NY Times: Your Child’s Disorder May Be Yours, Too
Well …, duh!
Your Child’s Disorder May Be Yours, Too [NY Times]
[A]fter Phil and Susan Schwarz received a diagnosis for their son, Jeremy, of high functioning autism, they began to think carefully about their own behaviors and histories.Mr. Schwarz, a software developer in Framingham, Mass., found in his son’s diagnosis a new language to understand his own life. His sensitivities when growing up to loud noises and bright light, his own diffidence through school, his parents’ and grandparents’ special intellectual skills — all echoed through his and Jeremy’s behavior, like some ancient rhythm.
His son’s diagnosis, Mr. Schwarz said, “provided a frame in which a whole bunch of seemingly unrelated aspects of my own life growing up fit together for the first time.” (more)
Not to sound snotty about geek parents with a fresh diagnosis of high-functioning saying, “he’s not weird, he’s just like me”, mind you. OK, maybe a little.
This is just more grist for the notion that all this identified autism is not an fresh and growing epidemic. We are just developing the perceptions that places this particular suite of neurological conditions both in sharper focus and in a larger perspective of our behaviors. Especially when more and more people realize that these behaviors might actually be rather familiar after all. Sometimes it just has a label now.
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December 12th, 2007 at 7:24 am
But the mercury….
While watching our son for the last few years since we found out he had autism, I’m kind of amazed at the similarities (and differences) I see in myself. The similarities really intrigue me since we used an IVF sperm donor. It kind of makes me wonder if they would treat me differently in early grade school these days compared to when I went through school back in the early 80s.
One of the biggest places I see the similarities is in a crowded space. I can watch my son get overwhelmed by the same things that start to overwhelm me. I have trouble focusing on one conversation and end up getting drowned when there are two or more conversations going on. It makes it easy for me to figure out why he’s starting to get crabby.