Living with Aspergers Syndrome

I tend to browse through other blogs, I read a great blog the other night Titled My baby will make you uncomfortable and I might laugh. This blog brought back some memories for me. My middle son was exactly the same. he would give strangers and even family members a blank look. Taking his photo was a nightmare he would never smile. He was a chatty chap with family members but you could not get a word out of him around strangers. He would cling to me or hide behind me if strangers were around.Truth be known he rarely smiles even now. In his early years I often wondered what made him tick, as this behavior continued through to playgroup I decided it was time to get some professional advice

After talking to the Doctor he agreed there may be something going on he first sugested Autism. I was then refered to a child psychologist who gave me the following checklist and asked if my son showed any of the following behaviors.

• Social awkwardness / no friends
• Obsessions / focused on one subject
• Lack of eye contact
• Sensitivity to noise / touch / feel of clothing
• Slow to begin talking
• Odd speech / extreme logic / very proper speech
• Anger / aggression / hitting others
• Craves Routine
• Appears lost / in own world
• Flapping hands
• Communication problems or motor skills problems
• Stimming behavior

Well I went through this list and checked of the following behaviours, Social awkwardness,  Slow to begin talking, very proper speech, Craves ROUTINE!, Appears lost / in own world, motor skills problems. There were also things not on the list Migraine headaches, unable to handle changes in routines, thought most people hated him, and clumsyness, some of which was put down to poor vision.

After passing all this information back to the therapist she spent a day with him and ran him through a few tests and came back to me with the diagnosis of Mild Aspergers Syndrome. I was stunned as all I knew of this was it was akin to Autism. Well I just had to know more, so after some serious research and chats with the psychologist we went to an occupational therapist who worked on refining his motor skills, now they were not off by much and after 6 months he was equal to his peers with his motor skills.

While all that was happening, at home we worked on a fairly strict routine and tried to make any changes known well in advance. Weeks before school started we had him up early and went through what would be his morning routine. This helped a lot when it was time for him to go to school. We discussed school at length and contacted the school prior to find out their routine and incorporated it into family life. This may seem extreme but I must say it made the transition to school a whole lot easier. Letting the school know of his problem made it easier on the school and by keeping them informed we were able to keep him in main stream schooling.

He was fixated on the military, anything to do with the Army, Navy or Airforce worked great, we got a lot of positive reinforcement from a packet of soldiers. When he completed tasks on his own we would reward him with a much wanted soldier, it was inexpensive and worked great. In no time he could be given a task and could go and do it.

As time went on he became more flexible. He could accept slight changes to his routine, the migraines lessened and he was doing well at school. He loved to play practical jokes on all of us this gave him great joy and he would laugh at our demise. We grew to expect the unexpected from him. He was extremely literal and locgical at times so returning the prank did not go down well. Most times he took it personally not as the joke it was intended.

He has grown a lot over the years, as kids do, but I’m not talking about his size. I’m talking about his self esteem and his ability to  accept change in his routine. Mostly he takes it in his stride. Sometimes there is an issue but talking it out and explaining the situation usually solves that problem. He has grown into a wonderful young man who can tell a great joke but dont play a joke on him that still doesnt go down too well. In general he has a few close friends and is now dating. He still tends to take things personally but he can function on his own on a day to day basis. He can’t wait to get his first job and is a very responsible young man.

On his last visit to the child psychologist she spent some time with him and came back and said he has developed extremely well. She said there may be some issues along they way but over all he will cope really well in the adult world. I tend to agree.

Aspergers sounds scary but really its not that bad, its not all doom and gloom. Some simple changes that don’t really effect the family can make a world of difference to a child with this. Some things can be a challenge but with my son the need to get everything right was very powerful. We worked with that need, gave him the routine that he needed and went step by step from there.

Now dont get me wrong it did have challenges, take sport, now that could be called off for bad weather and of course came the end of the season. Both were trying times for him and us but with love and guidance and some modifications to his routine he got through it, as did the rest of us.

83-Year-Old Male Prostitute Arrested

Im lost for words, yet i have some unanswered  questions over this news item I came across.

Detectives in Centerville, Iowa, began the investigation into the activities of 83 year old pensioner Ben Clifford Dawson following a complaint the received from a woman who was in debt to him.

According to police they received a complaint about his unusual repayment scheme and launched the investigation. During the investigations into Dawson’s enterprises a female victim alleged that the octogenarian had offered to perform sex acts in lieu of payment for a loan.

Dawson faces two charges of aggravated misdemeanor charges, one of prostitution and one of intent to commit sexual abuse. He was released from the Appanoose County Jail after he posted a bail bond of $2,000.

