The Aspergians will take over!
While we know we have a clever child we have never told him as such.
Yes, it sounds odd but it’s not, really.
He knows he has Asperger’s, he knows all about the Autism Spectrum, Tourette’s, ADHD, OCD, etc, but he doesn’t know he is what some call ‘gifted’.
Because we have never used that word.
We have always encouraged him in his interests – mummifying the fish at age 9 (which I just found again in the cupboard the other week), completing several archaeological digs on the backyard, building mud brick pyramid tombs for the deceased chooks, completing 5 university subjects so far, etc – but we’ve never referred to him as ‘gifted’ or ‘a genius’, he just
is
He knows he can prattle off the names off the geological ages of the Earth, explain what the climate is like on each planet in our solar system, describe the process by which iron ore is formed within the earth and extracted by man but he still takes awhile deciphering analogue time, tying laces is a slow process and his handwriting (like most Aspies) is akin to chicken scratchings.
Some people assume that because he’s ‘so clever’ that everything comes easily to him – it doesn’t.
Nor is he a novelty, a nine-day wonder or a freak act in the sideshow of the circus as some people tend to parade their ‘gifted’ kids.
He is Aspergian, he’s an Aspie with ADHD, Tourette’s and OCD (don’t ever bump his things out of line!!!!!!) and he’s my beautifully wired pumpkin-pie who subscribes to the Big Bang theory (and tv show) and thinks most people are bizarre little freakazoids.
No, the Martians won’t be taking over; it’ll be the Aspergians.
Be afraid, bizarre little freakazoids…be very afraid!
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I love this post!
@bookcloseouts@xanga – It seems that the two tend to go hand in hand quite often though.
Aspies (both recognized and the simply “off”) are simply the next step in the evolutionary process. *shrugs* We will take over the world… we already have really. You bizarre little freakazoids are so much more dependent on us than you realize… LOL 🙂
Asperger’s and giftedness is not a good combination. It makes it so much harder to integrate socially.
You know, I think a lot of Aspies get the complementary/co-morbid diagnoses of OCD and ADHD when in fact they are not truly either of those things — most Asperger kids I’ve worked with have rigid routines and hyperactivity due to their anxiety and autistic traits (they use their behaviours to create ‘calming routines’ and/or have difficulty with their sensory integration) and the attention deficit portion coincides with their auditory processing difficulties (common in Asperger’s). I think the label “Aspergian” (I like it btw!) is big enough to encompass these additional challenges without slapping on the additional labels. I also recognize that you did not give these labels to your son but rather some doctor(s) came up with them — I just wanted to give you my opinion about them.
So why don’t you let him start a blog he sounds very interesting!!
You have all been warned.
I love this post! That is all I can really say about it!