “special power”, they have an extraordinary potential to contribute to society and develop new and striking inventions and works of art or science. further research is required in the field of history to find out how many central innovative figures in human history did indeed have aspergian traits.

the above is a short description of where we begin our journey. join us in making it a worthwhile awakening.

[please see the link below to read the rest of the article]

http://www.aspergia.com/lead.htm

[NikolaAAA]

i've never heard of this 'illness' before but it sounds much more like a gift than a mental illness. i don't get why people like to classify things so much for personalities, personal beliefs, and other categories that are damn near impossible to classify. maybe someone with aspergers towards categorizing things is working on this task of classification of everything imaginable haha?

[Frogzlovzy]

this is synchronistic for me also.

i have spent the second half of my very short 'life', with a disease (physical, not mental) that is so called incurable. although i have very nearly, and to an extent 'medically impossible', been able to reduce my medications of it before.

yesterday i didn't take that medication, and for the first time in a very long time i have had dreams that were plentiful and very pleasant. before then, it has been the most horrible fighting inner battles. literally guns and long combat sessions where people die.

point being, if the tide ebbs me that way, and if i feel it next, because the point is, it's now or later, with all the healing arts i'm soon to be studying and other promising factors, then i have ideas forming of bold plans to raise awareness about these issues. (the mickey mouse disease thing earlier.)

just a rant of mine.

[WelcomeMe]

i've never heard of this 'illness' before but it sounds much more like a gift than a mental illness. i don't get why people like to classify things so much for personalities, personal beliefs, and other categories that are damn near impossible to classify. maybe someone with aspergers towards categorizing things is working on this task of classification of everything imaginable haha?

consciousnessdivine, asperger's is definitely a physical, genetic condition, just as real as dyslexia. boys with asperger's commonly are unable to understand facial expression as well as body language. there are real, physical reasons for this in the brain. it is neither made up nor imaginary, just as dyslexia is neither made up or imaginary.

it is possible that some people who believe they have asperger's do not, but even so, this condition is very real and does exist.

i have not yet decided whether i agree with my mother's theory that i might have asperger's.....she only handed the information to me yesterday so i haven't made my mind up yet. however, there are many reasons why i think it could explain a few things. it is not simply a case of feeling different. there are other things which indicate the possibility of having it, such as the way i am with co-ordination and sensory overload.
it is usually easier to diagnose asperger's in a boy than it is for a girl; as i said it shows itself differently due to differences between the sexes.

[Darnisg]

it is usually easier to diagnose asperger's in a boy than it is for a girl; as i said it shows itself differently due to differences between the sexes.

my son has apergers. he is a very good son. i have rasied him since he was 3 years old and have seen the differances of quote on quote normal children to his condition. he tries very hard at making friends, in the beginning he would hug those is own age, that was his way of connecting. but since he did not know it was wrong just to go up and hug another person his age, he was told that that was not acceptable and was sent to the princibles office because that was the way he could connect, even though those who may have received the well mannered hug as not wanted. he likes to stay inside, does not like sports, i on the other hand am quite a sports minded person, but yet relate to what he feels. this connection between him and i have blossomed into me being his step father, to his best buddy. so i tell him to use his imagonation and his awsome reading skills to use as a skill. he is very smart, he can relate to older persons much better than ones his own age, though he tries so hard to fit in, he does not get the facial expressions nor child play that we have grown up with and understand peoples intentions. he is getting much better as i have helped him, by doing social stories. i have to let him know that people feel different than he allot, as he seems to think we are all on the same mind. but that has changed as well, he can not take change, as this is not routine, but that too has gotten better by using change to show the benifits of change. older people in the past have labled him in the past as being brat,or spoiled. this is futher from the truth, the truth is adapting. this is what we all must do, but some take time in this. i can remember my classemates who when i look back may have had this illness. i used to help them with people. but it is an illness. i do not give him any medication, as this clouds the mind, and use stories and real life to show him. using compassionite teaching, and love to help him. my main concern is what he will be like when he enters adulthood. that is a journey we have to explore.

