Asbergers and Autism Syndrome

[csimon]

I'm beginning some research on the topic stated in the title.
Today I'm doing a little web search on the topic and so far it seems to be sufficient.
I found this site which gives me a good imagination of what this is about http://www.caer.com/asbergers%20syndrome.htm

excerpt:\
Rather than showing developmentally appropriate interests they tend to fixate on circumscribed topics like weather, facts about TV stations, computers, or maps. This makes them seem eccentric to their peers. This impression of eccentricity is amplified by their odd postures and ill coordinated movements.

If anyone has any input I'd really appreciate it but please if you don't acutally have the disorder don't ridicule or disrespect someone else with the diagnosis ...you can contact me in this thread or PM or email or phone or whatever if it makes you more comfortable. If you don't take this serious then just stay out of it please.

Now ...my son christopher has regressed from "normal" milestones of growing especially in communication, coordination and social skills. It is too soon to diagnose but doctors are concerned enough to have therapists visiting our house throughout the week. Physical, Occupational, Speech and whoever else ...about 4 or 5. Tracie and I have been working opposite shifts so that someone is always home to settle the appointments. Anyway this isn't a thread about coping with it or sympathy it's just to get information from some of you and your experiences. I'm particularly interested in people with the asbergers syndrome itself who can relate and possible remember childhood thoughts. It might help me get through a little better to my 2 year old son. He's wonderful and I know he'll be functional by the time he gets to school.

Also ...Thrax I know you've already made public certain details concerning the subject and you were the first person I thought of when the therapists started coming around. I remember some of the comments made by others in the thread and it was upsetting to hear some of the reactions that some of them came up with ...which is why I stated what I did earlier in the post.

Anyway I appreciate your help and I will try my best to understand and address this subject.

Thanks
csimon

[csimon]

I'm also reading this book that my wife just bought and finished called Let Me Hear Your Voice, A Family's Triumph Over Autism by Catherine Maurice which seems to be very well written for the most part and gives a ray of "light at the end of the tunnel" confidence that autism can be overcome. I'm only into chapter 5 but so far so good! :thumbsup:

[Thrax]

Geeky has asperger's, I don't -- my problem with the syndrome is that <i>everyone</i> on this forum has exhibited symptoms of it; but at the same time, I'm not one to say it's a BS syndrome.. I'm not a doctor. I mean, yeah, at a very young age I was fixated with many of the things Asperger's claims, yet by the time I got to high school, most everyone liked the same things I did. Certainly up here at Eastern, every guy on my floor has similar interests; computer, cars, TV, books, etc.

/me shrugs

Ultimately I'm indifferent to it. What made you think of me?

/me looks bewildered

[csimon]

Geeky has asperger's, I don't -- my problem with the syndrome is that <i>everyone</i> on this forum has exhibited symptoms of it; but at the same time, I'm not one to say it's a BS syndrome.. I'm not a doctor. I mean, yeah, at a very young age I was fixated with many of the things Asperger's claims, yet by the time I got to high school, most everyone liked the same things I did. Certainly up here at Eastern, every guy on my floor has similar interests; computer, cars, TV, books, etc.

/me shrugs

Ultimately I'm indifferent to it. What made you think of me?

/me looks bewildered
ROFLMAO ...honestly I thought it was you who posted in that thread way back! Sorry about that thrax.

So maybe geeky can help me out here somehow?

[TheSmJ]

Oh not this again.

Everyone has assburgers. Everyone has some type of "disorder" these days. The problem is, no-body seems to know for sure what exactly "normal" is, and if they found it, they'd try to cure it.

Furthermore, I've yet to hear of anyone officially being diagnosed with the disease. All I've seen so far is online tests for self-diagnosis, which in my experience always "makes" the test-taker prove positive for whatever disorder he or she is reading about.

I've also spoken to my MD about disorders like this, along with others (such as sleep anemia) and he claims most of what we read about on the net aren't yet even proven to be real disorders, but rather variants of already existing disorders currently being treated. It's difficult to tell the difference because of the whole "freedom of speech" on the internet, and the tiny disclaimers at the bottom of the pages.

[Access_Denied]

if a group of people start acting in a simaler order its immedeatly condemded as a desiese so the people trying to "cure" the "desiese" end of with a bank account full of money.
as with every single thing in the world........its all about the money

im not saying your wrong about this csimon,dont take it the wrong way, its just my opinion.

