Monday, April 2, 2012

Mostly Eidetic

As today is Autism Awareness day, I'm "out" as an Adult with Asperger Syndrome, diagnosed in 2006.

Wash is having a SLOW day mentally, he is calm, but can really just watch things today, he's not that responsive.

I'm open to anyone who wants to (respectfully) ask me questions about living with AS as an adult, and as a caregiver. It certainly adds in challenges.

4 comments:

  1. I'm bipolar, so an autistic cousin, and I love the way my friends and lovers with Aspergers think. I wish others were kinder to them, awareness is definitely needed.

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  2. I'm fortunate enough to not have anyone close who suffers with autism...I'm unsure about Aspergers though. No idea what that is really...

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  3. I'd like to ask if the stress level you are constantly exposed to has an impact on sensory overload or the frequency of meltdowns for you.
    I'm on the spectrum myself and found that I can function relatively normal if I'm not stressed, but I shut down easily if under pressure. Is that an issue for you, too?
    Another question, do you think AS might even *help* you to cope with all this? I found that many people on the spectrum tend to be more resilient than non-autistic people, maybe because of the tendency to be strong rational thinkers (maybe that's not representative, it's just an observation from my experience and discussions with other AS people). But then, many also report to simply feel "more" and deeper, which of course includes negative emotions, too, so perhaps advantages and disadvantages (in the sense of coping with hard challenges of life) might even out? What do you think about that?

    (I hope none of this was offensive and everything was understandable since I'm not a native speaker).

    Also, I'd like to tell you that I admire your loyalty to and the care you give for Wash. I think your commitment shows a depth of love many people never will experience in their lives.

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  4. Would you be comfortable talking a little about how you came to discover you live with Asperger's? Especially since you found out as an adult?

    I have been suspecting for a while that my brother might have AS. He is 62 and has had lifelong struggles with so many things. He is absolutely genius intelligence, with a phenomenal memory...if he reads something once, he KNOWS it. Major computer geek, walking encyclopedia of technology and history.

    But has an awful time socially, and always has. Been hurt so much because he is perceived as "weird". He's a great, tender-hearted guy, but the "normal" world can't see it.

    I don't have a clue how I'd even help him figure out if he's AS because I don't know if it's better to talk about it or better to let it go {sigh}.

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