Autism/Autism

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I have a 4 year old that was recently diagnosed on the spectrum. My question is it possible that he does well in school with peers and work but it is a different story when he is home. He gets agitated easy and loud noises send him in to panic mode. He also repeats allot and he wants to do the same things over and over again. He has a routine and if for some reason it is interrupted or not the way his brain know it should normally be then he gets upset and we have to reason with him to get him to calm down.

Answer
Hi,

yes, that's possible and has been observed quite alot with people on the higher end of the spectrum according to the books (I think Tony Attwood wrote about that) I read and from my own experience.
It's just that the person tries to behave and cope during the day and just crashes when he or she comes home so they appear more autistic at home than at school/work...in fact, they are just themselves, and finally can let go in their familiar environment. Also, after a long day at school his nerves may be on edge and he may be extremely exhausted which also increases anxiety and overall autistic behaviour. I, for example, can be overwhelmed and exhausted beyond belief from a normal uneventful day at work you wouldn't find stressful at all.

Hope that helps

C.

Autism

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*DISCLAIMER*

Please note I am not a healthcare professional or a doctor.
I cannot provide a diagnosis or give any medical advice.
Therefore I cannot answer questions like "is my child autistic ?" other than by telling you to go and see a specialist
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Please be aware that if you are in the US it will usually take at least 24 hours until I can answer your question, as I'm in Europe and don't have access to my email during the day. I also cannot answer questions concerning the US educational or law system (other than by looking up things on google, but that's probably not the expertise you need), as I'm not in the US.
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Please also be aware that I'm a person with autism. My answers may sometimes be very blunt and direct and I may tell you things you won't like to hear. Diplomacy is certainly not among my talents. I'm never being rude on purpose, and I always try not to hurt or offend people, but it has happened before and may happen again. It's NEVER on purpose. I just want to help.
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What I *can* do for you is gather information on any aspect of autism and therapy of autism you're interested in and give you my personal oppinion about it (if you want to hear it) or, if it applies, tell you about my personal experience. I can answer all questions about what life is like for an autistic person.

I can also answer questions asked in German or French (but will have to answer in English to questions asked in French as my French is a bit rusty).

Ich beantworte gerne auch Fragen auf Deutsch.

Vous pouvez poser des questions en Francais, si cela ne vous dérange pas que je responds en anglais.

Experience


As I'm not doing well right now and am not in the shape of answering questions well - I recieved a few low ratings lately - I'll take a break from AllExperts for the next few weeks/until I'm doing better

I am an adult diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome/High Functioning Autism and ADD.

In the past years I have also read a lot about autism and its comorbid conditions and related subjects (as I am experiencing symptoms of most of these or know others who do) , so I have accumulated a lot of layman knowledge in this area (AD(H)D, Tourette's Syndrome, OCD, sleep disorders, allergies, sensory integration dysfunction, learning difficulties, left/right-brain, giftedness, Irlen Syndrome, prism glasses, executive dysfunction (aka. "inertia"), "special" diets).

Education/Credentials
None in the field of autism, apart from being autistic myself !

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