Hey, this is a topic to talk about autism. Do you know someone who has it? Or perhaps you have a form of it? This is where you can talk about it. :)

But please be nice and respectful towards other people and their opinions.


OR ELSE. xD

So, yeah... Me? My little sister has autism. She's a perfectly normal 7-yr old girl, except she lacks the ability to speak. Not to communicate, however. Fortunately, she is able to go to a special needs school nearby, and enjoys it. She can tell you exactly what she wants. She'll take you to the fridge if she wants something to eat, or to drink, to the trampoline if she wants to play, and to bed if she wants to sleep. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like not to have an autistic sister, but I soon dismiss that thought because I wouldn't change my little sister for anything in the world.

If you would like more information on autism, here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism

I honestly never heard of autism making people mute. That's new to me.

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This autistic kid at our school.
And its really sad because he thinks hes the greatest actor in the world and nobody has the heart to tell him he sucks. So he always gets, like, 50's and blames everyone else.

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Ah, she's not mute, she just can't form words. ^^" I'm not good at explaining things. xD

Hey, your sibling has autism, too? My little brother has it.
He has high functioning autism, and his counselor says that it is different than other forms of autism. There was this one time when my mom took him out to see a psychiatrist for his medicine diagnosis. The doctor observed him for 5 minutes, and said, "Yup, your kid definately has autism." My family and I have to use different ways of keeping him calm. He's 9 years old, and isn't very hygenic. He also goes to a special school, though we had to go through at least 3 schools to find the perfect one. In his school, he gets "points" for behaving well, and he can exchange points for toys. That'll have a worse effect later on. And I went to this class for siblings that have siblings with disabilities, and they told us that we're twice as mature as we're supposed to be. That made me really happy. When we don't deal with him the real way, my family become more torn apart.

Oh, yeah, I wouldn't trade my brother for anything in the world, because I love him. Also, because he's living proof that I'm mature. Plus, if I were normal, I'd be stuck up or something.

Oh, I love this topic. No, really.

I'm sorry that your sister can't speak. :(

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My cousin has autism. His sister is pretty nice to him (I think, they live a few states away. ^^;), but my uncle got remarried and his new wife has two other kids. So she tries to kinda push him away a bit when they're around. But he's really fun! Last time I saw him was a few weeks ago at another cousin's wedding. (I have a lot of cousins. O.o) He was dancing around with the bridesmaids and just having a great time. I was glad to see him that happy, 'cause he used to have really bad fits when he got angry or sad and like no one could calm him down. It just reminds me that everyone really is the same, no matter what they're labeled or stuck with. [/walloftext]

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So normally I'd be ax mature as a 3 yr old?

Oh yeah, my step-brother has ADHD. He behaves well as long as he takes his medicine, but he can get a bit out of control sometimes.

I have Aspergers Syndrome, which is (apprently) on the scale.

THough to be honest I feel fortunate compared to some of this.

Well that comes with my ignorance I suppose.

I remember when I was younger I used to have to see some doctor, and she really annoyed me. Because she was "an expert", what this meant is she knew me better then I knew myself (in her mind) she quiet litterally told me what I liked and what I didn't. If I said she was wrong she breathed FIRE.

So now I like to rock on my chair when annoyed *twitch twitch*

XD Haha she was just crazy.

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Hello, my name is Anna, and I have Asperger's Syndrome. *waves*

Basically, Asperger's is a high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, usually characterized by intense, focused interests and difficulties in social interaction (among other things--the Wikipedia article I linked to explains it in more detail). My personal obsession? Cartoons. My life revolves around cartoons. The two other kids at my school who are on the autism spectrum have similar highly focused interests--one is obsessed with the weather, the other with the Civil War.

Asperger's is also more common in boys, though some girls (myself included) have it as well.

While I do not go to a special school, I do qualify as a special needs student, and as such, I have something called an IEP (Individual Education Plan), which basically helps me and my teachers find ways to help with my disorder, among other things. It's hard to explain.