[Frogzlovzy]

actually, you chose a bad one there. dyslexia is very questionable. there has been a guy out doing all sorts of studies on it, which came on documentaries over here a few years back. something like that there's no brain difference, or even difference in test scores between those with 'dyslexia' and those considered just slow. then there's the fact that it's been repeatable proven to be curable by certain systems which are used in private schools but which the government hasn't allowed into public schools.

[BigMovies]

aspergers is a real condition - it's not about social anxiety at all - it's a part of the autism spectrum, to be honest i'm very surprised to see it being labelled a mickey mouse condition on this forum. one of the theories i read a while back in new scientist was that aspergic brains are simply extremely masculine brains, which can be a problem for many people in western culture where communication skills and emotional expressiveness are valued

aspergic traits seem to be very strong within the male members of my mothers family, all undiagnosed, it's quite an interesting pattern though, and one i am interested in as i have a 2yr old son. aspergic traits seem very strong in my brother, who is an extremely talented surgeon - his 'condition' seems to lend itself well to his profession

rather than being about social anxiety, which my brother certainly doesn't have, his manifests more in taking information literally to an extreme, completely not comprehending other people's moods, emotions, people being sly, manipulative or devious - he can't understand these concepts which makes him incredibly socially niaive. he has very distinct routines, very particular about food placement on a plate for example, conversations are extremely focussed on him and his career only - he's intersted in knowing about other people but it never ever occurs to him to ask.

tbh i find it quite sweet in many ways - his almost childlike understanding of social niceties combined with a staggering competence in his profession.

so like i said, undiagnosed probable aspergic, but what would be the benefit of diagnosis for him? i suspect kids are being diagnosed more now because of the increased feminisation of education . for my brother the the only downside of the condition, to him, has been being taken advantage of by other people on occassion

[theatadug]

hi all!

i have mentioned before in former posts that my oldest son is diagnosed add. most believe that add and adhd are the more mild forms of asperger's syndrome and autistic is the more severe form of it. i want to post a video to share with you all about bill gates. in the video he is doing what is called 'stimming'. stimming is a repetitive behavior that one does in order to calm or comfort themselves. my boys showed signs of stimming at very young ages. one form of stimming is 'rocking'. my youngest son is a rocker and began doing this at about 9 months old. he is now 2 1/2. although he doesnt rock like he used to, he will still do this if he is very tired or if he has to sit still too long with nothing to do (such as in the car). we would always try to interests his attention in a different direction to do something when he wanted to rock, but there was no stopping him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qnve...eature=related

my oldest son was diagnosed at a young age but i fought the system for 4 yrs. by not putting him on medicine. he is bright, social, happy, creative....but he has trouble focusing on one thought at a time. when he entered 5th grade, the need for him to be able to focus on one thing got the best of him. within the first month of school, he was failing. you must understand, i wore myself out thinking i myself could help him. we would spend hours on homework every night. i was convinced that if i did all that i could do, he would be ok in school. but he forgot homework everyday. he would forget where the homework was that he did. even though we would go over things every night and even in the mornings, he would loose focus and give you the answer "i dont know". i spent yrs. of many nights working with him, studying with him, leading him, thinking after a while, what i was doing would imprint his mind somehow and he would learn to be structured and focused. when i realized that what i was doing was not enough, i felt i failed him. after 2 weeks of trying a low dose medication....he was bringing home straight a's. i cant tell you all the torchers my mind and spirit went through over this decision. but, my son isnt overwhelmed anymore, he isnt forgetting things, in fact, his sister takes longer at homework (this was never ever the case before).

i cant say i am 100% anything is the right thing. but, i have learned alot about how different children learn in different ways. some can learn alot of things at one time but have trouble learning one thing at a time.

