Do you need some assistance in parenting your Aspergers or HFA child?
Click
here to use Mark Hutten, M.A. as your personal parent coach.
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Hi Mark,
Thanks so much for this. I just want to let you know that I am reading and digesting, and so is my ex-wife and her partner (both in CC). As we all co-parent Anna (our lovely 15 year old Aspie girl) we are actively working together to try to help her with these socialisation issues.
I just want to add that I find your specific descriptions of the kind of issues Aspie kids face to be so helpful. Speaking for myself, there have been so many times where I have felt a bit baffled as to why certain types of situations haven't worked out well for her. It changes the game to have these insights, as well as useful strategies for improving things. Anna is not without friends, but has experienced painful rejection a few times, and could definitely use some help. I'm very hopeful that we can do that, with your books as an aid.
As you suggest, we will read and apply, and come back to you if there are specific issues that we can't tackle from the books themselves.
Thanks again, and best regards,
Daniel
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Good morning Mark,
Thank you for the link; I purchased the Ebook and spent about 4 hours yesterday listening and taking notes. This in addition to the 2 hour audio book along with some additional videos I found on YouTube. I am convinced that my 27 year old son has Aspergers /High Functioning Autism, its just getting my husband to come on board to help with developing my son's independence and stop our enabling. But most important, its getting my son to realize he has an issue which will explain most of the situations he has been confronting in the past several years. I did hear you mention that you can offer guidance with this; I may be seeking your assistance in the near future. This week we are on vacation so I will not be reading up on this but I will be back. Thanks again, your videos/ebooks have been so informative and have explained ALOT!
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Your my hero .im intrigued by the info,books and knowledge regarding
autism and Asperger's syndrome..i have took the time to read some of it
..its eased alot of anxiety for my self .i have 2 sons on the spectrum
but two different personalitys .thanks so much.kind regards Christina
Coleman.xx
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Dear Mr Hutten,
My name is Angela and within the last year I feel I've found the missing piece to my life. After reading Temple Grandin's book and then diving into this world head on, there is little doubt in my mind that I have ASD. I've carried a host of scattered diagnosis in the past but nothing ever really fit or made total sense.
I'm a do-er, I quest for knowledge, understanding and better in life. Every day. I've learned so much and overall am able to function pretty well in the neurotypical world. But it's still hard. Drastically hard.
One of the places I see many of the struggles is in my marriage. My husband and I are both super committed to one another and love each other deeply, but things are just hard. The meltdowns and lots of other little things are really taking a toll on us and we are starting to see real changes in how we operate with one another.
We are excited to download your ebook and glean wisdom and perhaps a new game plan to move forward with. We've worked with counselors in the past and they just seem so outside of our world we tend to be more productive without them. Just the two of us, stumbling around in the dark figuring out what works and what doesn't. It's exhausting for both of us.Our brains work differently. We come at problems with different tools to work with. It's great and hard all at once. We really would love some outside guidance from someone who understands this world.
I'm hoping to find someone eventually to work with one on one as well to understand this world more deeply and being able to add to the skill sets I already have with some concrete ideas to implement in my own life.
It's hard when NT people try to help and offer ideas with the best intent, but I then often seem unable to fully implement them or get the desired results because I just operate differently. I've had people tell I'm just not trying hard enough, and frankly for years I believed that. But no matter how hard I tried and pushed myself I still found myself unable to "hit that mark". I'd love to find someone to work with on adding to my own tools to be able to navigate things easier. Any advice for trying to find someone local?
I contacted my state Autism society and was basically told they don't know of anyone who works with adults on the spectrum near me and their primary job is to help families or children. Adult resources weren't to be had. I was also told good job for all I've achieved and for being where I am and to "just keep swimming". I appreciate the encouragement but I want to find help and answers.
I noticed some clips from seminars you've done and I was wondering if you have a calendar anywhere of any scheduled events? We'd really love to see you in person. I wish there were more therapists with a deeper understanding of this world. I really wish there was some type of network to find people who "get" us. We aren't less, just different and I want to find help that can speak to my different.
Anyway, any advice, information or recommendations would be much appreciated. Thank you for what you do.
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Hello Dr Hutten,
I am desperate for help. I have 8-year-old twins. I am divorcing their father. He was diagnosed with NPD by someone from a group called the Aspergers Autism Network (AANE). I truly belief the diagnosis fits.
