Have You Met Autism?

I would like to know what all of you “know” about Autism. Know is in quotes because I’m more interested to hear your personal experiences with Autism and all it’s friends like Aspergers, PDD, or the “spectrum” whatever that means. Weather it’s you, your child, or just a friend of a friend, please drop a line, or tell us your story.

The reasons for the thread:

To learn about Autism. I have been trying to web-educating myself on this disorder . It is very complex and there is a lot to learn. There are a couple other new threads about Autism right now. One was created by a person with Aspergers, it’s mostly for him and other people with it, to discuss it amongst themselves. The other is concerned with Autism cases mostly being misdiagnosed.

To find out how many of us here at ATS know a person with Autism. I‘ve heard so many times about how this Autism diagnosis keep growing each year. I think if it’s as common as I’ve been reading, then a good many of us probably know someone with it. So I’m curious.

To help each other. Anyone who has any advice or a specific parenting technique or strategy, please post about it.

O.K. I will tell what I “know” first:

My best friend’s son was finally diagnosed with PDD about 2 weeks ago. It took close to a year for the doctors to give her son this label. He also has AD/HD and anxiety.

-Keith is an 8 year old 2nd grader. I’ve known him since he was 10 months old.
-He was a late talker. He said words, but didn’t really start talking good until he was about 4 ½.
-He’s wild and full of energy. As a toddler he had a lot of temper tantrums, probably quite a few that were more sever that what might be considered “normal”.
-He made some odd noises while he was eating or playing.
-He developed an attachment to cretin things. A yellow sword was the first thing. His “yewllow fingy”. After that is was kitchen utensils like spatulas and ladles. Now pretty much any stick will do. He plays with the stick. Just tapping it all around, or over and over in the same spot for a minute. Sometimes he points it around and makes all different gun noises. He takes it in the car, or on a walk. If he can conceal it, or he doesn’t feel weird about it, he’ll take it in the store or wherever. It’s like his sidekick.
-He is doing great in school, and getting good grades. He doesn’t get in any trouble, and im sure he is pretty quiet most of the time.
- He has a few friends and he likes to play with them when they come over. Keith rarely goes outside. There could be 10 kids on the street playing and he will have no desire to play with them, content in his house with his stuff where he is most comfortable.
-He only eats a few things, that have to be made a cretin way.
-He is stuck to his mum like glue. He loves the heck out of her and doesn’t like to be away from her for any reason. If he has to be, he usually deals with it. If he had it his way, she’d go everywhere with that boy.
-He doesn’t act like his normal self when he is around new people. He gets all wild and crazy when they have company he is familiar with.
-Keith loves animals and has talked about being a zoo keeper.
-He’s an awesome kid, with cool ideas, who he is loved by many.

Thats my little bit about Keith, and why he was diagnosed with PDD.

And now a little bit about conspiracy. Many people think Autism is connected to vaccinations. I don’t have any opinions on this for lack knowledge. But if that were a true, it sure would make sense to those who say they are deliberately dumbing us down. How hard is it to deal with a quiet sheep, in his own world, that never leaves the barn?
Thanks for reading

I've met a couple of autistic people in my time. The extent of their condition varies widely, that's why it's known as a "spectrum". Most are able to get jobs and function quite normally in society.

Also the correlation between vaccinations and autism has long ago been debunked. Here's one article discussing the struggle of scientists to overcome idiotic media hysteria.

www.plosbiology.org...

Look around on the net and you'll doubtless find more. I think the doctor's name was Andrew Wakefield who first laid claim to this absurd theory - and he has since been discredited and cast as a fraud by his peers.

Guess I will give my story here, as well.

My son, Seth, is 9 years old (will be 10 June). Until he was 2.5 years of age, he was ahead of the curve on almost all aspects. Walking, talking, potty trained, imaginative and always giggly and happy. Then came the day we had to get his vaccinations done.

