"MarkA" <manthony@stopspam.net> wrote in message
news:pan.2005.08.18.22.04.42.235949@stopspam.net...

I'm just curious. My wife is convinced that I have it, along with 2 of
my sons and my daughter. My wife, and our #2 son, are the only
"neurotypical" ones in the family. We tend to focus very intently on
whatever problem we are working on, delight in trying to figure out how
things work, have difficulty correctly interpreting social cues, and are
absolutely terrible at any type of athletics.

How many people here would be comfortable with that description of
themselves? I wonder what percentage of Aspergians are atheists, and
what percentage of atheists could be considered as having Asperger's?

I have no idea, but I don't have it - Neither does my husband or our
daughter.

In article <pan.2005.08.18.22.04.42.235949@stopspam.net>, MarkA
<manthony@stopspam.net> wrote:

I'm just curious. My wife is convinced that I have it, along with 2 of
my
sons and my daughter. My wife, and our #2 son, are the only
"neurotypical" ones in the family. We tend to focus very intently on
whatever problem we are working on, delight in trying to figure out how
things work, have difficulty correctly interpreting social cues, and are
absolutely terrible at any type of athletics.

How many people here would be comfortable with that description of
themselves? I wonder what percentage of Aspergians are atheists, and
what
percentage of atheists could be considered as having Asperger's?

My partner's youngest son (he's 14 now) was diagnosed with AS about a
year ago, along with bipolar disorder. We've had a rather tough time
with him, particularly the socialization aspects. It severely impacts
his ability to function in a classroom setting.

He's extremely smart, extremely verbal, extremely assertive and often
quick to anger. His inability to respond to social cues makes that a
volatile situation, although I need to stress that he is rarely violent
(and even then, no more than a typical teenager).

Currently, he's taking a cocktail of medications for the bipolar,
including ritalin, depakote, seroquel & celexa. There are no
pharmaceutical therapies for AS, although he has a therapist, a
therapeutic aide and a full time doctor working on his behalf. His
mother, my partner, is extremely hands-on and knows more about this
than many professionals.

I'm not sure how much more to tell you about this without violating his
privacy but I'm curious about how this has impacted your life and that
of your two kids.

Also, you are aware that AS is a form of autism. I wonder if you
managed to catch the article in a recent Rolling Stone magazine by
Robert Kennedy Jr. about the correlation between autism and certain
mercury-based preservatives used in childhood vaccinations. You, of
course, are too old to have been affected by this, but your kids might
not be.

In article <pan.2005.08.18.22.04.42.235949@stopspam.net>, MarkA
<manthony@stopspam.net> wrote:

I'm just curious. My wife is convinced that I have it, along with 2 of
my sons and my daughter. My wife, and our #2 son, are the only
"neurotypical" ones in the family. We tend to focus very intently on
whatever problem we are working on, delight in trying to figure out how
things work, have difficulty correctly interpreting social cues, and are
absolutely terrible at any type of athletics.

How many people here would be comfortable with that description of
themselves? I wonder what percentage of Aspergians are atheists, and
what percentage of atheists could be considered as having Asperger's?

My partner's youngest son (he's 14 now) was diagnosed with AS about a year
ago, along with bipolar disorder. We've had a rather tough time with him,
particularly the socialization aspects. It severely impacts his ability to
function in a classroom setting.

He's extremely smart, extremely verbal, extremely assertive and often
quick to anger. His inability to respond to social cues makes that a
volatile situation, although I need to stress that he is rarely violent
(and even then, no more than a typical teenager).

Currently, he's taking a cocktail of medications for the bipolar,
including ritalin, depakote, seroquel & celexa. There are no
pharmaceutical therapies for AS, although he has a therapist, a
therapeutic aide and a full time doctor working on his behalf. His mother,
my partner, is extremely hands-on and knows more about this than many
professionals.

I'm not sure how much more to tell you about this without violating his
privacy but I'm curious about how this has impacted your life and that of
your two kids.

Also, you are aware that AS is a form of autism. I wonder if you

to catch the article in a recent Rolling Stone magazine by Robert
Kennedy Jr. about the correlation between autism and certain
mercury-based preservatives used in childhood vaccinations. You, of
course, are too old to have been affected by this, but your kids might
not be.

-chib

My partner's youngest son (he's 14 now) was diagnosed with AS about a
year ago, along with bipolar disorder. We've had a rather tough time
with him, particularly the socialization aspects. It severely impacts
his ability to function in a classroom setting.

I'm not sure how much more to tell you about this without violating his
privacy but I'm curious about how this has impacted your life and that
of your two kids.

Also, you are aware that AS is a form of autism. I wonder if you
managed to catch the article in a recent Rolling Stone magazine by
Robert Kennedy Jr. about the correlation between autism and certain
mercury-based preservatives used in childhood vaccinations. You, of
course, are too old to have been affected by this, but your kids might
not be.

