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Autism

ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
Strange topic for a thread, I suppose. Autism is not something most of us deal with on a daily basis, but I do. My 9 y/o son Gabriel was diagnosed with Aspberger's-type Syndrome 3 yrs ago. Commonly misdiagnosed as ADHD, Aspberger's is in all actuality a higher functioning form of Autism. Through countless days and nights of worry and prayer, medication and hours of interaction he is learning to cope it.
Part of Aspberger's is an almost OCD type of compulsion with certain things. My son's compulsion(s) happen to be LEGOs. He also has a near obsession with the techno-electronica group Daft Punk. Last night, before I left for work, he presented me with his vision of a combination of the two. It took him less than 20 minutes to build what you see in the pictures. Just needed to get this off my mind for a little while and to show that not every Autistic person is the character portrayed in Rainman. Thanks for listening, Brothers.
Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos
Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos
Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos
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Comments

  • catfishbluezzcatfishbluezz Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 6,993
    There is immense beauty in autism toombes. In my graduate studies, PTSD and autism are the two areas that intrigue me the most. I took an autistic musician under my wing, and now he is an official Buck-a-roo. I have studied it in depth and it amazes me how much creativity they exhibit. Without getting to in depth, it would be a dream to help make a difference in the study as their brain activity in some situations is out of this world. This is awesome, and I commend you patientce as I know it is needed. I just applied for an understudy gig with autistic children and pray I get it.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 14,471
    Legos rule.
    on a related note, there is a guy at work that has Aspberger's, and as a manager i wish i could have this guy cloned a few dozen times. i know to little about it to know what causes what, but the dudes work ethic is amazing, he actually cares about his job (and thats saying a lot these days), he is always early or on time, and everyone loves him.
    most of the people at work dont know he has Aspberger's, they just think hes a strange dude.
    he was two votes shy (employee based voting) of employee of the year.

    exactly on topic: that creation is freaken sweet. if i were you i would go out of my way to buy hum as many Legos as i could.
    if i was his father i would jump right in and build stuff too with some quality father -son time. i mean, as stated before, Legos rule.
  • bbass2bbass2 Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 1,056
    There was a show on Discovery Channel a while back called Ingenious Minds that where each episode focused on one person with Aspberger's. From someone who has little to no dealings with Aspberger's it was really interesting seeing how most people were deficient in some areas, mostly social, but absolutely incredible seeing how much better they were than their peers at the one skill they focused on.
  • GreenMachineGreenMachine Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 483
    What a cute kid. His creation in LEGO's is most excellent. You must be a proud papa!!!!!
  • ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
    catfishbluezz:
    There is immense beauty in autism toombes. In my graduate studies, PTSD and autism are the two areas that intrigue me the most. I took an autistic musician under my wing, and now he is an official Buck-a-roo. I have studied it in depth and it amazes me how much creativity they exhibit. Without getting to in depth, it would be a dream to help make a difference in the study as their brain activity in some situations is out of this world. This is awesome, and I commend you patientce as I know it is needed. I just applied for an understudy gig with autistic children and pray I get it.

    Way to go, catfish! I agree, there is something beautiful about the inner workings of the autistic mind. I truly hope that your path leads you to helping make a difference in the public understanding of Autism.
  • ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
    kuzi16:
    Legos rule.
    on a related note, there is a guy at work that has Aspberger's, and as a manager i wish i could have this guy cloned a few dozen times. i know to little about it to know what causes what, but the dudes work ethic is amazing, he actually cares about his job (and thats saying a lot these days), he is always early or on time, and everyone loves him.
    most of the people at work dont know he has Aspberger's, they just think hes a strange dude.
    he was two votes shy (employee based voting) of employee of the year.

    exactly on topic: that creation is freaken sweet. if i were you i would go out of my way to buy hum as many Legos as i could.
    if i was his father i would jump right in and build stuff too with some quality father -son time. i mean, as stated before, Legos rule.

