are there any engineers in your family

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twisterintexas
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14 Oct 2005, 7:17 pm

My son has been diagnosed with Asperger's. My husband - his dad - is an engineer, I'm a college instructor. My son's grandparents on both sides were in engineering trades. Great grandparents on both sides, too, were machinists.

Spooky - and pretty neat!



01 Nov 2005, 6:02 pm

I'm an engineer and my son was diagnosed AS - but he has so much social intent and other stuff that I think he is very very mild AS. still it shows up and we worry about him....

My grandfather worked on Manhatten Project too. He had no education in engineering but worked on engineering problems... He was also very unhappy, cold, mean..... alcoholic.

I wonder if I have AS sometimes - something is definitely wrong with me!! !!



Mik3N3ls0n
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02 Nov 2005, 1:18 am

VictoriasPetTuraco wrote:
Saw an article where there's a huge number of Asperger's kids being diagnosed who are offspring of computer programmers in Silicon Valley, CA.

Second and third euphemism/jokes (from that article):

- Programmers all suffer from O D D.

- Every programmer is a bit autistic.


I am a software engineer (electronics engineer retrained to write software that controls electronics) and have worked for over 25 years in "Silicon Valley". What's "O.D.D.?" Is it just a way of saying "odd" instead of "A.D.D.?"

I have a 20-year-old son diagnosed at age 8 with AS, although my wife and I knew he was special since he was a baby, and he invented his own language complete with vocabulary and sentence structure. After that he had various intense interests, especially in trains as a toddler. He was profoundly hyperlexic, practically growing up in the public library, with many librarians as friends who shared his love of books. We homeschooled him, as he had a hard time in school with bullies, both students and teachers. We even got the principal fired from her job for misconduct in the way she treated our son. Now he is in college and studying every branch of science and mathematics, but we think chemistry is his favorite.

My big worry is my son's temper. We got into a heated discussion about cooperating so that we can all live comfortably in the house that we share as a family. He picked up a steel tubed chair and swing it at my head. I blocked the main force of the blow with my left hand and right forearm, but still got a golf ball sized knot on my head with a little blood from a small cut. Looked worse than it was, but shocking none the less. His mother stopped me from calling the police. I do not want to be assaulted in my own home, but I also don't want my son to go to jail.

We can't seem to talk to each other, as he remembers every harsh word I have ever said to him. I'm not happy about it, but as long as we can peacefully coexist under the same roof, it's tolerable. My wife worries a lot, but tries hard not to show it. He is her only child, so she feels even more intensely about him than she might otherwise.

I'm not posting this to get feedback. I just want to "share the experience," as we say in California, in the hope that it may help someone to know about it.



02 Nov 2005, 10:07 pm

My husband is an engineer. I'm not, but my father was the engineering type, and his brother was an engineer. My father is also quiet, quirky, and an artist. I always wondered why he didn't have more friends, since he's such a great and interesting person. Of course, social skills have always been tough for me, too. Fast forward to now: husband and I have six children, at least 3 of whom are on the spectrum! Huh. Go figure. Our oldest at 15 is managing fairly well, although he has anxiety and depression....Our 10 year old loves homeschooling, and has a few friends. And our youngest son, almost 2, is speech delayed and has DSI, but is making progress (and is very, very bright). The speech delay concerned us for a while -- worried about regular autism -- but he's very social and is talking now....Life isn't at all the way we imagined it, but we're managing. The kids are all exceptionally bright and interesting people, but my husband and I do agonize over the difficulties they experience socially. They are such GREAT people. I hope they'll find good friends at some point. It just takes a while, I guess. We are fairly new in a smallish community, so it's taking a while to get to know like-minded people. Hoping for the best.

Tired Mom