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Speaking of "Rain Man" that's what I reference when trying to explain to others what
Asperger's looks and sounds like. While the character "Raymond" had it (IMO) on a scale of about a 9, my son is more near a 3.
It's hard for others to see it in my son unless they spend about a week with him. Its not "normal" for a child of 4 to have a complete emotional breakdown because he's been asked to cross the street in a different place than where he always does.
He didnt like making a transition to a Prek K class a couple of days a week- he resisted, resorting to writing a note to his teacher, "Pre K is not on my list of things to do today at school" (he was 4) He wrote it by himself. His teacher got a big chuckle out of that one, but he still had to go. It took us a couple of months to get him used to it. He had to be escorted and the aid had to stay in the room so he wouldn't completly meltdown. One of his primary complaints were, "There's too many kids in the class". (there were 23 including him)
Now that he's been mainstreamed into regular K classes- he's used to the class size of 22 now. But it took us months to get him to adapt to it. We also had to place him on the end of a table; so he feels less crowded without somone right next to him on both sides. Little things like this work wonders for him.
If they drop his AU lable, I wont be able to force the teachers to make small adaptations (in his EIP) for him that really help him a lot and keep him from melting down and being percieved as a behavior problem. IMO his high intelligence, amazing memory and early intervention and follow through has made it easier for Matthew to mask a lot of the Aspergers behaviors. I have watched him close his eyes, rapidly moving them back and forth and shaking his head (as if he were rewinding a videoptape in his mind) to look for similar situations to get a clue as to how he is "supposed to act" or what he is "supposed to say". I even asked him once if he was "rewiding his mind's video" and he told me, "Yes". He basically figures out what we want and he cooperates to the best of his ability.
Btw, I have heard about suspicion about Bill Gates being an Aspie. But I read a direct quote printed about a year ago where he addressed that. *Paraphrased, he said, He didn't have Aspergers disorder but if it makes parents of autistic children hopeful for their childrens' future he didnt mind people voicing suspicions about him.
I'll do do some research (when I have time this week) to see if I can find the exact quote and source.
Does anyone know how to use the spell check in this forum? I am a horrible speller and my grammar is just as bad. Sorry 'bout that. Looks like my son siphoned most of my brain cells while in utero. LOL
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