    Yes, LEGO's do rule! Much like your employee, most people don't catch on to the fact that Gabriel has Aspberger's, they just think he doesn't want to participate in a lot of activities. When he brought his concert construction, I cried when he handed it to me. It's the first thing he's ever given, aside from his undying love. As for buying him as many as possible... You don't think $6000 worth is enough? Lol! He and I have spent countless hrs playing with LEGO's, but my creations pale in comparison to his. I build a wall or a tower, he builds spaceships, helicopters and TRON lightcycles...
  • ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
    bbass2:
    There was a show on Discovery Channel a while back called Ingenious Minds that where each episode focused on one person with Aspberger's. From someone who has little to no dealings with Aspberger's it was really interesting seeing how most people were deficient in some areas, mostly social, but absolutely incredible seeing how much better they were than their peers at the one skill they focused on.

    I wish I had known those episodes aired, would have loved to been able to see them. He "antisocial" behavioris actually a way for people with Aspberger's to maintain a sense of control. Most people are able to block out the background noise around them. People with Aspberger's aren't able to do that as easily and develop and aural sensory overload. That's why they seem to be antisocial and withdrawn. Gabriel's proficiencies are in his profound creativity, a near photographic memory and math skills. I haven't seen many 9 y/o's who can perform geometric calculations.
  • ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
    GreenMachine:
    What a cute kid. His creation in LEGO's is most excellent. You must be a proud papa!!!!!

    Thanks! Of course he's cute, he's my child! Lol! He's extremely proud of his construct and actually asked if we could send the pictures to LEGO Magazine to be published. I'm proud, not only of Gabriel, but of all my children.
  • RhamlinRhamlin Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,530
    That's awesome brother! I like to think of kids and adults as gods chosen ones. There's no BS with them. Loyal, trusting and honest almost to a fault. And the people I've met thru church have to most beautiful relationship with God I've ever encountered.
  • MVW67MVW67 Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 5,447
    Daniel, have also been around it for a while, my niece is autistic and have a good friend where in the absolute rarest instance, she has 3 boys and all are Autistic, one of the few known cases where there is that many in one family! And another friend that also has a son who is. I have sponsered a team in Golf every year for the "Friends of Autism" of Wisconsin. US Bank is the main sponser and even though they quit sponsoring the Pro Tour, they still continue to sponsor this program which is awsome! Treatments and Causes are always changing so I also work with a group to sponser changes in coverage to aid in the new treatments!!! Very amazing!! Mike
  • beatnicbeatnic Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,133
    I see an engineer in the making
  • ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
    beatnic:
    I see an engineer in the making

    That's what I've been thinking, too. He looks at the instructions when he gets a new box of LEGO's, throws the instructions away and builds the toy from memory. It's extremely cool, but kinda scary all at the same time. The daft punk concert construct came about after seeing a picture of the band in their costumes six weeks ago.
  • catfishbluezzcatfishbluezz Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 6,993
    The amount of brain activity and savant behaviors that occur in autistic children is waht is intriuging to me. Their brain activity in some cases is far and away beyond that of a normal human being, yet their social skills and psychosocial behavior is much different. I think there is a lot to be learned from the autistic mind in that regard.
  • ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
    catfishbluezz:
    The amount of brain activity and savant behaviors that occur in autistic children is waht is intriuging to me. Their brain activity in some cases is far and away beyond that of a normal human being, yet their social skills and psychosocial behavior is much different. I think there is a lot to be learned from the autistic mind in that regard.

    I'd love to be able to see what goes on in his mind. He's constantly concentrating on what his next build will be and at the same time he's holding a very coherent conversation and doing his homework. It just blows me away...
  • catfishbluezzcatfishbluezz Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 6,993
    Toombes:
    catfishbluezz:
    The amount of brain activity and savant behaviors that occur in autistic children is waht is intriuging to me. Their brain activity in some cases is far and away beyond that of a normal human being, yet their social skills and psychosocial behavior is much different. I think there is a lot to be learned from the autistic mind in that regard.

