Celebrity Big Brother...one of the current housemates has Aspergers!

[Purplepansies]

Abz from ' 5 ' just announced tonight in the diary room that (in his words)..
"I have a form of Autism called Aspergers" when he was trying to explain why he is sometimes a little withdrawn socially from the other housemates.
I am really pleased that another well known person,especially a younger one,has decided to reveal this publicly on TV as its so great for our kids with Aspergers to see that, yes, its absolutely ok to think a little bit differently to others sometimes and also to find social situations a bit challenging.I have two teens with Aspergers and one of them was watching this tonight with me and was really chuffed with this revelation..
Just thought this might interest some of you!

It interests me, my dd as Aspergers. I posted on the Celeb BB thread but it went unnoticed.

It's funny because I find Abz quite annoying but when he said he had Aspergers I suddenly changed my opinion When he revealed it in the diary room I literally jumped up and shouted with excitement and then texted all my friends about it.

Paula Hamilton said she had Aspergers and dyspraxia when on the last BB but it didn't get much press interest which disappointed me.

Me too-I have suddenly become very fond of Abz. I watched BB with Paula Hamilton but I completely missed her saying that.See this is the thing that makes me a bit sad sometimes-I really didnt like Paula H. either and Abz was getting on my nerves a bit(till tonight) and it reminds me how both my teens probably come across to others a lot of the time and I can see how peers etc dont 'click' with them and how they probably find my kids annoying /irritating/standoffish etc.
I dont want to realise this but at the same time it brings it home to me more clearly as I myself dont like these people very much either..

I'm not sure if she actually said it on BB but I read an article about her having AS etc.

I see what you mean Purple, it does bring it home

(I've finally customised my MN to unhide SEN topics and so glad I did)

I'm probably not making much sense but its when you sometimes get a glimpse of your child through the eyes of others who know nothing of Aspergers/ASD .

Didn't help the other housemate telling him to open up and to stop being reclusive etc! Then he went into the diary room and explained why he does the thing he does, was very eye opening. He has had a bit of a troubled past. He has a lovely friendship forming with the American housemate.

I haven't watched it for years, might take a look having read this. My DS (9) has AS.

I hate that feeling of seeing the behaviour through the eyes of people who are unaware, you get it in chat threads when people describe weird behaviour of people in public and everyone piles in about the nutter and makes fun, I probably would have done the same myself when younger, to my shame, now I just wonder if they have AS. I used to work with someone who, with hindsight almost certainly had AS, he was very trying, a lot of moaning went on behind his back, luckily I think he was totally unaware of what others thought of him. Makes me very aware of the challenges DS is likely to face in future. Well done to Abz anyway (whoever you are!).

Same here whoknows.I would have been the very same years ago ,to my shame also, when encountering anyone a bit quirky.I also now look back and know that so many of those people did indeed have AS or were somewhere on the spectrum.