Are you or is someone you know on the spectrum?

[mr moose]

I this is "disorder" of some sort correct? I am sorry to call it so. I belive my cusion also has something similar to this. I am unfortunte to say for all, but it seems that both you and him seem to be quite happy. Well he dose have hicups that we all experiance due to some random troubling times.

It is technically a "disorder" or more specifically a "spectrum of disorders" hence the term ASD.  However Most of the people I talk to (who are also on the spectrum) have come to a kind of agreement that it is more a variation than a disorder.  Hence the phrase coined by   Temple Grandin's mother: "different not less". 

[Arshdeep]

It is technically a "disorder" or more specifically a "spectrum of disorders" hence the term ASD.  However Most of the people I talk to (who are also on the spectrum) have come to a kind of agreement that it is more a variation than a disorder.  Hence the phrase coined by   Temple Grandin's mother: "different not less". 

I am sorry for calling it a "disorder." I shouldn't have said that. But yes. My cusion dose get into fights, stubborn, and many other things. He is, comming back to what you said, different, nevertheless any less.

[flibberdipper]

I just have ADHD. Not that bad. And the Autistic kids at my school are treated really well, for the most part.

[Arshdeep]

My sister is the only one with a proper diagnosis, but I suspect my whole family is somewhere on the spectrum.

I guess that is one way of putting it... for both our families. Oh the troubling times now.

[LOLPhilips]

My best friend is diagnosed as an autistic (like his father).. But he's not that "bad"... His father has a heavy case of it though..
He swears I'm one too, but I'm not..
 

[eoso]

Not autistic, although I saw a lot of kids in special ed classes walking the hallways back when I was in high school. The autistic kids were treated very well and never made fun of. Some kids had higher functioning autism (I think that's what its called? When they are only "mildly autistic?") and took regular classes. You could sense that there was something not quite "right" with them, but it seemed as if it made the classroom embrace him/her more rather than less. I never had much personal interaction with any of them, however, as I was either in college or honors during my high school career.

 

Edit: I see various mentions of "the spectrum." I tried looking it up, but there's an awful lot of technical jargon. Any one care to put it in layman's terms?

[mr moose]

Not autistic, although I saw a lot of kids in special ed classes walking the hallways back when I was in high school. The autistic kids were treated very well and never made fun of. Some kids had higher functioning autism (I think that's what its called? When they are only "mildly autistic?") and took regular classes. You could sense that there was something not quite "right" with them, but it seemed as if it made the classroom embrace him/her more rather than less. I never had much personal interaction with any of them, however, as I was either in college or honors during my high school career.

 

Edit: I see various mentions of "the spectrum." I tried looking it up, but there's an awful lot of technical jargon. Any one care to put it in layman's terms?

Spectrum just means range,  Autism is a range of disorders, like social interpersonal impairment, perceptual/sensory disorder, anxiety etc. that make up the condition of Autism.

Because not every Autistic person has the same symptoms, some have no speech delay while others never speak, some have IQ's well over 150 while others are just normal. And there is no real understood pattern for this. For all intents and purposes it's like the symptoms are random in both what disorders you have and the severity of each disorder.

 

For example I did not have a speech delay, and my social development was only nominally effected, meaning whilst I have significant social anxiety and social development delays they are not overly severe compared to others with ASD.  Also I have a visual/auditory disorder. This means that My brain does not filter what I hear depending on my visual perception. Where most people will only hear and be able to concentrate on only single sources of sound, I cannot.  I hear everything indiscriminately. (which is awesome in the field of audio work because it means I am significantly less susceptible to the placebo effect and can control the McGurk effect ).

 

So this range (spectrum) of little things when combined at a severe enough level is called autism.

[rhyseyness]

Spectrum just means range,  Autism is a range of disorders, like social interpersonal impairment, perceptual/sensory disorder, anxiety etc. that make up the condition of Autism.

Because not every Autistic person has the same symptoms, some have no speech delay while others never speak, some have IQ's well over 150 while others are just normal. And there is no real understood pattern for this. For all intents and purposes it's like the symptoms are random in both what disorders you have and the severity of each disorder.

 

For example I did not have a speech delay, and my social development was only nominally effected, meaning whilst I have significant social anxiety and social development delays they are not overly severe compared to others with ASD.  Also I have a visual/auditory disorder. This means that My brain does not filter what I hear depending on my visual perception. Where most people will only hear and be able to concentrate on only single sources of sound, I cannot.  I hear everything indiscriminately. (which is awesome in the field of audio work because it means I am significantly less susceptible to the placebo effect and can control the McGurk effect ).

 

So this range (spectrum) of little things when combined at a severe enough level is called autism.

Great explanation, I also wanted to know the answer to that question.

Thanks!

[mr moose]

So I was talking to a school mum at our sons Gym class and the topic got onto one of the other students at the school who is Autistic.  As we were discussing, my wife mentioned that she thinks I am an Autism whisperer because it seems any child with autism is automatically comfortable with me and has no issues communicating with me.  Then she told the other parent that it was because I was Autistic, the other parent just sat there and did not know what to say, she didn't know where to look. It was like she was confronted with an issue, that wasn't really an issue but felt it should be.  After that incident The wife and I decided to just keep doing things the way we do as it would probably be the best way to let people know that for us it's o.k to talk about it just as you would about being short sighted or how you get seasick when others don't.

 

How do you guys feel about people talking about ASD and what they say it means to them?

[Volbet]

So I was talking to a school mum at our sons Gym class and the topic got onto one of the other students at the school who is Autistic.  As we were discussing, my wife mentioned that she thinks I am an Autism whisperer because it seems any child with autism is automatically comfortable with me and has no issues communicating with me.  Then she told the other parent that it was because I was Autistic, the other parent just sat there and did not know what to say, she didn't know where to look. It was like she was confronted with an issue, that wasn't really an issue but felt it should be.  After that incident The wife and I decided to just keep doing things the way we do as it would probably be the best way to let people know that for us it's o.k to talk about it just as you would about being short sighted or how you get seasick when others don't.

 

How do you guys feel about people talking about ASD and what they say it means to them?

The people I hear talking about ADS just seem really uninformed. They usually only think that ADS causes you to have a great memory and/or a very specific set of interests.

 

When I tell people that I'm autistic they usually have one of two responses, They either say: "I suspected that" or it comes as a great surprise to them. Usually I have know the people that I tell for a long time, so they know how to treat me, and they don't threat me any different after I have told them.. 

[sperkowsky]

not me but my sister may be very slightly but not yet found

[mr moose]

Usually I have know the people that I tell for a long time, so they know how to treat me,

I started doing this, but the ones who should care the most dismissed what I had to say by telling me that everyone is a little bit one the spectrum. Which is utter BS as there are well defined calibers for each disorder. We either have the traits and they are severe enough to have a notable impact on our development or they aren't.  No one has a little bit of autism.