I have had people try to convince me that vaccinations have nothing to do with autism or the like, and that they are completely safe for human use. But I can tell you, I have first hand experience watching a wonderfully bright and intelligent little boy go from promise to heartbreak after a 2 week period of time, starting after the vaccination was done.

The vaccine in particular was his MMR shot.

2 weeks after getting the shot, he started losing the ability to speak. Then the clumsies began. Within a matter of 2 months total, he lost all ability to speak, was no longer potty trained, and even had to learn to walk all over again.

I remember him saying often, "Daddy, I can't think right." "Daddy, what's wrong with me?" And, more swiftly than I could have ever imagined, I saw the light go out of his eyes.

He was officially diagnosed as having Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, a rare and very severe form of Autism.

He has slowly regained the ability to speak some, though for those that do not know him well, he can be hard to understand, and places words that he has imagined into the conversations (this is a common occurence with Autism, as they will insert words they think have a certain meaning, when a real word is lacking). He's mobile (very lol) and in school, though he has a great amount of difficulty with certain aspects, especially social.

He has yet to learn potty training again. He just doesn't realize that he has to go til after the fact, and that's due to the disconnect he has with the rest of himself. His thought pattern is hard to discern, especially for those that do not know him well.

A really good counselor we had for Seth told us that a good way to think about how those with severe forms of Autism work with their memories, and we've found it to really hold true for our little Sethie.... A 'normal' person will have a memory that runs like a film on a screen... you have a story that goes from point A to B to C with a connection between them.

For someone like Seth, it's more like looking through a photo album found in someone's closet. There's photos, there's memories, but there's no story to it, and if you did not know the story from an external source, you'd have no clue what is going on.

I see that with him in a big way.

Anyhow... as I said in the beginning... there are those that will try to convince you that the vaccines had no effect and that the whole thing is a lie. I've seen the story about the guy that falsified the data and all that jazz. I've also seen the story about the OTHER guy on the OTHER side of the argument that embezzeled over 1 million dollars from the grant that he was given to study the issue.

I also know that these kangaroo "vaccine courts" are run BY THOSE THAT HAVE AN INTEREST IN THE VACCINES (and therefore, inherently, justice will NOT be served), and I know, as well, that the government has made it illegal to sue a vaccine maker for damages done. If there is no link, WHY DO THESE THINGS?

There's no one on the face of this planet that will ever convince me otherwise. I've seen it first hand. If you want to believe it's all safe and flowers grow out of your doctors butt, that's fine and you're within your rights to do so.

But there's a BIG difference between believing and knowing. I know.

Originally posted by DeepThoughtCriminal
I've met a couple of autistic people in my time. The extent of their condition varies widely, that's why it's known as a "spectrum". Most are able to get jobs and function quite normally in society.

Also the correlation between vaccinations and autism has long ago been debunked. Here's one article discussing the struggle of scientists to overcome idiotic media hysteria.

www.plosbiology.org...

Look around on the net and you'll doubtless find more. I think the doctor's name was Andrew Wakefield who first laid claim to this absurd theory - and he has since been discredited and cast as a fraud by his peers.

You can see my post above for my response to this absolute BS.

I know the story of Wakefield. I also know the story about the guy on the OTHER side of the argument stealing millions from the fund given to study the issue. That means money that was NOT spent on investigating the issue, and, therefore, inherently damages the claim that there's no link.


I'll repeat myself slightly here for your edification, if my post above is "tldr"... until you have seen it happen to your very own child first hand for yourself, you are free to believe whatever you want to. I KNOW what happened to my child.

He was totally normal UNTIL THE VACCINE. Immediately afterwards, with NO OTHER mitigating circumstances, his life was destroyed.

Believe what you will. I know. I just hope nothing like this ever happens to a child you know and love. It's the most horrifying thing you can see happen to your child short of death itself.

reply to post by Jomina


Was the link between the vaccine and the onset of your son's condition proven?

