This is taken from our Blogger blog (www.perspectiveadventures.blogspot.com) and was origially posted on December 28, 2009.

I think that the hardest part to accept when it comes to the Asperger’s diagnosis is that Jacob doesn’t appear Aspergian all of the time. Through most of our Christmas celebrations he was a normal laughing, interacting and conversing seven year old. While the ADD appeared a few times and the anxiety showed itself too, the social issues with his Asperger’s Syndrome seemed non-existent. I found myself back to questioning the diagnosis as I watched him participate in conversations and respond appropriately to comments. While I did notice that he never made eye contact with those he was interacting with and he tended to hyper-focus on a few of the gifts that he received, I made careful note of the lack of awkwardness on his part.

Then there was Sunday. We attended a holiday party with extended family that we really don’t see very frequently at all. In attendance there were, in addition to our three, five children in Jacob’s age range that shared his interests. I even allowed the usually restricted Nintendo DS to accompany us to give him a jumping-off point for his interactions with his cousins. On this day we could have convinced even the strongest doubters of Jacob’s Aspergers’ diagnosis. He did respond, albeit uncomfortably and with some prodding, to the adults that spoke to him. He was most comfortable in the corner of a couch with his DS in hand while his cousins and brothers ran around playing with new gifts and organizing games with each other. Socially awkward would be an understatement and my heart ached for this child that clearly wanted to play, but stayed glued to the couch with the adults. Along with his social-anxiety there came a level of defiance and attitude that left me ready to beat my head against the nearest wall.

Tomorrow the boys will go off on an overnight adventure with another cousin who invited them over. While we see this cousin slightly more frequently than those we were with on Sunday, they don't get together very often. Yet, Jacob is excited and has himself packed up and ready to go with a list of all the things he wants to tell his cousin. The whole thing can sometimes seem like a very spastic yo-yo and leaves us without much security in knowing what to expect.