I'm really glad this thread exists--it could spark some interesting discussion. :)

(Sorry if this post came across as rambly and disorganized. I'm no good at organizing my thoughts. :()

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Closely related to Asperger's Syndrome is Non Verbal Learning Disorder, which I happen to have. http://www.nldontheweb.org is where you can learn about what exactly it is. This means, basically, that I'm not very adept in social situations and I sometimes don't realize what I say is inappropriate. I also am not organized and I have difficulty keeping up with the rest of the class, even if I know the material inside out and backwards.

My brother also has a form of autism--I don't remember what exactly it's called, but he develops very slowly mentally and socially.

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Wow... I didn't realize that there were so many people who know people with Autism - or who are dealing with it themselves - on this site. It's so interesting to read everyone's stories! I myself have two brothers who have autism-spectrum disorders; one with Asperger's and one with full-blown autism.

My youngest brother is almost exactly like Tooth_Paste_Kisses describes her sister, though he is a few years older (he's 12). He has very little speaking ability; through years of speech therapy we have taught him very basic sentences and words. He knows all of his family's names, as well as our pets, and he knows the basic speech pattern of "I want ____ please". And, as Tooth_Paste_Kisses said, if he cannot communicate what he needs he will take you to whatever it is he wants or needs. He is extremely eager to learn; he has toys meant to teach kids how to read and he carries them everywhere, repeating and sounding things out. Well, that, and I think he likes the noises they make. :P Most autistic children are described as being extremely antisocial and hate physical contact - but not him. If I'm sitting in the living room, chances are that he's cuddled up to me... especially if I'm playing a video game. He particularly enjoys Phoenix Wright, actually; as soon as he sees that I'm playing it he doesn't leave my side until I turn it off again. I think it's all the letters... he absolutely loves letters.

He can be a pain sometimes, but he really is the sweetest person I know... sometimes I wonder what he would have been like if he were normal. He'd be so cool... but in the end I wouldn't change him for the world. ♥

As for my other brother, the one with Asperger's, his particular obsession is Video Games - Nintendo, to be specific. His entire life absolutely revolves around Mario and, more recently, Sonic the Hedgehog. And I do mean 'revolves'. When Mario and Sonic at the Olympics was released, I thought he was going to die of pure joy, haha - same when Sonic was included in Brawl. Every single birthday and Christmas and holiday, a card from him means a printed-out picture of official Mario or Sonic art that he writes your name on. He is not nearly as pleasent as my youngest brother though, I'm afraid; when you criticize him about anything he absolutely blows up and takes it personally. He can be very difficult to deal with about 90% of the time and he is incredibly irrational. He attends a normal high school, though under an IEP like Anna Cassidy.

I enjoy this topic quite a bit... very interesting discussion.

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Double-post... curse you, 500 error! D:

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IIRC when I got out of school months ago I was supposed to get treatment for Asperger's Syndrome because my mom and old counseller thought I had it for reasons I'm not going to say. I'm in total denial about it though. :/

Also one of my cousins has autism.

I don't have autism but I know someone who does. He's the little brother of someone I know.

On the topic of Asperger's Syndrome, I believe I show symptoms of it but I've never been properly diagnosed. I don't really want to receive a diagnosis because of this pretentious fear of being labeled and treated like a mentally insane freak. If I get a proper diagnosis then I think I'll receive college aid in some form or another (I think one of the benefits was getting extra time to complete exams or possibly taking them home and finishing them there), but I loathe the idea of having a handicap. It kinda makes me feel like I'm incapable of doing something that's perfectly within my limitations of doing.

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When I was in elementary school, like 6th or 7th grade (a looooong time ago. ^_^;;), there was a girl who had autism. She was pretty much separate from the rest of the school, but there was usually someone teaching her/taking care of her. I volunteered to take care of her during lunches. I had to learn sign language, because she couldn't speak. (I sort of wish I remember it now. ^_^;;) She could make noise and say a few words, but she definitely couldn't formulate any sentences.

That's pretty much my only experience with autism. ^_^;;

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I helped an autistic boy named Aaron, played with him and cheered him up and stuff when he started rubbing his eyes, which indicated that he was sad about something in grades 5 and 7. That's all. D:

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I feel the exact same way. Minus the insane freak part, I'm used to that o__O

oh oh oh.