You call science BS? Well, I pity you.

reply to post by Jomina


Your tale is such a common one. As a Health Care Worker who looks after young people with autism, I have heard this tale time and time again. Everything was fine until the vaccines. It's been the same with dozens of children I know. It's a diabolical scandal that is being covered up by the scientific community. Those that do talk about it are ridiculed.

reply to post by DeepThoughtCriminal


It was as far as the counselor and psychologist that treated him and diagnosed him were concerned.

And I don't need your pity. There's much that science has no clue about, and much that they play that they know. Dangerous games, indeed.

I also never said science was BS... I said the fact that the link had been debunked was BS.

By the way, I don't advocate people not getting vaccines. My youngest daughter was vaccinated as well, even after my son was diagnosed with CDD. Vaccines are useful and have been proven to help eradicate diseases.

However, to claim that vaccines do no damage is horrendously absurd.

Oh, and, your snarky, snide attitude is also horrendously absurd.

reply to post by UndisclosedDesire


Indeed, that already started with the post above yours responding to me, didn't it?

People can ridicule those of us that have watched our children go through this experience all they want. But karma is a real pain in the butt, as well. I just hope that it NEVER happens to their children.

Holding my sons hand as he is crying and asking me what is happening to him is one of the most horrible experiences I have ever had, and I never, ever, want it to happen to anyone else. It's my hope that some day all the political crap can be REMOVED from this issue and actual scientific studies without any BULL going on will actually occur.

I doubt that, though, because there's too much money involved.

Originally posted by Jomina
reply to post by DeepThoughtCriminal

 

Oh, and, your snarky, snide attitude is also horrendously absurd.

edit on 25-4-2011 by Jomina because: (no reason given)

I second that sentiment. Until you've seen this happen to your own child, you cannot imagine what it is like. Jomina was kind enough to share life alterating experiences with us and you were crass enough to make such a comment? You should be ashamed of yourself.

Timidgal - mother of 22 year old diagnosed over 17 years ago on Autism Spectrum after receiving MMR vaccine

Click here for more information.

reply to post by Jomina


Associated Press and Reuters covered the story, but only Reuters had a more explicit report.

Televised media has been silent, since april 13th. The press was more honest.

Autism and Vaccines Researcher for CDC, Indicted for Fraud and Money-Laundering
www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread692458/pg1

At this point it's prudent to stop extreme polarisation and be more restrained in what is stated as indisputable by both sides.

reply to post by Jomina


Thank you for sharing Seth's story. Sounds like he lucked out in the good Mom department anyway. I appreciate your first hand knowalge of Autism and can see why you believe the vaccination is what caused his Autism. I skimmed over the link provided by DeepThought. I'm not sure what I believe on this matter, but I do know you're both entitled to believe what you want, science, or no sciece.

I really don't want this thread to be all about the Aut/Vac link, but any info or opinion is welcomed.

I am curious to why DeepThought seems so passionate about this issue? Are you personaly invested in this somehow?

My son has pdd.

But for my little contribution to which I will add my son's story later, he did not get pdd from a vaccine or any other medications.

I do think that every person is different and I want to know why has there never been a study to see if autism can happen later in life? IF vaccines or any shot is the culprit then wouldn't all those medications quite possibly be harmful to anyone? Not just to children but adults. Autism and its causes are unknown to the point millions are spent to find out. So we really do not know. YOU could wake up with autism slowly happening over your adult life. Just like any other condition. Did you ever imagine that you could have autism and it may not be the vaccine or that the vaccine is just a part of the picture?

While I am not a scientist I still think that there are adults with high functioning autism that were never diagnosed or have not been diagnosed yet. That is coming and one day science will catch up. This is outside of the box thinking. But really how far out is it before science and research tells us the same thing?

reply to post by UndisclosedDesire


Yes, thats it. I don't believe everything doctors and scientists tell me. I'm more of a hands on type, and think there is much more to be learned by talking to the parents. I actually made this thread for my friend. She is also, like Keith, very shy. She never starts coversations with strangers. If this thread works out I think It will really help her understand her son and enable her to guide him in the right directions.

