I think that these two papers are interesting on describing adult outcomes, because they were somewhat prior to the concentrated interventions of today, certainly prior to biomedical interventions, and because they are far richer in their case study descriptions than the usual,

Somewhat mixed outcomes of the original clients of Leo Kanner,
Follow-up Study of Eleven Autistic Children Originally Reported in 1943.
Leo Kanner, 1971

and
Followups of 11 children, including Donald T. and Frederick W. from the original children, who were found to be fairly successfully integrated into society at adult life,
“…This, then, is the profile of eleven autistic children, now adults, whose social adaptation does not run counter to the general run of the populace. It differs essentially from that of at least 83 of the 96 other autistic children in the series. Fascinating as it is, it does not offer a definite clue for the cause of the difference. The presence of speech before the age of 5 years and the fact of being kept out of state institutions are helpful hints but, being shared with some of the non-emerging children, they can only be viewed at best as straws in the wind pointing to prognostic probabilities…What can we make of the fact, documented in this study, that almost 11 to 12 percent “got there” without any of those [therapeutic] techniques?

Kanner, L., Rodriguez, A., & Ashenden, B. (1972). How far can autistic children go in matters of social adaptation?. Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 2, 9-33.

Both from,
Neurodiversity.com

A case may be made for Aspergers in the family, but I cannot find the classical autistics that your son and mine belong to. Aspergers are functional and at the time merely considered to be odd. The classical autistics would have stuck out and been institutionalized.

thank you thank you for writing so much about your family and I so so hope your son has found the right school. If I may ask (being a college professor myself) what is he hoping to study? College is no easy endeavor…..

I really think my grandfather (on my mother’s side) had some kind of Asperger’s. Brilliant and and an original thinker, not so good with emotional matters (but give him a slide rule…..).

Hope things have been good—-thank you again——-

My grandmother was diagnosed as schizophrenic at 10 back in 1915, my mother was diagnosed as schizophrenic back in 1965, both underwent electric shock treatments and both were locked up at various times of their lives. However, having researched autism a few years ago while getting my psychology degree, I see that they fit the diagnosis perfectly and so do I.

As a child at school I’d hide in the bathroom at recess every day, and I had extreme difficulty making friends. I lived in an imaginary world a lot of the time and I used to love books because when I’d turn the pages I’d see people moving on each page.

I always felt different from other people and socially awkward. But, I’ve noticed changes over the years, the older I get, the more aware I am of my feelings and emotions. My nerves feel as if they are frayed and although I’m only 45, I feel 80. Other things I notice is that over the years I startle more easily, in fact, I even jump during commercials. Socially, I’ve never had any close friends and that has not changed. Yet, I am very close to my children and my autism has helped me become an excellent mother because I built my world around them. ( I could care less about their fathers though LOL.) As a mom with autism, I didn’t mind just sitting alone in a car waiting hours for them during all their activities as their happiness was my happiness.

While raising my son, I saw that he was much like me. My heart would break sometimes because I knew how hard it was for him to socialize. When I’d drop him off at school in the morning he’d have a terrible stomache aches and head straight for the bathroom. Further, everytime he faced stress he’d put on a costume and run through the neighborhood, often hiding behind bushes or in neighbors yards. His sister and I thought it was funny, but now I see that he was running from himself and the costume was just an added defense mechanism.

As I stated before, I only learned about autism a couple of years ago. Before that I just thought my family was strange including an aunt whom refused to come out of her house for 15 years. Further, I thought it was just a coincidence that my great-grandmother, grandmother and mother were all single moms, and my 24 year old daughter drops her boyfriends like hot potatoes. Now I understand all the “aloofness”.

Still, I am glad that I never new about this condition and I certainly will not tell my son as he’s finally making a few friends and is in college successfully I hope this time (after 4 unsuccessful tries.)

Had I known that I was autistic, I don’t think that I’d have accomplished so much in life. I forced myself through college, to apply for jobs, etc., which are all out of my comfort zone and have lots of successes and good memories in the “outside” world.

It’s been hard, but if I had known that I was autistic, I might have become lazy and complacent and probably signed up for disability.

To Donald: Yes, years and years ago there were coal mines and steelworks in other parts of South Wales, but no more. There has been no sign of nercury. Local water supplies are known for its purity.