The First Doc Appt

The doctor's appointment has come and gone. It was very interesting. Since it is the first time the doctor saw J, he wanted to do his own assessment. I can honestly say that if he did any less, I would be upset. He threw out a possibility of what J might have instead of AS.. "Avoidant Personality Disorder" and Social Phobia. We are reading up on it now. However, many of the readers here, if they are someone with AS or know someone with AS, have had a light go off in their head when they read about AS and think of themselves or the person. Well, AvPD does not make the lights in our head go off. There is so much that just does not fit. When I read about AS, I can pick out specific things that J does that points to AS. I can do this with AvPD but only after pulling it apart and thinking about things in a different way. I cannot get into J's head in order to know what he is thinking or feeling, so I can only say my own observations AND what the literature says about people who are in relationships with aspies. AS just makes the most sense. I can literally read a book about Asperger's Syndrome and nod and say, "Yeah, that is EXACTLY what is going on."

Also, a little note about J's social abilities. Even if he could get over the anxiety (for which he has new medicine for), he lost 35+ years of being unable to socialize properly. So, he doesn't have the proper social skills. This is a long-term rehabilitation that I would like to see happen. I mean, hopefully nothing ever happens to me because I, essentially, take care of J socially, outside of the internet. Plus, our son needs to be able to learn by example in certain social settings. I have to know that they can both be okay. His older kids have been around NTs and people who can socialize, so I am not worried about them with this. I can only work on this with him if he wants to, though.