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House fire started by de-friended Facebook friend

Imagine having an argument with your best friend on facebook. you defriend them and think that is the end of it. Well that may not be the case.

Police in Des Moines, Iowa, have arrested 30-year-old Jennifer Christine Harris  for allegedly setting her neighbor’s home on fire, as retribution for being “de-friended” on Facebook.

Nikki and Jim Rasmussen were awoken by a loud boom at around 1 a.m.,  and escaped the home just as the siding on their house began to melt. Jim Rasmussen named Harris as the prime suspect. Nikki Rasmussen and Jennifer Christine Harris had a falling out on Facebook, when a party invitation that his wife created for Harris had a high number of “declines.” After a large amount of texts and Facebook messages, Nikki Rasmussen “de-friended” Harris. They had been the best of friends before the dispute.

Police say their investigation supports the Rasmussen’s suspicions.

Jennifer Harris is a 30-year-old ADULT who quite frankly acted foolishly and as a result remains jailed on a $100,000 bond.

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Asylum seekers boat sinks.

In a previous blog Titled Gillard Government continues to pursue Migration Act changes I said the following when talking about the immigration bill for asylum seekers

This whole mess is not just a policy it’s about people. People that are looking for our help and are willing to risk their lives to get it. There has to be a better way. If we process them closer to where they come from stands to reason they would go there instead of coming here. We could then process them there. I think over all lives may be saved. As these people are coming through people smugglers there is no record of how many leave and how many arrive but my thoughts are a lot just don’t get here.

Well the latest tragedy of this is a boat of asylum seekers sinking off the coast off the  west coast of Java early yesterday. Federal Government ministers have confirmed this morning that at least six people – including one child – are dead, while 20 are missing.

A local police chief said.

“They were leaving from Cilacap and their ship sank around the island of Nusakambangan. They left Cilacap at 2am (local time) and about 3am their ship leaked. At 5am, their ship already sank and was found by local fishermen,”

So where does the blame for this tragedy lie?  The Gillard Government and the Federal Opposition have been accused of having blood on their hands, but Mr Bowen and Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor lay the blame for the deaths squarely at the feet of the people smugglers. Now while the government and the opposition are being careful not to blame each other it has to be said that if they reached an agreement instead of being bloody-minded and opportunistic, this may not have happened.

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor

This is not a day for argument, Today it’s about firstly determining the facts and the circumstances around this vessel.

Well I would have thought the circumstances were clear. 70 Iranian asylum seekers sold everything they had to come to Australia for a better life. The Iranians paid $US7000 and flew straight to Jakarta after bribing immigration officers at the airport $US500 for a visa.

Now it seems Some had knowledge about the asylum seeker debate in Australia and decided to come after the Malaysia refugee swap deal was scuttled. Well Mr O’Connor said,

“This is a tragedy, something that the government foretold. We said that if we don’t put in place the most effective deterrent we would see an incline in the incidence of irregular maritime arrivals and we will most likely an incline in maritime fatalities,”

So far its all becoming  reality and not just words. Mr O’Connor also said that all the advice given  to the government was that the best solution was the agreement struck between Australia and Malaysia.

Kamran, a student from the Kurram Valley on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, said another boat taking asylum seekers from Malaysia to Batam, off Sumatra Island, had sunk less than two weeks ago. Kamran paid $US5500 to get to Australia via Malaysia.  If this is the case then the Malaysian deal would have worked, they could have been processed in Malaysia as proposed by the governments original bill. the bill that Tony Abbott was dead against. At least last night the government and the opposition finally managed to find some common ground by supporting a bill clarifying that it is still an offence for people smugglers to facilitate the arrival of asylum seekers in Australia, even if those people are legitimate refugees. However the greens did not support it.

Its time for the fighting to stop and time to put in place a policy where these people are processed offshore deterring them from the perilous boat journey and putting the people smugglers out of business, or at the very least save some lives. With the onshore processing more will come, more boats will sink on the journey and more lives will be lost. This needs to be addressed now. Australian authorities intercepted another boatload of asylum seekers north of Christmas Island yesterday so there is an increase of boats coming. Tony Abbott needs to put on his big boy pants and work this out with Julia Gillard now before more lives are lost.

Scams; Don’t become a victim to these.

It is apparent that people still become victims to scams both old and new. People loose money daily due to these scammers. they have their personal information stolen and in some cases put their online friends at risk. So here is a heads up thanks to Snopes of a few of the most common scams going around.