This one time I was watching my friend play his DS and this SPED kid came along, I think he was autistic. and he was like "Can I please play your gameboy?" and my friend was like "No." and he said "But I said PLEASE!" and my friend was like "SO!?!" and the kid walked away and I said "You know he was SPED right" and my friend just stares at me with this look of horror on his face.
XD

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My Mother is a "Special Education" teacher, which is a way of saying that she teaches a small class of middle-school-aged, semi-low-functioning autistic children. I attended the public middle school school nearby, so when my classes were done for the day I had to walk over and watch her work for about an hour until she could drive me home. It wasn't fun, but I did learn a lot about autism and it's many different ways of being expressed through people, and how there are different types and levels of it. Of course, most of the actual experience I've had is 13-year-olds rambling incoherently and some inexplicably crapping themselves, but it's experience nontheless.

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A friend of mine has autism, but I don't know him very well or hang out with him a lot. If he hadn't mentioned it to me, I wouldn't have even known. I'm assuming that his isn't as severe as a lot of cases.

I had an IEP in elementary school for being in a gifted class. It's for students in general who have special needs, whether their needs are advanced or not. Just thought I'd point that out :P

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Best story ever?

Best story ever.

Seriously, I've been having a really shitty day, and this cheered me up. XD

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I'm so glad everyone's posted! I think people need to talk about this stuff, and this is the place to do it. :3

And wow, Looity Loo - you can describe my little sister better than me. She's not as advanced as your bro yet, but that's probably exactly what she'll be like.:3

I have Autism although it's mild it still effects me.
Also have a younger sister with autism, except her's is more severe.

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Autistic?
Who's Autistic?
Me?
Hell no I'm flat out retarded.

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Apparently I'm on the autism scale but not far on. This would explain the fact that I do sometimes have issues communicating I guess?

Well, at least my family say I am on it. Not sure if it's true but hey, I'll trust them on this.

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I just can't help but see this image in my head whenever I see this topic in the list of topics with no recent replies.

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This is a hard subject for me to discuss. Im 14, and I have a 19 year old autistic sister. She isnt lite either, its heavy autism. She cant form words really, and breaks alot of things, many are mine. You dont know how hard it was, to be a child with a big sister that you have to watch after and gets away with everything. And I hope I dont sound too selfish here, but it was very difficult. Though it could be alot worse, as we do have more than enough for luxories like video games and such. But having both a divorce and an autistic big sister in that age wasnt easy. Though it is easier now, as I matured, but its still really hard. The biggest thing is the whole love thing. Its hard to admit, but I cant really say I love her, which is really hard for me to say, but its a little true. Well, I hope I dont bore you too much with my issues, if so I'm sorry

Back in middle school, I knew this guy with autism. He spoke to me in the school's library before class sometimes, and I went to his little sister's birthday party. I just thought he was kind of geeky (I don't use that word negatively, for the record) and energetic at first, but one day he told me he was autistic randomly. I just kind of nodded because I didn't know much about it (still don't), and it didn't really change anything.

I'm guessing he had that form of autism where he was really focused on something, because he was all about running and track. It was kind of funny because he would run everywhere, even between classes. I feel really bad for his little sister though. As he was running around the neighborhood two years ago I think, he got hit by a car and passed away. Some people at my highschool were being real dicks about it, saying he died like a dog and it was a stupid way to die and horrible things like that. If I had the backbone I have now back then, I would have kicked all of their asses.

Anyway, I still feel bad for his sister because her mom passed away several years ago, she had to take care of her autistic older brother, and then he passed away too. It was really unfortunate.

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I suspect that I have Asperger's. Haven't gotten a doc to officially diagnose it, but it makes sense.
My mother suspects my father to have it - and the few times my father and I are together - I have to agree that it's likely. My gene-pool is pretty mixed up, anyway - we have two cases of bipolarity in close family, but we couple it with a really strong will.
A while ago, my mother dragged me to a meeting where one of her friend's and his two sons were there. Both of the sons have asperger's and I merely watched them for a minute or two (I left really fast) and had to agree, I act a lot like the one son whose asperger's is stronger.
I don't like crowds bigger than three or four people, I can't show empathy, I get focused on things but also lose interest in them fast for the next intensive thing... I hope this isn't sounding like "It makes sense, it must be like that!" I'm merely trying to say that it makes sense, hence there is a possibility.
Reason I haven't gotten a doctor to check yet is because I just plain forget to make an appointment or because I think it isn't really that important. I don't think Asperger's is anything that can make it difficult for me to work, legally, or anything. Unlike depression, which could get me listed as Incapable Of Work.

