Qazi Fazli Azeem, I have Aspergers Syndrome and Savant Abilities.

Good Day and Salam,

My family has a 33% ratio of Aspergers Syndrome, more than 17
people. I also have the following disorders:

Myopia
Light Myotonic dystrophy
Atopic dermatitis
Dispraxia
Discalculia
Restless Legs Syndrome
Light Chorea
Savant Abilities - Hyperlexia, Sculpting, Pattern
recognistion, strong facial memory, internationally awarded
verbal skills

I say that I have savant abilities as I started walking when I was an year old, started reading at age 2 before I could talk, and started full speech before age 3, which I now know was actually echolalia, I was remembering full sentences that were directed at me and repeating them in different contexts, to get people to do things that I wanted. My reading speed (Hyperlexia) was so high by age 5 that I started going to second-book shops with my parents to get comics and magazine, and later, novels and encyclopedia sets that I finished reading before my 14 year old sister could. I now understand that my reading was deliberately developed so that I could minimize contact with people, and to understand my environment. Through reading comics and books, and later seeing television and movies, and further on playing interactive adventure based computer games, I learned how to interact with people.

Please note that my age is currently 25, I had my birthday in August. With this in mind, see my webpage www.fazliazeem.com to understand a bit about how I have used my condition in my
favor. I found out abound my condition and my familys genetic trend 2 weeks ago, since then I have acquired a vast amount of material and video documentaries regarding ASD and AS. I have
contacted Dr. Nasir Sulman at the Special Education Department, University of Karachi and am helping draft research papers on ASD and AS, my unique perspective and ability for high verbal communication will be used to change things in Pakistan. However, I have great difficulty interacting socially with people, I cant learn how to drive, cannot do abstract mathematics and am very sensitive to sound and lights.

Qazi Fazli Azeem
www.fazliazeem.com

As I mentioned, I had no knowlege about my genetic condition, I had never heard of ASD or AS before, hence when I contacted Dr. Nasir Sulman at the Special Education Department, University of Karachi, he encouraged me to write research material on the subject, my unique perspective can be used to explain previously unknown phenomenom. I am currently drafting a paper based on new research material which I have discovered, I will compile this and generate a systematic look at ASD from the neurological perspective, with symptoms and how I personally deal with each symptom to "appear" normal to the people around me. When this material is complete, I will post a copy of it here.

Qazi Fazli Azeem
www.fazliazeem.com

Dear Mr. Azeem,

Welcome to the meetup group.

The fact that you have Asperger's yourself and are exceedingly accomplished and articulate certainly introduces a new perspective to the group and I encourage your comments, queries and contributions. We all can be expected to benefit from your unique insight that may just help parents as well as professionals better understand those kids and individuals who have limitations when it comes to communicating their needs, feelings and reasons behind their behaviours.

May Allah help you in your endeavours and your determination to help others.

Best,

ZN

Dear Qazi Sahab,
In Sinsh University Jamshoro Zoology department Mr. Mehtab is conducting research in genetic disorders. If you find convinient please contact with him.

Regards
G. Nabi Nizamani

ASA Qazi Sahab,

Welcome to our group.Your inclusion is definitely giving a new dimension to our group.We have parents,teachers,doctors but not anyone who has AS.My son who is 7 also has AS.He also started reading at around 2.He also loves reading encyclopaedias and other scince related stuff.For him life is a set of rules with logics.If he understands the logic he'll never forget the rule.its the illogical social rules that make him confused.

Please do come up with your research paper,we all need to educate ourselves and come up with solutions.If possible come to our next meetup.

Good luck with your work,
Saira

Thank you everyone,

I am writing research material on my symptoms, on how I minimize the negative effect while maximizing the positive ones. Due to my research efforts, I find large amounts of new information every day, this will delay my first paper by a few days, I am making it comprehensive.

Dr Nanjani: Thank you for your kind words. The eid holidays just ended, and the large influx of work has overwhelmed my schedule, it takes me a few days to get used to changes in my schedule, hence I will be contacting you sometime next week.

Mr Nizamani: I will try to contact Mr. Mehtab next week, I hope his studies pertain to humans and not only animals :)

Miss Saira: When I was 7, star trek came on PTV, where for many years of my life the Mr. Spock character was a role model, his inability to express emotions and rely on logic made absolute sense to me. I recommend Time Life series of books for your son, second hand versions are available at Sunday Market in Defence, at Khori Gardens and at School libraries. The books have an ample amount of pictures, along with text. It is important to associate images and words to build a vast vocabulary. Comics work also, but try to stick to Asterix, Tintin and Archie comics, and not the Marvel/DC Xmen / Spiderman / Superman ones due to the underlying violent themes.
I learn how to interact with my classmates through Archie comics. Make sure he makes a list of things, with lists there is order, and the routine is established.

I have also been contacted by many researchers, I will try to post the result of the studies which happen arising from my interaction with them.

Qazi Fazli Azeem
www.fazliazeem.com

Mr.Fazli, it's amazing what you have achieved. I saw your web site, very impressive. Good luck with your research projects.
Best Regards
Waqar Azeem

Mr fazli,

Its really wonderful to see someone achieving as much as you have by focussing on positives and handling the negtives effectively.I am sure your experience will help my son and many like him.For me it seems like a big achievment in my quest of autism.I can finally see someone approachable who has grown up with things my son has and has used them in his favour.I am sure all members including myself would love to meet you.our meetup is on Friday,if possible please try to make it,if not as you said you are busy with your research stuff,please try for the next meetup.

We are all really looking forward to meet you,

Saira

Dear Mr. Azeem,

I am simply thrilled to see your post. Being a mom of a child at an extreme end of autism and in order to help him, I have seeked out quite a few well educated and professional aspergers to understand the sensory and learning issues as experienced by them. I have also tried educating myself about various up to date teaching and therapeutic methadologies, however it's the the personel experiences, emapthy, compassion and strenghts of aspergers that has moved me like nothing before. As I continue to work with my child and others at an extreme end, I start to see the same wonderful qualities merge in them. I thank you again for becoming a member and sharing some details. I will be waiting anxiously for your report . I would like to say that you and your family is an inspiration for a lot of parents and your insight can help many in connecting with their child.

God bless you,

Saima

Assalaam o Alikum Br. Qazi,

You seemed to be an energetic young man who is able to articulate your observations very well. That is great tool for someone like you who is uniquely able to bring out to the rest of us the inner mysterious world of an autistic person's mind.

Those days are long gone when autistic individuals were deemed mostly invalid and consequently institutionalized. With the help of individuals like you, behavior scientists and psychologists have developed techniques allowing autistic individuals to greatly improve their quality of life. Some of the example clues that you also provide in your posting include engaging in "comfort zone" activities to avoid social contacts and ability to learn complex concepts through pictures (comics) and games.

For your inspiration, you may want to read about one of the pioneer autistic individuals with AS, Dr. Temple Grandin (www.grandin.com), who has helped unravel the mysteries of the syndrome. Not only she has helped the scientific community understand autistic minds, but also used her distinctive sensory sensitiveness to help more humane handling of livestock on farmlands. There is hardly any commercial farm in USA that does not benefit from her work. Amongst her many books, the most famous is "Thinking in Pictures" (I know you would want to read the book just by its so appropriate title).

You can speak for many who cannot speak, and some of them may never be able to speak! I pray that you become a member of a team of parents and professionals in Pakistan who lead a successful effort in increasing the awareness about ASD and are able to win educational, medical and social rights for them. Aameen.

Take good care of yourself.

Wassalaam,
Rizwan Ahmed