Brians Story

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After trying for three years, we were quite pleased when we got the news that we were pregnant. We didn’t really have a preference as to a boy or girl, we just hoped for a healthy normal baby. When Brian was born, we thought that our dreams had come true. A beautiful 8lb, 12oz boy with a head full of blond hair and deep blue eyes, such a beautiful blank face. He was a nice quite baby, only crying when something was needed. When his eyes, opened, he didn’t make eye contact or seem to recognize faces.

At about nine months we started to suspect that all was not well. He was not walking and would stare at our faces while changing and feeding him. When he did start to walk, at 14 months, he quickly developed what can best be described as a fluid gait, his shoulders tucked uncomfortably back and his head held high and erect. We constantly worried that he would trip, no looking at his feet as he walked. At age two, he was only speaking in short sentences and showed no interest in how things worked or were constructed. When we would take him on occasion to day care, he would continually bother the other children and the teachers, wanting to play with them. Likewise, he didn’t seem to be content to stay in his room and play, he always wanted to be in my bedroom or his mother’s bedroom.

Reluctant to admit that there was a problem, it wasn’t until we took him for his 24 month checkup that our pediatrician confirmed our worst fears and recommended that Brian be tested for autism. The testing confirmed our fears; Brian received a dx of Aspergers Syndrome. As is common with this syndrome, Brian also had at low IQ. The psychologist told us that with an IQ of only 110, Brian would never be able to keep up with the other kids in normal classes but with help could be trained to lead a happy and productive life.

So, at age 5, he started special ed. He would cry like a baby when the short yellow bus would pull up and he would have to leave. In time he adapted and started to improve upon his social skills. Once it was explained to him that his constant attempts at eye contact were upsetting people and making them uncomfortable, he stopped. I hate to admit it but this habit of his even creeped me out at times. He learned to speak in a monotone and to minimize the facial twitching. Sometimes he would forget but for the most part he did a good job.

The other children could be so cruel: "friendly", "socializer", "funny face", "extrovert", oh the names they would call him. Of course the stereotypes don't help either "you have to watch out for those friendly extroverted types, they are always up to no good".

Of course this didn’t really change him. There is no cure for Aspergers Syndrome right now. Scientist are working on it though. It appears to be some sort of genetic defect. One interesting theory is that modern humans and Homo sapiens interbreed at some point during the time that both inhabited parts of Europe. It does kind of make sense. The Homo sapiens were known to have smaller brains, gather together to live and hunt in groups and to use non-verbal communication. Who knows, maybe some of Brains’ twitches are telling us something that we just aren’t equipped to understand.

As Brian grew, he came to find a number of other kindred spirits at his school. I didn’t like it but they would band together and often times meet after school at our house. Sometimes, in nice weather, they would go out back, steal a ball from the dog, and throw it to each other. It was rather amazing to see how quickly they could move as well as the agility and coordination exhibited. Who knows, maybe what God took away from them he gave back in another form. If only there were some practical applications for their physical abilities. In the colder months, they would join together in our basement. You should have heard the jibber gabber! Like the chimps at the zoo! They don’t seem to be happy unless they are talking! One of the boys had a normal older brother who hacked his Xbox for him so that more than one could play at a time! Seems confusing to me but they all seemed to love it and would play for hours on end in to the wee hours of the morning. It’s the only thing that I’ve ever seen any of them show and interest in or focus on in a normal way.

Oddly, as a teen, he seemed to be very shy around girls even afraid of them. We were surprised at such a normal reaction given his problems. But, even though I tried to do my duty as a dad and teach him about the birds and the bees, I was never able to get him to stalk any of the ones that he liked.

Today, Brian is 18 and working as an auto mechanic after completing trade school. With the help of sedatives, he is able to control himself to the point where most of his customers don’t even know about his problem! He doesn’t have a girlfriend or even a strong obsession so we’ve accepted the fact that we probably won’t have any grand kids by Brian to like.

Well anyway, I know that a lot of you have relatives with Aspergers or have it yourselves. I just want you to know that it’s not the end of the world. Brian is different and it’s ok to be different. The world needs mechanics just as much as engineers, programmers, physicist and scientists. Everyone is not going to be able to complete their dissertation or pass their comprehensive exam. We’ve accepted him for who he is and like him just as much as we like the other normal children whom we have produced since Brains birth.

Last edited by Zep1 on 04 Oct 2007, 2:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

funny, well done!

Everything I've read about Asperger's syndrome, including the DSM-IV, has said that one must have a normal or high IQ to meet the diagnostic criteria. Also, on most IQ tests, 110 is above average because the average is set at 100. About 80% of the population has an IQ within 10 or 20 points of 100 (don't recall which). But maybe there is a differently scored test used on children of that age. Anyway, it still doesn't add up. It sounds like the doctor didn't understand the differences between Asperger's and other developmental disorders.

