Autism / Autism Spectrum Support Group

I have issues communicating verbally compared to texting or typing. It sometimes feel as though when I am on the computer, I am able to think clearer. I think that is due to the fact I can take my time and not just due to the fact I can edit my thoughts. I can also SEE what I have written and what others what me to see.
I am much of visual person and I believe a lot of autistics are too. It helps seeing what is written and taking my time. It also means that it is easier to interpert things as how people wish me to and not just how I hear it. Often, my brain just mixes up things if I hear them only.

Yeah i am the same believe it or not. (am now starting to think maybe its where ethan gets it from) thing is like you say on here you got a delete key and can edit what you are gonna say before you say it.
Anyway the change in him is enormous. I am staggered. When he talks he struggles with words but texting you would never know its incredible.

El

I think that is great! As an adult ASPIE, I wish they had texting when I was young, boy would it have saved me a lot of pain and suffering. But, I eventually learned to write letters whenever I had something to say. I still do that today. Your son is very fortunate to have a mom who is willing to think outside the box and who is willing to see him as he is and help him find the tools to enable him to express himself so eloquently!!! G.O.O.D. J.O.B. GOOD JOB! GOOD JOB!

Actually i am dad but hey thanks anyway lol. Cant take complete credit it kinda happened by accident but then sometimes the best things in life do happen by accident. Quite often you find your destiny on the path you chose to avoid it.
But yeah it works, what can i say, much happier much more confident little boy and his texts are hillarious for real. I mean i always knew he had a sence of humour but it really comes out in text format.
Thing is after it came to me i started thinking about how things change. As you just said in our day (dont mean to cast a figure on your age or anything) we didnt have mobiles or computers and i got to thinking how the technology we have today can be employed to overcome disability. Take for instance professor stephen hawkins. I mean god bless him you cant get much more physically disabled than that but with technology he can create novels that read as they a written...by a genius.
I guess you have to move with the times just as the recongnition of autism has and if you employ the same thinking there are answers available now that can help.

And one other thing i have learned about my son.....

I have always been protective towards him. Its not suprising i have a terrible anxiety disorder and BP caused by trauma in my life. Part of that trauma was loosing around 7 children before birth so yeah i am protective and i think now with the benefit of hindsight i have been in the past guilty of wrapping him up in cotton and perhaps not pushing him enough and i think in scenarios like this there is a danger to that because where the spectrum is high functioning enough to allow it you have to push these kids.
Myself and his mother split up some months ago and it WAS hard on him. He chose to live with me and during that time we were alone i adopted this theory of "pushing" him to be more than he was and i have to tell you not wishing to blow my own trumpet but this kid is able to do a lot more than i previously thought. This new regime i have adopted really is paying dividends. I push him, he works at stuff and when he succeeds i reward him with technology that helps him in other ways.
I think its all about how you think and in my own experience i think the thing that has held him back the most was simply my way of thinking.

Guess sometimes when your child has a problem the first place you should look to to aliviate it is yourself.

El

(thas short for elament not my real name LMAO)

Hey El, sorry I just assumed you were Mom! (I guess I was coming from my own perspective). You know, I think I'm going to suggest this to my daughter. My grandson, who is 7 years old, shows many signs of Aperger's and has some issues communicating verbally, as well. He is sooooo smart and really gets that technical stuff as well. This may really be an avenue for him, too. Thanks a bunch for sharing! By the way, how did you go about getting a diagnosis for your son? I don't have a compass in that area since I am a self-diagnosed Aspie (just a little over 5 years). Any information would be greatly appreciated! If I can save my grandson the years of heartache and confusion that I went through I WILL!!! I can only imagine how different my life would have been had we known what was going with me when I was his age! Oh well, I have survived and I really like the woman I am today. But, the road could have been a bit more pleasant for me and my family as well.

Yeah agreed, i have thought for a long time that myself.

Thing is i am in the UK and it works different here i believe BUT i was aware for a long time he was "different" and i asked my health worker for an appointment with a specialist and went from there. The process was actually not that drawn out. He went for an innitial assessment and then for another in front of a panel of specialists and because this disorder is so hard to ballpark they all have to be in agreement to get the diagnosis. Once you do its all pretty much plain sailing.
Also here teachers play a massive part in diagnosis, i dont know if that is the same over there, but if i were you i would start with any child services you have.

Good luck and yeah the mobile phone trick is awesome and ethan loves it uses it for everything. Caught him the other day on you tube! His "thing" is TY beanie baby cats and he was watching beanie baby wrestling on you tube. I could hear him roaring with laughter and went up to see what all the commotion was about watched and it was danging hillarious lol.
So yeah if you can afford it a smart phone is the way forward. It does more and has internet access (which yes you have access control over). The one he has is a samsung but i believe they are having some "issues" over there right now with apple over the iphone so i dunno but anyway good luck

El

Thank you for posting this. My son is 23 and it is suspect he is in the autism spectrum. We go to see the psychologist tomorrow for the testing results.

I thought I would come here to see if I could gather any information as I know very little about autism.

Low and behold the first post I read (yours) actually helped a great deal. My son does not text much but on the computer he is a whiz and communicates much better.

Defo worth looking into and by the way OT but i lurrrrvvvveeee your avatar.

Seen you around and noticed it before, think it was on the bipolar group.

El

I find the same thing when I text. I never know when to talk or what to say when I do in person, but I can hold a conversation when it's typed far easier.