Aspergers?

[shira0607]

My son was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome when he was 5.  But the more I read about Asperger's, the more it seems like it may be Asperger's.  The things I've noticed in particular is the clumsy gait, trouble with socializing, poor handwriting, fixation with one interest(though it tends to change to another interest after a couple of years), and other factors.

He is in his 20's now and would like to hear from others.

[JollyHolly1221]

Sounds like asperger's if he is academically high functioning.....

[MJIthewriter]

Sounds very possible. I used to know someone with Tourette's Syndrome in college. I'm not familiar with Tourette's Syndrome, but to me she appeared fairly "normal" outside some outbursts that she had no control over.

You may like to read the journals on my profile and see if he can identify with a few things.

[Susie2007]

Tourette's is often paired with autism spectrum disorders. Your son may have both. Does he have a specialist who might look at him with aspergers in mind?

[aspiegrl22]

some people with asperger's have anger control issues

[SueNYC]

My son has both Tourettes (but the vocal component is minor - he used to sniff, but now he just seems to have a complex motor tic) and a mild case of Aspergers.  He is 9 so he probaby wouldn't be the best person for your son to communicate with.  He also changes his intense interests - right now we are infested with action figures called Bionicles.  Luckily, after an intense period of about a month, when he practically ingests all knowledge of the subject, his other interests start to creep back in.  But the Bionicle thing has been going on now for six months straight - he even made me read the shlock literature.

If he has gotten by this long without a dx he probavbly has a minor case - like my son.  But it still makes life difficult so I am not discounting it.  My son goes to an Asperger's School and he is probably one of the highest functioning kids there.

My dad has Tourette;s and my mom is descended froma  long trail of rocket sciences brought over after WWII.  We have had some "quirky" relatives who were definitely Aspie types on that side.  My husband's family is also full of engineers, physicists, and mathematicians.  Together, I think we created an amalgamation of both types of personalities.

My son's doctor just diagnosed a hedge fund manager at 32.  I knew a student who was in the NYU Music School who was diagnosed at 21.  My husband is sure one of the tax partners at his firm has it Odd socially but he knows every aspect of the tax code).  

[AmishErin]

My daughter was DX with OCD in 2nd grade.( She wouldn't wear any pants that touched her calf or shirts that had any iron ons, stiching or decoration that could be felt through the shirt.  Oh yeah... and periods of non talking or her own homemade sign language or made up languages that she forced her brothers to learn)  The pediatriction said things like... It almost seems like tourettes without any vocal tics...

At age 11 she was DX with tourettes after she presented with several tics all at once.  They seemed to only last for about a year... Except for the throat clearing, ear wiggling and eye blinking.

Then puberty set in and everything seemed to be more of whatever it was.

She is sooooooooooooo smart but gets very frustrated if she doesn't understand part of whatever it is and will quit and go back to something familiar.  She loves all things logical or that have rules that she can follow like  computers.  

She reminds me of that Data character from Star Trek.  She gets interested in something and consumes any information that she can about anything that is related to said subject but doesn't seem to connect with people or understand emotions the way that I do.  She has her own brand of humor which doesn't include sarcasm in any way shape or form.

I have taken her to a multitude of doctors for her entire life, she has had screenings for speech issues through the school system for forever but since she doesn't fit into any catagory and her intelligence is so high she always tests out of whatever they are testing for.

Doctors don't know everything they just know more of certain subjects.  I think that Aspergers is very likely over looked as until recently hardly anyone seemed to have vast Asbergers information.  

I think my 30 yr old brother has Asbergers as well.  No one ever DXed him as anything.  I think sometimes you don't need to unless you have an issue.  From all of my reading it doesn't seem to be any medication to do anything that does anything but lessen a symptom.  

I love my square peg I just wish I understood her more, but yeah a missed DX is totally belivable.

[MJIthewriter]

You can look at my journals and posts to see if anything may strike familiar with your daughter.  I can't give people complete understanding of their autistic child, but I can give people glimpses into my own life in hopes that can help people understand.