Asperger's & Autism Forum

Couples who have a child with autism are much less likely to have more children compared to other parents, a new study finds.

One expert wasn't surprised by the finding.

"Clearly, parenting a child with an autism spectrum disorder requires a huge commitment of time, energy and money; this is a stress to couples and impacts siblings," said Dr. Ron Marino, associate chairman of the department of pediatrics at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y.

"There is no surprise that many people...

I was reading some posts on a thread about friendships between people with different personality types when I came across a couple of posts that confused me. The general gist of both was that the posters had friends (this is the word they used) who thought ill of the posters because of political and religious differences. These posts did not seem to express distress about this state of affairs; if anything, they expressed amusement.

I don't feel much of a need for friendships, so that is...

A century-old therapy for African sleeping sickness has been used in a new study to reverse symptoms of autism in a mouse model.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and published in Translational Psychiatry, expands on the theory that autism is caused by a variety of interconnected factors.

"Twenty percent of the known factors associated with autism are genetic, but most are not," explains senior author Dr. Robert K. Naviaux,...

Phillip Griffin wasn’t sure what the future held when he received his high school diploma five years ago. He wanted to work, but he knew the job search wouldn’t be easy. Griffin has Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that can make it very hard to connect and communicate with others.

The majority of adults with autism are unemployed or underemployed. According to a recent survey, only about half of young adults with an ASD had worked for pay outside the home during the first...

Hello everyone. My name is Kristen. I have a son that is now 10 yrs old and was diagnosed this year. It has been a life changing roller coaster ride of good and bad. I know tattoos are not for everyone, but for me (and other people) it's a way of expression. Kinda a way to wear you feelings/ life accomplishments on you skin. I thought people can share thier tattoos and meanings behind them on here.

I added my recent tattoo I got for my son Tyler.

I came across this through my interest in Human Design, which I'm sure no one here has heard of, and that's fine.

I found this Facebook group, The Tao of Autism, which had posted this YouTube video, Is Autism the Next Stage of Human Evolution?
Curious to see responses!

My favorite bits:

Our numbers are growing, and eventually we'll be the majority
"One of the hallmarks, especially of people with Asperger's, high-functioning autism and so on, is this higher level of fluid intelligence,...

Please share healthy coping skills for dealing with Aspergers. One I use is arriving right when event starts so I don't have to engage in small talk.

I have a question for you all! Since I have known only a handful of lovely ASD people, I am curious as to how ASD people deal with the issue of religion (Christianity or not; I am a Christian UMC pastor, but I'm not trying to evangelize here, simply interested since it's one of my biggest interests, obviously!). Did you grow up in a religious household? What role does religion play in your life? Do you regularly participate in religious life, and do you do so in community with other people...

Has anyone else had to struggle to get acceptance from neurotypical parents? My mom has been accepting of me and actually introduced me to this website, but my dad hasn't. My whole life, he's been telling me to socialize at times when I didn't want to, to "get out of my cave," etc. I'll graduate from college soon. My dad encourages me to pursue careers that he's good at and knows (all of which I've been rejected from), but says some hurtful things about me and career paths that I'm better suited for and more interested in. It's probably well intentioned, but it's painful for me. I don't want to be fixed, I want to be accepted and play to my strengths.

There was an article on Fox News about how it takes longer for men to recover from a brain concussion. I’ve had four in my life that I’m aware of, so it got me to thinking about the relationship of such a brain injury and AS.

The first one happened when I was overseas and picked a fight with a former Green Beret. I was 19-years-old at the time. The second took place a few months later when I fell down a flight of marble stairs after spending an evening of drinking and debauchery. The third one occurred when I crashed the 18-wheeler that I was driving. I was 27 at the time. The fourth one occurred when I crashed my motorcycle when I was 33. The helmet saved my life (it was cracked), but the impact scrambled my squash.

So, has anyone read anything about the correlation or does anyone have any opinions on the subject? As far back as I can remember, before they knew about AS, I have always been “odd.” However, I now wonder if the concussions may have exacerbated the AS.