h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Take a few DEEP breathes Tef

There's much that is wrong - but there's also much that isn't

Generally peeps are on your side - well on Hootoo anyway

Are they reelly? Oh goody!

Sorry Shhhhhh. The website Teasswill linked to gave info about behaviour modification. The various different methods have clever little acronyms. I was just trying to find some for the extremely effective behaviour modification that seems to have been used on so many of the more "able" aspies of my generation. Most likely the parents can't be blamed. Not knowing there was actually anything "wrong" they had to assume the children were being stubborn, insolent, blerddy-minded... and if someone won't meet your eyes you Normals always seem to assume they're being deceitful. If they could get a kid or a dog to behave the way they wanted it to for a few hours by beating it I'm sure it must have given them a great sense of accomplishment. It does work you know. It works better than any other method. And it was acceptable in those days. Or, at least, it was in our culture. Maybe not in yours. Have you ever seen "Goodness Gracious Me"? There's a sweet little Punjabi granny (probably Meera Syal) who runs around hitting people with a shoe. It's so true it's incredibly funny, but I can remember English friends being totally confused by my hysterical laughter. Perhaps you had to be there....

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro01/web2/Gilbert.html

...people with Asperger's syndrome have a much higher verbal IQ than performance IQ.

...Another example of poor non-verbal communication skills is that they often cannot tell that the person with whom they are speaking with has no interest in the subject that they are talking about. In fact, people with Asperger's disorder often talk incessantly about their favorite subject that itself is odd such as the bus schedule which they have memorized (5). That is, they cannot seem to interpret the facial cues of others.

In addition to the high verbal ability of these children, people with Asperger's disorder show gross motor clumsiness. Some people with Asperger's syndrome show delays in gross motor skills but often this delay is seen more in the development of fine motor skills. Some of these deficits include awkward gait, poor eye-hand coordination, and little ability to manipulate objects well.

http://home.att.net/~ascaris1/defining.html

...One study showed an average of 23 points difference between the verbal IQ and perfomance (nonverbal) IQ in adolescents with AS, with the verbal favored. This trend was noted in 100% of the AS group in the study.

http://www.elas-scot.org.uk/aspergers.php

http://www.nldline.com/yvonna.htm

...In many cases, however, adults with NLD / AS have several college degrees, yet are unable to find or keep work that matches their strengths and abilities. The reason for this is the disparity between a high verbal and a relatively lower performance IQ score of NLDers and ASers. While verbal IQ is most indicative of academic achievement, performance IQ points to the ability to achieve success at work. Thus, though they attain high levels of education and skill, they may fail to hold down a job and earn a living. A high percent are either unemployed or underemployed. Just 12% of Asperger Adults are in full time employment, and only 3% live independently (Barnard et.al., 2001). There is no current data on the employment of individuals with NLD, but almost half of those I know with the disorder are unemployed, and many others underemployed. It's appalling that so many who are educated, articulate, skilled, honest and hard-working remain chronically unemployed.

Because of their high degree of functionality and their naiveté, those with NLD / AS are often viewed as eccentric or odd. Subtle differences cause difficulty in social interactions and workplace relationships. For example, their inability to read nonverbal signals makes interpersonal communication a challenge. Their rigid style and peculiar perspective exacerbate the problems. Because the AS/NLD employee has trouble with eye contact, he can be perceived as inattentive, evasive, or rude. Difficulty with modulating volume and tone of voice can make him appear angry. Problems with understanding body language, social cues, or even facial expressions makes it hard to know what is expected and often leads to misunderstandings. Until he's verbally told, he may not be aware whether the boss is happy with his work or is disapproving. At that point, it is usually too late.

According to the DSM definition, Aspies must exhibit normal to superior language development.

...They're accused of rudeness, laziness, a lack of caring, or a poor attitude.

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/articles/54056-5.asp

Have you thought of writing a guide entry on this?

