Boy did somebody hit the nail on the head with that one!!!

I've lived for the past five years learning all I could about people with Aspergers or AS as they call it. People with AS are called aspies.

They can be quite brilliant and THEY ARE ALL, ABSOLUTELY EVERY ONE OF THEM, COMPUTER GENIUSES.

They prefer their solitude to socializing. A doctor in Vienna. Hans Asperger, well the syndrome was named after him.

Europe is absolutely busting out with cases of Aspergers.

They now say that 1 in 166 kids have an autism spectrum disorder.

I know where all the adults are!!!! They are playing Second Life.

oh well, it is what it is. Not fair but it is what it is.

I wonder how many of you on these boards have actually ever heard of Aspergers Disorder.

I know that before my son was diagnosed with it, I had absolutely never heard of it. I went to my first support group meeting in NYC over 4 years ago.

Alan and I sat down in a group of over 50 men and 2 women. AS occurs in men much more than woman.

I will never forget seeing all these bright intelligent men who all had nervous breakdowns after they went to college. Some were physics majors, math specialists. All were on meds and all had anxieties and some had Tourettes.

Some were squatting on the chairs, stimming (severe autistics flap their hands), milder ones stim. It's like your fingers have a mind of their own.

Most interesting that meeting.

Just wanted to share.

Melody

I am still upset/concerned about the money issue. This is what John says on his blog:

""Project Brigadoon is financially supported by Braintalk Communities Inc. However, we would like to give people who wish to directly contribute to Project Brigadoon the ability to make donations online......
I am using BrainTalk Communities Inc. as the organization to receive and process the funds. Since BrainTalk Communities is a non-profit organization, all donations are fully tax deductible, and all donations made through the "donate" button on this Brigadoon blog will be used *exclusively* for Project Brigadoon.

All donations to Project Brigadoon will be used to help pay monthly land rental fees, as well as to potentially purchase more land as the members of Brigadoon grow....

-John Lester (Second Life name: John Prototype)BTW. Money was needed for this because Second Life is really a world, and to own an island on Second Life means buying the land there, and paying real money to do so. So, I am concerned that money we donated to buy new servers actually bought "land" in a cyberspace world. Not exactly what I'd intended when I gave him $1000.

And non-profits have real responsibilities. I'd like to know why he won't address making the cash flow statement public.

He's going to be the Bill Gates of Second Life!!!!

mel

Lara:

I read your post with much interest. I have followed Tony Atwood's writings for many years!!!

He wrote and made many points about Aspergers.

Now let me hit you with a mom's point of view about Aspergers. And this will be my final word on Aspergers because I went through a private hell and now me and my hubby have had to re-route our thinking process in regard to our son.


ASPERGERS

Severe meltdowns, severe tantrums, as early on as age 2 and they never stop. Severe rages. Very rarely following rules and regulations because they do not apply. Being incorrectly diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, and oppositional defiance disorder.

Telephone calls home every single day from teachers, principals, and social workers because your child is disruptive at school or at an after school program.

Being suspended from kindergarten because from the first day of school on, when the teacher says "gather round children, it's story time, and your child says to the teacher "get real, I want to play with the blocks".

Being suspended from absolutely every after school program, every single day camp. etc. etc. even Karate classes.

Bullied at school because the aspie never fits in anywhere.

Brilliant in school, getting 100 or more on every single test that they take.

Will not obey a teacher, will not do what they are told, etc. etc.

Arrogant to the point of annoyance!!!

And an inability to have any empathy whatsoever about what this does to a parent.

Lara, I lived this. And I correspond with many many moms of kids with AS who have gone through and are now going through the same behavior that I dealt with.

It is an autism spectrum disorder. Very hard to diagnose and even harder to treat. There is a therapy called Applied Behavioral Analysis but the person has to want to change.

Many aspies do not consider themselves to have anything wrong so why try and change them.

It's kind of like a belief system. You either think the way they do or you don't have a relationship with them.

I can't tell you how many moms I speak to who have children who are now in jail because they, and I quote "the rules do not apply to me"!!!! And all of these young adults have been diagnosed with Aspergers Disorder.

I get e-mails every single day because I belong to an aspergers support group!!!

In my case, I found absolutely nothing positive about having a son with Aspergers. The moms I correspond with, well let's just say, we are of a mind set.

It's a real challenge to continue to have a relationship with a young adult who couldn't care less about his parents' feelings.


Sorry to include this off-topic on a neuropathy board but because of the link with JL to Second Life, and your most interesting post, I just had to give a mom's perspective!!!! And I have no idea if you have Aspergers, or a relative has aspergers.

And I mean no disrespect. I just wanted to give a point of view from the parent's perspective.

life can suck sometimes, believe me.

melody

P.S. I promise, only neuropathy and funny stories from me from now on.

has posted in forum issues, I think in response to my guess that at some point this would be a paying site, and he wrote a wonderful note. He reassures us that this site will remain free, but he goes on to explain why it's free, why it's easy to keep up.

It was terrific to read. Nice to be treated like a grownup, like a citizen.

And makes me wonder more about all that money we sent two years ago.

And really, we shouldn't talk about Asperger's anymore. Everybody has feelings, and we have no idea who has what relationships. I do, in fact, have aspies in my life who are gentle, lovely souls. I apologize for opening the subject.