Were Einstein, Newton Autistic?

Yahoo! News ^ | 5/1/03 | Reuters

[ChemistCat]

How is your son relating to the opposite sex? One of my worries is that girls will continue to "mother" him even as he matures. Good grief, the child has the girls in his class tying his shoes for him. I've had to have discussions with the teacher about getting the kids, especially the girls! to let him do more for himself. It's bad for an 11-year-old but I'm pretty apprehensive about how it's going to go as he moves into his teenage years. Most of the time I'm very positive about his Aspergers but when I contemplate his adolescence I get nervous!

(Not quite as nervous as I get when I think about my daughters' adolescences!)

[SonofRabid]

I'm a nerd and proud of it!

[SonofRabid]

I also have OCD.

[SonofRabid]

If you have any questions about Aspergers my e-mail is: hesperus39@hotmail.com

[RightWhale]

A syndrome? Many talented people prefer to immerse themselves in their subject and do something useful with their lives rather than chatting. Oops, no offense to rabid FReepers, who all have a noble mission in life. :)

[Thumper1960]

And what is talking to yourself symptomatic of??

hmmmm?

[MIhomeschooler]

My son really likes girls (of course!) but I don't think he quite knows how to actively engage them yet. Which is fine, he doesn't seem to be stressing about it. I'm sure that his behaviours that may put the girls off can be modified when he's sufficiently motivated to change them. His relating to girls really started to change in middle school, when his status as a "odd" kid became "not cool" to be around. Of course, combining his elementary (at which the girls were very helpful to him, and even defensive of him) with a couple of others in the district into the middle school kind of diluted the number of people in his classes that knew him and weren't dismayed when he displayed some "weird" characteristics. The teachers used to regale to me events at which he was ridiculed, but the fact that it didn't faze my son (who, at least to my knowledge, has never had his feelings hurt) prevented me from becoming emotionally upset by it.

I say that my son may be OCD due to his extremely strange diet. This kid lives mainly on French Fries. And before anyone flames me for neglect due to a horrible diet, listen to the whole tale. Almost any food that is salty or crunchy will do. He eats popcorn almost daily, loves the original flavor of Doritoes, pretzels, and Peppridge Farms seasoned croutons in additon to his staple of either McDonlad's or Wendy's fries. (I've often thought about purchasing stock in both those companies!) He has to have that type of fries in any restaurant we go to, no seasoned, curly or steak fries for him! Also he becomes upset by the smell of other foods (he will open the window for fresh air if he's in the car with me when bringing home Chinese food or pizza) so now my husband and I have figured out why he was so horrible in restaurants as a young toddler. If forced to, he will eat cereal (with very little milk), a few crackers (Ritz) with peanut butter on them, or if I'm feeling like really torturing him, a peeled cut up apple. He likes certain candies, and will eat chocolate ice cream and even bakes cupcakes to eat. (Yellow box mix cake with chocolate frosting) His diet is a constant source of frustration, tension, and debate in our household and we have tried everything from limiting what, when and how much he eats of his favorites, to downright denial of anything he likes and nothing has changed. I'm not positive that the OCD label fits, could be a flaky autistic trait, such as his other strange temperature-related oddity. This kid does not like to be hot. He will go out in the winter with shorts on (in public, if we'd let him), routinely strips off any pants we make him wear the minute we get home, cannot stand long sleeves, hates jackets, yet will take showers that would scald me. I can't tell you how many times I've got in the shower after him and screamed. Ahh, life!

[Rabid Dog]

Sounds like my son - but in different ways. I think it is part of the syndrome and it is very hard to separate what is Aspergers, what is OCD, what is typcial kid behavior. My son has a big food fixation - not picky in the least - but always wants to know what the next meal is (even when he isn't finished with the current meal). He is also really fussy about his clothes - things have to feel right, socks can't have seams, clothes can't be too tight, pockets have to be huge, etc. and he is always hot so it is hard to keep the clothes on for any length of time.

I wouldn't worry about the diet - it isn't worth putting stress on him about it. The "weird" social behaviour does improve with age - but I think it is more painful/embarassing for the parents than it ever is for the kid. Teacher conferences are often very funny as long as the skin is sufficiently thick. I'd say from the parent's perspective - one must have a very good sense of humor.

He likes girls alot and they tend to like him because he is very sweet and kind and concerned. He also doesn't know how to "play games" in his social relationships so girls trust him.

If you are concerned about any other OCD stuff - if he is starting to suffer from anxiety or stress from it - I have to say a little Paxil works wonders. My son gets repetitive, instrusive thoughts that really drive him crazy and the Paxil has kept it at bay and frees his brain up for the everyday stressful world.

[Rabid Dog]

In many ways these kids are the perfect spouse in that they are very trusting, loving, loyal and sweet to the bone so I am sure your son will have no trouble with finding girl friends and later a wife. And the girl will probably be very sweet, nurturing, protective and have a spine of steel when it comes to taking care of her man and her family. Sounds like a good marriage to me!!!

[Mark Felton]

You sound like my wife. She also is not a chit-chat person. However, she definitely can talk on matters of importance, or specific interest (family, hobbies, politics etc). At work she is very friendly and takes a sincere interest in personal matters with friends and colleagues.

[For reference, my wife is a very bright mathematician who manages a team of 20 engineers for the International Space Station. ]

For further reference, I married her in part because she'll happily talk away while I grunt and "unh-huh" and "yes, dear". ;^)