kx250rider wrote:
First, I am not an expert in any way, so please take my thoughts accordingly. With that said, I am almost wanting to question the autism diagnosis of your 8-year-old. The needing affection and presenting difficulty in public, seemingly deliberate, aren't consistent with autism as far as I have known. It sounds to me almost like another situation, which I believe is called ODD
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/opposi ... N=symptoms . Of the Autistics and Aspies I know, I can't think of any who have acted aggressively toward siblings, nor made a scene in public (as in the McDonald's lie-down situation). Most of us want to disappear into the woodwork, and are humiliated at the thought of anyone seeing a meltdown, etc. And we tend to be the victims of bullying and such; not so often the perpetrators. The fact that he likes hugs, is very foreign to me, as a high-functioning autistic. I have to work very hard to just be polite about it when someone tries to hug me, or even reach toward me. My natural response is to block or stop them, or flinch and cower back. That's a fairly classic autism trait, although I have no idea if it's a "must" for a diagnosis of autism.
Anyway, I think you're on the right track by looking here for answers, and I am confident that you will find a way to work with your son to resolve these things!
Charles
Anyone on the spectrum can need and want affection, to the point where it's overbearing. Difficulty in public is a very common thing, too, and is usually because of a meltdown/ shut down, or a lack of communication to say "Hey! Something is bothering me and I don't know how to handle it, I need to leave" or something similar. When being diagnosed with anything, it's more looking for the symptoms that DO fit, rather than DON'T, and whether or not you fit the criteria with the ones you do have. Remember that every single person is different, and they will act/ react differently from anyone else. "Once you know one autist, you know one autist." means you can't compare them. It's funny, most people and kids I know with autism or asperger's are the opposite of the ones you seem to know. They are very friendly and affectionate. They also love cuddles and hugs, I'm the extreme opposite of them, I don't like hugs or cuddles or people in my personal space or anything of the sort... But I know it's possible for people on the autism spectrum to love the things I despise.
01 Nov 2011, 1:59 am