MarkA wrote:

I'm just curious. My wife is convinced that I have it, along with 2 of
my sons and my daughter. My wife, and our #2 son, are the only
"neurotypical" ones in the family. We tend to focus very intently on
whatever problem we are working on, delight in trying to figure out how
things work, have difficulty correctly interpreting social cues, and
are absolutely terrible at any type of athletics.

How many people here would be comfortable with that description of
themselves? I wonder what percentage of Aspergians are atheists, and
what percentage of atheists could be considered as having Asperger's?

Here is a definiton and it does not sound like you fit the description:
Note especially the part that starts with "Though grammatical..."
Asperger's Disorder is a milder variant of Autistic Disorder. Both
Asperger's Disorder and Autistic Disorder are in fact subgroups of a
larger diagnostic category. This larger category is called either
Autistic Spectrum Disorders, mostly in European countries, or Pervasive
Developmental Disorders ("PDD"), in the United States. In Asperger's
Disorder, affected individuals are characterized by social isolation and
eccentric behavior in childhood. There are impairments in two-sided
social interaction and non-verbal communication. Though grammatical,
their speech is peculiar due to abnormalities of inflection and a
repetitive pattern. Clumsiness is prominent both in their articulation
and gross motor behavior. They usually have a circumscribed area of
interest which usually leaves no space for more age appropriate, common
interests. Some examples are cars, trains, French Literature, door
knobs, hinges, cappucino, meteorology, astronomy or history. The name
"Asperger" comes from Hans Asperger, an Austrian physician who first
described the syndrome in 1944. An excellent translation of Dr.
Asperger's original paper is provided by Dr. Uta Frith in her Autism and
Asperger Syndrome.

http://www.aspergers.com/aspclin.htm

MarkA wrote:

I'm just curious. My wife is convinced that I have it, along with 2 of
my sons and my daughter. My wife, and our #2 son, are the only
"neurotypical" ones in the family. We tend to focus very intently on
whatever problem we are working on, delight in trying to figure out how
things work, have difficulty correctly interpreting social cues, and are
absolutely terrible at any type of athletics.

How many people here would be comfortable with that description of
themselves? I wonder what percentage of Aspergians are atheists, and
what percentage of atheists could be considered as having Asperger's?

Count me in. I've been diagnosed a couple of years ago. I don't care,
really. As for athletics, I was always painfully bad in team sports, but
quite good in individual sports like badminton.

When I first learned about Asperger's, I saw a psychiatrist behind my
girlfriend's back. Then a few months ago, my gf told me : "I know what you
have! Autism!". She thought she was joking! I then told her about the
syndrome. She was not surprised.

Anyhow, we live fairly normal lives.

MarkA wrote:

I'm just curious. My wife is convinced that I have it, along with 2 of my
sons and my daughter. My wife, and our #2 son, are the only
"neurotypical" ones in the family. We tend to focus very intently on
whatever problem we are working on, delight in trying to figure out how
things work, have difficulty correctly interpreting social cues, and are
absolutely terrible at any type of athletics.

How many people here would be comfortable with that description of
themselves? I wonder what percentage of Aspergians are atheists, and what
percentage of atheists could be considered as having Asperger's?

I don't know about atheists, but it sounds like about half of the
engineers I know of.

Once upon a time in alt.atheism, dear sweet MarkA (manthony@stopspam.net)
made the light shine upon us with this:

http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/aswhatisit.html

"By definition, those with AS have a normal IQ and many individuals
(although not all), exhibit exceptional skill or talent in a specific
area. Because of their high degree of functionality and their naiveté,
those with AS are often viewed as eccentric or odd and can easily become
victims of teasing and bullying. While language development seems, on the
surface, normal, individuals with AS often have deficits in pragmatics and
prosody. Vocabularies may be extraordinarily rich and some children sound
like "little professors." However, persons with AS can be extremely
literal and have difficulty using language in a social context."

Yup, that's me. Of course, I have no problems communicating on Usenet,
since I have all the time in the world to conjure up witty replies, look
up the words I can't presently think of... I can't do that at a party, so
I end up getting into the consumables, unless I find someone to talk to
who's a good listener, and who's genuinely interested in me. That rarely
happens, of course, so I end up spending much of my time alone or with my
immediate family, or doing the one thing I do the best, writing music.

Over the years I've grown to accept my lot in life, and have learned to
enjoy solitude immensely. Even my career in music preparation involves a
one-on-one relationship with a score page, and most recently a computer.
The last motorcycle trip I took - a three day journey from LA to Southern
Oregon and back - was taken all by myself. I even drink alone, which many
professionals in the medical and psychological fields consider to be one
of the main signs of alcoholism. I like beer. But I know I'm not an
alcoholic. Perhaps AS supports this claim...

Sounds like every professor I've ever had. :-)

The description fits me to a tee (minus the athletics), much to the
chagrin of my wife. In regards to sports, I can thank my burning
interest in playing them to an overly competitive and "encouraging"
eastern European father.