In Memory of Steve Jobs, Apple has decided to give away

While the “free iPad/iPod” hoax has been kicking about on the Internet for a few years, the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs in October 2011 inspired scam artists to unleash anew. Within hours of that visionary’s passing, the unwary were being tricked into lining the pockets of scam artists via the promise of free Apple goodies for those who clicked on what purported to be links taking them to the prize.

Nigerian Scam

A wealthy foreigner who needs help moving millions of dollars from his homeland promises a hefty percentage of this fortune as a reward for assisting him.

REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP

FIRST, I MUST SOLICIT YOUR STRICTEST CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION. THIS IS BY VIRTUE OF ITS NATURE AS BEING UTTERLY CONFIDENTIAL AND ‘TOP SECRET’. I AM SURE AND HAVE CONFIDENCE OF YOUR ABILITY AND RELIABILITY TO PROSECUTE A TRANSACTION OF THIS GREAT MAGNITUDE INVOLVING A PENDING TRANSACTION REQUIRING MAXIMUM CONFIDENCE.

The letter continues, and  here’s how it works: Letters (or, nowadays, e-mail messages) postmarked from Nigeria (or Sierra Leone, or the Ivory Coast, or almost any other foreign nation) are sent to addresses taken from large mailing lists. The letters promise rich rewards for helping officials of that government (or bank, or quasi-government agency or sometimes just members of a particular family) out of an embarrassment or a legal problem. Typically, the pitch includes mention of multi-million dollar sums, with the open promise that you will be permitted to keep a startling percentage of the funds you’re going to aid in squirreling away for these disadvantaged foreigners. If you’re not saying “scam” by now, you should be.

Secret Shopper Scams

Employment frauds typically prey upon the gullible or the desperate whose burning desire to secure lucrative work blinds them to the scams about to be run on them. Generally, the promise of easy-to-perform labor that pays very well is held out to those disadvantaged in their search for employment by their lack of relevant job experience or education and so appears to be the answer to their prayers. Because the need to believe in such fairytale careers runs so strong, ordinary skepticism is temporarily set aside by those bedazzled by such false promises, and that little nagging “You know better than to be taken in by this” voice is silenced, thereby leaving job seekers vulnerable to being fleeced.

‘Work from Home’ Scam

If you live in Canada or the US and you have been wanting to work from home, you might be in luck. Google has now released a new ‘Work From Home Program’ that will allow Americans to work for the titan from the comfort of their own homes. To thousands of North Americans this means that they will soon have a safe and bright future working for one of the fastest growing companies in the world. In the middle of this recession this country and the world is going through, Google has been thriving and reporting profits consistently every quarter. Completely innovating the Search Engine industry in the late 1990’s, Google has had a history of development and innovation, and another one is about to come. Google has now opened it’s doors and will be hiring everyday people to work from the comfort of their own homes posting links. The way this works is Google will allow people to sign up and receive a package which will contain all the step by step instructions to get setup from home.

The Family Way

The basic set-up is that a scammer gleans just enough information about a family (e.g., names, ages, addresses, phone numbers) to be able to impersonate one of them during a brief phone call to another family member. The scammer will place a call and claim to be in some form of distress (e.g., a victim of legal problems, theft, or fouled-up travel arrangements) that has left him stranded far from home and in desperate need of someone to wire him some cash. In many cases eager-to-help relatives will promptly send money as instructed, not realizing until it’s too late that the person they’ve been talking to is an impersonator and not a genuine family member. (Grandparents are particularly common targets of this scam: They may be easily

Microsoft Impersonation Scam

Although this Microsoft impersonation scam has been around since at least 2009, in December 2010 and January 2011 it appeared to enjoy a renaissance, as reports came in of its being run in numerous countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and England.

In short, Microsoft does not contact people out of the blue to tell them there’s something wrong with their computers. Ergo, unless you’ve initiated contact with Microsoft about a computer problem you’re having, you should dismiss as frauds any phone calls, e-mails, online chat dialogues, and the like from folks who claim they work for Microsoft and have spotted something wrong with your computer.

The scammers running this type of fraud pretend they’re from the software company’s technical support department when they telephone to inform householders that their computers have been infected with a virus. Often the scam pitch begins “I’m calling for Microsoft. We’ve had a report from your internet service provider of serious virus problems from your computer.” The caller warns that if the problem is not solved the computer will become unusable and then offers to repair the problem.

Please use some common sense if you get calls about anything that sounds like a scam chances are it is, do some research and Ask for a name and contact number, chances are they will hang up, if you get an e-mail report it.

For most things like lotteries money-making schemes giveaways etc. If it sounds too good to be true chances are it’s a scam.