Take me to the Dr to fix my brain...

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I try to imagine what life would be like wearing headphones with intermittent static and mumbling, wearing a suit of wool (my daughter has auditory and tactile sensitivities) and I'd want something to fix my brain also!

My daughter saw a commercial for Cymbalta or some anti-depressant where they showed someone depressed and sad and said if this is you get Cymbalta. Taking the commercial literally, she begged me for Cymbalta for a while.

These kids know they are different and can't understand why not everyone is bombarded with sensory overload, I am guessing. I would praise your son for #1 having the self advocacy skills for asking for help and #2 verbalizing his difficulties.

My daughter routinely has "bad" pictures stuck in her brain and begs me to "erase her brain" so she doesn't have to see them.

Can't offer feedback on the short memory, but...

Tell her she's not alone. There are people scattered all over the world who have similar if not exactly the same issues she does. Some aren't going to have the static, and some aren't going to be great readers. Some will have short tempers, and some (like me) will have irritable bowel syndrome (not a common Aspie issue) [at which point she'll interrupt you for a definition of irritable bowel syndrome]. Her diagnosis of AS can be explained as follows:

Your brain is built with different learning paths and response paths and sometimes they will get cluttered or confused, especially by the way some (alot) of people act towards you. Part of this is because you're going to be smarter than them in some ways - like your reading - and part of this is because they're going to be smarter than you in some ways - like being able to keep track of a conversation between many people all at the same time. Just like they can learrn to read better if they want to, you can learn to adjust to social situations and input better than your brain naturally wants to. They will never be as good as you at some things, and you will never be as good at some things as they will be. This is a world of different people and without the good readers, we would never have good writers. Without good math people, we would never have the empire state building. Without good conversation people we would never have presidents. Your AS diagnosis means you havee a special talent somewhere in your brain and you will find it and follow it one day. Until then - and even then - you are going to have to work real hard on deciding how much you want to learn and train yourself about social things, because for you specifically, that's the tough stuff. Most of the world has their brains the other way and the social stuff is easy - the being booksmart stuff is the hard part. Yoiu were born the other way. Like left handed and right handed people. How many people do you know who write left handed? They're different too, and the world isn't built for them because they're a minority (Doorknobs are on the wrong side; Nail scissors are built wrong; the flusher on the toilet is messed up...) The world IS built for you - other people you meet might not always be, and sometimes your personality - or theirs' - is going to be like a door that opens leftwards... but it's still a world you can make your way through. And a world that might even one day hold you high up and proud and congradulate you on writing the best novel ever written, or making the best scupture ever seen.. Or maybe you don't need that acclaim.. maybe you'll find a nice farm with some goats and llamas (name some animal she considers exotic or doesn't know about - emus!) and raise a family and fifty cocker spaniels (or favourite type of pet) and be the happiest girl in the world. There's nothing standing in the way of dreaming, and though there's a stumbling block or two on your road, you've got a good sturdy set of legs, and your mom who will always love you and be there for you when you need a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

Bugger, that was long eh? Maybe just summarize it

Oh and realize that the temper thing might be an Aspie issue too - it's probably frustration at not being understood, or an overload of senses or an inability to recall things that's setting her temper on 'powie'... After the next temper, ask her for specifics as to why she blew. It might be insightful and surprising what you hear.

(Hehe.. actually, print out my post and see if she calls me 9 kinds of moron. Maybe my little speech will come off as patronizing. Then again, maybe it'll strike a chord or two.)

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As a teenager with undiagnosed ADHD Inattentive, central auditory processing disorder, and mild dyspraxia, I felt that nothing could be done about it at all so I never used a phrase like you mention: Take me to the Dr to fix my brain.

At the same time, I knew there was something going on.

Many years later I looked at the general idea of fixing the brain (so to speak) and found a number of books which slightly touched on that idea (no cures) - books like Awakenings by Oliver Sacks, A Remarkable Medicine by Jack Dreyfus, and a How To (understand) ADHD book by C. Thomas Wild. Those three books are factual and report that the right medicine, can help at least a few temporarily in a small way (no cures at all). There's another book - Flowers for Algernon - which is a science fiction story by Daniel Keyes which addresses the idea of a fixed brain (due to a science fiction brain operation) but it is completely fiction.

Personally I do not subscribe to the thinking process behind - Take me to the Dr to fix my brain - since that kind of thinking incorrectly describes what is available today (2010)(my view). With movies, TV, Star Trek episodes, and massive advertising by pharma, I can understand how a teenager could say such a thing but actual cures may be 1,000 plus years away (my view).

http://www.out-of-sync-child.com/
http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-5/auditory.htm
http://www.sportsconcussions.org/

I disagree with that. Most psychologists/counselors simply grill their patients about their feelings, and we all know how much aspies hate the dreaded F-word. Your son will not be able to properly answer the ever-so-prevalent "how did that make you feel" question, which will only frustrate him and further convince him to "fix his brain". (Case in point: when I talked about my feelings to therapists, they accused me of not being honest.) Your son old enough to know what can help him the most, so take him to a psychiatrist. He or she will have a brief exchange of introductions, prescribe the medication that your son can try, talk about the benefits and side effects, and explain it all in a language a 13-year-old can understand. Like myself at age 13, he is looking for a solution, an actual tool, not a verbose discussion about feelings.

Has your child had a diagnosis yet?

To figure out where your child is struggling, you can take him to neuropsychologist for testing. They do not treat, they test and can tell you which processes your child may be experiencing difficulty with.

With that information, you can decide what type of doctor to take your child to - occupational therapist, speech and language therapist, play therapist, psychotherapist, social therapy, psychiatrist, etc...

Your child is having symptoms he is not comfortable with or that are bothersome. It is your job as the parent to figure out what is going on and address it.

Good luck, I hope you figure it out.

Hi oddfiction that was really good and it made me smile. I will definitely print it out for her, I know she will love the bit about the fifty cocker spaniels, her idea of heaven. As for emus, believe me , theres no animal so exotic this girl hasnt heard of them!

Sorry I haven't been here in a bit, thank so much for all the other suggestions...

I am adding this to list of to do things...we're very strapped economically right now...sigh...

Anyway, although he has never said it, I do know that ONE kid he saw a few times when that happened, was an AHOLE 13yr old who would say mean things to him...we'd go to another friend's house and this kid was usually there...to the point that he pushed him once but I caught him and told his mom...We have stopped going to our friend's house because we know this kid is usually there and we were ready to kick the kid's butt...sigh...

He has not said this since we moved or stopped going there...most kids where we live now are very nice to him...some obviously realize he's "different", but they help him, play with him, teach him how to play games, etc...and generally are supportive...

I will however check into where to take him (we're new in this area, which is the poorest town where we live...sigh) so it might take a bit of checking around...

Thanks to all for the advice...I'll also be checking into the books as soon as I can...