Perhaps, when it's all over. At the moment I'm fully occupied writing reams for the trick-cyclists. I have a funny memory. It contains everything I've ever experienced. Every detail of every house I've ever lived in, every book I've read, film or TV programme I've seen, conversation I've taken part in, piece of music (especially the music ), even every smell, taste and sensation are all still stored. They pop up randomly but it's getting progressively harder to sort through the dross to access anything deliberately (like words, or the location of the kitchen light switch, for instance). Every so often summat jogs loose and I think "I must add this to one of my 3 masterworks" .

In fact... hang on a mo

Can I borrow your smell library please Tef? Mine have all gone

They decided they couldn't be sure about Owl based on module 3 of the ADOS (though how on earth there could possibly be any doubt I can't imagine - his behaviour AND his answers could have come straight out of a textbook) so they called us in for him to do module 4.

We drove 80 miles so they could see him, he missed half a day of school, Lurch had to take a day off work, I'm now physically exhausted and all three of us are mentally exhausted (Owl's off sick today - one of those "dreadful tummy aches").

What was this wonderful module that would prove conclusive and why did they insist on it?

Well, the tester is much smaller than I am (and I'm only 5'2") and Owl is 5'10" with an extremely large frame. (He also has an extensive vocabulary but I'm not sure how much that had to do with it.) So she has decided he is obviously very mature for his age and therefore the adolescents' module is inappropriate and he should be given the adults' one.

Mature for his age? Of course! How could I not have seen it? This is obviously the reason he watches kiddies' cartoons over and over again, learns them by heart and then wanders around repeating things like

"I like potato", "I like cereal"
"I like potato", "I like cereal"
"I like potato", "I like cereal"
"I like potato", "I like cereal"
"I like potato", "I like cereal"
"I like potato", "I like cereal"
"I like potato", "I like cereal"
"I like potato", "I like cereal"
"I like potato", "I like cereal"
ad infinitum.

And the fact that we still haven't managed to get him to buy himself one single simple item, like a computer game, an individual pizza, a , , or a drink, in an empty shop, when given the right money and primed with the exact words to use OBVIOUSLY shows his maturity doesn't it?


They said it would only take about half an hour this time because they didn't have to repeat the activities, just ask him the adult questions.
They took FIVE minutes. They asked him 3 or 4 questions, only 2 of which he could remember when he came out (that's not his way of avoiding the question - he couldn't remember any of them 10 minutes later). (I wasn't allowed to observe this time because it was the "adult module".)

You know, last time the woman asked him how many friends he has. He said "Lots". She asked for their names. He managed the two we know, wracked his brain for a long time and then said "and lots more". The woman asked him the difference between friends and "people you just know". He thought about it for a while and then said "Friends are people you see more often so you know more about them".

This time they asked him about his "Options" and about moving house - which was one of the questions they asked him last time.

That's IT. They put us through all that trouble, upset and expense for a 5 minute interview consisting of roughly 4 questions?

Apparently NOW they can start scoring both modules. Start? What do they mean "Start"? They haven't scored the original?

They're not going to bother are they? They're going to say what the GP said when he saw him for the first (and only) time (He's been the size of a 16 year old since he was 11) - "All teenagers are sullen".
We try to tell them he's not "sullen", he's always been like that, in fact he's improved immeasurably in the last year or two - and they patronise us.

crickey Tef - it does sound like you're dealing with a lot of idiots! To be honest thats my opion of a great deal of the medical/social proffesions - but these really seem to be taking the

We must decide what new threats can be made to shake them out of their complacency and lethargy!

Take care - there's a lot of your friends that are thinking of you and wishing you through this stuff

I just want to "cwy and cwy until I'm thick" Shhhhhh. Or huddle under the duvet the way Owl's doing. And I don't know how much longer Lurch can stand it. It's getting harder and harder to keep him "here" and he can't ask for early retirement for another 2¼ years yet. I managed to get him to go to the GP (because of the chest pains) and all the did was give him Valium, which he daren't take because one of the side-effects listed is "Suicidal thoughts"

OH Lordy - it makes me want to spit! My opion of the medic seems to have plummeted quickly!

Take a few big breaths!! - there's a very old joke there that I wont go into - and give yourself a big from me!

I can't. My arms won't fit round my big breaths...

- Getting back to normal then!


Good for you!

Nermal? Isn't he the little grey fellow that follows Garfield around?

Close but no cigar!