Prepare to enter the wild and wooly world of an adult with Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism characterized by intellignce, quirks, social difficulties and downright strange and oddish behaviours.

People with Aspergers generally are high functioning in everyday life but have great difficulty connecting with others due to the inability to read faces, body language and subtle verbal clues. They also tend to take words literally and have a hard time multi-tasking.

Oversensitivity to touch (clothing has to be soft and often the tags removed), light (do not leave home without the sunglasses), sound (loud noises and noisey places are avoided), taste (many Aspies have quite a limited diet and are frequently very picky eaters) and smells makes the everyday existence more of a challenge.

Fasten your seatbelts and come on in...
To find out more about what Aspergers is..please check out my earliest blog entries

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Bathroom Bunkers, Hiding Out in Restrooms

Hmm, I hope I'm not giving out too much information here...but this Aspie tends to take refuge in restrooms. Bathrooms are one of the few vestiges that one can linger in and find near perfect privacy. When in doubt...hideout.
If ever the stress of trying to deal in this upside down, Neuro-Typical world becomes too much to bear, seek refuge. In the privacy of the privy one can calm down, space out, spazz out and collect ones thoughts without interruption. People typically respect the sanctity of the almighty commode.
When I venture to new places, new buildings, the first order of business is checking out the restrooms. It's good to know exactly where they are located and whether they are a single, private room or communal with stalls, in case a quick sanctuary is needed. You do not want to start melting down only to casually run to a restroom that's a single with occupant without knowing where another room of respite is located.
I have sought refuge on dozens and dozens of occasions, even within my own house. When you are on the verge of meltdown, stress out, panic, or have completely lost your wits...take the time to calm yourself by counting the tiles of the bathroom floor, read the graffiti on the walls, count to 100 and back again, pop your doctor prescribed medication, or do a little destressing tricky dance and bounce off those walls.
There isn't a time limit on using the bathroom. Use that fact to your advantage.
Just another helpful time from AmyAspie :)

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Aspergers Special Services vs Neuro-typical

It is becoming crystal clear that it is ten times harder to get special education services for my Aspergers son than for my neuro-typical boy. Throughout my Aspie Eldests schooling, school personnel looked the other way and ignored the plethora of symptoms he was experiencing. I begged and pleaded for help for him, But It Never Materialized until he was in jail!!! Year after year, I beat my head against walls trying to get someone to comprehend that he needed help and lots of it. Eldest is highly intelligent, received good grades with ease and rarely got into trouble so he was completely passed over for services. No one had eyes to see.
Younglink, with his very obvious physical disability of being one-handed, has always had offers of assistance Pouring in! Just last week another special ed member requested he join Younglinks team. I kid you not. Peoples routinely hold up there hand, say "Pick Me, Pick Me" and practically beg to help. One of Younglinks primary speceds routinely suggests any other services that may be needed. There is very little red tape with a child who has such a visual difference.
I find myself much embittered by this layout of how things work. I look back at all of Eldests silent cries for Help and my incessant pleading which fell onto deaf ears. All Younglink has to do is walk in to the school building and assistance is there.
Being mom to an autistic boy and one with a physical disability has shown me more than I care to know.