Homeschooling for Aspies
I apologize for not remembering the church part about your post. I agree with ASDmommy---those ladies who hurt you were hypocrites in not treating you like Jesus would have treated you. Some people do get caught up in appearing to be good Christians when they are truly not practicing it in their heart. If you don't feel comfortable going to a church, God is still always watching over you. God created you with a plan and purpose for your life and He loves you very much. I am a very religious person myself, but I am not trying to convince you to become religious. But I do know that even from a psychology standpoint, carrying around the past hurts for so long is not good for your health. Just remember you can always pray wherever you are, and ask Jesus to come into your heart and help to guide you in your daily life.
Even though it may not seem like, I feel that God is still working on your life. You have endured some real hurts and pains, but there can still be hope for healing in your life.
I am sorry your parents were so awful. I don't think there is anything you could have done. The foster system is a hit and miss thing, and if the system didn't have enough proof of abuse to meet their standard, then your parents would have just made your life worse.
The way that I understand people is that I out them in boxes when they resemble a type of person I have known. Sometimes I can put a whole person in a box, and sometimes just a trait.
There is a type of person who cares very much what other people think to such a degree that they put that above their family. Children are viewed as a reflection of their parenting and so they become part of that package. My maternal line is like that, though my mom's mother was apparently worse than my own. Your mom sounds more like my grandmother apparently was.
I am glad I am more like my dad in that way and don't care so much about how things look. It is a horrible thing to have ones self image and esteem to be at the whim of others, and it makes a person cruel to their own, when it takes such an extreme. A child has no defense against this when s/he is different. A parent who cares more about appearances than her/his child's mental well-being is a selfish person. (understatement)
I don't see what you could have done.
If I had been sent away, would it have been better or worse?
I am sorry your parents were so awful. I don't think there is anything you could have done. The foster system is a hit and miss thing, and if the system didn't have enough proof of abuse to meet their standard, then your parents would have just made your life worse.
The way that I understand people is that I out them in boxes when they resemble a type of person I have known. Sometimes I can put a whole person in a box, and sometimes just a trait.
There is a type of person who cares very much what other people think to such a degree that they put that above their family. Children are viewed as a reflection of their parenting and so they become part of that package. My maternal line is like that, though my mom's mother was apparently worse than my own. Your mom sounds more like my grandmother apparently was.
I am glad I am more like my dad in that way and don't care so much about how things look. It is a horrible thing to have ones self image and esteem to be at the whim of others, and it makes a person cruel to their own, when it takes such an extreme. A child has no defense against this when s/he is different. A parent who cares more about appearances than her/his child's mental well-being is a selfish person. (understatement)
I don't see what you could have done.
If I had been sent away, would it have been better or worse?
Sometimes, I wish life were like a video game where you could go back to a prior saved game and see what would have happened if.
Unfortunately, there is no way to know. You could have ended up in a great family, or you could have been abused even more. I wish I could give you closure. There is no way to know, and there is no point in blaming yourself for alternatives not taken.
As for special schools, been there, done that, didn't help. I spent 4 years at one, and had to deal with the same problems from the other kids there, too, so there was no escape from that kind of trouble. I was also bullied by neighbor kids, and my own siblings, so my childhood was hell. During the last year at the special school I went there part of the day, and spent part of the day at a regular school, as my parents wanted me back in regular school. The special school didn't have regular grade levels. They just taught the kids as the kids were able to learn. I lost a grade level there, which bothered my parents, which is why they pushed to have me mainstreamed again.
I have a number of spectrum issues, including but not limited to, minor sound sensitivity, skin sensitivity, brain processing problems with sound and time, social issues, minor motor skills problems, and Executive Function Disorder. Those are just the main problems.
Unfortunately, there is no magic way of fixing the past, or fixing us old timer Spectrumers. We just have to develop and use what coping methods we can find.
Yes, I do have some resentment over not being home schooled, but that just wasn't an option back then, so my parents can't be blamed for not being able to help me more, when even the doctors were clueless.
I have much stronger resentment for the kids who tormented me back then. Over time however, I have come to see that bad people usually eventually bring bad things on themselves because of the bad choices they make in life, so in essence these creeps have by now suffered from their own bad choices. For those who outgrew their evil ways, and those who reformed, I forgive them. I am always in favor of bad people reforming into good people.
For those of us who went through hell way back when, I can't fix the past, but I offer a verbal hug. I know that's not much, but I can also offer some advice. Try not to dwell too much on the bad parts of your life. Find things to do to occupy your mind and hands. Keeping occupied really does help, so if you have been wallowing in mental pain, you really need to find more stuff to do.
