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Joellyn
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18 Nov 2022, 8:36 am

I don't know what to say exactly. My children are grown up now and their father is probably an Aspie but was never properly diagnosed when he was taken to be evaluated back in the 1950s and 1960s. He now lives with a bunch of cats and calls them his family. We love this guy and continue to try to be involved in his life when it seems helpful or appropriate, but he does live in his own world and has no internet access. I've come to terms with the past, I am okay with everything that happened. It's just my children who I would hope come to some understanding of why their Dad is different. He had a serious heart attack in recent months. My son has been visiting him and he gets therapy in his home and help to go to doctor visits. He is nevertheless childlike in many aspects and very vulnerable. Sweet man, but very vulnerable.



jimmy m
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18 Nov 2022, 9:02 am

Welcome to the site. I may not be the best source but I will try and explain some information.

I have Asperger's Syndrome (an Aspie). I am 74 years old and suffered a massive stroke about a year and a half ago. Most people do not survive very well after such a stroke but I did. But my story really began when I was around 3 years old. I was attacked by a large bull. It weighed over 1000 pounds and I weighed less than 20. It was like being attacked by a dinosaur. As a result I died.

It was called a near death experience. I do not remember the accident only what happened afterwards. I came alive and saw my body lying in my bed and my parents standing next to me in utter fear of losing their first born child. Someone spoke to me and said "Live or die, your choice". I saw the utter fear in my parents and I said Live. And I came back. But I was a totally different child than the parents knew before. I was totally utterly fearless.

So what happened. Well the dominant left side of my brain died for a while and the other part of my brain on my right side decided to live. (The left side of the brain is the daytime brain and the right side of the brain lives during the night in REM and NREM sleep state.) After this swap between left and right, all was fine until I reached the age where a child becomes an adult. This normally occurs around the age of 11-13. Then my world came apart. I was attacked both physically and mentally (quite severely) for around 3 years by the students in school. But after this, life somewhat returned to normal.

So you will better understand your husband if you view him as a child. But also know that he is a very, very, very smart child.

There is an interesting book by Jill Bolte Taylor called Whole Brain Living. It may provide you with a little bit of understanding.


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Double Retired
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18 Nov 2022, 3:18 pm

Welcome to WP! I hope you find it worth visiting.

I am sorry to hear about your current problems. I hope all of you can get through them with a minimum of unhappiness, and I am glad all of you have not abandoned your husband.

You will find a variety of folk on the Autism Spectrum here...with different degrees of symptom severity, with assorted other medical issues, and different life circumstances.

I will start with two not-very-helpful observations:
- Cats are wonderful! (That 's an opinion not everyone shares.)
- Asperger's Syndrome was not added to the DSM until 1994,
*->and in 2013 it was absorbed into "Autism Spectrum Disorder".
*-*->That is, in the 1950s and 1960s there was no appropriate diagnosis for
*-*-*->someone who met the criteria for Asperger's Syndrome.


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AnonymousAnonymous
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18 Nov 2022, 7:36 pm

Welcome to Wrong Planet! :)


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Tim_Tex
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21 Nov 2022, 9:29 am

Welcome to WP!


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autisticelders
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22 Nov 2022, 7:49 am

welcome, lots of good info and insights here, hope you find what you need.


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CockneyRebel
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26 Nov 2022, 5:55 pm

Willkommen :mrgreen:


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