[primesuspect]

Okay guys, obviously chris has legitimate concerns about his son. Developmental disorders are much more apparent at his age than in an adult. Parents have instincts about their children and they are almost always right.

So far, all Chris is asking is for anyone who experienced symptoms like his son is going through, when they were children, to maybe relate some of their experiences. This is NOT going to be another "this is my opinion" thread. That can go back in the other asperger thread.

If you have not experienced symptoms of asperger's or autism as a child, or do not have any experience with these matters, in real life or in a clinical or education situation, please refrain from posting in this thread.


Chris, If you suspect your son may have a learning disorder, I believe you. I would, however, hesitate to label it asperger's right away, since asperger's is very poorly understood and probably highly misdiagnosed. I can think of all kinds of disorders that show the same symptoms as asperger's. What are your therapists and doctors currently leaning towards?

[Clutch]

Ultimately I'm indifferent to it. What made you think of me?




LINKY (http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19125&highlight=geek+syndrome)

Look at Nomad's post, then look at your post below it. :scratch:

[Thrax]

I've changed my position on it.

[Clutch]

Don't worry Rob, I understand. I just think that is why Chris thought of you when the therapist came around. No worries man :thumbsup:

[m.gosling]

I'm not sure how much I can help but anyway....


I was officially diagnosed as having Asperger Syndrome at age 10, after many tough and difficult years of going through school. I never made many friends, found it very hard to take in any subject apart from science (the one thing I was fixated on as a child was science and technology) and was very behind my peers in developing.

It is true that a lot of pople show symptoms of Aspergers Syndrome\Autism to Some degree, which can make it very difficult to diagnose. But depending on the severaity of the disorder, it should be fairly easy for someone who has a lot for experiance with Autistic disorders to tell if someone has it or not. There is no single list of problems that a person with Aspergers suffers from, as there are no 2 sufferers that are quite alike. But in general a person with Autism will show a greater fixation on a particular subject then most of their peers, can display obsessional dehaviour (e.g. touching things an even number of times), find it very hard to make eye contact and use body language in a normal way, and can find it very difficult to talk, often giving very short replies to questions, and repeating things. They can also show a fixation with mechanical objects, in particular spinning ones, and due to their lack of understanding between what is socially right and wrong, can display behavior that is to many people somewhat 'odd'. To many of my friends I come across as completely normal, if a little shy. Where as someone with experiance can tell within 5 minutes that I suffer with the condition.

As a word of encouragement to csimon, even if it does turn out that your son has the disorder, it can be overcome (even if to just some degree). At school I was never expected to make anything of myself in life, or pass a single exam. I was shown clips of people with Aspergers getting jobs shredding up paper, etc, and told that was probally how I would end up. The key is to get an early diagnosis and then get specialist help asap, while the child is as young as possible. I wasn't diagnosed until I was 10, and was struggling REALLY badly with life in general. I got sent to a special school, where the class size was kept to a maximum of 10 people. The smaller class size helped me bond with people and understand how people interact with each other. When you have Autism, even simple things such as how people use body language are things you actually have to teach yourself to unerstand. Being with a limited number of people who were all had some kind of disorder and such were very understanding was an enormous help. Now at the age of 21 I have made it through school with reasonable grades, managed to do A level courses at college using my technical skills which I have learned from being (near) obsessionally focused on computers and technology, and now have a reasonably good job, and several very good friends. And even have something resembling a social life :thumbsup:

Anyway, im not sure if this helps or not. Thats just my own personal experiance :)

[csimon]

What are your therapists and doctors currently leaning towards?The only mention so far has been a mild to moderate autism but the overall diagnosis hasn't come. He displays all of the symptoms but some way worse than others. I never noticed the lack of eye contact because he does quite a bit with me ...Tracie pointed out that he rarely looks at her or anyone else. His fixation with mechanical parts is pretty consitent ...he loves to spin wheels and such and tinker with objects like his bike ...which he doesnt really ride because he'd prefer to flip it over and spin the wheels and such.
You name it and he does it ...just some things worse than others.
The few things that stood out to me where regression of speech and learing ...not copying what we do or paying attention to us ...no concern with people around him he just seemed self absorbed and into what he was doing on his own ...passive with others. Like if someone like another child or even an adult took a toy away he would just pick up another one and play with it.
Running in circles obsessively and just showing signs of giddiness and anxiety ...like he was so excited he didnt know what to do with himself.