- Read
- Watch TV/movies
- Get some moderate exercise
- Eat healthier
- Get plenty of rest
- Take courses, either in person or online
- If unemployed, get a job, or start a business
- Do volunteer work
- Go to parks/museums/ and other places of interest
- Take up hobbies/crafts
- Get involved with local worship groups, if you belong to a religion
- Get involved in local theater groups
- Get involved in politics
- Get involved in other local activities and events
There are plenty of ways to keep occupied. Please try some of them, as they really do help. This helps me.
Please read my latest posting on page 3 of the heading Homeschooling for Aspies and tell me what you think.
I am sorry your parents were so awful. I don't think there is anything you could have done. The foster system is a hit and miss thing, and if the system didn't have enough proof of abuse to meet their standard, then your parents would have just made your life worse.
The way that I understand people is that I out them in boxes when they resemble a type of person I have known. Sometimes I can put a whole person in a box, and sometimes just a trait.
There is a type of person who cares very much what other people think to such a degree that they put that above their family. Children are viewed as a reflection of their parenting and so they become part of that package. My maternal line is like that, though my mom's mother was apparently worse than my own. Your mom sounds more like my grandmother apparently was.
I am glad I am more like my dad in that way and don't care so much about how things look. It is a horrible thing to have ones self image and esteem to be at the whim of others, and it makes a person cruel to their own, when it takes such an extreme. A child has no defense against this when s/he is different. A parent who cares more about appearances than her/his child's mental well-being is a selfish person. (understatement)
I don't see what you could have done.
If I had been sent away, would it have been better or worse?
Sometimes, I wish life were like a video game where you could go back to a prior saved game and see what would have happened if.
Unfortunately, there is no way to know. You could have ended up in a great family, or you could have been abused even more. I wish I could give you closure. There is no way to know, and there is no point in blaming yourself for alternatives not taken.
I have enjoyed chatting with you since I have been on WP. Here is my latest blog. Tell me what you think.
I have been through more evaluations than I can count since first grade. Even in kindergarten I had issues, but nothing was done. My grandmother told me that my teachers told her and my mother that I was going to have problems in school. My mother denied it, saying my grandmother was lying. I missed the year after kindergarten because we did not live in the city schools jurisdiction, and the school my parents wanted me to attend was less than a mile from our home. As it was at the time, I would have to ride the bus to a school farther away, but my parents did not want that. Therefore, they kept me out for a year. During that time, I learned to read and learned basic math, but I was grossly deficit in social skills. I did not know how to play with kids, even in kindergarten I felt strangely out of place and I probably acted up--I don't remember much now since that was over 50 years ago and my teachers are now dead. What little I remember about first grade, I was also disruptive and didn't know how to act with the other kids. The truth is, no one knew what was wrong with me. All my parents did was deny, deny, deny. They were angry when they had to take me to these appointments, saying if I would just behave myself, it wouldn't be necessary. When I asked why I had to see all these doctors, no one told me anything. My parents said they didn't know--it was the school that wanted me to see them. All they knew how to do was lie and deny. When I asked my mother why they lied to me, she offered no explanation.
I have been diagnosed with Major Depression, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Avoidant Personality Disorder, Simple Schizophrenia, and Residual Schizophrenia. A pediatric neurologist in Atlanta said that I had "some peculiar neurological and emotional disturbance", and that I was "very odd".
Several years ago, when I was transferring my records to my current doctor, my mother read my file. She laughed at and made fun of my psychological reports, calling them a load of bull. What she does not realize is that doctors and teachers are trained to recognize disturbing behavior in children. Any child that does not get along with his/her peers, does not want to participate in extracurricular activities, and who prefers to be alone is not normal and needs to be evaluated. On my last visit, I told my doctor how much this bothered me. He said that he tried to tell my mother that I had serious issues, but that she just didn't understand--I don't think she wanted to. When I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, she told me she didn't want to hear about it.
In later years, during my college and technical school years, my teachers suspected something was wrong with me when I could not find suitable employment. When they saw how I interacted with my peers, they told me that unless I got some type of treatment or intervention, I would never get a job in my field of study. And they were right--I never got a job in my field of study.