I am looking for a therapist to treat my children and I am hoping you can recommend someone in Baltimore, MD. The therapist does not need to take insurance. It would be great if that person would be willing to testify in court. I feel like I am screaming in the wind with regard to their father's diagnosis. I can't stop him from having them several nights a month. My kids hate it. My attorney says there is nothing I can do about it. NPD doesn't present itself in a way that it is easy for the courts to deal with. I am documenting every time them come back without being fed and other things the court can understand.
The therapists my children are seeing now are completely dismissive of my concerns and my husband's diagnosis. I think they just don't understand it and the implications for my children. They see a wonderful, charming father who shows up and says the right things. I call it the "display model." The display model is a wonderful human being. The person that is with my children is in his bedroom watching pornography and ignoring his kids. We will soon be getting his computers to see if it is underage porn.
Please please please help if you can. I am willing to pay cash and not use insurance. I just need a good therapist for my children.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Mark,
Thank you for your prompt reply. I really appreciate it. I am a computer programmer (MSc) and my second occupation is psychotherapist, although I know how it might sound to you. I have already one marriage after me. I have a son. I am trying hard to find better contact with him. I am now in the second relationship with a lovely woman (I am 43, so is she too). She still gives us a chance, as she (she has PhD in chemistry) recently figured out that I have to be on this autistic spectrum as an adult.
She gives all her hopes on you as a competent therapist for this kind of challenge. Until now I was looking at myself that I have some symptoms from autistic character, but I could never admit myself that I could be quite that, as I made two learning analysis. But realizing I am pretty sure a high functioning (or maybe not so high) autistic adult I feel pretty confident that talking to you might be very helpful for me to clarify my prespective and our relationship. I am using no medicine drugs, no psychiatric medication, I drink no alchohol, I am not a smoker ... I am psychoanalitcal therapist and also a hypnotherapist. I do it as a part time job.
My problem is that sometimes my partner doesn't feel that I am connected to her. She sees me distant, as a stoneface, pokerface if you want. Her feedbacks are normally true as she is very sensitive, though. She is an energetic healer, as she posesses those kind of skills. She works as an API sourcing manager.
For the time being we live seperate in wish to come togeter if possible. I am putting also a lot of hope in working with you at least for some hours. And yeah, this is my motivation. I would appreciate if you coud give me, or maybe to both of us together an initial hour to clarify some open issues. What can I expect in the future, I what is for my partner to expect if she continues to live with me.
I would very appreciate it if you could find this hour somewhere taking into account we live in Austria and CET time zone. But that's not a problem really as we would take any time needed.
So, I want to do my best out from me. To continue my personal development. I am a very sensitive man, I can be very strong and determined, but still I can get pretty unsecure and hiding behind another person. Right now I am working in a new company for more than a year. It is very promising if I get further. But my real wish is my psychotheraputic work, but until now I was always doing so not to have to many patients. Recently, I am getting to know why. I would like to stop living to comply to others and more to live as I am. I have all the support of my partner.
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Hi there -- I'm just wondering if any research has been done about
the frequency of dementia or other such conditions among parents
(especially mothers, I would say) of "children" with Aspergers? For
example, my son is 40 years old, I have about 99.9% of
the responsibility for everything concerning him, I think his dad would
be diagnosed with Aspergers too if he allowed himself to be seen; this
morning it struck me that it would be a JOY to be diagnosed myself with
dementia so I wouldn't have to deal with
it anymore! Unlikely to happen any day soon (I'm not yet 69), but I
just wondered if there's anything to this idea. Surfing the Internet
brought me to you, who have done a lot of work with Aspergers and the
parents of Asperger people, so I thought maybe
you might know of any possibly connection.
It was just a thought -- maybe some doctoral candidate would like to do work on it... I volunteer!
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Hi Mark,
My son Jordan is 16 and he has been diagnosed with Aspergers by a psychotherapist about a year ago.
By then he had gone through a lot of difficulties emotionally and socially (since aged 12) which resulted in:
- school withdrawal (eventually home tutored)
- social isolation
- anxiety
- depression
He is still followed by a therapist but he has been completely withdrawn and refuses to talk to anyone.
We live just outside London in the UK and I'd love to have access to a
Coaching service like yours in our area or at least in the UK.
Can you help?
Your approach and your webpage looks like it could really work for us.
