Could my dad be on the spectrum?

[misdee]

right, ok, my dd2 is going to be assessed for AS, and mieows dd1 possibly as well. my brother is dyslexic, and it got us to thinking of other members of our family. and our dad is IMO a bit spectrumy. he is 63years old, and a bit set in his ways. he has 2 friends only. he has obsessions about washing machines (he likes to check they are filling up correctly and is on the search for the perfect machine), he loves electronics, especially tv's and radios. has strops if he doesnt get his own way (didnt talk to my mum for over 4hours as she said he couldnt buy a tv, and has thrown his mobile away when mum said no to a new mobile). He will retell the same stories over and over even if yu tell him you have heard it before. he cant see that people arent interested. he is v v intelligent but does read for pleasure (me and my sisters are total bookworms). he doesnt regard other peoples feelings v well and has offendedmany people by what he says.

so what do you think?could he be?

[misdee]

should read, doesnt read for pleasure.

[Blossomhill]

Yep, sounds like it from what you have written misdee (although I am no expert)

There are so many adults walking around undiagnosed because they are on the very mild end of the spectrum.

[Blossomhill]

this and this are very interesting things for you to read

[jenk1]

He sounds like my dad, we think he is AS and have told him so!!!!

He cannot handle any social interaction and does everything rigedly by times, he cant even handle it when his own children come round, he will go out of the room and be on his own, your dad sounds as if he could be on the spectrum, well they say it runs in families, i have it and its more than likely ds will be diagnosed formally and also my cousin has AS so you could be right.

[sparklymieow]

The stories generally involve washing machines, tv's and how he had be on the phone trying to sort out his latest item that has gone wrong. He tells me about it on the phone and then when he pops in the following day he will retell it, in the exact same way!!!

[sparklymieow]

when we are all round he will leave the room, and you can see he is uncomfortable when he is in the room with us all. He hates large gatherings and will leave early.

[MeerkatsUnite]

Misdee,

Would have to say he could be on the spectrum (although am no expert either it sounds awfully familiar to articles I have read about people in their mid 50s and 60s with AS and undiagnosed).

[coppertop]

It sounds as though he could well be on the spectrum. It was only when I started looking into ASD/AS when I was worried about ds1 that I realised just how many family members had strong traits. I didn't really know my dad (parents divorced when I was very young) but when his family were talking about him at his funeral it was as though they were describing an older version of ds2. Spookily they even look like clones of each other.

[misdee]

i dont think i could ever mention it to him tho.