    I'd love to be able to see what goes on in his mind. He's constantly concentrating on what his next build will be and at the same time he's holding a very coherent conversation and doing his homework. It just blows me away...
    Yup... Everything we do is an electrical impulse. Without getting crazy scientific, their brains fire and operate on extreme levels of things we cannot comprehend, yet do not in social situations we can. Research suggests the brain has the ability to learn, adapt, and evolve even in to dementia...so why wouldn't we be able to learn how to operate and think they way an autistic child does and them not operate the way we do? There is no reason why the possibility does not exist, it is only a matter of time as the science of psychology is extremely young in regard to science as a whole.

    The kid I was talking about....literally hears a song once an knows it.
  • ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
    catfishbluezz:
    Toombes:
    catfishbluezz:
    The amount of brain activity and savant behaviors that occur in autistic children is waht is intriuging to me. Their brain activity in some cases is far and away beyond that of a normal human being, yet their social skills and psychosocial behavior is much different. I think there is a lot to be learned from the autistic mind in that regard.

    I'd love to be able to see what goes on in his mind. He's constantly concentrating on what his next build will be and at the same time he's holding a very coherent conversation and doing his homework. It just blows me away...
    Yup... Everything we do is an electrical impulse. Without getting crazy scientific, their brains fire and operate on extreme levels of things we cannot comprehend, yet do not in social situations we can. Research suggests the brain has the ability to learn, adapt, and evolve even in to dementia...so why wouldn't we be able to learn how to operate and think they way an autistic child does and them not operate the way we do? There is no reason why the possibility does not exist, it is only a matter of time as the science of psychology is extremely young in regard to science as a whole.

    The kid I was talking about....literally hears a song once an knows it.

    I was in a band with a guy I graduated high school with and he could do the same thing. He wasn't autistic, just blessed with a photographic memory.
    Some recent digging around that I've done also brings up the possibility of a genetic link between children with autism and their parents. I've never been diagnosed with Aspberger's but this research does explain a lot of my "obsessive and antisocial" ticks. I see a lot of things in Gabe that I did as a child and still do as an adult. Hopefully, science will be able to explain and define these similarities and possibly come up with a means of slowing down these occurances.
  • catfishbluezzcatfishbluezz Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 6,993
    Toombes:
    catfishbluezz:
    Toombes:
    catfishbluezz:
    The amount of brain activity and savant behaviors that occur in autistic children is waht is intriuging to me. Their brain activity in some cases is far and away beyond that of a normal human being, yet their social skills and psychosocial behavior is much different. I think there is a lot to be learned from the autistic mind in that regard.

    I'd love to be able to see what goes on in his mind. He's constantly concentrating on what his next build will be and at the same time he's holding a very coherent conversation and doing his homework. It just blows me away...
    Yup... Everything we do is an electrical impulse. Without getting crazy scientific, their brains fire and operate on extreme levels of things we cannot comprehend, yet do not in social situations we can. Research suggests the brain has the ability to learn, adapt, and evolve even in to dementia...so why wouldn't we be able to learn how to operate and think they way an autistic child does and them not operate the way we do? There is no reason why the possibility does not exist, it is only a matter of time as the science of psychology is extremely young in regard to science as a whole.

    The kid I was talking about....literally hears a song once an knows it.

    I was in a band with a guy I graduated high school with and he could do the same thing. He wasn't autistic, just blessed with a photographic memory.
    Some recent digging around that I've done also brings up the possibility of a genetic link between children with autism and their parents. I've never been diagnosed with Aspberger's but this research does explain a lot of my "obsessive and antisocial" ticks. I see a lot of things in Gabe that I did as a child and still do as an adult. Hopefully, science will be able to explain and define these similarities and possibly come up with a means of slowing down these occurances.
    What's scary is how much it is happening now....something in the water?