C-A

The friend from my boyfriend who was also a great writer for several Homestuck-fanfictions had autism. He felt pretty good from what I've heard and instead of staying in his bed the whole day, he got up every morning around 8 am to help his mother with cooking.

But then one day, his mother got really worried because her son wasn't showing up at 8 AM and then she went to take a look and she only could go over to his bed and hug him the whole day. Because she knew that he won't wake up.

I think he died from something with his heart or so.. pretty sad. But I don't have anything against autism, I know many people who have autism. My cousin has autism too. I help him as much as I can.

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I have aspeargers...but it's really mild. Sad thing is I didn't know this till the week before my 17th birthday.

But it explains why I have a hard time staring someone else in the eye, or I have my awkward moments, and worst of all...I can't handle change that well. And change has happened a lot to me since I have moved like...9 times in my life.

But, I've been told that some of the smartest people have aspeargers, sadly smart doesn't win brownie points where I live, swag does.

I also have a friend who has autism...he can be hard to handle at times and he talks so much that I never get to change the subject but, he really is a sweet guy and very smart.

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Working as a substitute teacher since this past October, I've had opportunities to work with an Autisitic child, and I've currently been working with one who has severe Asperger's. Funny too, because I graduate with a degree for generalist, but they feel I have a knack for working with special ed. Who knew?

Anyways, back in November, I had the opportunity to sub in for the aide who usually works with a child in Kindergarten who has autism. You learn about it in college briefly, but classes definitely don't prepare you for real life. I have to say, in the three days I worked with him, it was really a treat. He's a very bright reader, can decode, I swear at a third grade level. He's very sweet, but his comprehension is horrendous, which I've read is pretty common. I think the happiest moment for me, with my subbing career thus far, dealt with him. When working with him, I was never sure if he would understand what I was trying to say sometimes and instead treat it as more of a just memorized verbal form of speech. For the first two days, I tried to get him to learn my name, but it felt like I wasn't getting through. Third day, he comes up to me, all smiles, and calls me by name. I know it's small, but that really had me elated. One thing I learned, you really have to patient, you have to keep your instruction very brief and to the point to make it easy to understand, and you have to keep them on the same schedule or they will freak out so easily. For the first special ed. child I ever had to work with, it was a great experience and it's really neat to get to experience something like that that was once out of my comfort zone.

As of January, I've been working in isolation with a 3rd grader who has severe Asperger's. He's also a bright student, very smart in math. His huge fixation is video games. One thing I learned fast is that he has poor social skills as well, loves to dominate conversations to where you need to constantly repeat yourself over and over before he will listen. He consistently fabricates stories, sometimes lies to try to cover up his mistakes, to the point to where he starts to believe them. He recently made up a story about how I gave him some money when his mother confronted him where he had gotten money from, only to find out he took it from his grandmother's car. My biggest concern is his unstable family life. He had brought a gun to school back in October. His family isn't faithful when it comes to meds and seems to use video games as a way sometimes to keep him distracted more than anything. I really feel that he has the potential to be a good kid and make good choices, but he's easily influenced at times to make wrong decisions which he feels okay with. I have learned to tread lightly with him too, he is very easily emotionally influenced to where when he was younger, he would run away, hide under his desk, scream, etc. I have been blessed that he hasn't really done too much of that with me, the worse is that he tends to want to hide when I do need to lecture him on behavior.

