Aspergers and HFA Children: Behavior Problems

Not knowing what to do, or being unable to do what is appropriate, results in anxiety that leads to behavior problems. In his post, we will discuss the following:

• Reasons for Rigidity 
• Not Understanding How the World Works
• Frames of Reference 
• Preferred and Non-preferred Activities 
• Obsessive-Compulsive Behaviors and Anxiety 
• Behavioral Manifestations of Anxiety 
• Black-and-White Thinking
• Mind-blindness 
• Questions to Ask about Your Youngster's Behavior

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Aspergers: Parenting Strategies 101

Aspergers (high functioning autism) is a developmental disorder falling within the autistic spectrum affecting two-way social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and a reluctance to accept change, inflexibility of thought and to have all absorbing narrow areas of interest. Individuals are usually extremely good on rote memory skills (facts, figures, dates, times etc.) many excel in math and science. There is a range of severity of symptoms within the syndrome, the very mildly affected youngster often goes undiagnosed and may just appear odd or eccentric.

While Aspergers is much more common than Autism it is still a rare condition and few people, including professionals, will know about it much less have experience of it. It seems to affect more boys than girls. In general terms they find making friends difficult, not understanding the subtle clues needed to do so. They often use language in a slightly odd way and take literal meanings from what is read or heard. They are happiest with routines and a structured environment, finding it difficult to decide what to do they fall back on to their preferred activities. They love praise, winning and being first, but find loosing, imperfection and criticism very difficult to take. Bad behavior often stems from an inability to communicate their frustrations and anxieties. They need love and tenderness, care, patience and understanding. Within this framework they seem to flourish.

Kids with Aspergers are for the most part bright, happy and loving kids. If we can help break through to their 'own little world' we can help them to cope a little better in society. They have a need to finish tasks they have started. Strategies can be developed to reduce the stress they experience at such times. Warnings that an activity is to finish in x minutes can help with older kids. With younger kids attempts to 'save' the task help - videoing a program, mark in a book etc.

As the kids mature some problems will get easier, but like all other kids new problems will emerge. Some teenagers can feel the lack of friendships difficult to cope with as they try hard to make friends in their own way but find it hard to keep them. This is not always the case; many have friends who act as 'buddies' for long periods of time. Social skills will have to be taught in an effort for them to find a place in the world ... so take all opportunities to explain situations time and time again ... and one day.......it may work!

How do children with Asperger’s cope with physical illnesses?

Question

How do children with Asperger’s cope with physical illnesses?

Answer

There is no one specific way that children with Asperger’s react or deal with physical illnesses. Some children with Asperger’s tend not to be very in tune with their bodies or they don’t know how to express what they are feeling. If a boy has a sore throat, he may either not notice this or he may not understand that this is a physical symptom that should be reported to a parent. Some children with Asperger’s respond to illness with anxiety. They become upset if they are sick.

Most children with Asperger’s tend to find illness upsetting not only because they feel bad but also because it can disrupt their daily routine. If they have a stomach flu, not only are they physically uncomfortable, but they can also be kept home from school. These disruptions can be disturbing for a child with Asperger’s who thrives on order and routine.

Dealing with doctors and hospitals can be unsettling for children with Asperger’s Syndrome. Doctor’s offices and hospitals are designed to be efficient places and often nurses or doctors are not aware of a child with Asperger’s special needs. In her book entitled “Prescription for Success: Supporting Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Medical Environment,” Jill Hudson, M.S., CCLS, looks at ways to make the medical experience easier for children with Asperger’s and their families. This book contains information that medical staff, parents, and educators can use to better interact with children with Autism spectrum disorders. The book contains a CD with printable forms and worksheets, which can be distributed to the people who work with your child.

It is a good idea to talk through some different medical scenarios with your child, before he or she gets sick. Children might not understand what would happen to them if they broke a bone or if they fell off their bike and needed stitches. Exposing them to these ideas before they become a reality can be very helpful should an emergency situation arise.

It can also be helpful to a child with Asperger’s if you talk to him about his own body and how it feels and how it should or shouldn’t feel. Sometimes, children with Asperger’s don’t know if some body part feels wrong or funny, and they don’t know that they should mention it to a parent. Talking through these options with your child can help raise his awareness.

The Aspergers Comprehensive Handbook

Anyone out there that has an Asperger son that is obsessed with WWII?