when my youngest son began rocking, i searched everything i could get my hands on. in some cases, it is no worse then getting comfort from sucking a thumb. about age 1, my youngest began showing a new comfort....he liked to draw. when he would start rocking, i would give him paper and markers and he would scribble. he would get so upset if he found a marker and couldnt scribble. its not that he wouldnt except disciple. you could tell him no about going outside or no you cant touch that...but with the drawing, it was different. i ended up handing over the walls of my house to allow him his comfort in scribbling. you all can think im crazy if you want, but its not like i cant paint the walls. i dont fret over it really, i feel im allowing him to do something that seems very natural to him. you all would freak if you saw my walls. he is slow to talk, but this is how we have got him to come around. he has his abcs on the wall, as well as names, numbers, simple pictures of things...and he finally began talking. now at 2 1/2, he is excepting the fact that he has to stop drawing on the walls. i have a whole table just for him that always has books and a box full of drawing utensils. he is 2 1/2, slow to talk, but he recognizes all of his letters, numbers and can draw a face, sun, boat and can even write his name. will he learn different then other children? i am pretty sure he will. it might be a challenge, but there are goods that come out of things.

both of my boys are over empathetic. my oldest is very sensitive to his own consciousness and to others. he feels others pain and cant help but to show he feels bad for them. my youngest seems to think we are all just telepathic and can read his mind when he wants something. i think this is another reason he is slow to talk.

i found out one day that albert eisenstein didnt talk till he was about 4 yrs. old. i also found out one day that stephen spielberg's mom used to let the children write and draw on her walls. and then, you have bill gates as i pointed out that seems to 'rock' when he needs to calm himself.

things are moving forward...i am getting ready to paint my walls before winter comes. i have taken pictures of my walls, for there is 2 yrs. of memories there of my son 'calming' himself by drawing. i am aware that him drawing on the walls shows something about me and my reactions to how i handled him. his drawing on the walls was my way of coping with a child i didnt understand.

my children have never had any social problems, they are all big lovers, and are very creative. i choose to only give my oldest the medicine on school days, not on the weekends and i took him off of it through the summer. i hope he can learn how to wire his mind so to say, to where one day, he can learn how to work through school and stay focused.

also, they are very picky eaters. my youngest son has still never ate meat. he lives on fruit, vegs. and bread. he wont touch meat.

i do not believe anymore that there is nothing to add, adhd, ect....i denied it for a long time, for i didnt want to label my child. i am proud of my creative children. my girl seems totally unaffected in anyways with these troubles, but it is full in my boys. when my oldest son is around someone sad and troubled, he becomes sad and troubled. but on the other end, when he is around children and playing, he becomes the leader of the group. he will spend hours drawing pictures of designs with geometry. he hangs the pictures in his room, his walls are covered with these awesome pictures. i was looking at some the other day....he has this picture of a giant ying yang plowing through the sky, at the bottom is a town and people leaving the town with their cars loaded up with their belongings. go figure. he also draws pictures of spaceships and aliens and weird lavatories and gadgets that look like they are sending some sort of unwanted electrical shocks into people hooked up to some electrical device.

very eccentric children.

peace to all,
lynette

[WelcomeMe]

you're a great mother, lynette.

[theatadug]

thank you honey....so are you. we bring our children what we have. i believe what we already have is what is needed for them. our time might shine to them while they are young or it might not shine on them till they are old....but the fabric is layed and they are born to us because we have what they need in this life.

i must say, mother hood has been the hardest thing in life for me. but also, it was and is the teacher of giving for me. i was selfish, i enjoyed myself so much, the fabric for my life layed the stitches in my quilt to teach me, selflessness. i still struggle sometimes, with patients or teaching understanding to them. but i learn from them just as they learn from me. there are many things i could do better. when i am having one of those moments of 'im not a good enough mom', i remind myself, that i could be a worse mom. this keeps me going in the forward direction so i dont regress into old habits of coping. one of the best things we can teach them is patients in learning. teach them that we will always repeat what we feel is right, not through harsh punishment, but reasoning of 'why' this way is better then that way.

