Aspergers Syndrome

Originally posted by Verdis Quo
I lived down the street when I was young from a boy with aspergers. He was not diagnosed til his teens but looking back there were many things he did that perfectly fit the symptoms.. However, he was very social with at least one or twol and was (still is) extremely intelligent. Peculiar thing though, I remember going over to his house from about ages 5 to 10 and remember him only leaving his room if his toy dinosaur said he could. Anything question really you asked him, he'd say it was up to the dinosaur. Are imaginary friends at a young age a symptom as well because of lack of social interaction or was this something completely different? If I'm wrong sorry in advance for the waste of time...

[edit on 5-9-2004 by Verdis Quo]

Well I never had any imaginary friends, I believe that sort of thing is kinda normal and they usally grow out of it. If however he continued to act like that after say puberty then I would suspect schitzophenia not aspergers. BTW Einstien had Aspergers syndrome too, and he lead and very productive life as we all know...

Hi Mynaeris,

Here are some more details for you.
Thanks for taking an interest in this.


1) He is 20 and living with your wife and you - How long has he been living with you? And what were the reasons for him coming to live with you?

He was living with his mom, his father had passed away a few years ago.
She was taking no interest in him. Never really had taken an interest. He had just graduated from HS. With no further plans. We were worried about him.
So we made a deal...You can live with us, IF you get a job and go to school.
He IS going to school. Community College, taking simple classes, but he is going. He's been here about 18 months now.



2) He doesn't have a job/can't get a job? What education does he have? And has he applied for jobs?

High School only. We had a job lined up for him. At the college, through a friend. He interviewed for it, it was pretty much set in stone, so to speak.
BUT, when his potential new boss said "so, you want to leard how to fix computers" he said "NOT REALLY"....that was the end of that..
He's been on at least 6 other interviews, never gets the call-back.

He had a job, back home once. Again, through connections.
He lasted only ONE day..Because he wouldn't do what the boss asked him to do (vacuum the floor). When asked why, he said "Idunno"
A common answer I get from him as well.

I am contacting a job counseling place on Tuesday, BTW..



3) As for friends - we would have to establish where he grew up and why he is living with you now?

He actually grew up partially in this very town. And in SoCaL. He has a couple of "buddies" in SoCal. But they Never call or anything. The last time he saw them, they were kinda "using" him, because he had CASH and a CAR. Compliments of his grandparents.


4) What do you consider makes him socially dysfunctional? Does he do things that are socially inappropriate or does he just avoid social situations?

He Tries to avoid social things...But will go if WE are with him..
I wouldn't say inappropriate, but he has a real hard time with social subtleties. Like the job interview experience I mentioned above..
He doesn't pick-up on visual cues at all.


Some other things.

He has a sense of Grandeur, regarding his opinion of things...Like everyone else must be stupid..
He also has an annoying habit of OVER-pronunciation of words..
Like, if a word ends with the letter T, he will REALLY bring out the T.

Also, buttering a piece of bread.. he'll spend 5 minutes, getting the butter, perfectly smooth, and covering ALL parts of the bread evenly. Very meticulous.

Good news!

And a lot of thanks to all of you.

My nephew got a job today!

It's a basic, small mom and pop biz. Kind of like a Mail boxes etc...
They do mailing a service. He'll be packing things, and labeling things to
be shipped. I think it's perfect for him, at this point. He's even a bit more animated than usual!

WE found it through a job counseling service..a type of place that specializes in those that are hard to employ, they did a good job of
matching him up.
Once the interview was set up, we did some practice interviews.
He went there today, on the second interview and they ended up putting him to work..This is GREAT!

I want you to know that your comments and ideas, help us to get him on a nice starting path..

Thank you all. ATS ROCKS!

PS.
I know what you're thinking:
(from Joe vs the Volcano)
"I know he can GET the job, but can he DO the job?"

That remains to be seen, I'll post an update if anyone is interested, in a couple of weeks..

Originally posted by spacedoubt
It's a basic, small mom and pop biz. Kind of like a Mail boxes etc...
They do mailing a service. He'll be packing things, and labeling things to
be shipped. I think it's perfect for him, at this point. He's even a bit more animated than usual!

Really terrific news spacedoubt. I hope things continue to improve and this is only a beginning for him.

I will keep him in my thoughts. Good Luck!

I work as a disability teacher and you really need the help of a professional when dealing with a person with issues like this. The problem as i understand it by going on what you have said there more then likely a psychiatric problem as well and that means a " Duel disability" that is tricky to help. Seek the help of a local doctor that understands the situation.

hmm this reminds me of myself sorta, i've always been nervous around groups of people and afraid of social interactions, i used to be angry alot for no reason, i seem to be obsessed with keeping lines straight, colors within lines and i do focus on square edges and lines constantly, i also like being by myself as much as possible and hate any changes, i also never feel like doing work of any kind and its mostly because i fear actually succeeding and having to be around others and i fear absolute dark, feel as if im being watched or like i might be hurt, heck i used to hear vioces when walking past a pitch black room...boy i coul go on about symptoms forever, long story short, a few shrinks over the years have all said i had depression...not till recently that i noticed i really have never been happy in my life...hmm think i also need help..

I remember being in the depression hole, not very fun. I even refused therapy and any drugs they'd try and have me take. It was more paranoia then anything.. having to triple check my locks, stoves, windows etc. Always afraid that someone would steal something or my house would burn down.

Infact im not entirely cured, never will be.. I guess the point is conventional medicine isn't always the answer, but in this case make sure he's diagnosed.

I don’t know if you are still watching this thread you started but aspersers is a gift look at all the great people through out history who had it and the GENUINE gifts it gives that can be sharpened it also depends how he his aspersers is derived there are many things that can cause this because it is more than one thing
I think you must now be much up on this aspersers but if you want info please message me