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Good morning Mr. Hutten -
I
have recently come across your e-book My Asperger Teen and downloaded
the book and also have been reading the hard book. I find your book
very interesting and am having issues with my 16 year old son. I have 3
other sons besides Scott and I have given them your e-book to listen to
to try to understand him more and help. It has always been difficult
dealing with him over the years and has caused a strain with him and his
brothers. I would also like if you have any suggestions on how to
bring the family closer together.
He
is having a lot of changes coming up when school starts up in August
and I wanted to see if you can provide me some specific help regarding
specific issues I have.
1.
He is 16 years old and is still having an issue with bed wetting. He
was on medicine to try to control the bed wetting and wetting his pants
during the day and has been off the medicine for some time. We actually
did not have problem for around 8 months and then we started with the
same problem about 1 month ago and it has been happening at least 4
times a week. Any suggestions?
2.
We also have a problem with his hygiene. He is starting to mature and
does not like to shower. He goes into the bathroom for 30 minutes and
am not sure what he does in there. My husband and I have both sat in
the bathroom with him because sometimes he would go in there and just
sit on the floor. He got a job in a supermarket and is changing schools
in August and I do find that he has body odor quite a lot. He said he
doesn't smell it when I tell him and refuses to shower again. Any
suggestions on hygiene?
3.
He is obsesses with his computer. He will sit on it for hours and when
I tell him to get off he doesn't listen. If I go over and just shut it
off, he throws a fit and will throw things and start cursing and run
into his room and hide in a ball. He tells me he plays with his friends
on the computer. He doesn't socialize and doesn't have any outside
friends. When he does get off the computer, he goes and watches TV
instead. Any suggestions to stop the computer playing?
4.
Like I said he is changing schools in August and I wanted to see how
to make the transition a little easier for him. He will be going to a
trade/high school and he will be in classes with adults. He does have
problems with doing homework and doing classwork. He just sits there
and does nothing. Fortunately, he is extremely smart and he tests very
well. I know counseling doesn't work so I didn't know how to deal with
this.
I
know you said we can't take on all these issues at once and can only
fix one thing at a time. I would like to know if you do any group
sessions in South Florida because I would love to see you in person. Do
you have anyone in South Florida that you deal with that would be able
to counsel me on some of these issues or is you would be able to answer
them.
Any help you can give would be much appreciated.
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Hi Mark
I'm
writing because my family is in crisis due to parenting issues. I was
looking for parenting coaching but wondering if your Online Parent
Support package would be a good fit?
I
live with my husband (married five years ago), 13 year old son and 11
year old daughter. The kids have 30-40% custody with their father, who
left me in 2010. My son has always been a challenge - ADHD, gifted,
learning disabilities, behaviour stuff. In fact, he was homeschooled
until this school year due to his issues. He started high school
September 2016, and since then we have been dealing with a whole new
crop of problems, in addition to old ones that never got resolved. My
daughter is highly functional, though she gets away with more than she
would if she didn't have the brother that he has.
My
marriage is in crisis because my husband is frustrated with my
ineffective parenting and the train wreck that he sees coming with my
son. I struggle with consistency (I probably have ADHD) and also with
not having the freedom to parent without having to seek input from both
my husband (who doesn't have biological kids of his own) and my ex (who
is a devoted father but also a narcissist and sets a bad example in some
areas).
I
need support as soon as possible to implement results-oriented
strategies in a rather complex situation involving a lot of very intense
people. My son is displaying a lot of defiance around basic boundaries,
some deceitfulness/insincerity, impulsive behaviours that are getting
him into trouble, and disrespect toward others (everything from table
manners, arguing, not respecting personal space, etc.).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I just discovered your material mentioned in the subject. My question is, are either of these available as a talking book or video?
I am certainly interested in these, for myself and/or a family member who has a 13 year old boy with aspergers, and a 6 year old boy with autism. We have been running into brick walls for the past three years regarding the 13 year old. The school has no idea how to cope with this, and seem to have little interest to even care. We live in New Brunswick, and there does not seem to be anything supported by the government to help these families or introduce helps into the school system. I am looking into information to learn over the summer to prepare this young man for the next school term, and hopefully provide the school with some information on how to work with this student, whereas this school term has been a complete loss for him. The 6 year old had the benefit of attenting a school from age 3 where he learned to talk etc., and kindergarted has gone well for him, so at present need to conentrate on the 13 year old. In addition the 13 year old has a twin brother who is ADHD, and a talking type book would be convenient for the mother who is single and once the day is over is mostly too exhausted to look at a book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I
have known since childhood that I think differently than the average
peer but, at that time seemed to me, autism was only related to
classical accounts with low-functioning attributes that made it clear
for others to comprehend there is an issue. I had multiple psychs and
doctors, as a child, suggest there being a strong chance of
autism/aspergers but questioning the treatments my family decided to
leave it be.
