Xisca - pics! Dry subtropical Mediterranean - My project
However loud I tell it, this is never a truth, only my experience...
Nican Tlaca
Kevin Carson wrote:I'm morally certain I'm somewhere on the spectrum, although I can't afford a formal diagnosis. And anyway it would be a moot point at my time of life. But I find that the ability to set my own schedule and largely avoid unplanned interruptions that come with being self-employed and growing much of my own food fit in very well with my neurological quirks.
Nican Tlaca
Victor Skaggs wrote:
I've gone to 2 psychologists and explained that I wanted to understand more about my "autism", and they both said, "Did you read early?" "Were you a verbal child?" I said yes, and they quickly responded, "Oh, you're not autistic." That pretty much says it all regarding the current understanding.
Kevin Carson wrote:I had a general practitioner actually tell me that hyperfocus is not a thing because "ADHD is all about being unfocused." It's a safe guess his entire continuing medical education after he left med school came from the flyers the Pharma reps left in his office.
In fact the topic is not well understood, so it is likely impossible that either of us get a proper diagnosis or identification from anyone.
Generally these neurological differences are lumped under "Autism Spectrum" for lack of any better designation. The time for scientific understanding of this topic is still in the future.
I've gone to 2 psychologists and explained that I wanted to understand more about my "autism", and they both said, "Did you read early?" "Were you a verbal child?" I said yes, and they quickly responded, "Oh, you're not autistic." That pretty much says it all regarding the current understanding.
We really don't know how much we don't know.
Jotham Bessey wrote:Autism is not a disorder. It is a different way of viewing social interactions. It is often linked with physical sensitivities.
There's a bi-modal distribution in humans. It's like being right handed or left handed. Most people are right handed. A significant number of people are left handed. There are some people that fall somewhere in between.
Jotham Bessey wrote:Some people just don't understand why s/he should do something just because the other person did it. Those people hyper focus on his/her own situation and make decisions accordingly. this puts them in constant disagreement with their peers and it creates a lot of psychological stress. And that is what causes Autistic people to have melt downs, go non-verbal, Etc.
Molly Kay wrote:
Victor Skaggs wrote:
I've gone to 2 psychologists and explained that I wanted to understand more about my "autism", and they both said, "Did you read early?" "Were you a verbal child?" I said yes, and they quickly responded, "Oh, you're not autistic." That pretty much says it all regarding the current understanding.
How recently was this? Since Asperger's has been eliminated as a separate diagnosis, no one should say that being a verbal child or reading early means you aren't on the spectrum. I've got three boys on the spectrum and I'm pretty sure my husband is too. One son has the Asperger's diagnosis (he's very verbal and has been since early on), the second has high-functioning autism, and the third has mild-to-moderate autism. There's a reason it's called a spectrum--no two people with autism or similar disorders are alike.
Nican Tlaca
Nican Tlaca
Victor Skaggs wrote:
If I had an autistic kid on any part of the "spectrum", I'd make sure they spend time in the garden...
Nicole Alderman wrote:Molly, does your son like to be outside in any form? Perhaps he'd like sensory-type stuff. My son has claimed a wheelbarrow full of dirt to be his place to drive his little dumptrucks and excavators and dig holes with them. He also likes to build, so we're making a little debris shelter. He wanted to make his own path, so we helped him with that. So far, the only real interests he has in the garden is eating the food (he likes chives, sorrel and berries) and caring for the flax seeds that R Ranson sent us.
He also liked science experiment type things, like dropping all sorts of stuff in big buckets of water, and freezing water in various containers and then smashing them to pieces.
I'm thinking the best thing--especially when they're little--is let them do what they're interested in, and encourage them in that. Just being outside is calming. They might not be interested in gardening, but they might become so just from watching you as they play.
"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)
Molly Kay wrote:
Victor Skaggs wrote:
If I had an autistic kid on any part of the "spectrum", I'd make sure they spend time in the garden...
If you have suggestions for how to get them more interested, I'd love that. My oldest says he understands my interest in permaculture, and sees the value in it, but all the info I've shown him is "boring." He's very verbal but the others are visually oriented. What kind of solutions could we come up with that make it easier for those on the spectrum to develop an interest and knowledge base in permaculture?
Nican Tlaca
Bob Stuart wrote:I'm an old Aspie, and my advice to parents is to not grind your cut diamonds back into pebbles. When you make us "well rounded" it is like using a crescent wrench as a hammer, permanently.
Molly Kay wrote:
Bob Stuart wrote:I'm an old Aspie, and my advice to parents is to not grind your cut diamonds back into pebbles. When you make us "well rounded" it is like using a crescent wrench as a hammer, permanently.
That's exactly what I'm trying not to do. It's hard to find the right balance between helping them learn to survive in society and making sure they don't lose the sense of who they are or feel bad about being different. I'm hoping it will get easier as they get older. I can reason with my Aspie, and have been able to for years because of his verbal skills. The younger two are harder to know how to help sometimes because of the lack of communication, in particular the introvert who doesn't always see value in communicating--of course they're also teenagers, and teenagers are difficult sometimes with or without autism.
Bob Stuart wrote:Instead of full independence, I'd make the goal finding and keeping at least one good life partner.
