I am new. Son age 10 just diagnosed...

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I'm so glad to find this place. I have been reading for a little while and decided I shouldn't just lurk!
I'm Hayley. My son is 10. His teacher (who has been no help whatsoever in this process) says she does not agree with his diagnosis. She believes he has acute anxiety and an OCD issue. There is a child two grades higher that also has Aspergers and evidently (because I've heard it about 300 times this week) he REALLY has it. Whatever the heck that is supposed to mean?!
A little background on my son. He LOVES anything to do with cars and motorcycles. He is a very kind little guy. I have always referred to him as my little old man. He's very methodical. He's not aggressive. He goes to a private school (Catholic) and has been having a really hard time socially since first grade. It's only in the last two years that it has gotten worse. I wish I could just pull him out of school altogether. It's so frustrating. He is having such a hard time emotionally. VERY easily tearful, very easily upset.
I looking forward to learning more about Aspergers. I feel right now like I am learning a new language.

Welcome to WP!

Welcome to WrongPlanet.

So she's seen one Aspie and now believes she's seen them all, eh? Just because we share a dysfunction doesn't mean we're all Raymond Babbitt clones. Actually, Anxiety and OCD-type behaviors are a common part of AS. IMO the differences between OCD and AS compulsions is in what motivates them. We don't repeat ritual and routines because we superstitiously feel something bad will happen if we don't - we repeat them because of our sensory overstimulation issues - the better we organize the parts of our lives that we can have some control over, the less likely we'll be overwhelmed by all the things we can't control or plan for.

Its very frustrating having a handicap that others cannot see.

People assume we're lazy and unmotivated when we simply have trouble focusing on things that don't interest us. Get an Aspie started on a project that involves one of their interests and watch them stay up for days on end obsessing over every detail.

They think because we have strong vocabularies we should have no trouble communicating, but they can't see the internal anxieties, the problems conversing under social pressure because our social processor chip has a very low capacity and sifts through social signal data veerrry slowly. So what's actually an inability to intuit subtextual meaning in conversation and formulate appropriate responses in a timely manner is interpreted as 'shyness'.

Sorry to say you can look forward to many long years of that sort of misunderstanding and lack of tolerance. To most people right now, Autism is a familiar word with only the vaguest sense of any meaning attached to it. And many in the Mental Health Care field who have a slight acquaintance with it as a clinical diagnosis, have no practical experience with it among real patients, therefore many incorrect assumptions.

Welcome aboard! Anything we can do, just holla!

Hello, and welcome greetings to the Wrong Planet neighborhood, Hayley. It's amazing how the lack of insight and understanding of Asperger's among some people seem to bring out all the armchair experts.

Hello Hayley, welcome, enjoy your stay on the Wrong Planet!

Hello and welcome to Wrong Planet!

Perhaps you would like to visit the Parent's Discussion group?

http://www.wrongplanet.net/forum19.html is the link.

Merle

Welcome to WP!

Is it possible to get your son into another class? I feel his current teacher is probably going to do him more harm than good.

Hey Hayley, Welcome to WrongPlanet.

Check out in your community for Autism and Aspergers Parent Groups (they are normally clumped together). You will find a wealth of information in your community (as well as on here at WrongPlanet) and parents who have been there and can point you in the right direction as to a good school, good doctor, etc.

You can check through your Department of Social Services in your town or county. They normally have a list of groups going on in your community.

Some of these groups also offer a kids group run by counselors that goes on at the same time as the parents group. Some towns also offer "Kids Play" activities on a weekly basis. You will find more out about those (if they exsist) when you get set up with the parent group.

Hope you enjoy your stay here at WrongPlanet, do check out the parents section, and have fun

To WrongPlanet!! !