    I am not a father, but man....it makes me wonder if it is in teh food we eat, teh water we drink, etc.., as this epidemic did not exist a couple decades ago.
  • ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
    catfishbluezz:
    Toombes:
    catfishbluezz:
    Toombes:
    catfishbluezz:
    The amount of brain activity and savant behaviors that occur in autistic children is waht is intriuging to me. Their brain activity in some cases is far and away beyond that of a normal human being, yet their social skills and psychosocial behavior is much different. I think there is a lot to be learned from the autistic mind in that regard.

    I'd love to be able to see what goes on in his mind. He's constantly concentrating on what his next build will be and at the same time he's holding a very coherent conversation and doing his homework. It just blows me away...
    Yup... Everything we do is an electrical impulse. Without getting crazy scientific, their brains fire and operate on extreme levels of things we cannot comprehend, yet do not in social situations we can. Research suggests the brain has the ability to learn, adapt, and evolve even in to dementia...so why wouldn't we be able to learn how to operate and think they way an autistic child does and them not operate the way we do? There is no reason why the possibility does not exist, it is only a matter of time as the science of psychology is extremely young in regard to science as a whole.

    The kid I was talking about....literally hears a song once an knows it.

    I was in a band with a guy I graduated high school with and he could do the same thing. He wasn't autistic, just blessed with a photographic memory.
    Some recent digging around that I've done also brings up the possibility of a genetic link between children with autism and their parents. I've never been diagnosed with Aspberger's but this research does explain a lot of my "obsessive and antisocial" ticks. I see a lot of things in Gabe that I did as a child and still do as an adult. Hopefully, science will be able to explain and define these similarities and possibly come up with a means of slowing down these occurances.
    What's scary is how much it is happening now....something in the water?

    I am not a father, but man....it makes me wonder if it is in teh food we eat, teh water we drink, etc.., as this epidemic did not exist a couple decades ago.

    I agree and I wish there was a logical explanation. Everything I've researched tells me that Autism has always existed, but is commonly misdiagnosed as OCD, ADHD, dementia or a form of mental incapacity(sorry, I have no love for the term retardation...). John Elder Robinson, who suffers from Aspberger's, wrote a book titled Look me in The Eye. Growing up in the 50's and 60's he was generally regarded as a "strange" kid. It wasn't until he was in his 30's that he finally discovered his true diagnosis. He later went on to build stereophonic sound systems for Pink Floyd, the burning guitars for Ace Frehley and some of the first talking games for Milton Bradley. It's been here all along, it's just that no one knew what it was. It would gladden my heart to finally hear that a cure has been discovered.
  • catfishbluezzcatfishbluezz Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 6,993
    A cure is not what I woudl want honestly... A way to retrain the brain is what I think would be best. I am very much against pharmopscyhology and some of the "cures" that exist in pills as the medical world may term them you know? Some of the newer forms of treatment for PTSD are insane, along with depression and enxiety, that involve no drugs...yet simply retraining the brain. That's kind of what I am getting at without gettting into the scientific explanations when I talk about the immense brain activity going on in the autistic mind. Their brian fires on different cylinders than ours, so figuring out how to get both to fire the same way is the key.

