GhostintheShell9

Hey all

Is anyone else out there who is a Baha'i and also has a diagnosed case OR undiagnosed case of Autism or Aspergers in them, their spouse, their child a connection to Aspergers and Autism at all?

I'd like to have a discussion about the emergence of Aspergers, the fact that it emerged after Baha'u'llah and the Bab declared their Missions, what your personal experiences are and what your hopes and the challenges that you think we will face as individuals, communities and institutions?

Thank you
Ghost

arthra

My son has autism.. Aspergers syndrome.. and he's been diagnosed as schizophrenic.. anyway, medical psychiatric diagnoses for autism are relatively new.. It may be there are pollutants and exposure to these have caused an upsurge in cases OR they were already there in the past and people had autism but they were not properly diagnosed.

My son is also a Baha'i and accepts Baha'u'llah...so his soul is blessed. His mind is confused at times..his thought patterns can be confused but his soul is fine.. So I've served him all his life and helped provide an anchor for him and will care for him as long as I can..

Lunitik

CK9 is a forum member that has been quite open about his mild case of autism, he is quite inactive though, so perhaps you would like to PM him?

GhostintheShell9

This is amazing Arthra, so good to hear of another person who has accepted Baha'u'llah and has Apsergers/Autism. I feel I've had numerous benefits from having Aspergers and finding the Baha'i Faith. The open mindedness and thirst for truth and true happiness which were the manifestations of some characteristics of my Apsergers guided me in my 2 and a half year search for truth, sincerity in people, and some up to date guidance on how to live in the world, and this all prepared me to accept Baha'u'llah and His teachings when I was told about them.

Thank you Lunitik, I will.

Arthra, what have been the most life changing experiences for you and your family? In my country I have met quite a few people who have some personal connection with Aspergers or Autism and I am really excited to see where all the learning is going to take us in the decades to come.

cire perdue

I think there are many who are Baha'is whose problems assist them to see Baha'u'llah and to make a connection that "problemless" people will never do. Those who are ill know who is real in their caretakers. We also may be more of a test to those around us who don't have problems or issues. I know that is a motivation for me to work on myself. Just being loving is the answer to so much, but I am STILL learning to do that. No where else would I bother except as a Baha'i.

Pollwr

GhostintheShell9 welcome to the forum.

I work with teenagers and have met a few with Aspergers Syndrome. I have found that I enjoyed working with them, although a mixture of characters, they all shared an inbuilt honesty and sense of fairness that that I really warmed to.

When do you think Aspergers Syndrome emerged? I know that I was only aware of it for about 15 years, but can think of teenagers I worked with before that who probably had it but went undiagnosed. I also had a close friend at university in that category.

kathij

Dear Ghost,

There is a new Facebook group to raise awareness and educate on Autism, esp. Asbergers. It is a great support group. Since I deal with another kind of autism, dementia induced autism in old-age, I am very much into support and education.

I think you will find, neurological and behavioral problems were defined after the New Revelation, but they did exist. People had no way of codifying and studying these problems--often dealt with them by killing the subjects to prevent the spread of "nonconformity". It is a better world where we have nonconformity accepted by "normal" people, and for that we can thank Baha'u'llah, yes?

All the Holy Manifestations are not "normal", since they are extrordinary. Autism is another way that extraordinary attributes are manifest in us.
Witness the rise of a new singing talent on American Idol who is the first person on the show to have an autism spectrum disorder. Autism families and support groups are rushing to support him in his quest for a singing career.

The support group on Facebook is called, roughly "we are not stupid and we aren't going to take it anymore from you bullies" but I will get the correct name. I only signed up this morning and don't have it at hand.

Pollwr

I have been reflecting more on this topic. I know, in the past, education systems often seemed to write off a lot of students and not enquire too much why, so I think that numbers of autistic students were ignored. I also wonder if some of the students with Asperger's who were academically able did not stand out so much in a more rigid classroom situation so also went undetected. Now, in many educational systems teaching methods and the social setting children find themselves in has changed a lot from what it was 30 years ago.

