Three years ago I married an amazing guy, Sam. Sam is a widower with four sons who, at the time of our marriage, were 5, 8, 11 and 14. Currently they are 9, 12, 14 and 17. (Two just had birthdays and two have birthdays upcoming, so thus the strangeness in age differences.) One of our sons lives with his dead mother's parents. The three younger boys live with Sam and I.
Sean, Ian and Evan all have pretty severe ADHD. And not one of them is medicated for it. They were, until we stopped getting medicaid for them because we didn't want the government interfering and telling us we had to give our kids amphetamines. This is also a primary reason we homeschool the boys. Well, that, and they're several grade levels ahead of age-group, and were bored stiff. And then there's the Asperger's Syndrome.
Ian and Sean both have Aspberger's Syndrome. Aspberger's is extremely high functioning autism. It's most easily marked by obsessive interests. In Ian's case it's electronics and programming - the kid programs on PAPER! In Sean's case it's Legend of Zelda - and has been since he was six years old, as well as reading the encyclopedia for pleasure. Ask them what interests them, and they will fill your ears with esoteric knowledge and trivia on the many aspects of their interests. It can get extremely interesting, or extremely boring, depending on the day and how long they've been going on about it.
Another marker for Asperger's is an inability to read body language and facial expressions, or follow abstract communication. This can result in some really unusual situations, and I learned pretty quick to say exactly what I meant and leave no room for variant interpretation.
Evan does not have Asperger's, but because he has lived with his brothers for his entire life, he sometimes shows the occasional Aspie-like trait.
Needless to say, between the ADHD and the Aspie's, there's rarely a dull moment around here.
Sean, Ian and Evan all have pretty severe ADHD. And not one of them is medicated for it. They were, until we stopped getting medicaid for them because we didn't want the government interfering and telling us we had to give our kids amphetamines. This is also a primary reason we homeschool the boys. Well, that, and they're several grade levels ahead of age-group, and were bored stiff. And then there's the Asperger's Syndrome.
Ian and Sean both have Aspberger's Syndrome. Aspberger's is extremely high functioning autism. It's most easily marked by obsessive interests. In Ian's case it's electronics and programming - the kid programs on PAPER! In Sean's case it's Legend of Zelda - and has been since he was six years old, as well as reading the encyclopedia for pleasure. Ask them what interests them, and they will fill your ears with esoteric knowledge and trivia on the many aspects of their interests. It can get extremely interesting, or extremely boring, depending on the day and how long they've been going on about it.
Another marker for Asperger's is an inability to read body language and facial expressions, or follow abstract communication. This can result in some really unusual situations, and I learned pretty quick to say exactly what I meant and leave no room for variant interpretation.
Evan does not have Asperger's, but because he has lived with his brothers for his entire life, he sometimes shows the occasional Aspie-like trait.
Needless to say, between the ADHD and the Aspie's, there's rarely a dull moment around here.
Comments
Best article on the subjects I've seen so far. May the force be with you.
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