And yea, I agree, there's no need to be mean.

My cousin has Aspergers, and was diagnosed when he was 10-11-12 or so. It's sad because watching how he has grown up as a bit of an outsider trying to fit in. He is 27 now and still suffers from the same issues. For instance, one day he was looking at a coupon that said, "free iPod." He brought it to my aunt and said that he wanted to go to the store and get the "free iPod." She told him that you had to purchase "X" amount before the will give it to you for free. He argued with her for quite a while over this, "no, it says it's free."

He gets taken advantage of all the time. He is easily persuaded and it's really sad.

My mother is a teacher and tells me all the time that more and more children that come in to the school either have autism, ADHD, etc. I personally think it is a growing issue.

Interesting thread.

My sister has a son who is now about 10 years old who was diagnosed with autism when he was very young. He's never spoken a word in his life.

I remember my sister saying to me when he was a baby that she had a suspicion something wasn't quite right with him. She said, for example, he would never hold the bottle when she was feeding him. I didnt think much of this at the time & (not knowing any better) told her not to worry about it. Interestingly I recall her saying she suspected a vaccination may be the cause of his autism (this was long before I had even heard anything about the dangers of vaccination let alone read anything about them). So in hindsight, knowing what I know now, I think she was onto something. I never have asked her why she suspected a vaccine - I'll have to do that.

As for my nephew, he's a really happy little kid. He always seems active though sometimes too active. One day for example my sister forgot to lock her front door for what was (knowing her) probably less then 2 minutes. And he was out the door and down the street. He has a real urge to explore. My sister who immediately realised he was missing jumped in her car and toured the neighbourhood looking for him while she phoned her husband to assist with the search in his car. They also phoned the police. A short time later they got a call from the police that they were heading off to investigate a report of a young boy (he would have been about 7 then) walking across a busy 4 lane highway about 2kms from my sisters place. Fortunately, a few people driving pass saw him and realising this was something out of the ordinary had pulled over and had him held up against a fence away from the road while they waited for the police. My sister, frantic by now drove up to where he was and she said she was out of the car before it had even stopped moving to grab him and make sure he was ok. He's lucky he has her as a mother. She and her husband take excellent care of him and for example have even gone to the trouble of having all their fences replaced with fences approx 15 feet high as he had a habit of escaping over the 6 foot fences they had previously. They also have had professional therapists visit him several times a week for some years now to help with his learning. For example, particularly when he was younger, he was taught to pull out a picture card they had made for him of say a glass of milk and hand it to my sister then walk away. My sister would pour the glass of milk and he would wander back and take it away. The idea behind this learning is that they say if children with autism are given appropriate assistance when very young they have a better chance later in life of being somewhat functional in society.

As for mannerisms, he does do odd things like I noticed him once pacing back and forth between 2 poles in the backyard...just back and forth singing to himself. He also seems largely oblivious to any strangers or visitors. Though I also suspect (and have heard) people with autism can also be very intelligent, and in fact he may be fully aware of visitors. He just doesn't show it. For example you can call his name and he wont acknowledge you or come to you. In fact his parents Ive noticed also have to sometimes physically grab hold of him to get his attention, though as hes got a bit older I think my sister has established a reasonable level of communication with him. Though he doesnt talk my sister can ask him to do something or say no to a request and he immediately knows what she has said eg throws a tantrum because he cant have what he wants.

The biggest concern I have is what happens to my nephew when my sister and her husband pass on or are too old and frail to care for him? What then?

Oh and my father is into genealogy in a big way and has gone back through both mine and my brother-in-laws family tree and there is no record of autism in either family that he can find so it doesn't appear to be genetic.

