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[Guest guest]

Hi there,

I am a mom of an adorable 10 yo boy. His differences from " the norm "

(everybody has them) led his speech therapist to ask if we had had him

tested for ADD. A few weeks later, she asked if we would get him tested for

AS. As we homeschool, I did not feel it necessary to do this. Most

behavioral allowances we can do.

He is easily distracted from everything BUT he has a few things that, once

begun, he loses track of everything else, is hard to talk to , cannot be

summoned, etc. A friend with a son who is AS says that she calls it

hyperfocus (So clearly not ADD)

Recently, certain behaviors have begun to interfere with his other

activities. He has always been one of those kids that has a few things that

he really enjoys and everything else is a distant bother. He gently rubs the

ends of his fingers, over and over and over. He cant draw (one of his

" hyperfocus behaviors " while playing with his fingers. Also, his speech

skills are degrading slightly and I would like to get him back to where he

was. (He does not enunciate when he speaks. His mouth less then it needs

to) and he scratches his tummy lightly until it bleeds.

I contact our " school headquarters " and asked about speech and, as a side

note mention the other and they freak out. Apparently the Spec Ed

coordinator has " read alot lately " about how more and more kids have

depression and he MUST need meds for depression.

I REFUSE to med my kid under these circumstances. I do NOT want to lose

those things that make him special. I rarely med my kids for anything. I

believe that this culture overmeds people who are different.

As I read about all of this (I over-research) I find more and more of these

stories, and descriptions sound like me. I have OCD behaviors, trouble with

people skills, " precocious " language skills at a young age, etc. And

doesn't this tend to run in families?

So I find myself here. Hoping to find some info and maybe some friends.

Maureen

[Guest guest]

Maureen,

Welcome to the group. As administrator consider me your humble

servant. As a member...well...consider me a fellow member.

OCD and AS are NOT mutually exclusive. My sister has OCD but has

exhibited various " autistic " tendancies, such as " rocking " back and

forth in her bed up until high school. She may very well be AS but

seeing as it's only recently become well known, she has never been

tested for it. I am AS/HFA.

There are a number of self diagnostic tools of varying accuracy in

the Links section. I would try those.

I can tell you the IQ tests would seem to be accurate. I know what

mine has been officially tested at and I consistenly score about the

same on the tests in that section.

Feel free to ask any questions that you may have. We are pleased to

have you.

Welcome again!

Tom

Hi there,

I am a mom of an adorable 10 yo boy. His differences from " the norm "

(everybody has them) led his speech therapist to ask if we had had

him tested for ADD. A few weeks later, she asked if we would get him

tested for AS. As we homeschool, I did not feel it necessary to do

this. Most behavioral allowances we can do.

He is easily distracted from everything BUT he has a few things

that, once begun, he loses track of everything else, is hard to talk

to , cannot be summoned, etc. A friend with a son who is AS says

that she calls it hyperfocus (So clearly not ADD)

Recently, certain behaviors have begun to interfere with his other

activities. He has always been one of those kids that has a few

things that he really enjoys and everything else is a distant

bother. He gently rubs the ends of his fingers, over and over and

over. He cant draw (one of his " hyperfocus behaviors " while playing

with his fingers. Also, his speech skills are degrading slightly and

I would like to get him back to where he was. (He does not enunciate

when he speaks. His mouth less then it needs to) and he scratches

his tummy lightly until it bleeds.

I contact our " school headquarters " and asked about speech and, as a

side note mention the other and they freak out. Apparently the Spec

Ed coordinator has " read alot lately " about how more and more kids

have depression and he MUST need meds for depression.

I REFUSE to med my kid under these circumstances. I do NOT want to

lose those things that make him special. I rarely med my kids for

anything. I believe that this culture overmeds people who are

different.

As I read about all of this (I over-research) I find more and more

of these stories, and descriptions sound like me. I have OCD

behaviors, trouble with people skills, " precocious " language skills

at a young age, etc. And doesn't this tend to run in families?

So I find myself here. Hoping to find some info and maybe some

friends.

Maureen

[Guest guest]

Hi Maureen,

I think I missed saying hello to you in the profusion of posts over the last

few days. Sorry about that.

> I am a mom of an adorable 10 yo boy. His differences from " the norm "

(everybody has them) led his speech therapist to ask if we had had him

tested for ADD. A few weeks later, she asked if we would get him tested for

AS. As we homeschool, I did not feel it necessary to do this. Most

behavioral allowances we can do.

Glad to hear that. Í'm always awed by parents who homeschool and wish I had

been too.

> He is easily distracted from everything BUT he has a few things that,

once begun, he loses track of everything else, is hard to talk to , cannot

be

summoned, etc. A friend with a son who is AS says that she calls it

hyperfocus (So clearly not ADD)

Right. Being unable to focus on things that are boring and unable to resist

hyperfocusing on things that are fascinating is perfectly normal. It just

shows a person who is governed from within his own soul rather than from

without. And who will likely grow up to be an expert in one field or

another. That is a gift. And typical for AS, creative and scientific

personality types.

> Recently, certain behaviors have begun to interfere with his other

activities. He has always been one of those kids that has a few things that

he really enjoys and everything else is a distant bother.

For me too. :-)

He gently rubs the ends of his fingers, over and over and over. He cant

draw (one of his " hyperfocus behaviors " while playing with his fingers.

Also, his speech skills are degrading slightly and I would like to get him

back to where he was. (He does not enunciate when he speaks. His mouth less

then it needs to) and he scratches his tummy lightly until it bleeds.

Could it be an allergic reaction? Have you had him tested for allergies? And

parasites? (Do a websearch for autism + parasites and see what comes up.)

> I contact our " school headquarters " and asked about speech and, as a side

note mention the other and they freak out. Apparently the Spec Ed

coordinator has " read alot lately " about how more and more kids have

depression and he MUST need meds for depression.

Oh no! Anti-depressant medications are not safe for children and should only

be used in severe emergency cases when depression is really established and

no other options seem to help.

> I REFUSE to med my kid under these circumstances.

Good.

> I do NOT want to lose those things that make him special. I rarely med my

> kids for anything. I believe that this culture overmeds people who are

> different.

That's exactly what is happening. Many AS kids get ADD/ADHD dx and get

medicated out of their heads for just being wired a bit differently.

> As I read about all of this (I over-research) I find more and more of

> these

stories, and descriptions sound like me. I have OCD behaviors, trouble with

people skills, " precocious " language skills at a young age, etc. And

doesn't this tend to run in families?

Yep. Most of my relatives have Aspie traits, though only a few noticable

anought that they would get a dx if they went for evaluation.

> So I find myself here. Hoping to find some info and maybe some friends.

A belated welcome, and hope we can be of help and support.

Inger