Did anyone get a bad head injury?

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This might seem like I'm fishing for sympathy but don't misunderstand me, I'm wanting a debate here.

As a child while playing with friends in a field one of them threw a large rock up at a tree to try to knock something off it and it accidentally landed on my head. I briefly saw black and was bleeding on the head and in pain for hours. Another time in school a boy dropped a backpack full of bricks he'd put in it onto my head from the top of a stairwell onto me where I was standing on the ground floor. I collapsed, was in agony and bleeding badly in the head again.

I think but can't prove that these gave me brain damage. I've read that boxers and American football and rugby players often get brain damaged from head injuries, even soccer players from heading the ball too. Does anyone think it's worth bringing up with the doctor? I fear they won't consider it worth their attention and in any case I had a brain scan in the past after these incidents a few years ago (for unrelated reasons) and apparently it didn't show anything of note because the people who did the scan didn't mention anything unusual.

Sometimes when I struggle to make eye contact, even more than most aspies who I've met in social meet-ups, and when I seem more slow at processing things, I'm wondering how much of it is Autism or whether it's compounded by brain damage.

Has anyone else experienced a bad head injury?

I did get a pretty big rock slammed on my head once when I was 7 years old in summer camp.

I guess it wasn't all that bad an injury----but who knows?

But....this occurred long after my severe autism which occurred before the age of 5.

I got a concussion from sledding into a tree (there was a coating of ice over the snow, making it super slick) when I was 5. Pretty sure I was showing signs of autism before then, though, but I'm moderate-to-high functioning, so my parents didn't get me checked for autism until they heard about AS when I was in fourth grade. My parents say one of my first words was "caterpillar" and one of my earliest memories is trying to get a spider to crawl onto a book I was holding (because I wanted to hold it but didn't want to get bit) - I think I was 3 at the time. So I can at least say the special interests (insects/arthropods were my first) were there for sure. I've never really thought I had any reason to believe the concussion caused any lasting damage, though I haven't asked my parents if they noticed any changes in me after that - presumably they would have had me checked out if they did, and I don't remember having any scans other than the initial one to confirm I had a concussion.

My daughter has had multiple concussions since middle school. They probably do add to her functioning problems from Asperger's. She has serious light sensitivity and difficulties with sound, too. One thing a lot of people don't realize is that once you have had one or more serious concussions, small, subconcussive blows can have an additive effect.

You probably could ask for a referral to neurology to work on specific functioning areas where you could use help. In some ways, brain injury gets more respect as a disorder than autism does; you might be able to get help from an occupational therapist or something of that nature. Possibly you would even get a thorough assessment of your life function problems, and strategies to help you, including visits from a home aide.

You should be prepared, though, to have your alcohol consumption questioned. Alcohol can definitely have both transient effects and long-term brain damage. Anybody who already has brain issues from autism, and also a history of concussions, should not push their luck with any form of substance abuse.

As a young boy I was kicked by a thousand pound bull and knocked unconscious for around 8 hours. And brain injuries in athletes can cause some symptoms similar to those exhibited by Aspies. But now when I think over the relationship of Aspie traits at least in my case, I see similarities in my relatives. So I am inclined to believe its all in my genes.

But when you see your doctor, you should pass onto him/her your past brain injuries. More information is better than less information in this case. Let the doctor sort it out.

The one question you might consider is when did your injuries occur and did you exhibit any Aspie symptoms prior to those injuries. Your parents might be able to answer these questions.

[quote="fifasy"]This might seem like I'm fishing for sympathy but don't misunderstand me, I'm wanting a debate here.

As a child while playing with friends in a field one of them threw a large rock up at a tree to try to knock something off it and it accidentally landed on my head. I briefly saw black and was bleeding on the head and in pain for hours. Another time in school a boy dropped a backpack full of bricks he'd put in it onto my head from the top of a stairwell onto me where I was standing on the ground floor. I collapsed, was in agony and bleeding badly in the head again.

I think but can't prove that these gave me brain damage. I've read that boxers and American football and rugby players often get brain damaged from head injuries, even soccer players from heading the ball too. Does anyone think it's worth bringing up with the doctor? I fear they won't consider it worth their attention and in any case I had a brain scan in the past after these incidents a few years ago (for unrelated reasons) and apparently it didn't show anything of note because the people who did the scan didn't mention anything unusual.

Sometimes when I struggle to make eye contact, even more than most aspies who I've met in social meet-ups, and when I seem more slow at processing things, I'm wondering how much of it is Autism or whether it's compounded by brain damage.



This has nothing to do with the substance of this, but do persons and media in Britain refer to the American NFL game as " American Football "?

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Renal kidney failure, congestive heart failure, COPD. Can't really get up from a floor position unhelped anymore:-(.
One of the walking wounded ~ SMASHED DOWN by life and age, now prevented from even expressing myself! SOB.
" Oh, no! First you have to PROVE you deserve to go away to college! " ~ My mother, 1978 (the heyday of Andy Gibb and Player). I would still like to go.
My life destroyed by Thorazine and Mellaril - and rape - and the Psychiatric/Industrial Complex. SOB:-(! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

...Thank you! More later. I'm relatively near to Oakland, you know ...

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Renal kidney failure, congestive heart failure, COPD. Can't really get up from a floor position unhelped anymore:-(.
One of the walking wounded ~ SMASHED DOWN by life and age, now prevented from even expressing myself! SOB.
" Oh, no! First you have to PROVE you deserve to go away to college! " ~ My mother, 1978 (the heyday of Andy Gibb and Player). I would still like to go.
My life destroyed by Thorazine and Mellaril - and rape - and the Psychiatric/Industrial Complex. SOB:-(! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

I suffered a CVA (Cerebrovascular Accident) -- otherwise known as a stroke. It was an embolic stroke from a blood clot in my left cerebellum. It caused permanent damage. This was in 2015 though, so it definitely didn't cause my autism. It did, however, add to my distress. Not only did I need a year of stroke clinic visits (3 full days per week) for Vestibular Rehab, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology, but I lost my ability to "mask" my autism as I had before. My mutism and autism are much more pronounced since the stroke, and I simply can't 'fake it to make it' any more in social situations.

Other than my stroke I don't recall any major head injuries.

Yes. In a lot of ways I came out better than before the event. But, I'm a polymath.

I remember one of my post-stroke neurologists thought that I was 'faking' or exaggerating some of my behavioural characteristics months after the stroke. She kept saying "But this isn't a stroke response ... ", or "But this mannerism is ATYPICAL for stroke recovery!" (undertone: you're faking it). She didn't know me pre-stroke so I just had to grin and bear her condescension. All I could say in response was "I never said this behaviour is attributed to my stroke. It's just ME. Deal with it."

(rolls eyes)

I got speech therapy to get rid of the monotonic voice. I got OT/PT to improve my lousy coordination.

I got over my sensitivity to being touched by other people. I got lot of social skills training in rehab.

I expanded my diet.

I worked on achieving a healthy weight and keeping it.

I continue doing rehab type exercises to stay shape without putting too much stress on my joints.

I learned I was cross dominant. Then I figured out that "normal" limitations about what I can learn don't apply because I'm not normal.

Part of social skills training was the realization that I could get far more help than average by being an enthusiastic patient who provided positive feedback to the hard working professionals.