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The following article was recommended to me and while lengthy, is an excellent representation/snapshot of the intricacies of Aspergers/High Functioning Autism and relationships. So far 2 family members have read it and found parts they identify with.....this is not a one -size-fits-all situation. Aspergers and Autism are SPECTRUM disorders....many there are VAST differences in all traits among any 2 folks diagnosed.
I personally describe folks with Asperger's Syndrome (Einstein, Bill Gates...) as having 2 sets of gifts.....and if their social anxieties and issues could get quickly resolved/under control, their second set of gifts could excel....as Einstein and Bill Gates did....they have amazing attention to detail, their "literalness" and relative rarity to get distracted by emotions positions them to be excellent researchers and scientists....
But what they do not know, they will not "pick up on". Things must be told straight up and spelled out. They do not easily "mirror" with others, do not easily read facial clues, innuendo and sarcasm flies over their heads in most cases. In fact, I have learned to be SO literal and blunt that I find I have to temper myself in other settings...it is TOO blunt and TOO strong for most people. I refer to this as having "soft edges".
For instance, in the article they mention hand-flapping as a typical autistic trait. However, the girl in the article obsessively pops her knuckles...rather than hand-flapping.
HELLO -
Everyone in my immediate life obsessively knuckle-pops.
All in all, it is encouraging and with how literal Aspies are, any easy-to-read (and encouraging) articles always serve to help them learn, help encourage them. The overwhelming anxiety sometimes has them believing they will never make it, never fit in.
Enjoy!
This was a very interesting article. Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteTraci
Thank you for sharing this article. As a parent of an aspie I found it very interesting.
ReplyDelete