I was pretty confused around there, too, EvilKim. Keep reading closely, though. :]

That was a great story, I love reading stories on peoples lives haha, but I also am going to agree with EvilKimEvil, Its abnormal for a child to get diagnosed with Aspergers if their IQ is below average, and I think 110 is above average too, so I'm a bit confused....

Confused myself as well, as on almost all IQ tests, to my knowedge, the average is set at between 90 and 110. That is the range considered to be normal. Had his IQ been below average, he would most likely have been diagnosied with autism, I would have imagined.
Interesting too that he has no obsession...has he ever had obsessions ? But anyway, it is great that you have accepted him as he is and not berated him for his differences.

Um, satire only really works well if it's clearly satire. I think you need to make it a little more obvious - calling "Brian" someone who has Asperger's I think is an easy change. Call his "condition" something else, and people will cotton on a lot faster, and probably find it funnier, if that's their sort of thing.

FWIW, it's not the sort of humour I appreciate, myself.

i agree with the IQ thing. 70% of the people are in the 90-109 iq points. Under 90 points it is started to be considered 'challenged'. (doesnt matter if the points are from a childrens test or an adult).
i also dont get the homo sapiens theory. Homo sapiens are us the modern humans. Maybe you meant neandethals?

Some syptoms don't sound that much like aspergers, there would seem to be some comorbid problem there beside aspergers. I say that because by the way you tell the story makes it sound like he is terribly challenged. Really most of the people with aspergers live normally, just with some social challenges.

anyways, i enjoyed the story thank you for sharing.

Newsweek did a very interesting article about how standard IQ tests are often not effective for autistic children:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20226463/site/newsweek/page/0/

For people who didn't understand this post, the joke is that the kid is actually neurotypical and is living in a world filled with autistic people. The confusing thing about it was that "Brian" was labeled as having Asperger's. If the author had written "Neurotypical Syndrome," I think most people would have understood.

If you want the actual stats about IQ, yes, the mean is 100 and the standard deviation is 15 points. This means that 68% of people have an IQ between 85 and 115 (considered to be "within the normal range"), 95% have an IQ between 70 and 130, and 99.7% have an IQ between 55 and 145.

Well, technically unless the kid's IQ is below 85, they are considered "low average." And most kids will not actually qualify for intervention, unless they're having problems in school, until their IQ is lower than say 75 or 80.

Zep1,

If you aren't kidding, you don't have AS!

Started to walk at 14 months. I think that is a little slow, but still...
Looked up, etc... Sounds NT! I think most autistics, AS people look down more.

Spoke full but short sentences at 24 months! NT!! !
showed no interest in how things worked or were constructed. NT!! !

he would continually bother the other children and the teachers, wanting to play with them. NT!! !

Likewise, he didn’t seem to be content to stay in his room and play. NT!! !

Brian also had at low IQ. NT!! !(OK, MAYBE LFA) 110 IS NORMAL for an NT though.

He would cry like a baby when the short yellow bus would pull up and he would have to leave. NT!! !

In time he adapted and started to improve upon his social skills.NT!! !

his constant attempts at eye contact were upsetting people and making them uncomfortable. NT!! !

He learned to speak in a monotone. NT!! !

The other children could be so cruel: "friendly", "socializer", "funny face", "extrovert", NT!! !

Today, Brian is 18 and working as an auto mechanic after completing trade school. NT!! !

He doesn’t have ... a strong obsession. NT!! !

Everyone is not going to be able to complete their dissertation or pass their comprehensive exam.SPOKEN BY NT!! !

And YEAH, I assume this is a parody. The average NT portrayed as an AS person with a couple token MAYBE AS traits.

Oh, now it makes sense. Ha ha. LostInSpace, thanks for filling in the IQ test details. I was too lazy to look it up myself, but I enjoy that kind of information.

Thanks for pointing that out. That was a mean thing to post on an Aspie forum since we tend to be gullible.

Sorry, didn't mean to be mean....I was unable to fall asleep the other night and as I was laying there, I was imagining a very different world. One were WE were the masters and the majority. and i wondered what it would be like for a person who was one of them in our world! That's where this came from. OK, I didn't call it NeuroTypcial Syndrome as that wouldn't have made sense. But if you didn't pick up on...walking at 14 months, speaking in short sentacnes at 2, iq of l only 110, modern humans interbreeding with homo sapiens.....stalking and strong obsession should have given it away. How about steelin a ball from the dog? In our world there are not sports that involve a ball!