My ASD Child

"After researching the info on this site, my husband and I believe our child is on the autism spectrum. I'm all for going to a doctor to have him diagnosed, but my husband is dead set against it because he thinks our son will be discriminated against once he has 'the label'. SO... my question is does a diagnosis cause more harm than good?" Diagnosis has traditionally been the route by which children with Asperger’s (AS) or High-Functioning Autism (HFA) and their parents have accessed specialist services. But this tradition has grown out of the services for kids on the autism spectrum who were severely disabled by their disorder under all circumstances. The group of children with AS and HFA include those whose social impairment is arguable. What about the father whose child is diagnosed with AS, and his wife begins to think of her frustrations with her husband during the marriage? Does the husband become socially impaired because he is suspected of having AS?

Is it possible that everyone has a touch of Asperger’s (AS), also called High-Functioning Autism (HFA)? Think about it: all the features that characterize AS and HFA can be found in varying degrees in the “normal” population. For example: A lot of people can engage in tasks (sometimes mundane ones) for hours and hours. A number of “normal” people have outstandingly good rote memories and even retain eidetic imagery into adult life.  Collecting objects (e.g., stamps, old glass bottles, railway engine numbers, etc.) are socially accepted hobbies. Everyone differs in their levels of skill in social interaction and in their ability to read nonverbal social cues.  Many individuals are visual, three-dimensional thinkers. Many people can pay attention to detail – sometimes with painstaking perfection. Many who are capable and independent as grown-ups have special interests that they pursue with marked enthusiasm. Most men - and many women - prefer logic over emotion. Pedantic spee

"Do some teens with ASD make awkward advances to the opposite sex, which are viewed as harassment? Our 17 y.o. was recently called down to the Dean's office for 'making inappropriate advances' to a girl he has a crush on!" Perhaps the most obvious trait of Asperger’s (AS) and High Functioning Autism (HFA) is impairment of two-way social interaction. This is not due primarily to a desire to withdraw from social contact. Rather, the problem arises from a lack of ability to understand and use the rules governing social behavior. These rules are complex, unwritten and unstated, constantly changing, and affect choice of clothing, eye contact, gesture, movement, posture, proximity to others, speech, and many other aspects of behavior. The degree of skill in this area varies among “typical” people, but those with AS and HFA are outside the normal range, for example: Many are over-sensitive to criticism and suspicious of others. Some have a history of rather bi