Have you been diagnosed with autism?

[Guaranteed]

The results of this poll will probably be skewed for a number of reasons, but this is an important, familiar subject for me and I'd like to see about how many people around here actually classify themselves as autistic.


For those who have been diagnosed, or are even just wondering, can you describe your symptoms?

[Ellen Forradalom]

1. No, but I surround myself with Aspie-type people

which certainly makes me wonder.

[Guaranteed]

2. Why do you think your friends have Asperger's?

Or, Aspie tendencies?

[Ellen Forradalom]

3. They are self-described as such

Also, I work in IT.

[Guaranteed]

4. Can they "read" other people?

Do their voices fluctuate in tone, are they expressive?

[Ellen Forradalom]

5. My husband and brother are socially tone-deaf

My brother especially is difficult to converse with. You do not have a dialogue with him, he has a monologue with you. Both lack that liveliness in their tone that more socially in-tune people have.

[Dorian Gray]

6. I'm curious for those who deal

with autism, either having Aspergers or having family with a more severe case of autism, what would be the emotional or physical or intellectual markers that we might pinpoint in order to determine whether we may be candidates for having autism. What should we look for in our children to determine if they may have autism?

[Guaranteed]

9. With the broadness of the spectrum, it's difficult to point to one thing or another.

However, the broadest, most common problem one sees in people with autism falls within the realm of their ability to communicate and/or socialize. Note, though, that a substantial percentage of children have some level of problem learning to talk or be social, and most of them are not autistic. What should trigger the possibility of autism in a parent's mind, for a younger child, is a severe communication or other social problem- for examples, not talking at all within a reasonable developmental time, or a seeming lack of recognition of others as people, or seemingly compulsive, repetitive behaviors that are detrimental to the child's functioning and development.

That is not an exclusive list by any means, though. Parents just need to be very careful not to be overly concerned by their childrens' idiosynchrocies- there needs to be some sort of severity, and it should not be something that is merely inconvenient to the parent. It also should be detrimental to the child's development.

[Dorian Gray]

10. Thank you for this

BullGooseLoony! I've had two cousins and a friend who have been concerned about autism with their children. One cousin's child was diagnosed, the other's wasn't. And my friend's child is now almost three, which I believe is too young to diagnose.

I also have a friend who is a third grade teacher, and she is getting more and more Aspergers kids in her class lately.

It's all very interesting, and I'd love to see more inroads made into discovering the true causes, as it seems that more and more cases are being diagnosed.

[seabeyond]

7. but most of us are older. you need a poll on the younger generations. n/t

[Ilsa]

8. I don't think I am now, but I suspect I might have hit the

spectrum when I was a child if today's testing was used. I am pretty sure my older sister falls on the spectrum, but has gone undiagnosed. She had delays in fine motor and gross motor skills, was bookish, but had trouble with working through situations using logic and critical thinking.