I was not helpful is such matters because when questioned it was
obvious to me what kind of an agenda the psychs had. If they were going
to try to diagnose I would have wanted the respect of being up-front
about it and typically they would ask questions that were not applicable
in my perspectives. Plus I had no idea how others would perceive me if
it was made official that I was 'different', from experience it seems to
me people don't tend to treat those they don't understand well. But I
knew something was different, and it wasn't just personality, though as
much as it felt as handicap I knew it is also connected to the gifts I
have and therefore directly connected to personality. I have tried
dodging being labeled for many years but as many sites indicate, my
issues with trying to focus on social aspects get in the way of mundane
simple work that I feel is honestly a bit of a waste of my gifts and
talents.
Through sites and articles that I found accurate and applicable
connecting me to this email, I found most appropriate the advice to
create a portfolio to better establish emphasis of skills. Problem for
me currently, is that my interests and gifts lead to ministry, which I
have no clue about getting work for without ordination...which is
proving to be a bit difficult due to aspergers. I was hoping that
perhaps in your wide experience of dealing with specific cases of
individuals with aspergers and their very specific gifts, you would know
of some direction that may be helpful in my conquest in doing work that
utilizes my gifts and talents and allows me to pay very modest bills
for myself and my family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello Mark,
We have a 17 year old , turning 18 in 2 weeks.
The short story is he dropped out of school in 11th grade, attending an
online school for a month or two and even attending a GED program. He
stopped all of it.
He went thru drivers ed- his request- and yet won't get his license.
He has a part time job babysitting his nephews 2 days/week. He is very
reliable and responsible with this job. He likes to buy his own clothes
and shoes, via Amazon, or at Ross.
He spends days on end in his room on his phone, uses as his device to research information or watch videos.
He enjoys going to the Gym for pick up basketball games and will stay
for hours. We enjoy this and support his desire as he is getting both
physical and social exercise.
Whenever we talk about finishing school, getting his license, looking at
jobs, becoming more independent and preparing for his life outside of
our home, he shuts down and heads back to his room.
I have always suspected he was somewhere on the spectrum but never had
an official diagnosis. He seemed to be doing well until he reached 7th
grade. Then we/he struggled and the "shut down" began. We got thru and
made a couple life changes, with his "approval" and had hoped it would
improve his future. He did settle down and his angry outbursts settled
down. But alas he stopped sports and school, slowly but surely.
Here we are on the heels of his 18th bday and I read your email and transitioning to adulthood.
Questions-
Can we help him if he thinks he doesn't need help?
Can we help him recognize his challenges so that he can better understand what he will need in his life?
As I write to you I realize I have so many questions. More everyday.
I appreciate anything you can suggest to us. We know we have to do better, do more, do things different in order to help
Our son, Jake, be his best and find his future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My son Jeff made a huge progress since last September. He
can get along with his sister and me. He succeeded in his school and
graduated from the middle school. Now we are facing the challenges to
transfer him to the new high school. Probably we made the wrong
decisions for him. Originally he wanted to go to a lottery draft magnet
high school. We worried about whether he can handle. The single round
transportation takes about 1 hour and I heard there are bullies in the
school. We decided not let him go; Then we moved last month and he will
go to the Green Hope high. Most of his middle classmates will go to
Panther Creek High. He insisted he wants to attend Panther Creek High.
But PCH is now capped and the school board told us it is impossible for
him to go back. Jeffrey now feel depressed because of the new
environment and new school. By clarifying, we moved 5 minutes away from
our old house and the two High school are 5 minutes away , too. But the
students in GHH are 600 less the students in Panther Creek High. My
husband and I are regretful to make this decision for him. I can say
Jeffrey had a very good school year. We are actively looking for the
students who will go to GHP and try to help Jeffrey to connect with
them. But now Jeffrey is resisting what we arranged for him.
