My son is autistic.

[SheilaT]

And I have never once thought that vaccines had anything to do with it. Quite literally from the day he was born he wasn't quite like others, even though it took me eighteen years to figure out there was a name for his kind of being different -- Asperger's Syndrome.
I get quite angry at those who try to convince me that vaccines are why he is the way he is.

I also know his autism is not because I was a refrigerator mother, or because of something I ate or drank while he was in utero. For whatever reason, he came into this world with a different way of being, thinking, behaving, than most others. In fact, he has told me (he's 27 now) that he is quite content being the way he is, and would NOT want to be "normal". He is simply one of the most wonderful people I know, and I, too, would not want him to be any different from the way he is.

[TZ]

1. You should post that in GD

I known autism can be very difficult and parents deserve better than being taken advantage of by unethical scumbags like Wakefield or idiots like Jenny McCarthy. They also do need to understand that it's genetic and like most things nobody's fault. You sound like you would make a good spokesperson for Asbergers actually.

[SheilaT]

3. Maybe I will, just not tonight.

One of the reasons it took so very long to figure out that my son wasn't just a little different from others was that when he was four years old he lost all of his hair to an auto-immune disorder called alopecia areata. He got the most extreme form, universalis, in which he lost all of his body hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, the whole works. So he looked different. And sometimes was treated a little different. I was never willing to allow that to be an excuse, but it allowed me to overlook more overt differences for many years.

I also realize that more severe autism is truly devastating, and I can't imagine what it would be like to have a child who simply never communicated with the outside world. As it is, I love my son's quirkiness and his smarts.

He also has a younger brother, who is about as opposite from Asperger's as can exist, but who also has alopecia areata. Younger son lost his hair at age 10.

It's all been an interesting journey.

[Odin2005]

2. I am sick of people telling me I am "broken" and need to be "fixed".

Personly, I am offended by the parents that believe this crap because so many seem to have a "took away the child they were supposed to have" attitude.

[realisticphish]

4. right

Many in psychology misunderstand this idea too. The idea of psychology fixing people is stupid, and not at all the point. Psychology/psychiatry is about allowing people to be happy and comfortable, subjectively. If someone is happy being OCD, or having any other disorder, and it doesn't negatively affect their lives, then happy trails, and good luck. None of my business :shrug:

[SheilaT]

5. I recently became a hypnotherapist.

And in my training, the very firm belief is that there is nothing wrong with the client (other than those who are genuinely mentally ill, but I'm not qualified to be working with those people anyway), but that your subconscious mind has in the past made some choices that may not be working so well for you at the present time.

What's so great about that is that it doesn't make the client wrong, but if they really do want to make some kind of a change, let's do it.

[cleanhippie]

15. Is there any actual scientific evidence of studies that conclusivly prove hypnosis works?

I treat it with much skepticism, but really cannot find anything where there is true scientific data supporting it. Can you point me to some?

[LeftishBrit]

16. While there aren't that many good studies in the area, there are some that do suggest that hypnosis

can be effective in treating certain conditions, e.g. nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy.

http://apps.isiknowledge.com/full_record.do?product=WOS&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=6&SID=Z2NADl5HpfAKhjfb1Bm&page=2&doc=12


Certainly there is neuroimaging evidence that hypnosis can influence patterns of brain activation:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ch.386/abstract

[cleanhippie]

18. Interesting. Thanks for those links.

I will read into it. There certainly seem to be some data that shows it is good for helping to focus ones thoughts to achieve a certain goal.

I guess that when the layman hears the term "hypnosis", we think of a person in a trance-like state, capable of doing the bidding of the one who hypnotized them. Maybe a better, more modern and applicable term can be coined.

[SheilaT]

17. Yes, there is.

People get better a whole lot faster with hypnosis -- when used appropriately -- than with conventional talk therapies. It won't cure disease, it won't fix a broken leg. But it can cure fears and phobias in just one session. Make losing weight and smoking cessation go faster and be permanent. Just google Hypnosis + proof and you'll find what you're looking for.

One problem about hypnosis is that most people only know about it from stage shows or TV and movies. Stage hypnosis is one thing entirely, and can be quite entertaining. What's shown on TV or movies is often highly, highly inaccurate. Probably the most pertinent thing about being in hypnosis is that you don't lose consciousness, you often are hyper-aware of your surroundings, and you are in control at all times.

[cleanhippie]

19. Thanks.

As I replied to the poster above, I think that the layperson has a very different idea of what hypnosis is when they hear it. Maybe a better, more modern and applicable term needs to be coined to describe it?

[HuckleB]

20. Steven Novella's take.

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=35

[woo me with science]

14. Distress or actual interference with life is required for many DSM diagnoses, including OCD.

It is necessary that "the obsessions or compulsions cause marked distress, are time consuming (take more than 1 hour a day), or significantly interfere with the person's normal routine, occupational (or academic) functioning, or usual social activities or relationships."

Asperger's disorder also may not be diagnosed unless it "causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning."

Of note, even though you can't diagnose obsessive-compulsive disorder without the presence of distress or significant interference in life activities, you CAN diagnose obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD rather than OCD) in cases where the person's obsessions and compulsions don't bother him but drive everyone else crazy.

[Odin2005]

21. I'm a bit OCPD. I prefer to call it "Perfectionistic Personality Disorder"...

...so as to not get it confused with OCD.

[mr blur]

6. One of our sons has Asperger's

Took us years to get a diagnosis. He was always "different". Didn't get on with school at all. Now he's 18 and gone to college to study Ornamental Fish Management (one of his "obsessions" - you know what I mean - that he's turning into a Life for himself. )
He likes being different, says he wouldn't want to be "boring".

[realisticphish]

8. exactly

he's on the right track and happy with himself. Any good psychologist would smile, wave, and say "have a great life"

[LeftishBrit]

7. Great post!

The vaccine/autism paranoia is very bad for, and offensive to, people with autism and their families.

[Deep13]

9. I would like to be able to relate to people better than I do.

Still, I feel like I would be giving up something if I were suddenly "normal."

[TZ]

10. You know, from what I've seen,

you relate to people just fine. Having met you a couple of times, I would never ever think you were anything but "normal" or as "normal" as people I like are I suppose...;)

[Deep13]

12. Well, thank drugs for that! nt

[SheilaT]

11. I kind of think my son

feels the same way about wishing he could relate to people better. It's hard to know, and since I'm Mom, there's a lot he doesn't tell me. And shouldn't tell me. I do know that he would like to have some kind of girlfriend relationship, but is simply too shy to ask anyone out for a date. And of course, that whole problem of picking up on social cues gets in the way.

I can see that while my son will always have Asperger's, as time goes on he actually is less isolated than he used to be. Having a job is a huge help. His current job is at the CAD lab at a junior college, so he's always interacting with people. In high school he worked two Christmases at the Warner Brother's Store, and then for a while for a movie theater chain. Dealing with the public, as he had to in those jobs, did help him a lot.

[Deep13]

13. Right, what comes naturally to most is a learned skill for us...

...and experience causes improvement.