    And by all means I am not attacking your reference to a cure because I know you want what is best for your child. I just hate that kind of terminology in the world of psychology as it most likely involves putting someone on some sort of neuropsychological drug that is a synaptic bandaid or inhibits neurotrasmitters are opposed to creating new paths in the brain to overcome adversity.
  • ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
    No offense taken, brother. I'm not a huge fan of pharmacological "cures" either. I don't think there will ever be a cure for autism, but we can always hope. As you said, retraining the human brain to fire correctly is the only thing we can truly hope for. Gabe was prescribed Tenex, which is actually used to treat hypertension, to slow him down and help him cope with the sensory overload he experiences. Fortunately, it works for him. I have friends who are suffering from the horrors of PTSD and the treatment options they've been given ridiculous.
  • catfishbluezzcatfishbluezz Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 6,993
    Toombes:
    No offense taken, brother. I'm not a huge fan of pharmacological "cures" either. I don't think there will ever be a cure for autism, but we can always hope. As you said, retraining the human brain to fire correctly is the only thing we can truly hope for. Gabe was prescribed Tenex, which is actually used to treat hypertension, to slow him down and help him cope with the sensory overload he experiences. Fortunately, it works for him. I have friends who are suffering from the horrors of PTSD and the treatment options they've been given ridiculous.
    Given your profession, you probably see it more than others. Tell them to look into EMDR therapy...it's amazing and the future of PTSD. If they any issues with anxiety, tell them to check out David Burn's books and get with a psychologist that works in the cog/behavioral format that Burns suggests. We can do this via PM if you like, I have written several papers on EMDR and done extensive research on the matter.
  • ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
    PM's would be a lot easier... Thanks, brother!
  • xmacroxmacro Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 3,402
    If he likes lego's, you may wanna google a game called "Minecraft" - its a sandbox game where the player is dropped into a world and has to build their home and whatnot; totally open ended with no real ending.
  • ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
    xmacro:
    If he likes lego's, you may wanna google a game called "Minecraft" - its a sandbox game where the player is dropped into a world and has to build their home and whatnot; totally open ended with no real ending.

    Lol! Strange that you would mention that. He plays it every chance he gets!
  • ToombesToombes Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 4,451
    Catfish, PM to you.
  • boydmcgowanboydmcgowan Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 1,101
    PM Toombes . . . .
  • Roberto99Roberto99 Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 1,077
    Toombes:
    bbass2:
    There was a show on Discovery Channel a while back called Ingenious Minds that where each episode focused on one person with Aspberger's. From someone who has little to no dealings with Aspberger's it was really interesting seeing how most people were deficient in some areas, mostly social, but absolutely incredible seeing how much better they were than their peers at the one skill they focused on.

    I wish I had known those episodes aired, would have loved to been able to see them. He "antisocial" behavioris actually a way for people with Aspberger's to maintain a sense of control. Most people are able to block out the background noise around them. People with Aspberger's aren't able to do that as easily and develop and aural sensory overload. That's why they seem to be antisocial and withdrawn. Gabriel's proficiencies are in his profound creativity, a near photographic memory and math skills. I haven't seen many 9 y/o's who can perform geometric calculations.
    I just googled Ingenious minds and it seems to be on you tube. If that is the program being talked about.
  • bbass2bbass2 Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 1,056
    Roberto99:
    Toombes:
    bbass2:
    There was a show on Discovery Channel a while back called Ingenious Minds that where each episode focused on one person with Aspberger's. From someone who has little to no dealings with Aspberger's it was really interesting seeing how most people were deficient in some areas, mostly social, but absolutely incredible seeing how much better they were than their peers at the one skill they focused on.

    I wish I had known those episodes aired, would have loved to been able to see them. He "antisocial" behavioris actually a way for people with Aspberger's to maintain a sense of control. Most people are able to block out the background noise around them. People with Aspberger's aren't able to do that as easily and develop and aural sensory overload. That's why they seem to be antisocial and withdrawn. Gabriel's proficiencies are in his profound creativity, a near photographic memory and math skills. I haven't seen many 9 y/o's who can perform geometric calculations.
    I just googled Ingenious minds and it seems to be on you tube. If that is the program being talked about.


    Yep, that's the one. After looking through the episode list I see that not all of the ones are about Autism, but a good many are. One was about a guy who had zero musical talent whatsoever, then after a head injury he immediately turned into a piano master. Interesting stuff...
  • 90+ Irishman90+ Irishman Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 7,868
    Dan that is so so neat big bro, and thank you for sharing that with us! Gabe sounds like a wonderful kid and a truly brilliant mind, there are always going to be challenges but I'm so glad that you were blessed with him and all of these possibilities now! Seriously, send it in to LEGO and give a little backstory, you'd be surprised what type of response you might get ;) Congrats man!
  • RBeckomRBeckom Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 2,099
    We all have A purpose. Perhaps Gabriel is destined for A higher calling than the rest of us. No doubt he has A gift in his creativity. Enjoy the small things and trust in God's plan.
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