My roomate has Autism.

[Geekbabe]

Datalink,

I have an idea that might be helpful. If you'd like I'll speak with my son and ask him if he would be willing to offer you some advice
as to how to communicate with your roomate.He can either register here and communicate with you via pm or perhaps you could add each other to you AIM or yahoo messenger lists.



LMK,if getting some advice straight from the horse's mouyth so to speak would be helpful to you.

 

[reitz]

baffled2,

Forgive my obvious ignorance, but I have a few questions:

How old is your son? Does he attend a regular public school?

What "type" of autism does he have? I've worked with many kids with Down's Syndrome, and I've always (obviously wrongly) viewed autism as similar to Down's, but with certain mental facilities either unaffected or greatly enhanced. Until I read the website linked in one of the first posts, I never realized there were different "types" of autism.

I assume your son knows he has autism; do most realize they have it, or can only those who are high functioning recognize it? Can your son recognize the differences between himself and a "normal" person, and see how they affect him, or does he just know the differences exist? My cousin has a very severe case of Down's (he is almost 26, but his mental development remains around the age of 3 or 4), and he likely is completely unaware of his disability. How does your son handle the knowledge that he is "not like the other kids"?

Can a high functioning person with autism like your son learn to function completely independently in life (go to school, get a job, and live on his own), or will they always need some form of assistance?

I apologize if my ignorance is offensive; this thread caught my interest and I'm trying to learn a little more.

 

[Geekbabe]

<< baffled2,

Forgive my obvious ignorance, but I have a few questions:

"How old is your son? Does he attend a regular public school?"

Matt is 14, he attends a regular school with supports, he spends part of his day in what's called a resource room, he goes to advanced math,science classes with an aide accompanying him, he also participates in regular phys ed and an additional phys ed class for the disabled,in addition to Autism he has some limb girdle weaknessness and some gait issues.

"What "type" of autism does he have? I've worked with many kids with Down's Syndrome, and I've always (obviously wrongly) viewed autism as similar to Down's, but with certain mental facilities either unaffected or greatly enhanced. Until I read the website linked in one of the first posts, I never realized there were different "types" of autism."

Autism or the "Pervasive Developmental Disorders" are a wide spectrum of problems,ranging from milder speech/language issues to
totally non-verbal folks who need assistance with all aspects of daily living, many Autistics are retarded however many are not.The greatest challenge with assessing IQ is that most tests are language based. If you see an autistic person who's verbal IQ score is
much lower than his performanced base score don't trust as gospel the verbally based portion of the test results.

My son is DX as "Classically Autistic" ie "Rainman

I assume your son knows he has autism; do most realize they have it, or can only those who are high functioning recognize it? Can your son recognize the differences between himself and a "normal" person, and see how they affect him, or does he just know the differences exist? My cousin has a very severe case of Down's (he is almost 26, but his mental development remains around the age of 3 or 4), and he likely is completely unaware of his disability. How does your son handle the knowledge that he is "not like the other kids"?

I cannot speak for other autistics,I can tell you that my son knows he is different and at times it bothers him greatly.Nobody likes to be bullied or mistreated,my son is no different

As to emotional development, in the disabled community there are divids just as there are in the normal community.My son has great difficulty with speech/language, and social situations, he however has interests that are entirely normal and age appropriate
for a teenage boy.He likes WWF, Dreamcast, his computer, he is an avid Hockey fan and he likes girls,blondes most particularly.What's sad about this is that he's started drifting away from the couple friends that he had from his special needs
class as they having different problems (retardation) generally have interests more appropriate to younger children

'Can a high functioning person with autism like your son learn to function completely independently in life (go to school, get a job, and live on his own), or will they always need some form of assistance?"


Some can, the vast majority though will need some help, remember the tendency of an autistic is to retreat into their own world
and avoid people.The other problem is that my son cannot generalize his experiences, and tends to rely on "scripts" to handle social situations,unfortunately there aren't scripts to cover every situation that can come up in life,having somebody there for support and help ,particularly in emergencies will probably be needed.

We are in process this year of pushing my son to see how independently he can function.He has a library card
and uses it, he regularly goes to the store for me,he goes on his own to the barber,we are now learning local bus/train schedules
and practicing traveling independently.

I apologize if my ignorance is offensive; this thread caught my interest and I'm trying to learn a little more. >>





There's no offense taken and there's no such thing as a stupid question

 

[Jokeram]

<< My 24 year old brother was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 years old. His case is a lot more severe than datalink7's roomate, or baffled2's son. My brother, Matt, is a low-functioning autisitc, which means he doesn't talk (never has), and can't take care of himself for the most part. My mother has to give him a shower, make sure he goes to bed, give him his meds, etc. He has good comprehension skills though, if you ask him to do something that is within reason he can do it. So anyways, my point is that there are all different levels of autism, and not everyone with this condition is like Rainman.

Dan >>



My nephew also has low-functioning autism and his mom has to take care of him all the time.. he is only 9 though. He doesn't talk either but understands what you are saying to him, though he will choose to ignore it whenever he wants too (most of the times )

 

[RambleOn]

<< I've worked with many kids with Down's Syndrome, and I've always (obviously wrongly) viewed autism as similar to Down's, but with certain mental facilities either unaffected or greatly enhanced. Until I read the website linked in one of the first posts, I never realized there were different "types" of autism. >>



Actually my brother Matt looks like any other 24 year old and is quite handsome, that is why it can be startling to a stranger when out of the blue he starts laughing inappropriately, or makes groaning noises when in public. (One thing he enjoys is going to the supermarket with our mom).

 

[Geekbabe]

<<

<< I've worked with many kids with Down's Syndrome, and I've always (obviously wrongly) viewed autism as similar to Down's, but with certain mental facilities either unaffected or greatly enhanced. Until I read the website linked in one of the first posts, I never realized there were different "types" of autism. >>



Actually my brother Matt looks like any other 24 year old and is quite handsome, that is why it can be startling to a stranger when out of the blue he starts laughing inappropriately, or makes groaning noises when in public. (One thing he enjoys is going to the supermarket with our mom). >>



My son has the face of an angel,always has,you can't tell he's got problems just by looking at him which has it's good and bad points.

 

[notfred]

It shouldn't matter that he's autistic. Whether it's his fault or not, he's still being obnoxius. If you don't want to live with someone who can't control themselves, thwn you shouln't have to. It's not like he's your son ort something.