[richlevy]

Originally Posted by wolf

Richlevy, however, is. I have had the pleasure of meeting his now-adult son. I have spoken elsewhere on The Cellar of my respect for Rich and the time, patience, and excellent parenting that he has exhibited in raising his son. Although young Mr. Levy is clearly a person with special needs, he is able to communicate and interact socially with a far greater degree of skill and ease than many of his peers. It can be said often enough ... a hearty well done to you, Rich, and to all of your family, since each of you have contributed to his success.

Thanks Wolf, but my wife Marci deserves almost all of the credit. She's had to be a stay at home mom, and she attends %75 of the IEP conferences at school. I get involved when she hits a roadblock and it becomes necessary to add the voices of both parents.
Having good teachers and 'wrap-around' services as early as possible is the key. My half-niece, actually my great-half-niece, was diagnosed recently. Her parents talked to my wife and got advice about IEP's and resources. They decided to mainstream her, and it appears to be working pretty well.

Autism and Aspergers are really a scale. If you look at the symptoms for Aspergers, social clumsiness, attention or obsession with hobbies or other interests, you realize that a case of mild Aspergers is pretty much what we would associate with 'nerd'. In fact there is speculation that some very smart people had some degree of Apsergers.

The reasons they refer to Autism disorders as a spectrum is that saying where Autism and Aspergers start is like looking at the color spectrum and saying 'red ends here and orange begins here'. You could look at the middle of the red band and everyone would agree that the color is red, but get towards the edges and no two people would draw the line in the same place.

My son Jeffrey is obviously Autistic. His voice and mannerisms are distinct so that anyone who has seen 'Rain Man' could probably figure it out in a very short time.

Asperger's is different in that high-functioning Aspergers, before there was a label, was simply 'eccentric'. There is a debate now as to whether Albert Einstein and Isaac Newtwon has Aspergers. There is also speculation about Bill Gates. Since high-functioning people with Aspergers are compulsive about their interests, it is possible for someone with high intelligence and Aspergers to be successful, since in many fields social skills are not necessary.

We live in a society where individuals are rewarded for their contributions. A person who thought he was a chicken would end up sleeping over at Wolf's workplace. A person who thought he was a chicken and could actually lay golden eggs would end up sleeping in the Licoln bedroom in the White House.

I don't know how old your son is, but if he is high-functioning I would see what his interests are. If he's interested in math or the sciences, then later in life he might end up in a work community that doesn't care about social interaction.