Overall ...the therapy is already beginning to show signs of improvement like my dad pointed out minutes ago. He's making more eye contact and not running in circles so much. He seems much calmer and better able to handle his excitement. It's really looking fantastic so far with only about a month of treatments maybe once or twice a week by each of the therapists. As he gains his coordination back the speech and language should soon follow. It really works and I'm amazed that so little time in the right direction has such quick results.

Thanks for all of your support.
I don't mind any of the comments at all really. I was anticipating a rally at how ridiculous this stuff is but everyone pretty much seems respectful to each other so far including me and jr which is all that I really expected.

As for most normal people showing similar symptoms I honestly have to agree totally. I also agree that it is tuff to diagnose because of this. Whatever it is I'm sure that I have had it to a degree and still do to a certain degree. In the past 10 years or so I've noticed myself being more obcessive/compulsive and anal rententive than in earlier years. My earlier years I would have to describe a lot like Jr's for the most part. Hell I was fixated with science and computers well before jr high and we had only just begun to learn about them.

I could go on and on but so far everyone has been really cool about this. And I am truely sorry about mentioning thrax now that I know better ...but I still can't look at him without thinking "wow that poor fellah" ;D ...lmao
sorry for that thrax.

Thanks again everyone


edit:\ One quick story about something that christopher did that I will never forget. When he was around a year old he I taught him to do patty cake and I would tickle his stomach at the end. He would clap his hands and everyone knew what he was doing ...it was obvious and we always did it togther. Also each time we went to my parents house my mom would do it with him also because she new that was the only way he had learned to interact with anyone at the time except for saying a few words ...and mom was in a wheelchair from a broken hip (replaced that never took) and had recently had a mild heart attack ...and she was prepairing for surgery in a month or so.
Anyway ...she died directly after the surgery and I was busy at the funeral home and such and that evening Tracie came to meet me there at the parlor with christopher. It was very hard on all of us for sure.
Well when she came in after mingling a while she went over to the casket to pay her final respects and holding christopher in her arms. When she got there christopher looked down and recognized my mom and immediately started doing patty cake as they had always done before. It was the most adorable image I had ever seen in my life and everyone was filled with hardcore emotion at that point.
Just thought I would mention that.
csimon

[Justin]

Dude, You just made me cry. That is at the same time the sweetest and saddest thing I have ever heard. It is a good sign that he is able to develop social realtionships though. (*Justin wipes his eyes)

[csimon]

Dude, You just made me cry. That is at the same time the sweetest and saddest thing I have ever heard. It is a good sign that he is able to develop social realtionships though. (*Justin wipes his eyes)
Sorry for that Justin.
If that made you cry imagine how we all were at that moment?

Anyway when you hear that your life changes forever when you have children ...that's what you can expect ...a whole new outlook that you've never imagined!!! Each day is full of wonderful moments.

[seversphere]

keep up the therapy. It'll be worth it. Just make sure you take the doctors recommendations in consideration with completely different doctor's second and third opinions of how to progress the therapy. Treat him normally of course. I have two cousins with autism. Each is different. One has hit a ceiling of developmental growth (maybe due to mild retardation) but he'll be able to keep learning things he'll need to survive and maybe even work at a place like McDonald's one day. I say McD's because I worked with a person that seemed to be my cousin all grown up. Able to interact with people on a safe basis but fixated with child games - he would love to say a commercial jingle and have others finish it. His hygiene however was not much more than a baby's. The other was the second child so the parents were able to watch for it much sooner and he's been getting therapy every day and is much more progressive. Loves to play and happy for the most part. Not really fixated to where he'll be demanding enough to cause a migraine - most of the time he can pick up another toy like you described. But always in his own world. So it seems like your son will be able to function as long as you keep the therapy going and give him all the love you've got. :thumbsup:

[csimon]

Well ...we drove to Texas Childrens Hospital today to get the final prognosis/diagnosis ...whatever.
Christopher is confirmed autisic. Which basically means that now we can get funding to further the therapy and schooling he needs. Luckily the woman who arranged all of the doctors for us there is from nearby (Franklin) and she gave an excellent lead to the hospital locally that we take him to for MRI's and stuff. She gave us an example of her own nephew who was diagnosed at two years old. After working at Womens and Childrens hospital here for three years he is now ready to begin kindergarden. She says that he shows no sign of the disorder now and it sounds like he showed every sign three years ago. Very encouraging but we still have a long road ahead.

