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eldin raigmore Admin
Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 1621 Location: SouthEast Michigan
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Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 5:27 pm Post subject: Recent diagnosis. |
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Some of you may have read, on other BBoards, that some people I've talked to kind of suspected that maybe I have something like a mildish case of Asperger's Syndrome.
Well. Sometime earlier this year (but after my 56th birthday, which was in February), I was officially diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. And not all that damn' mild a case, either, since I'm currently (temporarily, I hope) disabled by it.
Supposedly if I'd been diagnosed back in 1991 (the earliest anyone in America could have been diagnosed with AS), I'd have been getting treatment for the past 17 years, wouldn't have been disabled, and would still be employed; in which case most of you would know little or nothing about me.
It's pretty frustrating trying to find out anything an adult with AS can do for himself/herself. The only adult AS group in America is in New Jersey, quite a commute from Michigan. All the books and groups available to me are about how a parent can help his/her AS child. _________________ "We're the healthiest horse in the glue factory" - Erskine Bowles, Co-Chairman of the deficit reduction commission |
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Aeetlrcreejl
Joined: 08 Jun 2007 Posts: 839 Location: Over yonder
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Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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If you're still a child at heart, you can use those books. _________________ Iwocwá ĵọṭãsák.
/iwotSwa_H d`Z`Ot`~asa_Hk/
[iocwa_H d`Z`Ot`_h~a_Hk] |
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yssida
Joined: 16 Sep 2007 Posts: 253 Location: sa jaan lang
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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I really wish I could help you eldin.....
As I understand it, it is a not so known disease that is just recently starting to gain prominence. Do you live nearby a library? There might be available medical journals there. Or awareness groups in the internet.
Does government give support? In a very capable government like the US', they should at least give you compensation for taking away your job.
And what a very mean birthday surprise too:( _________________ kasabot ka ani? aw di tingali ka bisaya mao na
my freewebs site |
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eldin raigmore Admin
Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 1621 Location: SouthEast Michigan
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Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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yssida wrote: | I really wish I could help you eldin..... | Thanks.
yssida wrote: | As I understand it, it is a not so known disease that is just recently starting to gain prominence. | Yes. There are two reasons for this.
(1) Dr. Asperger was an Austrian; he described the syndrome in Austrian journals (German-language) in 1947. Between Hitler's Anschluss and the Iron Curtain, it wasn't described in English-language American journals until 1991. So 17 years ago is the earliest anyone could have been diagnosed.
(2) There appears to have been a sharp increase in the incidence of autism-spectrum disorders since WW II. There are several theories for this; two I've heard of are (i) the environmental effects of producing and storing nuclear ICBMs and (ii) in killed-virus vaccines that were killed by mercury, the amount of mercury remaining in the vaccine when it was used was about 100 times as much as it should have been. Personally I don't bet on either of those.
yssida wrote: | Do you live nearby a library? | Yes. I've checked out their best books; they're all about how to be a parent of an AS kid.
yssida wrote: | Or awareness groups in the internet. | OASIS is a good one, if your kid has Asperger's; but it's hard to find one for adults with AS.
yssida wrote: | Does government give support? | In a general way, they give support for any disability that keeps you from working -- especially if you were once a worker -- and for any mental problem. If not for that I would never have been diagnosed. But of course help is always more helpful if the helper knows what the problem is.
yssida wrote: | In a very capable government like the US', they should at least give you compensation for taking away your job. | Well, (1) they do, (2) it wasn't the government that took away my job, (3) my ex-employer had an insurance policy that pays me as much as the government does, (4) that insurance company advocates for me with the government.
yssida wrote: | And what a very mean birthday surprise too:( | Actually I've had symptoms of Asperger's since the age of seven or eight at the oldest; if a modern pshrink were transported back in time to see the eight-y/o me, s/he would at least suspect AS, if not be sure of it.
So knowing what's really wrong should help; perhaps the help I'm getting will be more helpful and complete now.
No-one could have known before 1991, when I was already 39 years old. But if I'd had appropriate treatment for the past 17 years maybe I wouldn't be disabled now.