I have been fired from every job I have ever held since 1991. Every time I tried to get help, my mother stood in the way, saying I didn't need treatment. What was she thinking? The three times I tried to commit suicide, including my first one in 1978 while I was in college, I received no treatment or counseling. Why? Were my parents really trying to sabotage my life? Why did they not want anything done? My mother told me that psychologists and psychiatrists were not real doctors--but were quacks.
Years of therapy have failed to help me become employable. I am beginning to have doubts about psychiatry--first of all, because it is not an exact science. There are no medical tests to diagnose mental illness--X-Ray, blood tests, MRI, etc. It seems like using the DSM Manual to group behaviors and then guessing a diagnosis. I may be wrong, but that's the impression I get. I wish that I could just be a regular person and not need psychiatric drugs. These various diagnoses have ruined my life.
I don't know where to turn or what to do. True, the medicines keep me stable, but that's about it. I want to feel good about myself.
I am a complete social outcast. No one ever calls me or comes to see me. I want to get a seasonal job, but I don't know based on my work history.
Anyone out there have any ideas?
Even though it may not seem like, I feel that God is still working on your life. You have endured some real hurts and pains, but there can still be hope for healing in your life.
I appreciate your feedback on my last blog. Here is my latest. Tell me what you think.
I have been through more evaluations than I can count since first grade. Even in kindergarten I had issues, but nothing was done. My grandmother told me that my teachers told her and my mother that I was going to have problems in school. My mother denied it, saying my grandmother was lying. I missed the year after kindergarten because we did not live in the city schools jurisdiction, and the school my parents wanted me to attend was less than a mile from our home. As it was at the time, I would have to ride the bus to a school farther away, but my parents did not want that. Therefore, they kept me out for a year. During that time, I learned to read and learned basic math, but I was grossly deficit in social skills. I did not know how to play with kids, even in kindergarten I felt strangely out of place and I probably acted up--I don't remember much now since that was over 50 years ago and my teachers are now dead. What little I remember about first grade, I was also disruptive and didn't know how to act with the other kids. The truth is, no one knew what was wrong with me. All my parents did was deny, deny, deny. They were angry when they had to take me to these appointments, saying if I would just behave myself, it wouldn't be necessary. When I asked why I had to see all these doctors, no one told me anything. My parents said they didn't know--it was the school that wanted me to see them. All they knew how to do was lie and deny. When I asked my mother why they lied to me, she offered no explanation.
I have been diagnosed with Major Depression, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Avoidant Personality Disorder, Simple Schizophrenia, and Residual Schizophrenia. A pediatric neurologist in Atlanta said that I had "some peculiar neurological and emotional disturbance", and that I was "very odd".
Several years ago, when I was transferring my records to my current doctor, my mother read my file. She laughed at and made fun of my psychological reports, calling them a load of bull. What she does not realize is that doctors and teachers are trained to recognize disturbing behavior in children. Any child that does not get along with his/her peers, does not want to participate in extracurricular activities, and who prefers to be alone is not normal and needs to be evaluated. On my last visit, I told my doctor how much this bothered me. He said that he tried to tell my mother that I had serious issues, but that she just didn't understand--I don't think she wanted to. When I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, she told me she didn't want to hear about it.
In later years, during my college and technical school years, my teachers suspected something was wrong with me when I could not find suitable employment. When they saw how I interacted with my peers, they told me that unless I got some type of treatment or intervention, I would never get a job in my field of study. And they were right--I never got a job in my field of study.
I have been fired from every job I have ever held since 1991. Every time I tried to get help, my mother stood in the way, saying I didn't need treatment. What was she thinking? The three times I tried to commit suicide, including my first one in 1978 while I was in college, I received no treatment or counseling. Why? Were my parents really trying to sabotage my life? Why did they not want anything done? My mother told me that psychologists and psychiatrists were not real doctors--but were quacks.
Years of therapy have failed to help me become employable. I am beginning to have doubts about psychiatry--first of all, because it is not an exact science. There are no medical tests to diagnose mental illness--X-Ray, blood tests, MRI, etc. It seems like using the DSM Manual to group behaviors and then guessing a diagnosis. I may be wrong, but that's the impression I get. I wish that I could just be a regular person and not need psychiatric drugs. These various diagnoses have ruined my life.
I don't know where to turn or what to do. True, the medicines keep me stable, but that's about it. I want to feel good about myself.
I am a complete social outcast. No one ever calls me or comes to see me. I want to get a seasonal job, but I don't know based on my work history.
Anyone out there have any ideas?
what about a special school or social skills training? Would that have been feasible?
