Autism

[dice]

im just curious if any of you guys have dealt with Autism. I was autistic throughout highschool in that i felt a strong "gaze" when around multiple people and constantly thought people were judging me to the point thati would feel a strong knot in my stomach i would not talk to anyone at parties or in class. Things have been going great for me since i found this site about a year ago and have been acting out my plan of self improvement since, but im just curious if there is anyone that had to overcome autism to get where they are today.

 

[seabreeze]

Hi Dice,

I think that it is awesome for you to bring this up here. My nephew is 4 and he is autistic. His dad is also autistic, but failed to tell me sister before they got married. I think once you grow up they call it Asperger Syndrome.

Anyway, you sound like you're doing great! keep up the good work. It's only going to get better for you.
SB

 

[Interpol]

Originally posted by seabreeze
I think once you grow up they call it Asperger Syndrome.

Asperger's Syndrome is actually just one type of autism...and that is all I have to contribute.

 

[TheRelic]

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Yup. I believe its the least severe type of autism, and also the most undiagnosed.

There would be PLENTY of people on this board, with a mild case of it that they dont (and may never) know about.

 

[dietzcoi]

Can somebody explain what it is? I was very shy is high school... I wonder if I had something or was just shy?

Luckily the military forced me out of my shyness, but I still have it lurking in the back of my mind...

Dietzcoi

 

[JoE BoXeR]

I highly doubt you were autistic dude. My mom occasionally works with autistic people and you can spot one quite easily as they tend to be very much in a world of their own. For example they are aware of your presence but you mean nothing to them and they can't really grasp the idea of being social so you therefore mean nothing more than a rock to them. I know that's a bit of a generalization but for people who are truly autistic, this is most often the case.

I was autistic throughout highschool in that i felt a strong "gaze" when around multiple people and constantly thought people were judging me to the point thati would feel a strong knot in my stomach i would not talk to anyone at parties or in class.

Sounds to me like you were either anti-social, had an anxiety disorder or both. People do not really "overcome" autism like you so claim, it's a disorder you have for your life. A truly autistic person would not have recognized that the scenario that you described was abnormal as they have no basis for comparison.

Yup. I believe its the least severe type of autism, and also the most undiagnosed.

Relic's right about that. I had a kid who had all the tell-tale signs of Asperger's sit in front of me last year in high-school chemistry. The kid was practically a genius, in that he could repeat verbose what the teacher had taught us about a concept a month ago and usually had one of the top scores come test time. However, he may have been more of 'idio-savant' (sp?) because I don't think he could make his own lunch if his life depended on it. He conversed only with the teacher, could not grasp the concept of "indoor voice" or "not speaking out of turn", it would take him an hour to write what you or I could copy down in minutes, and he generally just acted like it was only him and the teacher in the class, sneering or not replying when anyone else addressed him.
Quite literally the social maturity of a four year-old.


Lastly, if my memory serves me correct, Dustin Hoffman's character in "Rainman" is autistic.

 

[dice]

There are no medical tests out there that tell u if u have autism, thats like saying someone doesn't have cancer because he's not dead. There are many levels of autism, not all cases include being mentally retarded. I'll be it mine was nowhere near as sad a story as people that deal with severe autism, here is a site for info

http://kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/school/autism.html

 

[Cloud-uk]

In my limited knowledge of psychopathology I was suggest that you don't have autism- I'm sure the feelings you suggest are not symptoms of autism. Autism is an inability to empathise with others, am I right? What you seem to describe is mild paranoia, perhaps. Have you actually been diagnosed as autistic? It sounds more like schizophrenia to me, at a very mild level.

As for helpful advice about mental dissorders, I have two contributions. One is that many would argue that you are always in control of your mind. Whether you choose to exercise this control is up to you. Perhaps, if you want real psychological theory to back this idea up, you could take a cognitive approach to your disorder, say that "My thought processes telling me that I am under constant heavy judgement from those rround me is faulty. I am not under judement, there is no reason to be intimidated." Try a bit of auto suggestion.

The second is that if you do infact have a disorder and it is beyond your ability to control it, try to use it to your own gain. This may sound totally bizzare and perhaps a bit insulting, but pick up a copy of "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. Read the story about his deaf son. I have only just read it but I feel it would be most appilicable to you.

Oh yeah, and if I've totally overlooked the severity of your condition and the doctors start giving you pills, take the damn things! Let me know if I'm looking at this totally the wrong way, but I think a guy can get over anything. Be that damn guy,

 

[dice]

well ive been mentally overcoming my thoughts for a year now without medication or anything,simply by using visualization and self-coaching to control my thoughts, and therefore controlling my emotions. There is no way I coulda done it without this site, I am just curious if anyone else was extremly socially inept before finding this site and was able to overcome it?

