Yesterday, I had a very informative conversation with a bright, professional man. He told me about his son, who he knew from early on that something was not right. He said when he saw the little boy lining up his cars repeatedly by color and size, having trouble getting along with other children, and having poor eye contact, that help was needed. Fortunately, the parents were able to afford speech and occupational theray and didn't have to rely on special education services. Now the boy is in a small private school and doing well. He is slowly learning to make friends.
The most interesting part of the conversation was when the father said that he thought he also had a "touch of Asperger's. He said, as a child that he too had difficulty with eye contact and as he grew up had to teach himself to do this. He, too, preferred to be around adults and stil has difficulty with large social gatherings. The child's pediatrician never discussed Asperger's with the parents, which seems to happen too much of the time. The youth seems to handle his difficulties well and once found a book of his father's and said after looking at it, "I am like the people they are talking about in this book." The father explained that Asperger's Syndrome was like a computer system where different Apps go with different systems. I thought that was an interesting description. How lucky the boy was to have such understanding and great parents. Too bad the doctor was of no help.
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