My husband who had behavior problems and we are pretty sure is an Aspie to Aspie light was in special school from elementary to middle school in the 70's. It was awful, the work was busy work even for gifted students like himself. All the special needs kids were mixed together and many of the behavior kids tormented the kids with physical problems and mental delays. Kids were manhandled and put through all kinds of testing and experiments in training. Kids who were average or had small learning disabilities rotted away because there was no academics. My husband being so gifted is the only reason he made it through the years of doing 1 or 2 grade worksheets over and over again. Their school outings were to fast food restaurants because it was assumed that was the best job they could aspire to.
Believe it or not that wasn't the worst story I have heard. I have good friend who is a special ed teacher and in the late 80's in KC kids diagnosed w Autism were separated from their parents into what was basically an institutionalized school.
It was stories like this that made me wait about a year to get my son diagnosed after it became clear he was not speaking and had very quirky behaviors. We were both a bit scared of special ed and what that meant for a gifted or even average intelligence child.
Here is my latest blog describing all the diagnoses I have had. Tell me what you think.
I have been through more evaluations than I can count since first grade. Even in kindergarten I had issues, but nothing was done. My grandmother told me that my teachers told her and my mother that I was going to have problems in school. My mother denied it, saying my grandmother was lying. I missed the year after kindergarten because we did not live in the city schools jurisdiction, and the school my parents wanted me to attend was less than a mile from our home. As it was at the time, I would have to ride the bus to a school farther away, but my parents did not want that. Therefore, they kept me out for a year. During that time, I learned to read and learned basic math, but I was grossly deficit in social skills. I did not know how to play with kids, even in kindergarten I felt strangely out of place and I probably acted up--I don't remember much now since that was over 50 years ago and my teachers are now dead. What little I remember about first grade, I was also disruptive and didn't know how to act with the other kids. The truth is, no one knew what was wrong with me. All my parents did was deny, deny, deny. They were angry when they had to take me to these appointments, saying if I would just behave myself, it wouldn't be necessary. When I asked why I had to see all these doctors, no one told me anything. My parents said they didn't know--it was the school that wanted me to see them. All they knew how to do was lie and deny. When I asked my mother why they lied to me, she offered no explanation.
I have been diagnosed with Major Depression, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Avoidant Personality Disorder, Simple Schizophrenia, and Residual Schizophrenia. A pediatric neurologist in Atlanta said that I had "some peculiar neurological and emotional disturbance", and that I was "very odd".
Several years ago, when I was transferring my records to my current doctor, my mother read my file. She laughed at and made fun of my psychological reports, calling them a load of bull. What she does not realize is that doctors and teachers are trained to recognize disturbing behavior in children. Any child that does not get along with his/her peers, does not want to participate in extracurricular activities, and who prefers to be alone is not normal and needs to be evaluated. On my last visit, I told my doctor how much this bothered me. He said that he tried to tell my mother that I had serious issues, but that she just didn't understand--I don't think she wanted to. When I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, she told me she didn't want to hear about it.
In later years, during my college and technical school years, my teachers suspected something was wrong with me when I could not find suitable employment. When they saw how I interacted with my peers, they told me that unless I got some type of treatment or intervention, I would never get a job in my field of study. And they were right--I never got a job in my field of study.
I have been fired from every job I have ever held since 1991. Every time I tried to get help, my mother stood in the way, saying I didn't need treatment. What was she thinking? The three times I tried to commit suicide, including my first one in 1978 while I was in college, I received no treatment or counseling. Why? Were my parents really trying to sabotage my life? Why did they not want anything done? My mother told me that psychologists and psychiatrists were not real doctors--but were quacks.
Years of therapy have failed to help me become employable. I am beginning to have doubts about psychiatry--first of all, because it is not an exact science. There are no medical tests to diagnose mental illness--X-Ray, blood tests, MRI, etc. It seems like using the DSM Manual to group behaviors and then guessing a diagnosis. I may be wrong, but that's the impression I get. I wish that I could just be a regular person and not need psychiatric drugs. These various diagnoses have ruined my life.
I don't know where to turn or what to do. True, the medicines keep me stable, but that's about it. I want to feel good about myself.
I am a complete social outcast. No one ever calls me or comes to see me. I want to get a seasonal job, but I don't know based on my work history.
Anyone out there have any ideas?
In the first grade, I attended a special program in a New York City public school. There are children with all kinds of disabilities in my classroom. There was a even a deaf kid who used to tease me.
