I don't know where to start........... I have been reading about Asperger's and have been blown away by how accurately the symptoms/ behaviors (for lack of a better term) describe my 9 year old son. My Mom, who is a special Ed. teacher, mentioned to me that I may want to look into Asperger's in relation to DS, which is why I started researching it. She doesn't know much about it but thought he exhibited some of the characteristics. I always thought he was just "quirky" until recently, but I now feel that there may be more to it than that. He is highly intelligent but in such a literal way- very black and white. He had a homework assignment recently which required him to find alternate meanings for words, and we ended up arguing because he WOULD NOT believe me when I told him that the word icing can also mean frosting. We both ended up in tears (I know, I'm the adult, but he wears me down sometimes). He actually wrote the alternate definition on his paper but then wrote (not true) in parentheses. It hurt my feelings that he didn't believe me!
I always found it so strange that he didn't understand sarcasm, given how smart he is- and when I read about Asperger's it was such a feeling of relief and understanding. He is not trying to make me crazy- he really just doesn't get it! Although I think he has learned to "cope", in that he knows that if someone uses their voice in a certain way it may be sarcasm (he actually told me the other day that I wasn't using sarcasm because my voice sounded normal???). During our recent trip to WDW, he LOVED Space Mountain, but was scared to death on The Great Movie Ride- ducking when there were gunshots. He talked about it for days afterwards (I'm never going on that ride again) so I know he was truly frightened. I never know what to expect. Although I had a feeling that he would love pin trading, and he sure did! Every time he saw a CM he was breaking out his pins to trade. I was constantly turning around to find him in a conversation with a CM (not having bothered to tell me he was stopping). He loves to collect things and will talk your ear off, telling you everything you ever wanted to know about Pokemon or whatever his newest interest is.
I was literally crying while reading your stories about strange calls from school, because it is such a comfort to know that there is a reason for his behavior and that others are dealing with this diagnosis so well, and are able to laugh and find the joy in their children's different way of thinking.
My question is, do I need to have him evaluated and diagnosed? What is the treatment? He functions well at school.........he is in the gifted program and his grades have been good (although he is in a split class this year and is struggling with organization which is impacting his grades). He is not popular by any means, but does have 2-3 good friends who he socializes with occasionally. His teachers have referred to him as the rule police- it is very important to him that others follow the rules. Which is funny, because at home he is not so much a rule follower. But the structure at school is really good for him behavior wise. Truly, my main concern for him is the social aspect. He gets along with other kids but doesn't get invitations to many parties (like his 8 year old sister does) and I think some of the kids find him strange. He can't seem to read cues well so if he is annoying someone he doesn't really know it. It would break my heart to think he was being teased (I have seen it happen but not with the kids at his school). He only saw one friend over the Christmas break- she is his closest friend but they had an incident at her house in September and they don't see as much of each other any more. I thought that would devastate him but he seems okay. He likes to spend time alone, and would play video/ computer games all day if we would let him.
I apologize for the book- I could go on and on but I will stop for now. I hope that some of you will have some advice for me. Now that I suspect he may have Asperger's, should I talk to his pediatrician, or educate myself further first and then take him to a specialist?
I always found it so strange that he didn't understand sarcasm, given how smart he is- and when I read about Asperger's it was such a feeling of relief and understanding. He is not trying to make me crazy- he really just doesn't get it! Although I think he has learned to "cope", in that he knows that if someone uses their voice in a certain way it may be sarcasm (he actually told me the other day that I wasn't using sarcasm because my voice sounded normal???). During our recent trip to WDW, he LOVED Space Mountain, but was scared to death on The Great Movie Ride- ducking when there were gunshots. He talked about it for days afterwards (I'm never going on that ride again) so I know he was truly frightened. I never know what to expect. Although I had a feeling that he would love pin trading, and he sure did! Every time he saw a CM he was breaking out his pins to trade. I was constantly turning around to find him in a conversation with a CM (not having bothered to tell me he was stopping). He loves to collect things and will talk your ear off, telling you everything you ever wanted to know about Pokemon or whatever his newest interest is.
I was literally crying while reading your stories about strange calls from school, because it is such a comfort to know that there is a reason for his behavior and that others are dealing with this diagnosis so well, and are able to laugh and find the joy in their children's different way of thinking.
My question is, do I need to have him evaluated and diagnosed? What is the treatment? He functions well at school.........he is in the gifted program and his grades have been good (although he is in a split class this year and is struggling with organization which is impacting his grades). He is not popular by any means, but does have 2-3 good friends who he socializes with occasionally. His teachers have referred to him as the rule police- it is very important to him that others follow the rules. Which is funny, because at home he is not so much a rule follower. But the structure at school is really good for him behavior wise. Truly, my main concern for him is the social aspect. He gets along with other kids but doesn't get invitations to many parties (like his 8 year old sister does) and I think some of the kids find him strange. He can't seem to read cues well so if he is annoying someone he doesn't really know it. It would break my heart to think he was being teased (I have seen it happen but not with the kids at his school). He only saw one friend over the Christmas break- she is his closest friend but they had an incident at her house in September and they don't see as much of each other any more. I thought that would devastate him but he seems okay. He likes to spend time alone, and would play video/ computer games all day if we would let him.
I apologize for the book- I could go on and on but I will stop for now. I hope that some of you will have some advice for me. Now that I suspect he may have Asperger's, should I talk to his pediatrician, or educate myself further first and then take him to a specialist?