I feel terrible, but I did not do much study yesterday about Asperger's. Work and everything else just kind of consumed my day, that is really no excuse. So I am going write a little I know about it and how it has shaped Jackson.
It was first noticed in 1994 by Hans Asperger, a German doctor who had 4 kids in his practice who were of normal intelligence but were clumsy, could not seem to empathize with their peers, or communicate effectively. His knowledge and studies were not widely known until 1981 when Lorna Wing performed studies on children with similar behaviors. She coined the term "Asperger's Syndrome". It did not become a distinct condition until 1992. So it is still a relatively new diagnosis.
Some of the signs are normal or above normal intelligence, problems understanding non-verbal communication, problems conveying feelings or thoughts effectively, finding one thing and obsessing over it, and having a very literal view of others statements and actions, i.e not understanding others humor.
This is all Jackson, some more than others. Since we have his differences we have always referred to them as being "Jackson". We have known they were there but I would never call him different or odd because to me that is comparing him to something else and what is there to compare him to that is "normal". Every person is different and everyone has their quirks, some people just have more pronounced quirks and that is why I have always liked to and will continue to refer to his quirks as "being Jackson".
As far as the Asperger's similarities the one that leaps to forefront is obsession. If you know him, you know his world revolves around trains with Thomas being the product line and names that he can easily apply to the need,yes to him trains are not a hobby, toy, or desire they are a full fledged need. He just woke,said morning to me and went to watch Thomas as a matter of fact. But he loves any trains, he can hear a train whistle and his eyes light up. We have a local park that has a small steam engine and in the train station for it they have a train table for the kids to look at and play with and he can spend hours in there playing with those trains, he loves going there. We have always gotten him train movies toys because he likes, but I think on some level I have known he NEEDS these for a while now.
Another thing about Aspereger's is the intelligence. When he takes an IQ I know he is going to score off the charts. I will tell you now that I know he has genius intelligence. He can set down at a 35 piece puzzle, get the pieces out and have it together in minutes. If it is something that can keep his focus. He has done this repeatedly with Thomas puzzles, but he have a hard time with other ones. I think he is not interested in them so he does give them his full attention and focus. He can and will disassemble any electronics he get alone for a few minutes.
Another is he is very literal, if you make a joke he is probably going to miss it. It is not that he does not have a sense of humor, he finds lots of stuff funny. He just, to steal the phrase from my dear wife, sees everyone and everything else as "black and white". There have been several times he has seen me showing emotion of some sort or another and asked why I was like that, when I tried to explain he would ask why again. I could clearly see he had no concept of why the situation made me emotional and since learning about this I understand why now. This causes some frustration for him because if he does something funny that he didn't mean to be funny, and you laugh he will get very upset asking why you are laughing and it is very hard to explain to him how it is funny.
The non-verbal communication or communicating what is going on with himself has been a struggle for Jackson, but he is getting better. There have been many times something has been wrong or he has hurt himself and when you ask what is wrong the only answer you can get is "I don't know". He know what is wrong I just think he can find the words to express it.
He is dangerous combination of clumsy and fearless. This has caused him several boo-boos because he will do crazy stuff and climb anything over and over again and no matter how closely you try to watch him, he finds ways. I had him lay down for a nap one day and while I was in the living room the neighbors caught him climbing out his bedroom window. He has only done this once, but that makes it scary raising Jackson because he is completely unpredictable, if the thought crosses his mind he will most likely try because to him there are no consequences.
I am not sure if it related to this, I will have to research, but he has an amazing connection with animals. He loves all animals but his favorite is cats. He could lay there and pet a cat or dog that is still for hours. He communicates with animals like the rest of us do with other people.
For all of the challenges I cannot imagine him any other way. These things are what makes him Jackson and he is our sweet, caring, and loving boy who loves his daddy and idolizes his mommy. He is an amazing kid and you never know what is going to say or do from one moment to the next.
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