Also (as if that weren't enough but at least we saw it coming) he was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder. Too long to explain but it does explain a lot of the odd muscle weaknesses and strengths that we had also noticed. Now Tracie and I need to get bloodwork done to find out where it came from and where it will lead. Honestly I know it came from me and passed from my mom now that I have done research ...but before today I had no clue. This absolutely floors me now that I have answers to questions from an early age about how I went from a soccer goaly in my early years on the playground to not being able to keep up with my friends in agility. It was a downhill spiral athletically and physically for me throughout my youth. Only once I became an adult did I realize that healthy diet and lots of excercise could allow me to catch up and compete.
But anyway ...we also have spina bifida to contend with.

As I said we have a long road ahead but fortunately we have a lot to work with. That boy is an absolute wonder to have around and he is greatly loved by everyone he comes in contact with.

I'll keep updating as time progresses and hopefully he will as well.

Thanks for your support guys,
Chris

[profdlp]

Your family will continue to be in my prayers, Chris. It is obvious that you and your wife are doing everything which can be done, and apparently it is already making a difference.

Fold on! :fold:

[primesuspect]

Christopher will do just fine in life - for one reason and one reason alone: because he has two of the best parents any kid could ever have. Parents who will love and support him and help him through the tough times. He'll always be happy and put forth his own best effort because he knows that you guys are there for him.

He'll do just fine :)

[GHoosdum]

I'd been wondering about this lately, but I didn't thnk it right to ask. I appreciate the update. I'm glad he's making great progress, and with the support you two give him, he's bound to succeed (as prime says). You made a great home and family for your son.

[csimon]

Thanks for the kind words guys ...I mean it.
Yes parenting has always been something I've taken seriously. I waited until the best time maturely and financialy to begin and it really helps. Not to say that I did it any better than anyone else by any means ...it was just the best way for me.
Now for the chroma deal ...we are scheduled to go back to TCH on the 26th of this month for an eval. Both Tracie and I will be tested and we will this thing is headed. I pray that he doesn't have it any worse than mine ever was ...like mom.

[csimon]

Guys he's doing great. Lately I've noticed a difference. Most evident is that the self-stimming with the hands in front of his face has ceased. He still throws things everywhere and really enjoys that but it seems more like "normal" behavior for a 4 year old.

Last Sunday was his birthday too btw. All of his gifts included a deck of cards of one sort or another. His favorites now are UNO cards. An lately he's been attached to the flash cards. I went thru them with him when he first got them and he got all of my questions within about 98%. Including knowing every item on the card (except he didn't really know what to call a crayon) and every color. He counted all of the objects on the cards w/ multiple items and he even pointed to details on the cards when I asked "where is the ....". He does way more with that sort of thing than he did when he was evaluated not long agao. And, a friend at the birthday party who teaches special needs middle school said that none of her students could recognize the things that he does so quickly even at 7th grade. So overall he's doing well with that.

His first day of school is this Monday and after one week he will be off for two just like me! I'm trying to think up things to do on our two week extraviganza ...LOL

Don't get me wrong we still have a long way to go in other areas but it's really encouraging and rewarding right now with the things he does well at!

[Leonardo]

Thanks for the update. Good to here about progress.

[profdlp]

Glad to hear that things are looking up. :cheers:

[MrBill]

Chris: This is the first time I have seen this thread, but it's great to hear Junior is making progress. I hope his progress continues to go well.

[muddocktor]

It's good to hear that Christopher is doing well, Chris! And he is still in our prayers too. :)

[mirage]

csimon, I just saw this thread the first time. Your son looks lovely and I am so happy to hear the good news for him. I have three boys (11, 3, 9m); I know that every child is so special, we (all parents) are very privileged to have them. And, your son is also fortunate to have parents like you and your wife. I am wishing the best of all to your lovely family. Have a wonderful Christmas !

[csimon]

Thanks everyone I appreciate the warmth.
Friday I picked him up from daycare for the last time and when I walked in the room the "grown ups" were taking pictures of a t-shirt on the table. The girl that watches over the kids all day decided to air brush a t-shirt for him with UNO cards across the front spelling out his name. Over the back is a large blue card with the arrows ...his favorite card. He was so excited to see that big arrow and he's pretty much worn that shirt since he got it. I'll try and snap a few pics of him in the shirt as soon as I find it.