i always hated hearing my mothers reasoning of 'i told you so' or 'because i said so'. if im going to tell my child they shouldnt do something, shouldnt i be able to give them a reason why, even if they dont understand it in that moment....one day, after i repeat again and again to stand behind my reasoning, it will impact them that i stood for what i believed to be a good reasoning. if we are inconsistent with them, they will become inconsistent with life and learning.

the hardest part is the multi tasking and staying consistent with a structured home even when we feel like there is no way we can do it all. i never thought when i was younger that i would love being a mom. in fact, i didnt want kids. life is full of surprises that i am today thankful for. i needed them just as much as they needed me, if not more so.

its great to hear from you!

my best to you and yours

[excholza]

aspergic traits seem very strong in my brother, who is an extremely talented surgeon - his 'condition' seems to lend itself well to his profession

rather than being about social anxiety, which my brother certainly doesn't have, his manifests more in taking information literally to an extreme, completely not comprehending other people's moods, emotions, people being sly, manipulative or devious - he can't understand these concepts which makes him incredibly socially niaive. he has very distinct routines, very particular about food placement on a plate for example, conversations are extremely focussed on him and his career only - he's intersted in knowing about other people but it never ever occurs to him to ask.

tbh i find it quite sweet in many ways - his almost childlike understanding of social niceties combined with a staggering competence in his profession.

so like i said, undiagnosed probable aspergic, but what would be the benefit of diagnosis for him?

the above description fits my own son perfectly! he is a highly skilled doctor also (neuro-radiologist). worked his way through the finest universities and medical schools in spite of being diagnosed early-on with dyslexia. aspbergers has never been diagnosed, but the symptoms are there.

he, too, is socially niaive...even now. but he has learned to cope and to fit in and has a big circle of friends who think he is great...as well as a beautiful and talented wife.

so, it can all turn out well in spite of dyslexia and/or aspergers. lots of love and acceptance go a long way.

love and light,
nancy

[Fksxneng]

asperger's is a real problem for a lot of people, whether is is technically a "disease," a "syndrome," or a "collection of symptoms." dismissing it offhand doesn't make you evil or ignorant or anything and i won't blame you for it - it just shows that you have been lucky enough not to have to deal with the problem (and maybe that you might want to work on keeping a slightly more open mind about things you have little data on).

even if it weren't biological in nature, it's still a banner under which innumerable people can gather under and and find comfort and support for a similar collection of symptoms.

in the spirit of disclosure, i can also add that i don't have asperger's, but i acquired many of the symptoms with people who do - through behavioral and not biological means - over the years growing up. reading about the syndrome and discussing it with others has helped me get to the bottom of alot of my own issues and has taken away much of the shame i felt for having such a hard time making friends when i was younger.

in reference to the shift, and in a metaphysical sense, i imagine that it is possible that a certain number of those experiencing these symptoms are simply new additions to the planet and lack the thousands of years of incarnational experience that the nt's do, making it harder for them to interact normally with them - yet. given a few more incarnations, i imagine they'd fit in just fine. but this is just so many cloud animals at this point - guesses with no way to confirm them.

[WelcomeMe]

interesting, johnasmodeus.

i've been reflecting a little, and although i can't say for sure, i like you think there are probably other explanations for some of the things which i can relate to in asperger's.....i think my mother- who's sister's grandson does have asperger's- has been trying to find out if i could have it, because for her it would help explain things about me (i don't think she's quite ready to buy into the other, so called "new age" theories yet....which if you think about it, are not really "new age"....i don't really like that term).

we are so much more than just a physical body....those who realize this are perhaps not so "airy fairy" as people might like to think.... the existence of the soul and consciousness is as real and scientific as anything else, and they are simply ahead of their time.

there is so much we have yet to discover and fit together, and we will.

we mustn't be discouraged when a piece of the jigsaw that appeared to fit doesn't quite fit where we thought.....we can just keep trying.

(often i write these things as much to keep encouraging myself as anybody else!). :d


another thing which could explain some of my problems might simply be that they are side-effects due to my high sensitivity which i must simply learn to live with through finding balance. (i love that word).