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patricia
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21 Jan 2007, 7:05 pm

Hello,
I am the mother of a 24 yr old son with AS. He was not correctly diagnosed until he was 16 yrs old. Before that I thought I was the most inept parent on the planet. My son Steve was mis-diagnosed with many things: neurologically underdeveloped, learning disabled, ADHD, partial complex seizure disorder, OCD, psychotic disorders and simply behaviorally handicapped. He got medicated with everything from Ritalin to Tegretol to anti-depressants. We had family therapy; nothing seemed to help. Finally Steve was seen by someone who had exprience with AS. Things started to make sense after that.
Life got better. Not perfect mind you, but the change in how we handled Steve improved his opinion of himself. No more talk of suicide and the self destructive behavior went away. He tried to go to college and was not successful (although very intelligent, he lacks the wherewithal to manage long term assignments like research, term papers etc) but he got trained in data entry and other computer skills and accounting and now has a great job he loves and an employer who appreciates his skills and his work ethic. I owe a huge debt of thanks to our states Rehab services for the training and support Steve got. He's learned how to drive and bought himself a car.
Although I have known of this site for awhile and have access to a support group for parents of AS children I never felt the urge to join. I am not by nature a joiner. I never felt the need for support. I do fine on my own blah blah blah. It never occurred to me that I might be a resource for someone else (maybe Steve isn't the only Aspie in our family).
So here I am.



Tim_Tex
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21 Jan 2007, 7:10 pm

Welcome to WP!

Tim


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headphase
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21 Jan 2007, 8:25 pm

Whew, for a second there, I thought that you might be my Mom. Welcome to WP.



9CatMom
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21 Jan 2007, 9:55 pm

Welcome to WP! Great to hear your son is doing so well.



Paula
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21 Jan 2007, 10:04 pm

Where are you from?



patricia
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22 Jan 2007, 4:43 pm

We live in NW Ohio. No one around here had ever heard of AS before the late 1990s. Fortunately for Steve a lot of people did many things right even though they had no idea what they were dealing with. This includes many of the teachers in our school system, both public and private. They held Steve accountable for his behavior while keeping the other kids from tormenting him.

Also I am grateful for the many ball players and other athletes who let Steve participate in their games. In high school Steve who was rather rotund and quite pigeon toed joined the track team. He would be 1 1/2 laps behind the other runners in a two lap race, yet every member of the track team would cheer him on as if he was vying for first place! I would get choked up every time I saw that. Now Steve likes to go to the ball diamonds at a nearby park and participate in pick up games of softball. I am always amazed in how he seems to bring out the best in most folks he meets that way.
Thanks to all for making me feel welcome. I hope to contribute something to help others.



jimservo
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22 Jan 2007, 7:49 pm

You sound very kind. Welcome to WP.



Starr
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23 Jan 2007, 2:09 pm

Hi patricia,

a warm WP welcome to you. :)