Hello all,
Just joined WP, lurked a bit before posting to know the place/system.
I am 46 yo, female, mother to 14yo son diagnosed with Aspergers, Bipolar, ODD, and ADHD. The Bipolar came from his dad's side, the Aspergers from mine. I also have a 11yo NT daughter.
The Aspergers can be easily traced on my side on my father's side. Loads of tales of quirky behavior, a few people born with classic Autism but mostly Aspergers. An example: one of my father's ancestors in the 1800's lived in West Virginia (not a hotbed of classical thinking) and named all of his sons after Greek or Roman philosophers such as Ovid, Virgil, etc.
I have not been formally diagnosed with Aspergers myself but am sure I have it. I have always felt that I was on the 'wrong planet' even within my own family. While the family listened to country western music, I listened to classical. I have a BS in Electrical Engineering and the first time I really felt that I belonged somewhere was when I started engineering school. When I first read Tony Atwood's book on Aspergers my first thought was, finally engineers had their own syndrome...
These days, I am battling major anxiety. I was laid off last December (2008) and it took 4 months to find a job which only lasted 2 months. I found another job after a month and have kept it thus far. Jobs in Engineering/IT in the Midwest US these days are sparse and I really cannot move away these days. 3 of the 4 grandparents are alive but starting to need more care, the mortgage is upside down, and my son is in a decent school district for autism. The major anxiety is mostly involving whether I am making the right decisions about ANYTHING. I second guess myself about job, finances, raising my kids, etc.
So why am I here? I hope to have a place to vent my frustrations/concerns/etc without having to explain/justify them. I hope to learn more on how to cope as an adult with Aspergers as well as in raising a child with Aspergers. I also wish to give to the Aspergers community, may that be from a blog or otherwise, in helping others. Hopefully I will determine where there is a need and what I could do to help.
Thanks in advance for any/all replies.
mjm
26 Dec 2009, 7:57 pm