 

[seabreeze]

Hi Dice,

Were you diagnosed as autisitc as a child? I think that if you are autistic they usually recognize it and diagnose it early on. Joe Boxer had a very good description of what autism really is. You may have a mild case of it, but then I'm not sure if you'd really be veiwed as autistic. Maybe Asperger, like I mentioned before.

At any rate, I applaud your courage for bringing this subject up.
SB

 

[MackJr]

I know a girl who they thought was autistic when she was young. I don't think so. She has emotions, she has a sense of humor, and appears to have some taste in what she considers attractive. However, she's very smart, relatively unemotional for a woman, and her libido is turned down pretty low. I think they got it wrong personally. Sort of like ADD, which might be a real problem, or it might be disorganization.

 

[KOSR]

I don't think you have autism. Don't they have a total inability to relate to others, and have empathy for others?

I used to be very shy, but I think I know the problem for myself.

A psychologist Ericson talks about 8 identity formations thruwout ones life. The first at age 0 to 1 consists of a child having TRUST/MISTRUSTS in others, especially parents.

Bad parenting leads to mistrust in the parents and the world surrounding a child. He will feel powerless to change his surroundings and thus develop low self-esteem.

That's explains a lot more for me personally.

 

[Wyldfire]

There are varying degrees of Autism, ranging from very mild to very profound. Usually, people think of the profound manifestations when discussing autism. However, there are cases so mild that you'd never guess the person was Autistic.

 

[MetalFortress]

I have it very mildly. I worked through it in high school, but up until middle school you could tell I had it.

 

[MackJr]

Originally posted by Wyldfire
There are varying degrees of Autism, ranging from very mild to very profound. Usually, people think of the profound manifestations when discussing autism. However, there are cases so mild that you'd never guess the person was Autistic.

Maybe they're not autistic, then. Seriously. Why would all social anxiety be classified as autism?

 

[madgame]

@dice:

Is making eye contact (especially with strangers) and awkward feeling to you?

Do you have "special interests" (could be anything from sport, to mathematics or Pokémon lol) which you are kinda obsessed with (you can be obsessed with something just by being way more ambitious at it than other people who like it..obsessed doesnt mean its a problem in this case)?

If so I'd do a search for Asperger's Syndrome. I have it and you might have it, too. It's a mild form of autism and that's why you can "overcome" it. You dont really overcome it, but you can improve yourself in social situations and act like a normal (even if rather introverted) person...its just like you have a harder time adapting to social life than other people but if u try chances are ull learn to (contrary to really autistic persons, I guess).

 

[SELF-MASTERY]

I'm trying to fugure out this guy at work; he's a killer when it comes to math and accounting. He carries a calculator doing equations all day, but he never speaks to anyone, just takes direction. I tried to say hello, he just turned his head and walked out the door. He doesnt drive, but has his folks pick him up.

 

[madgame]

definetly sounds like Asperger's or autism to me. I don't know much about Autism, but for ppl with Asperger's it's common to have so called special interests, which can range from maths to sports or pretty much anything. My guess is this guy's (main)special interest are numbers and maths, thus he deals with it every day (probably in his freetime and before he even was on the job, too) in a way that would be considered obsessive by other people and thus he's killer at maths and accounting. Sometimes(not always like some ppl think) ppl with Asperger's are highly intelligent, too, but I cant really tell if that's the case for him...I guess maths is plain and simple is favorite hobby..u know..like other people play basketball in their freetime and love doing that he might be that crazy about numbers and thus be that good.

Like I said I dont know much about Autism and dont know if that special interest thing is common for ppl with autism, too, but what you said sounds like the (social part of the) disorder he might have is a pretty bad one, if he doesn't even bother saying hello back. He probably doesnt do that, because he's an ass, but because he's scared or maybe even because he just doesnt understand "social rules". Oh and btw they say, (certain) ppl with Asperger's (and Autism?) just dont feel a need for "socializing".

 

[flippinfreak]

Man, following Jariels advice I searched for rainman and found this page(there is no rainman written anywhere)

That's some scary sh!t, all of my life I have jumped from one extreme focus to another with very little regard to the way my actions affect other people's emotions. When I am given direction to feell emotion, and it is a real problem for me I will flip. I'll focus on that emotion until the problem stops, or expressing the feeling is useless. Kind of like that kid on AFV who keeps falling down and crying on purpose for attention. If something is happening, and it is not my problem, I don't give a sh!t. I've sat in the chair in the bar while people were fighting right beside me. I have been knocked out with a rock to the head, and because I took care of the problem immediately I walked into the emergency room with a smile on my face...

Man, I really do think somebody hit the nail on the damned head.

 

[Skel]

Maybe its ADD or ADHD