I check with you to see whether you can give us some suggestions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My 19 year old daughter has had a habitual lying problem that started when she was a child. Mostly we know she lies about things that have not gone her way, and pretends “everything is fine”. She was a foreign exchange student her Junior year, had a great & independent experience but lost ground on her accomplishments upon retiring home. This is when I first wondered if she was depressed. She has been quite disrespectful in how she treats my husband and me, and we cannot get her to participate in chores, self-care (showers, brushing teeth, laundry, cleaning her room or car). High school largely was easy, but she refused to do anything to prepare for college, although we pushed, she didn’t take the SATs her senior year, opting instead for local Junior College and live at home the past year, which was an acceptable path we thought. She was very excited to take college courses, had big goals of becoming a doctor. She bombed her 1st semester, continually lied about her performance. She would not seek tutors or academic counseling help. We have expectations or her to go to college, but are not over bearing about it, although she feels we are - this is more about her own struggles with failure I think. She does have a PT job, but spends all her “free” time on her cell phone/social media apps, or sleeping. She does not follow thru on intentions, and gets angry when we remind her again and again to wake up, clean her room or the bathroom, take a shower, brush her teeth, register for school, etc. She has recently been suicidal, had the pills/alcohol in her hand (while we were home too) but pulled away from the “dark place” because she felt her older sister would miss her (i.e. not us). We learned about this a full month later. Ive suspected she was depressed, but she puts on a good face, won’t talk about personal things and is impossible to read emotionally. Suicidal tendencies were a surprise. She sought medical help on her own, thankfully, got on Zoloft, which helps her feel more positive, and she now seeks out friends, but nothings changed towards us or home/family life. We sought therapy immediately to figure out how to interact with her, help her if she’d let us. We have suggested for the last month that she go to therapy, but she has dragged dragged her feet & is not prioritizing it. She has an insurance referral finally, but after more than 2 week, still hasn't called to make therapist appointment. She won’t exercise. She eats “ok”, but not great. She is not obese, but headed that way. Our therapist says we need to give her space due to her depression and let her experience more “natural consequences” of her actions, but we are frustrated that she will not participate in family chores or her own basic responsibilities. We don’t have any effective tools other than asking her if she will do these things, she is 19, and It’s just her and us at home, we are semi-retired.
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Mark,
Thanks so much for responding! This makes so
much sense. Ben definitely doesn't do well with multiple step
directions. I think he will thrive with more "visual" type instructions.
I will try to utilize you tube videos as tutorials and use more
pictures and less words when trying to explain something to him.Thanks
for this very useful information! It's so hard to pinpoint what will
work with him and what won't. It's hard to decipher what's going on in
his little head and when I try to talk to him about it and figure out
how he works he shuts down and gets very sensitive and emotional.
In
any case I'm very happy I happened to fall upon your website. I have
another issue that's been bugging me. When Ben is just with me or my
husband or just hanging out with his family he seems almost "typical"
(on his medication of course), but then we'll get together at family
functions or with friends or other large group settings and it feels
like he almost regresses instantly. I can't figure out if he does
purposely, for attention, or it's a social anxiety. He gets super hyper,
rambles on, flaps around, just seems completely unaware and oblivious
of his surroundings and he's just really inappropriate for his age. I've
tried to pull him aside and talk to him about this but the behavior
continues as long as there's an "audience". It's very frustrating
because he's so smart, witty and capable one on one. I'm thinking it
must be a social thing because he's such a pleaser and really dislikes
to disappoint. How can I help him be "himself"? He's alienating his
peers which causes him additional stress. Thanks for any tips and help
you can provide!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello Mark,
We have a 17 year old , turning 18
in 2 weeks.
The short story is he dropped out of school in 11th grade, attending an
online school for a month or two and even attending a GED program. He
stopped all of it.
He went thru drivers ed- his request- and yet won't get his license.
He has a part time job babysitting his nephews 2 days/week. He is very
reliable and responsible with this job. He likes to buy his own clothes
and shoes, via Amazon, or at Ross.
He spends days on end in his room on his phone, uses as his device to research information or watch videos.
He enjoys going to the Gym for pick up basketball games and will stay
for hours. We enjoy this and support his desire as he is getting both
physical and social exercise.