I am under the impression that there are more male Asperger's people than female. The expectation of behaviours and roles based on gender has also changed a lot. Maybe expectations from a hundred or more years ago lead to behaviour amongst the masses that meant people with Asperger's did not appear different, so no body wondered about them.

Society used to be more structured and people maybe followed a more ordered life. It seems now that there is less order in the social sense and a lot of people try and avoid all attempts to structure daily life. When people are behaving like this, someone with Asperger's will stand out.

Maybe this reflects a certain capacity in people for Asperger's for order and humanity certainly needs that in this chaotic world.

"From among the people some have attained unto the pure and clear water of their utterances, and others have only drunk the sediments of the cup; every one receiving his share according to his own capacity, -- verily He is the equitable, the wise."

(Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 194)

kathij

[QUOTE=GhostintheShell9;19123]Hey all

Is anyone else out there who is a Baha'i and also has a diagnosed case OR undiagnosed case of Autism or Aspergers in them, their spouse, their child a connection to Aspergers and Autism at all?

I am living with/caretaking a spouse who is suffering autism from diabetic dementia. I am learning how to cope with my husband being "somewhere else" most of the time. In old age, we know the person is leaving this world.

Autism in children and young people takes a different direction. We try to nurture children and help them cope with the world, and help them find their strengths and talents that will allow them to grow in confidence and relationships.

Music, art, crafts or sports might be the way to develop the attributes to cope, but schools are getting rid of all these "excess expenditures". As a Grandmother I am concerned about childhood growth and development, and programs outside the school to help children grow spiritually, physically and mentally.

kathij

"From among the people some have attained unto the pure and clear water of their utterances, and others have only drunk the sediments of the cup; every one receiving his share according to his own capacity, -- verily He is the equitable, the wise."

(Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 194)[/QUOTE]

Differently abled people were either saints or witches, kings or martyrs. That is the extreme, but they either learned how to stand out and die or to blend in and survive.

kathij

I found the name again when they e-mailed me. It is called "We autistic are not dumb and we won't take it anymore" sponsored by Garrett Rickey, an autistic teen. It is a fun group and I hope you check it out!

kathij

More about me--I have a nephew who is so agoraphobic that he dropped out of school at 10. His mother is bipolar and abandoned him to be raised by just his father. The mother of two grandchildren is also bipolar and I watch for signs of this in the children. Two of my own boys were so different from their schoolmates that we homeschooled them to protect them from bullies. Then we found a group of homeschoolers where everyone was different and diversity was celebrated and encouraged. They were able to explore and develop at their own speeds and follow own interests.

That individual learning work out so well thatne had a mentor in practical computer science, and he now writes curriculum programs for the University of Oregon. He is the only person in his dept. without a college degree. The other son has a degree from a small private college and he is now starting his second year of law school on a scholarship. Both sons found out what they wanted to do by being given freedom to explore.

This is were I write from. I have 4 children and only one is a Baha'i, so far, but I haven't stopped teaching them. They have their own agendas and I have to accept that. Maybe the younger ones will become Baha'is in their 40's or 50's, who knows?

arthra

I have four children and they are still at least nominally Baha'is.. Two are more active including my son who I wrote about above ... who is disabled.

CK9

I have Asperger's and am an aspiring Baha'i. I have a lot of thoughts on this, both in terms of how it affects me and also the role of AS in society in general. I do know another person online with AS who is a Baha'i and it affects him differently -- it is a spectrum after all, and we are all ultimately unique people with unique personalities.

I will update this soon with more thoughts....

star2001

My AS that went undetected for so long surely had a great influence to open my heart to Bahai Faith. I was diagnosed 8 years back at age 50.

cire perdue

IT's apparent that some of these "illnesses" are merely odd clusters of human abilities and intelligences and when we learn more about education of our species and placement of individuals then there will not be so many labels about them being illnesses...........

star2001

There are savant skills in lower and higher functioning autistics, do a search for "human camera" on YouTube. You will find Stephen Wiltshire a savant artist. Anyway most with As don't have anywhere near that ability. I am artistic, dyslexic, horrible with people, but have been married to my only friend for 38 years. The faith probably saved my life up till now. People who have been on the outside looking in and dealt with shunning, will be naturally receptive to a newer approach in society and religion.