I attended a school for emotionally-disturbed kids from 2nd through 5th grade. There were actually no grades. The curriculum was normal for its time, I believe. We sat in seats, the teacher wrote on the board, we had homework. If I acted up, I was thrown out of the class and sat down in the hall until I calmed down.
I attended "regular school," with okay academic and awful social results from 6th to 8th grade.
In high school, I attended a private school for "gifted underachievers," from which I graduated.
Autism did exist then; there was even a commercial about it sometime in the early 1970s. It showed a stimming child playing a piano, I believe. The voiceover mentioned "autistic children." I thought they were saying "artistic" at the time. Of course, autism was merely Kanner-type autism, known as either "infantile autism" or "childhood autism."
I would also put what is now known as "childhood disintegration disorder" in the category of autism as it stood in the 1970s--since I read many case studies of children who were explicitly called "autistic children," within which skills like speech were said to have been acquired by 18 months, but were lost six months to a year later. The child would be referred to a psychologist, who would usually diagnose "infantile autism."
I doubt it that I could have been homeschooled in my childhood (until 1979, when I turned 18). I don't think New York State had provisions for it. A kid had to go to school, or else the house would be visited by truant officers.
Here is my latest blog describing my previous diagnoses. Tell me what you think.
I have been through more evaluations than I can count since first grade. Even in kindergarten I had issues, but nothing was done. My grandmother told me that my teachers told her and my mother that I was going to have problems in school. My mother denied it, saying my grandmother was lying. I missed the year after kindergarten because we did not live in the city schools jurisdiction, and the school my parents wanted me to attend was less than a mile from our home. As it was at the time, I would have to ride the bus to a school farther away, but my parents did not want that. Therefore, they kept me out for a year. During that time, I learned to read and learned basic math, but I was grossly deficit in social skills. I did not know how to play with kids, even in kindergarten I felt strangely out of place and I probably acted up--I don't remember much now since that was over 50 years ago and my teachers are now dead. What little I remember about first grade, I was also disruptive and didn't know how to act with the other kids. The truth is, no one knew what was wrong with me. All my parents did was deny, deny, deny. They were angry when they had to take me to these appointments, saying if I would just behave myself, it wouldn't be necessary. When I asked why I had to see all these doctors, no one told me anything. My parents said they didn't know--it was the school that wanted me to see them. All they knew how to do was lie and deny. When I asked my mother why they lied to me, she offered no explanation.
I have been diagnosed with Major Depression, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Avoidant Personality Disorder, Simple Schizophrenia, and Residual Schizophrenia. A pediatric neurologist in Atlanta said that I had "some peculiar neurological and emotional disturbance", and that I was "very odd".
Several years ago, when I was transferring my records to my current doctor, my mother read my file. She laughed at and made fun of my psychological reports, calling them a load of bull. What she does not realize is that doctors and teachers are trained to recognize disturbing behavior in children. Any child that does not get along with his/her peers, does not want to participate in extracurricular activities, and who prefers to be alone is not normal and needs to be evaluated. On my last visit, I told my doctor how much this bothered me. He said that he tried to tell my mother that I had serious issues, but that she just didn't understand--I don't think she wanted to. When I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, she told me she didn't want to hear about it.
In later years, during my college and technical school years, my teachers suspected something was wrong with me when I could not find suitable employment. When they saw how I interacted with my peers, they told me that unless I got some type of treatment or intervention, I would never get a job in my field of study. And they were right--I never got a job in my field of study.
I have been fired from every job I have ever held since 1991. Every time I tried to get help, my mother stood in the way, saying I didn't need treatment. What was she thinking? The three times I tried to commit suicide, including my first one in 1978 while I was in college, I received no treatment or counseling. Why? Were my parents really trying to sabotage my life? Why did they not want anything done? My mother told me that psychologists and psychiatrists were not real doctors--but were quacks.
Years of therapy have failed to help me become employable. I am beginning to have doubts about psychiatry--first of all, because it is not an exact science. There are no medical tests to diagnose mental illness--X-Ray, blood tests, MRI, etc. It seems like using the DSM Manual to group behaviors and then guessing a diagnosis. I may be wrong, but that's the impression I get. I wish that I could just be a regular person and not need psychiatric drugs. These various diagnoses have ruined my life.
I don't know where to turn or what to do. True, the medicines keep me stable, but that's about it. I want to feel good about myself.
I am a complete social outcast. No one ever calls me or comes to see me. I want to get a seasonal job, but I don't know based on my work history.
Anyone out there have any ideas?