Whenever we talk about finishing school, getting his license, looking at
jobs, becoming more independent and preparing for his life outside of
our home, he shuts down and heads back to his room.
I have always suspected he was somewhere on the spectrum but never had
an official diagnosis. He seemed to be doing well until he reached 7th
grade. Then we/he struggled and the "shut down" began. We got thru and
made a couple life changes, with his "approval" and had hoped it would
improve his future. He did settle down and his angry outbursts settled
down. But alas he stopped sports and school, slowly but surely.
Here we are on the heels of his 18th bday and I read your email and transitioning to adulthood.
Questions-
Can we help him if he thinks he doesn't need help?
Can we help him recognize his challenges so that he can better understand what he will need in his life?
As I write to you I realize I have so many questions. More everyday.
I appreciate anything you can suggest to us. We know we have to do better, do more, do things different in order to help
Our son, Jake, be his best and find his future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good Morning Mark,
Your advice and tips are so helpful and invaluable. I can't thank you enough.
I'd like to dig a little deeper into our previous email:
"This is an anxiety issue... or we can call it "over-stimulation."
Thanks
for clarifying this. It makes a lot of sense. Ben does seems much more
talkative, energetic, and socially awkward when he's in a large group.
He definitely seems to do better one on one. I'd like to point out that
Ben is in a general ed classroom. He's extremely high functioning and
most people, even some family members don't notice that he's high
functioning. They just blame his ADHD. He's small for his age and he's
only 12 years old. He'll be attending junior high next year. My concern
is that kids will be less accepting, less patient, and less tolerant of
his quirkiness. I'm not trying to change Ben. He's perfect to me. I'm
trying to equip him with the tools and techniques to be more
"appropriate" in situations where he may not always be able to escape to
a "safe-zone". I understand that ASD individuals are programmed
differently. I want to help Ben deal and act appropriately when he is in
public. It's not realistic to always escape or hide. That's not the
real world. I've never made excuses for him. I'm patient with Ben, I
make acommodations, but never excuses. Ben is capable of overcoming an
hurdle or obstacle if he sets his mind to it. Ben's behavior is still
somewhat acceptable now because he's still young and small for his age
but in a few years it will become more and more obvious that he's "off"
and I don't want him labeled. Any tips or techniques would be greatly
appreciated!!
Thanks again. Your website has been a godsend!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm a psychotherapist working in N. Ireland and one of my current clients has a high-achieving teenage boy of 16 who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome just 2 years ago.
His condition had not been identified in primary school but was rather considered 'bad behaviour.' Dealing with repeated incidents over a period of years was very stressful for the family who had no idea what was the matter and who had an 'exemplary' older son who was sailing through school.
My client was delighted when his high school recommended a psychological assessment
when he was 13 and he was finally diagnosed with ASD at 14.
However on diagnosis no real support regarding the condition or the coping behavioural challenges it can pose, was offered to the family and his behavioural problems continued to increase.
When his mother came to consult with me a year ago both she and his father (who is possibly on the spectrum also) were finding his behaviour extremely difficult to cope with. He was rude, angry and refused to do most of the things they expected him to do. He was refusing to get up for school, dropping subjects, cheeking teachers, refusing to help out at home in any way, etc.
There were physical wrestling matches to get him out of bed and his mother was at her wits end as all he wanted to do was play on his video game in his free time.
Since then I have been working with her on strategies to help her cope and maintain her own mental health by exploring with her what the Aspergers condition is, how those with Aspergers may process their cognitions differently to those without and the difficulties this creates for those living in a world that is so different to their own.
This greater understanding of the condition has helped her reduce her stress levels and she is now better able to maintain a sense of calm in the home and has developed strategies to reduce tension when interacting with her son.
However although calm has been restored (largely by reducing demands on her son and herself) his behaviour is still selfish, rude, and uncaring when anything is requested off him. He refuses to study at home and did not revise at all for his recent important exams.He can be aggressive if anything thwarts his plans. This is in spite of the fact that at times he can be affectionate, endearing and entertaining. He attends his own counsellor who has experience working with teens with Asperger's.
As part of my work with this client I have researched the literature for further help.
I am an ex-headteacher with an interest in the ASD spectrum having had pupils in my school who were diagnosed at an early age as being on the spectrum and who has studied Tony Atwood's work in this area.