My best friend has three children. A boy the same age as my daughter (22) has autism and is fairly high functioning and could probably do ok in a group living situation. He is about to graduate from college. Her daughter is 20, and is fairly normal vs the autism spectrum. She has some social interaction shortcomings, and some other issues. Her youngest is 17 and he is fairly severe in the autism range, and will never leave home and was unable to finish high school. The eldest was fairly normal as a baby, and then she noticed that he stopped progressing like other kids his age. The youngest was fairly obvious in his autism very early on. I can't tell you what caused the problems with them, other than that, in my opinion, two kids with autism also points to a genetic disorder of some kind.

She doesn't talk about what led to autism in her kids, she talks about their accomplishments and what goals they have achieved every day. She is a fabulous mom.

I have a daycare in my home and have now provided care for 2 different autistic children. Funny enough, they were/are both 8 years old

The first was only here for a short time (4 months) and I was so sad to see him go. He had really grown on our family and was extremely lovable in his own unique ways. His passion and obsessions were basically 3 fold. One was for cheddar rice cakes. He could NOT get enough of those things! I stocked the cupboards with them and every wednesday when I had no other children after school we would go to the grocery store where he could pick out his own bag (he LOVED wednesdays!)

His second obsession was having his head rubbed...didn't matter who did it or where you were..he was like a cat lol..he would just love having his head rubbed and would rub back against your hand.

His third and biggest was drawing..and boy could that kid draw!! He never ceased to amaze me with his talents. He would only ever draw scenes or images he had seen on tv or in movies...like the opening screen for 20th century fox....he'd draw that over and over and over. He couldn't spell very well but his printing was so neat you'd have to do a double take to see if it had come out of a printer. He also loved to draw the Earth and was so detailed it was amazing. His favourite show was blues clues and anytime he could swipe a small notepad with a spiral at the top or side he would stick a crayon in it and draw the "pawprint" on every page lol.

His communication was limited to 2-4 word sentences such as "Michelle sad" or "I want rice cakes" or "School time!" He also loved music and his all time favourite song was ABC123 by the Jackson Five No matter what he was in the middle of doing if you started singing or humming it he would break out in song...we loved it! He was not very social and would not participate with the other children but did love to go to the park. He would climb to the highest spot on the climbers and just stand there smiling and waving his hands in front of his face. I would love to know what he was thinking He was very good with computers and speaking to his mom several months after he was done in my daycare she told me he would Google Earth my house and stare at it for hours

The second boy is with me right now. As much as he is similar to the first...he is very different at the same time. His communication is also limited. He knows the basics such as "i'm hungry", "want a drink", "i need to toilet", "yes and no thank you" but will also mimic anything you say even if it's a big long sentence. Every day he leaves he says "thank you Michelle....thank you for having me" LOL But, having said that he has a photographic memory and can completely relate an entire episode of Thomas the Tank engine from beginning to end (complete with the british accent!!) Thomas is his obsession...tv, toys, books, train sets. He will play for hours with them (but doesn't like to share).

His food passion is ketchup chips, and cereal....that child has eaten 4 bowls in one sitting! But he will eat lots of other things if those aren't available thankfully! He's not much for touching but will sometimes out of the blue grab my hand or hug me (usually he wants something, but sometimes he'll do it just for nothing). He isn't social at all and will not even entertain the thought of playing with or sharing with others. He too likes the park but we are very limited in our time there as he is a runner. I can only take him out when he's my only child or when I have other older kids with me that can watch the younger ones if I have to chase him. He's afraid of dogs so if someone comes in the park with one....away he goes (and he can RUN!!)

He normally is either quoting Thomas or making noises...almost like a "hmmmm" sound pretty much constantly. He waves his hands in front of his face a lot and when excited jumps up and down and yells. He also loves to look at his reflection...in mirrors, windows, the fireplace insert, shiny doorknobs LOL. He too is a whiz at the computer and loves computer time. He loves to dance and no matter if you put on heavy metal, rap, or country he will just drop what he's doing and dance and gets a big smile on his face.