Idle dreamer
Tyler Ludens wrote:
Bob Stuart wrote:Instead of full independence, I'd make the goal finding and keeping at least one good life partner.
Sadly, they may be fated to predecease us.
Molly Kay wrote:
I've met some very good psychologists, who are perfectly able to diagnose a wide variety of disorders, but autism is not a psychological issue, nor is ADHD. Those should be handled by specialists, ideally neurologists but usually psychiatrists. We lucked out and ended up with a great psychiatrist who not only trained in an autism center but also keeps up on the new info--double luck in that she can tell you exactly how every medication she would even think about prescribing works, and she only prescribes meds as a last resort. The world needs more of our doctor. And psychologists need way more training or a reduction in scope, because too many do not have a clue about autism despite the growing numbers indicating a need for that knowledge.
Anyone who dismisses a diagnosis because a whopping two boxes aren't checked in the criteria needs their license re-examined. The DSM guides have sometimes extensive lists of symptoms for a reason, and all practitioners should understand and use those guides.
Sometimes activism is chaining yourself to a bulldozer or blockading parliament. Far more often, it’s growing too many zucchinis and sharing them with your neighbours.
Molly Kay wrote:
If you have suggestions for how to get them more interested, I'd love that. My oldest says he understands my interest in permaculture, and sees the value in it, but all the info I've shown him is "boring." He's very verbal but the others are visually oriented. What kind of solutions could we come up with that make it easier for those on the spectrum to develop an interest and knowledge base in permaculture?
Sometimes activism is chaining yourself to a bulldozer or blockading parliament. Far more often, it’s growing too many zucchinis and sharing them with your neighbours.
"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)
Phoenix Blackdove wrote:
What kinds of things do your kids like doing now? They might just not be gardening types, and that's fine. In "Retrosuburbia", David Holmgren divides folks into plant people, animal people, tool people (this includes things like building structures as well as using tools), and people people. Most folks are strongly interested in/good at interacting with one, maybe two, of those. (Myself, I'm a plant person first, animal person second. Tools and people never get a lookin.) For a household to operate sustainably, you need all those domains taken care of, and it's practically impossible for one person to do it all. David's example is that he's a tools and animal person, and Su Dennett (his partner) is a plant and people person, so between them they can maintain Melliodora without stepping on each other's toes.
Phoenix Blackdove wrote:
I also found I'm more likely to get future interest in helping if I phrase things as "I need your help to do X" rather than "would you like to help me with X?"
“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.”
― Voltaire
Michael Helmersson wrote:
I also hate starting sentences with "I".
Sometimes activism is chaining yourself to a bulldozer or blockading parliament. Far more often, it’s growing too many zucchinis and sharing them with your neighbours.
Phoenix Blackdove wrote:
Michael Helmersson wrote:
I also hate starting sentences with "I".
And there I was thinking I was the only person out there with that particular quirk! Any time I can manage it I default to "we" instead of "I". No idea why I dislike referring to myself as with the singular pronoun; I just do.
Bob Stuart wrote:
Phoenix Blackdove wrote:
Michael Helmersson wrote:
I also hate starting sentences with "I".
And there I was thinking I was the only person out there with that particular quirk! Any time I can manage it I default to "we" instead of "I". No idea why I dislike referring to myself as with the singular pronoun; I just do.
I am also dismayed at how often I use "I" and once developed a habit of using "we" in conversation until my friends objected. It would have been OK for four of my family members, though.
“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.”
― Voltaire
Michael Helmersson wrote:Thank you for filling out this questionnaire.
Your broader autism cluster (Aspie) score: 164 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 43 of 200
You are very likely on the broader autism cluster (Aspie)
Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!
"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)
All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Is "not wanting to start a sentence with 'I'" typical for being in the autism spectrum?
When I was at school (in the 1970s) we learned not to start writing a letter with 'I', because that was impolite. My idea was that's the reason why I still don't like starting something I write with 'I'. Often I try to find other ways to start a sentence, because I don't want to be impolite. So I don't think that is because I am somewhere in the autism spectrum (which probably I am, but never diagnosed officially).
Laurie St Thomas wrote:Swinging back to the original topic - Does anyone know of farms/ garden programs/ nurseries/ or anything related to the same for children with disabilities to learn, do therapy, or work?
I ask because my youngest loves to garden, and the outdoors is the happy place for both my kids. Where I live is beautiful but I'd like to increase that and utilize it in so many different ways for the community of children and adults with special needs (including issues like Alzheirmer's) and as a place of respite for the caregivers.
I would love to see or read about examples of how other people have done variations of this successfully. Both my kids have special needs, and rather than re-inventing the wheel, I'd like to look at the pros and cons of other operations and see how I can adapt some of those ideas to fit what I have in mind.
Thank you for considering this and adding information if you have it.
Pearl Sutton wrote:
Where did you get that quiz? I'm curious.
“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.”
― Voltaire
All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Laurie St Thomas wrote:
This is interesting to me, because my sentences often start with "I", maybe because it was drilled into me that you can only talk about things from your own perspective instead of assuming what someone else is thinking or feeling.
Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!
You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because
The Humble Soapnut - A Guide to the Laundry Detergent that Grows on Trees ebook by Kathryn Ossing
https://permies.com/t/239101/Humble-Soapnut-Guide-Laundry-Detergent
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