Many teens go through a stage where they are embarrassed by their parents. It's a normal part of growing up. But what if your mother was really different through no fault of her own? An Omaha woman has battled Asperger's Syndrome, a developmental social disorder.

Charlie is the center of attention when he comes to grandma's house. “They both love music and love to dance,” says Becky Scherbring. “They actually have a lot of the same interests.”

But Charlie's mother Becky and her sister Wendy didn't always feel that way when they were growing up, especially when they got to be teenagers. Wendy says as she and her sister got older, their mother paid less and less attention to them.

“To be quite honest, I thought, why doesn't my mom like me?" says Wendy Hamilton.

Wendy and Becky have always called their mother “Moppy.” “I always felt like I didn't fit in for different reasons,” says "Moppy."

“I didn't look the right way. I didn't act the right way. I cared about people, I wanted to have friends, but I didn't know how to show it. I don't understand things that come easily for other people, whether it has to do with common sense or living your day-to-day life, I simply don't get it.”

“It felt like a family secret,” says Wendy.

“I had this family secret that my mom was so different. My mom didn't dress like the other moms. It turns out that she has a tic disorder so she made funny noises and she did funny things. I went through a period of shame, which I'm not proud of, but at least now I've come to terms with it because I just didn't know. There were no names for this. There was no counseling. There was no understanding.”

Three-and-a-half years ago they started looking for a doctor who would understand. In the spring of 2007, "Moppy" underwent a full psychiatric evaluation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. That's when she was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome as well as a list of other things like obsessive compulsive disorder and a tic disorder.

“We were like, yea, we have a diagnosis,” says Wendy. “We're not crazy, there really is something there. We can help her and we can fight and we were like, what does that mean? What is this? What are we supposed to do?

"Moppy" now attends regular therapy sessions that help give her the tools to better cope with her disabilities and now that they understand why their mother is different, Wendy and Becky can help their mom enjoy being a grandmother.

Wendy has written about her experience growing up with a mother with Asperger’s Syndrome. It was published in the latest issue of Autism Asperger's Digest magazine.

The article, called "The Story of Fred and Leroy, " is available on the magazine's Web site at autismdigest.com.