The only downfall with him right now is he's become obsessed with my youngest daycare child (1 year old). We're not sure when/how it happened but about 3 weeks after he started here my husband thought he saw the older boy hit the 1 year old. I didn't witness it and the baby didn't cry so I figured he was just being rough while trying to play or "pet" the baby. Then 2 weeks later I was out of the room and suddenly the baby cried out. I went in to see the autistic boy running away from the baby and the baby's face had two bleeding spots on his cheeks! I was mortified. I still thought that perhaps the older boy had tried to "pinch" the baby's cheeks and got too rough. He had a timeout and I was now concerned but not overly. It was that day that the older boy would constantly repeat the baby's name over and over and look all around for him...I was starting to become very worried and would keep the baby with me. Then suddenly a couple days later he struck out several times trying to punch, hit, and kick the baby. I was terrified for the little guy and had to tell the older boy's mom if we couldn't get a handle on it he would have to be taken out of my daycare. His mom gave me some great tips on how to NOT reinforce the behaviour...as any mention at all of the baby's name or sitting and trying to reason with the 8 year old "we don't hit babies..they're our friends etc" would only reinforce and hyper focus his attention. So now I just grab his arm firmly...say NO loudly and firmly and take him to timeout. Whenever he asks about the baby I ignore him rather than "baby's sleeping" or "baby's not here" This seems to be working and we've had no more episodes..but I do take the baby with me and will NEVER leave them unattended together. Having said that I also have two other young children in care (both 2 years old) that he never bothers with...it's just this poor little guy

He has a heck of an internal clock as well...he knows within a few minutes what time it is all day..and if we're running late he gets very anxious and antsy. His usual time to arrive was 8:00 am and then at 8:45 I would put him in a taxi to go to school. Then his mom's schedule changed and he was coming at 6:30 am...at exactly 7:15am he would start putting his coat and shoes on..it was a struggle to get him to understand it wasn't time yet and it would throw him off all day. It took a few weeks to get him used to his new schedule.

With both boys if something was not going as planned or the situation was stressful for them they will throw themselves to the floor and not budge. Both boys are very big for their age....almost as tall as I am at 5'5", so it's very difficult to get them out of that mode once in it...but usually leaving them alone, or soft gentle talk with a distraction works wonders.

I love both of these boys as challenging as they were/are and they've brought me a new understanding and gratefulness for my own children. Each and every day I admire their moms (both single mothers) and their strength and patience and perseverance and infinite LOVE for their children.

Michelle

My daughter just turned 9 last week and was diagnoised with Autism when she was three. She had been fully integrated with other classmates but this year she has been placed in 'resource' and is only with other 2nd graders during Art/Music and other specials. I feel this happened after a disasterous attempt with medication last year. I was totally against medicating her but her neurologist felt it would help her focus at school so I gave in and so wish I hadn't. They placed her on Paxil and it amplified every challenging behaviour she has leading to daily meltdowns at school where I had to rush there and find her in the middle of the hall, laying down, screaming, and literally pulling her hair out. A teacher had to ride home with us as she was also trying to jump out of the car! My daughter told me it felt like a leprechaun was in her brain. It took nearly a month to ween her of the medication. Since that episode I feel as if the school has pigeon holed her.

She has a difficult time with small motor skills. During a recent writing exercise she informed the teacher she could not do the work because she had Autism. I've since been trying to teach her Autism is not an excuse but an opportunity to grow. I've tried to help her recognize the Autism and make adjustments. I'm proud to say in the car recently she could not stop talking about an annual vacation trip to an amusment park. She's now offically over 48inches tall and super excited about riding the big rides. She stated "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't keep talking about this but my brain won't stop." So proud of her. For me, behaviour modification is a greater treatment then medication. Again, that's just for us and I place no judgements on others - everyone is different.