The thing that scares me most though, is his profile from what I've read, is very similar to the young man who shot the kids in Connecticut back in December. His mom takes him to a gun range, he knows how to use them. There is no line between fantasy and reality for him, it all meshes together. There also holds the fact that a third grader was able to get his hands on a gun and bring it to school, and though it was just to show off that his mom had one, it's decisions like that that scare me. My goal as I work with him this semester is to try to improve upon his social skills by practicing different forms of media, and to try to be a very positive role model in his life to help encourage him to make good decisions. I fear for him when he hits Middle School and I hope that I can help lead him down the road where he will make good decisions in his life, because I have the fear that if he doesn't really have any good role models in his life, he could very well one day become something of a psycho and that is not a future I would wish for him to have.


Working with children like this have really helped me to see other aspects of what this world has to offer. It's been quite the ride to say the least. I don't regret these experiences at all, and I really enjoy the experience it gives me first hand to better understand how children diagnosed with these symptoms can be. I honestly wouldn't know if I'd go back to school to get a degree to be with special ed., but I feel honored that the school I'm with right now trusts me enough to work with these children. Even when I experience bad days because of his behavior, or how the little lies he may fabricate about me escalate to confusion between the school and his guardians (don't get me wrong, he's a good kid who respects me, he just has bad judgement at times because of his condition), it's not an experience I would give up for anything. It's more rewarding than anything else, and if I'm even able to remotely make a positive difference in his life, then I feel that it's all worth it. After all, it's all for him, not for me.

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See, this is exactly why Guns shouldn't be allowed in any household.
I don't care if somebody is part of the NRA or some kind of hobby-hunting club and has a license to carry a gun, they shouldn't be kept in the house. Since it only causes trouble. Kids find the guns at an early age, sometimes they hurt other people, more often than not they hurt themselves.
And here, it's the perfect example of how it can later on lead to a massacre in schools.
What, you have your gun in a safe and the kids don't know the combination? Eventually, they will find that slip of paper, that computer document or some written form of the combination and will get into that safe.

My mother says she understands having a gun in the house as means of protection - and I rather agree with her on that - but not if it's a semi-automatic pistol or anything like that. A normal pistol, where you have to shoot, then fumble around until you can shoot another bullet. That's 'okay'. A semi-automatic where you push ones and it just goes Bang!Bang!Bang!Bang! until the magazine is empty? Yeah, not a good idea...

C-A

I nearly cried reading this part. Poor kid.

And I agree with CatMuto about the whole gun thing, personally I would feel uneasy having a gun in the house even if it's meant for protection, someone might get angry and take things too far.

But, after the Sandy Hook shooting a bunch of gun addicted southerners...at least I think they were southerners got angry because of the shooting because they think their guns will be taken away because of it. And I'm busy getting angry because a bunch of students lives were put to an abrupt end and couldn't go home to tell their parents about school, and the first thing those people care about is their bloody guns.

My father says if someone is really strong, they wouldn't need a gun. A gun might as well be a sheild.

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Asperger's Syndrome for me.

Oh, I'm all for having a gun in your house for protection, but don't ever let your kids know about it, let alone leave it out to where they can easily gain access to it. That was exactly what happened with him. I don't blame him, the fault is fully on his mother. Something like that is just way too irresponsible and kids grow up messed up because of parents like that. It scares me.

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For those who didn't remember me, I'm Sportacus.
My biggest secret is now revealed: I'm an Aspie.
I was aged 3 when I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, but I learnt the existence of this diagnosis when I was aged 15.
I don't need a cure, I need AIR: Awareness, Integration and Respect.
I'm Sportacus and I'm proud to be an Aspie.
I love you all!

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Last edited by Sportacus on Tue Mar 26, 2013 9:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Oh thank god, I'm not the only one having panic attacks.
But I never thought that they had anything to do with the general area of Autism... although when I read up on Asperger's I think it did mention them...

C-A

When I saw movies with people having them and breathing through bags I thought panic attacks was pretty common. I don't think it does have anything to do with it or maybe it does? I got over most of my problems but my body can internally freak out a for very small things so I always keep those feelings to myself and under a tight leash. That may be why panic attacks are occurring every now and then when I loose control over it, it's occurring because of my response I guess... I don't think it plays a huge part in autism.

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Last edited by mushin on Mon Mar 11, 2013 4:08 am, edited 1 time in total.