Breathing - Asperger - Autism

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I've always had breathing difficulties, which doctors tried in vain to find the cause of for years when I was younger. It's recently become apparent that it may be an atypical presentation of a severe speech disorder that I adapted around, at least linguistically, but never corrected the breathing.

Link>Study Links Autism to Bronchiole Formation

Link>Study Shows Children Born With a Unique Airway Shape May Have Autism

Thanks for the links Marybird!

I also have "seasonal" allergies. But it seems odd to call them seasonal, when there are things for me to be allergic to in every season! In spring there is pollen, in summer it is drier so there is more dust, in autumn there are dead leaves and seeds, and in winter it is more damp so there are more molds and mildews. And there are always pet danders and dust, so there is never an end of things I am allergic to.

I've always been a mouth breather, too. There was a time I was convinced that was the answer to why nobody in school liked me, too; always breathing loudly with my mouth open, chapping my lips and looking dumb.

I understand now that it was the whole combination of autistic stuff that makes me different and keeps most (shallow) neurotypicals from liking me. Unless they are willing to over look my quirks, of course.

I was wondering today what it would be like to live in England, where intelligent eccentric people are granted tenured professorships at uni instead of marginalised.

*scads off to read the links Marybird shared*

***ETA***
Sadly one has to be a member of medscape to read the article about bronchiole formation.

Would you have time and be able to quote a few relevant paragraphs, Marybird? (giving credit of course and not quoting the whole thing in violation of copyright law!)

I breathe through my nose, but I think I used to be a mouth-breather. I also can't breathe very deeply; when told to take a long, deep breath, I always run out of breath before I'm told to breathe out. I occasionally get these moments where I'm so focused on my breathing that I can't breathe naturally anymore; I have to tell myself to breathe. At their worst, these moments make me feel hot and faint.

This article explains it in a little more detail, but I haven't been able to find a follow up on the 2011 study.

I was always short of breath but blamed it on being exposed to a lot of cigarette smoke as a child.
In grammar school a teacher criticized me for taking too many breaths when reading out loud.
I also get persistent coughs that last for 2 or 3 months after I get a chest cold. I hate that.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2011/10/24/could-airway-abnormality-point-to-autism

These breathing difficulties make it hard to sing in choir or play a wind instrument too. You can't phrase correctly, hold and sustain notes and passages as long as the notations say you should, and can't do more than a tiny bit with dynamics. I envy people who can sing a schwarzando; I can hardly do a crescendo anymore.

Thanks for the quote, Marybird. I was able to read that article, it was the other one that asked for a username and password to read the article about bronchioles.