Asperger's and Facial Expressions

My rant for tonight. The "You're not an Aspie because you're too expressive." I apologize, I am extremely tired so this may be very rambling and less articulate/coherent. With the Dx criteria for the DSM-4 I mixed up the numbers, I meant you can have 3 out of 4 and not have the 1st (the one dealing with the use of nonverbal communication). I'm exhausted. Sorry about the buzzing. Uploaded before reviewing.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Aspergers
• Aspie
• AS
• symptoms
• expressions
• communication
• fake

[JustEmbers]

It started when several years ago I knew a kid with Asperger's, and it hit me pretty hard that he was a WHOLE lot like I was when I was a teen (right down to frequently tipping/stumbling a bit when sitting down or standing up, bumping his shoulder into door frames when he walked through them, trying very hard to fit it but having it go wrong and make him only appear more awkward, having trouble taking turns in conversations etc.).

[JustEmbers]

@JustEmbers I blew it off though, not knowing anything at all about Asperger's, and not realizing those things were part of his Asperger's. I just thought we were a lot alike, and went about my life. Several years later, an acquaintence I see a few times a year, who teaches special ed, started working exclusively with kids with HFA/Asperger's. She'd come over and tell me about the kids, their challenges and strengths, and it blew me away. I was hearing her, essentially, talk about my childhood.

[JustEmbers]

@JustEmbers I still sort of blew it off. My daughter, however, for the first 18 mo.-2 years of her life would almost never smile. It had me seriously worried. She also wouldn't play with her toys, she'd study them... intensely. Her language development, however, has been very precocious. I started looking online, and when I tried to find anything about things like not smiling much and not "playing" with toys, combined with precocious language, guess what I came up with, over and over again?

[JustEmbers]

@JustEmbers I also kept seeing that there was a huge genetic factor, and it ran in families. Between my daughter's traits (oh, and at 3 she uses frequently formal language ex. "earlier" vs. "before"), my acquaintances stories matching my childhood so closely, and having known a kid with AS who reminded me of me in such startling ways, I found a clinician who is experienced in working with people on the spectrum. I told her I wanted to get tested, she tested me, and guess what? I have AS.

[FatherToaSon]

This is absolutly not rambling. I was myself recently diagnosed with Aspergers´s Syndrome. During my diagnosis they showed me what criteria I had and not had and explained just as you did now about the 2 out of 4 etc . I am also doing expressions but I also miss out on reading them. I was facinated to learn about that there is alot to read from people except for their words. Also makes me abit annoyed I miss out on these signals. But Now when I know I can read up on it .

[JustEmbers]

@FatherToaSon Thank you for commenting. I get really tired of hearing people say "All Aspies___." We're all individuals, right? It's always good to hear from other Aspies who are more expressive, but often ignored by other Aspies (or are attacked by them) because we are. It doesn't mean we don't have Asperger's, and it doesn't make us less.

[Protocultist]

This rigid diagnostic system is perhaps as, if not moreso, rigid than the AS itself! It can make it very hard to outline any coping strategies for dealing with the complications of living with what can be a crippling neurological disorder. Is it possible that AS features dual psychological/emotional dimensions and that some may leans towards the former or the latter? I believe that my AS, though sharing certain traits common to all aspies, is more psychological in nature than emotional.

[2wrkrbs]

Spot On! Thank U 4 making this video <3

[more2debra]

No contradiction saying ‘only call self Aspie if formally diagnosed’ and then say ‘diagnosed Aspie isn’t despite diagnosis because they are expressive’. People can feel a person has been misdiagnosed but still have the thought about reference in general. One is an opinion about ‘reference’ and the other a doubt about ‘diagnosis ’. However, it doesn’t mean we can’t be expressive. We learn manually things that we are deemed not to be able to. The milder amongst us can be very expressive.

[OrandarO]

1st. Here's my rant..I have a daughter with a moderate cognitive delay and Aspergers. I absolutely hate to death the word "Aspies". It's a word created by lazy people who wanted to put a cute spin on it. It's not cute. 2nd. I don't think that you have Aspergers type Autism. Although the autism spectrum is a vast diagnosis, there are many variants of it. The specialists describe my daughters as Aspergers type autism, so it's not like she is a square peg that fits into a square diagnosis hole.

[NittonNio3]

Actually it can be almost invisible to another person if one have Aspergers. So you should never for ANY reason say "That person can't have Asperger's." There are so many things that can be difficult without even showing.

[Storybrett]

It has its advantages too, most aspies look way younger than they are, because they dont move their faces much

[shexdensmore]

I think we would click well for a lot of things. I too have Aspeger's. I through the help of my mother and family in general have helped me over come many things. The funny thing i that it affects me in a lot of different ways. I use metaphors and i guess stories to explain how i feel about stuff. But to best describe the affect it has on me is to think of it as a grain of sand. You would think it would do much, but it can blind you if you let it stay stuck in the corner of our eye,

[Jaket2000]

They never got a concept of a spectrum disorder. Like when I was diagnosed I fit majority of the "categories" for it. Almost all my friends can never see it in me that I show no signs of it or where ever aware of the social therapy classes. I do control mine but I got days where I lose total control and "short out." Nobody never had ever seen me revert from it.

[feralucce]

@CliveGains80s I can, and did

[feralucce]

I am curious... does anyone else hear the high pitched sound in this video? Not complaining, just inquiring...