Anyway: if I'd just developed the AS in the past year or two, yes, it would be a nasty surprise. But since I've had it all my life (probably), there're some positive aspects to finally knowing what's wrong.
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Thanks for your concern! _________________ "We're the healthiest horse in the glue factory" - Erskine Bowles, Co-Chairman of the deficit reduction commission
Last edited by eldin raigmore on Sun May 04, 2008 7:31 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Hemicomputer
Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 610 Location: Calgary, Alberta
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Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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Unfortunate.
They think I might have Aspergers, but certainly to a milder degree. Really hope things go well with finding a nearby group. _________________ Bakram uso, mi abila, / del us bakrat, dahud bakrita! |
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langover94
Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 509 Location: USA
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Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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I'm sorry eldin. I hope things get better for you. I'm sure you can find a support group somewhere, I pray that it will turn up. _________________ Join us at: The Renewed Spirits Forum!
Please join for good discussion. (We need members!) |
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eldin raigmore Admin
Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 1621 Location: SouthEast Michigan
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 7:33 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you all.
I do have some leads on some help.
Next week sometime is the earliest I could know how following them up turns out. (And not that "early next week", either.) It may take more time than that. Either way I'll let interested people know what success I have, when I have some. _________________ "We're the healthiest horse in the glue factory" - Erskine Bowles, Co-Chairman of the deficit reduction commission |
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yssida
Joined: 16 Sep 2007 Posts: 253 Location: sa jaan lang
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 7:44 am Post subject: |
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I wish you all the best in finding the appropriate leads on your ailment. Do drop by and tell us of updates. _________________ kasabot ka ani? aw di tingali ka bisaya mao na
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miaphenthus
Joined: 04 May 2008 Posts: 28
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 9:45 am Post subject: |
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I just thought that Asperger's syndrome is associated with behaviour problems. I mean, even some kids from school can possess behavioiur far worse than Asperger'. That kind of syndrome shouldn't be stopping you from doing all you want. |
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eldin raigmore Admin
Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 1621 Location: SouthEast Michigan
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 9:30 pm Post subject: |
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Before I started studying the literature my therapist recommended, that's kind of what I thought, too. Have you seen the movie "Hogfather"? I thought AS was something like the Auditors (if bad) or like Death (if good).
But it turns out my early trouble with handwriting; with receiving more than one assignment at a time; with catching "tones of voice"; and quite a few others are related. These are things I never imagined had anything to do with any disorder. Even one correlate of depression -- the tendency to view something ambivalent as negative if possible -- is also a correlate of AS. And most AS kids are easy and popular targets for bullies; and most people who've had AS also develop PTSD, because non-AS society always arranges, whether consciously or unconsciously, to turn situations that are ordinary for others into traumas for the AS people.
AS is a problem with understanding what's going on in other people's minds; it's not a "behavior problem", except in the sense of the patient not being able to understand or predict the behavior of others, and not knowing how he/she himself/herself ought to behave. _________________ "We're the healthiest horse in the glue factory" - Erskine Bowles, Co-Chairman of the deficit reduction commission |
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miaphenthus
Joined: 04 May 2008 Posts: 28
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 11:21 am Post subject: |
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I agree with you that a bad behavior shouldn't be equated with AS' symptoms; the more likely cause of that presupposed symptom tends to be related to social awareness. A likely factor might be living which solitude, where interaction with people is minimal. This could contribute to the so-called premature attitude, though intellectually outstanding. Like you said, AS is a problem with understanding what's going on in other people's minds. Like it seems that they lack sensitivity and common sense. |
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Serali Admin
Joined: 18 Apr 2007 Posts: 929 Location: The Land Of Boingies
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Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 2:24 am Post subject: |
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You know I can sort of relate to somethings as I have alot crap going on with me that's practically taking my sanity away. Since the start of this month every single day I've had episodes and it kills me.
Eldin, while I'm none the wiser I sincerely hope that you find something to help you. I really do. No one deserves anything like this. I'm with you all the way.
_________________
Tobo deu ne lenito sugu? - You kissed a frog?! |
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