I noticed early on she was different. She had failure to thrive. Difficulty eating, gaining weight and seemed to be at 6 months behind on all checkpoints. I would say emotionally, and in other areas, she's about 2 years behind what is considered 'normal.' When she was younger anytime we left anywhere it was as if we were abducting a child. Full on meltdowns with kicking and screaming. We received judgmental stares from family, friends, and strangers. This has imporved greatly (the behaviour not the attiude from others) since she has been able to communicate. We give her a countdown at the park or where ever we are so she can anticipate the departure.

Playskol toys and barbies have gathered dust while she prefers to play with Mardi Gras beads that are cut in half and she spins them on the floor. Rather then jump the jump rope, she also spins these outside. Before she had zero imagination but now she has integrated 'stories' into the spinning activities. Her social skills are curious with invading others space however she longs to have peer friendships. She's shunned by the neighborhood kids and is an only child. Her dad is her greatest playmate. She loves big dogs and animals. She can tend to get stuck on a topic or interest. Since last summer it has been Toy Story. She's obcessed with time. While she hates doing math problems if you toss one out at her she can come with the answer quicker then I can.

Autism is difficult on parents. I'm grateful we are her parents. It takes a lot of patience and understanding. My husbands family is in complete denial and thinks it's a discipline issue. They live out of state and don't see the day to day challenges or achievements. Please be compassionate when out in public. If you see a child in the checkout lane laying down screaming don't be judgemental.

My own denial kicks in when I take her to the neurologist. We've been to three different ones and they all say she will never be able to live on her own. She's so smart I just have a hard time grasping the idea of this. We are older parents and her future frightens me for when we are not here. I worry she'll be taken advantage of or worse. I'm working on letting that go and instead taking action. We are meeting with some financial planners to put in place a trust for her.

She's a wonderful, clever child with awesome critical thinking skills. As a mother, it's been difficult not to take it personal that she doesn't care for cuddling or kisses. She's awesome at sports and I have recently put in the Special Olympics on the swim team. It's a wonderful community and already I have met others with Autism and indeed the spectrum is huge.

As for the causes, I don't really have opinion other then to say my intuition leads me to wonder about all the processed food we ate in the 70s and are still eating. While there has always been Autism (in fact I think we are on the scale somewhere) its prevalance has increased so dramatically we need to look at what has changed so greatly in the last 25 years.

reply to post by MidnightSunshine


My son and my husband both have aspergers disorder, they are both high functioning and I love both of them dearly. Not sure if it has to do with vaccinations at all. My son was delayed, it took him util he was 4 to potty train, speak, and to learn anything. Took him until he was 5 years old to read, and learn his alphabet, colors, numbers, and so on. He was a ball of energy, when learned how to walk he would literally ruin around our apartment all day. He loved played outdoors, and with cars, he would just line up all the cars and take them apart and reline them up. The one thing that threw me off was, since he was 4 months old he has ticks. He flops his hands when he gets excited and makes odd noises, he is 13 and does this to this day! he is obsessed with computers, and video games. He loves math and science, and he is awesome with reading facts! The kids at school make fun of him, and have called him a walking encyclopedia. I find that to be a great trait. He almost has an photographic memory. He forgets things, and has problems with change, he loves routine. He is in occupational therapy at school, and he has had a chewing issue, so he is now allowed to have gum in school, it's either that or he chew pencils, or any object he puts in his mouth.

On another note my son is a very loving child, will hug me, and kiss me, when I am feeling blue. Says really sweet things to me, and is very protective of me as well. As for friends he has a hard time making friends, and doesn't understand when people don't want to talk to him. That's all I can come up with for now.

My husband has high functioning but I am not going to list all of the concerns with him. He's in his thirties and has a successful career and is quite capable of taking care of himself. He's also extremely intelligent.

People think my life is hard with those two but I have the type of personality that can handle these types of people, so i am not overwhelmed at all, I am capable of dealing with these types of personalities. Which is good for me.