Weighted Blankets

$300.00 is alright I suppose it depends upon shipping. I wonder how much that is? In any case I would love one one for me and one for my son.

@Phoenix_Rising My son has mild autism. He has language but he is very strange lol. He was diagnosed at 2 1/2 lolz. Luckly for me he was very autistic so it couldnt be missed I was the first one to say I thought he had autism way before his diagnosis. It was very apparent.

@Bunniekins Yeah, once I started looking into the whole ASD thing, I discovered that there is a very big issue with it being missed in girls because it presents so differently compared to boys. In hindsight, I was a classic Aspie child, but alas, that was a long time ago, and even now it seems girls get missed. This is an organization that is fighting to change that: https://www.yellowladybugs.com.au/

I am on my way out of Forum Land for the night now, but it was good chatting to you greenpea. Your "very strange" son sounds like someone I'd enjoy hanging out with. I'm sure he is super awesome.

@Phoenix_Rising Hahaha! He is I love him to bits!

Hi @Phoenix_Rising@Bunniekins

I have been reading this thread with interest - I have never heard of weighted blankets at all, I wonder if they would help people who suffer nightmares/constant dreaming?

What would you both say are the tell-tale signs of autism? I was wondering what the difference was between autism and Aspergers? I hope you don't mind me asking but I know someone who thinks they may suffer the former and I would be very interested to know more from people's first hand experiences.

I was watching the Good Doctor tonight - I love that show. Do you think it's a good depiction of autism or does it vary significantly? Love to hear your thoughts on this but only if you have the time.

Hi @Former-MemberEnigma- I always have a laugh when I see shows and movies like The Good Doctor, of course Rain Man, and Mercury Rising that depict Autistic individuals to be some kind of geniuses ... (I wish ... if that was the case I would be taking my son to the nearest casino and be living in the lap of luxury). Sadly life is not Hollywood and my son has an IQ of 80 and has reading and writing problems which is what most autistic people suffer and then there are those who read brilliantly but have no idea of what the meaning of the words they are reading because they are so disabled....

There is not one type of aspie either I should mention that my daughter too is an aspie with an iq of 135 but has never worked a day in her life because .... well she is so depressed .... The only real way is to be assessed by a good doctor. I agreen with Phoenix_Rising if you do all the reading you will have a good idea on how you sit on the Autism Spectrum.

@Former-Member Today is a super busy day in my world and I won't have a chance to respond to you properly. However, I will in the next few days. Just quickly, there are specific criteria for assessing ASD, in the same way that there are specific criteria for assessing mental illnesses. These are listed in the DSM-V. The diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome was removed from the DSM-V. Thus, whereas if I had been assessed under the DSM-IV I would have been diagnosed with "Asperger's syndrome", under the DSM-V my formal diagnosis is Autism Spectrum Disorder without accompanying intellectual impairment or language impairment. Why use a 2-word label when you can use a 10-word one, right!!!

As I'm sure @Bunniekins knows, there is a saying in the autistic community; "when you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism." That is, people with autism differ from each other just as much as neurotypical people differ from each other. It amused me once when I disclosed my ASD diagnosis to a man who I'd been having communication issues with and he responded with "ohhhhh, yeah, now I see, my 7 year old nephew has autism and you're just like him." I felt like saying "yep, and there's a 7-year old neurotypical little girl who lives next door to me and as a 35 year old neurotypical man, I can see that you are just like her."

When I had a neuropsychological assessment done a few years ago, it indicated that I have a superior verbal IQ and moderately impaired executive functioning. I tend to present a bit as the quintessential mad professor - I hold a first class honours degree, find inferential statistics fun, and yet super struggle to understand the nuances of social interaction, can't multi-task to save my life and generally bumble around looking like Mr Bean trying to navigate situations a lot of the time.

Gee, that short response got long didn't it! I have to dash off now.

@Phoenix_Rising Hahahahaha! "when you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism." that is so funny. So true. You find inferential statistics fun!!!! OMG girl! we will really have to take you out on our girls night out that's me, @Former-Member and @Faith-and-Hope in the green pea's lil green car!!

Hi @Phoenix_Rising and @Bunniekins

Thank you for taking the time to explain to me the facts on autism. I think it's a good conversation to have as there is a lot of ignorance of it out there. And I do like to learn through those with lived experience as who better to explain? As @Phoenix_Rising said people do seem to think those effected are all the same. I found both your explanations of the assessing criteria and how it can effect social interaction, and in some incidents with @Bunniekins's children - learning difficulties, enlightening. Yes the Good Doctor is Hollywood, I thought so much - you would be amazed on how people will see autism through this show. That's what's prompted me to ask so I don't get confused by it.

And yes, we are all very unique. It really took my breath away @Phoenix_Rising how you explained that to us on @Ant7's thread. Hope you both are doing okay and having a good day. Thanks again 😊x