I have worked in my counselling role with clients who have Aspergers or who are parents of those with the syndrome. I am not a specialist but really in Northern Ireland there is a dearth of specialists available to offer support to parents or those with the condition.
My client's son possibly has PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) and refuses to do most things asked of him.
All he wants to do is sit in his room at his PlayStation.
He refuses most food choosing to eat mainly pot-noodles.
He is not interested in going out with friends, having new clothes, buying books, music or gadgets.
This lack of demands from him gives my client little leverage over her son. Indeed she would be delighted if he did want to go out or if he asked her for anything.
We discussed limiting his internet time but this provides his only social contact and, as he has threatened to self harm on previous occasions, she is afraid that he may harm himself if
she suggests this. Also any threat by her to with-hold a treat in exchange for compliance in some area is normally met by him saying 'fine, if that's what you are going to do. I don't care.'
This can then be followed by long periods when he does not interact at all with the family.
I would really appreciate any suggestions or comments you may have to make in this case and thank you in advance.
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Hello, I have a 14 yr old daughter with SPD, ADHD, depression and
anxiety who is really struggling with anger, emotional regulation, and
low self-esteem. Her father died suddenly when she was almost 6, before
we knew why parenting her was so challenging. It took me several years
through my own grief and anguish to finally figure out what was going
on, with most professionals (teachers, pediatricians, therapists)
brushing it off as her acting out and having anxiety, or me being
overwhelmed. In reality, I know most couldn't understand the reality of
our day to day life. She was never given an Aspergers or high
functioning diagnosis, but I do believe she exhibits many of the traits
with the rigid thinking and rituals, and social functioning deficits.
After trying therapy and much resistance on her part, I have not gotten
her support the last 2 years and never really the support she needs. I
tried OT at 7 years old (she didn't like it), then therapy, then OT
again at 10 (no go), then medication, then more therapy and then tried
to let her just be a kid and not try "to fix her" as she called it. She
was getting all As in school and involved in dance and had friends, so I
thought why not give it a break. Well, her self-esteem has started to
plummet in puberty with her looks (she has a bump on her nose and think
she is ugly), saying how hard she works to "be normal" to fit in with
her friend group, and her inability to control her strong emotions when
she gets anxious, overtired, or stressed, even around friends. My heart
breaks for her and I am at a loss of what I can do to help her after 8
years of trying all alone to get her help. How do I teach her to think
positive about herself when she hasn't developed healthy coping skills?
I'm so worried for her and know we need to get back on track fast. Is
this something that can help me? And will I get more than one video for
the $37 fee? I am really desperate for someone who understands and has
experience in the arena of spectrum-type behaviors - to help support me
and validate my daughter's frustrations and help her. Our experiences
are that typical therapists just don't have that background or
understanding. We live on Northern CA. Please help if you know of anyone
at all who I could see in person. In the meantime, I want to order the
video because I have so much work to do on myself with responding in the
right way. I just feel so alone in this struggle all the time. It's
hard, most friends don't really understand how hard.
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Hello, Mark. I recently purchased your
book "Teaching Social Skills and Emotion Management to Aspergers
Children and Teens". I have read it and have some questions. My
daughter is 15 years old and appears to be the poster child for
Aspergers based on what you have written. She had a lot of difficulty
completing this past school year at a public school due to anxiety and
social issues even though it was pre-college advanced curriculum and she
made very good grades. She is seeing a psychiatrist who is not
diagnosing Aspergers but focusing on anxiety issues. Our insurance will
not cover testing for Aspergers but in September our insurance changes
and we will be able to have her tested. As of right now we have not
said anything to her about having Aspergers. She also has been
diagnosed with fibromyalgia due to high levels of stress involving
Aspergers, anxiety, and social issues.
Here
is the question. We have a limited time to try to help her with social
skills and anxiety before the school year starts again in late August.
We will not be able to get a diagnosis of Aspergers until September.
We need to start using the steps in your book to try to help her. Our
concern is that if we tell her that she has Aspergers now so we can
proceed with a program, will that taint the results of the study we want
to do in September? It is going to be awkward to try a program on her
now without telling her because she is very intelligent and will suspect
something, but if we do not start now there will be problems when she
goes back to school in August. So, do you recommend that we tell her
now or not? Her psychiatrist does not want to attach any labels to her
but he is not addressing the problem. We plan to change psychiatrists
after our insurance changes in September.