My 8 year old son was diagnosed with autism at age 4. He displayed many of the symptoms of autism, poor social skills, tantrums, sensory problems. Now with early intervention he has blossomed. At the end of Kindergarten he was assessed again by the School Board and he no longer fit the criteria for Autism. He is now in 2nd grade and doing well. He is very smart with an IQ of 132 and a verbal IQ of 148; I got these results when I had him tested to see if he was gifted. The results were yes he is gifted. I did not tell the Dr. of his prior diagnosis of Autism, I guess I wanted to believe that the earlier diagnosis of Autism was a misdiagnosis. Now I had a staffing at school and according to the onsite psychologist he does not qualify to be in the gifted program. I was upset because I think he would fit in much better with the gifted kids. My son sounds like a walking dictionary. After reading about Asperger wow that is my son! Very high IQ, high vocabulary, obsessive interests! He is obsessed with WWII history. It is mostly all he talks about, and his conversations are all fact based about what he knows.

Please is there anyone out there that has an Asperger son that is obsessed with WWII?

I want to make sense of all this and I want to be informed so that if what he has is Asperger I can understand my son better. I also want to find a social skills group for him.

I appreciate any response. Please share your story. I want to be better informed. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

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Re: Obsessions

Obsessions and compulsive behavior are typical problems linked with Asperger Syndrome Behavior. This is often a hallmark sign of Aspergers syndrome. These children may become fixated on a narrow subject, such as the weather, compulsive cleanness, sport statistics or other narrow concern.

Aspergers kids can be explicitly taught better ways of communication with others which will lessen their focus on obsession.

Medications that control obsessive behavior can be tried to see if some of the obsessiveness reduces.

In some cases, it helps to turn your child's obsession into a passion that can be integrated into his or her own extracurricular or school activities. A consuming interest in a given subject can help connect your child to schoolwork or social activities, depending on the obsession and the behavior.

Part of the obsessiveness stems from a conflict between longings for social contact and an inability to be social in ways that attract friendships and relationships.

While it is better to teach communication skills and self esteem to the younger children, communication skills and friendship skills can be taught to teens or even adults that can eliminate some of the social isolation they feel. This can avert or reverse depression and anger symptoms as well as obsessions and compulsive behavior.

Learn as much about your child as you can and learn which things trigger compulsive behavior so they can be avoided. Some compulsive behavior is completely benign and is easily tolerated by everyone involved. As parents, you need to decide which kinds of behaviors should be just tolerated and which need intervention.

My Aspergers Child: Preventing Meltdowns and Tantrums

Aspergers Meal Plans: Gluten and Casein Free

The following food items make limited use of specialty gluten-, casein- and soy-free items like expensive flours and other substitute ingredients. Most everything can be purchased at your local grocery store and these ideas are meant so that everyone in the house can eat it rather than needing to cook two meals.

Breakfast:

• Bacon Potatoes
• Cereal with milk
• Cereal, Cream of rice
• Donuts/donut holes
• Eggs, fried, scrambled, poached
• Eggs, Scrambled with avocado
• French toast
• Fruit
• Grits
• Hash Brown Casserole
• Hash Browns
• Hash with poached eggs (corned beef or ham)
• Hominy
• Meat - ham, bacon, steak, sausage
• Muffins, Banana Coconut Flour
• Pancakes, Fabulous Banana
• Pancakes, Nut Butter
• Sausage
• Waffles

Lunch:

• Chicken and rice (arroz con pollo)
• Chicken Fries
• Chicken Nuggets, Battered
• Chicken Nuggets, Pecan-coated
• Chicken Salad
• Salad, Almost-Cobb
• Sandwiches – peanut butter and jelly, lunchmeat, chicken salad, egg salad, etc.

Snacks:

• Chex-style mix
• Chicken, Buffalo Wings
• Chicken, Teriyaki Wings
• Chips
• Deviled Eggs
• Guacamole
• Hummus
• Hummus, White Bean
• Kettle corn
• Nuts
• Popcorn
• Refried bean dip
• Salsa (Pico de Gallo)

Beverages:

• Cider, Mulled
• Cocoa, Hot (Vance’s DariFree or Almond Breeze) More about milk substitutes
• Juices, Sparkling
• Mangoade
• Smoothie, Island fruit
• Smoothie, Orange Banana
• Smoothie, Tropical blend

Main Courses—

Beef & Buffalo:

• Beef Fajitas
• Beef Shanks
• Beef Short Ribs
• Beef Stew
• Beef Stew, Red Wine with Potatoes and Green Beans
• Beef Stew, Red Wine with Potatoes and Green Beans
• Beefy Stew
• Buffalo burgers
• Chili
• Hamburgers
• Meatball and Rice soup
• Meatloaf
• Pot Roast, Holly's Florida
• Prime rib with roasted garlic and horseradish crust
• Rib Roast, Herbed
• Ropa Vieja
• Rouladen
• Shish Kebabs (beef, chicken, veggie and shrimp), Build-your-own
• Sloppy Joes, Easy
• Spaghetti and Meatballs
• Steak
• Tacos

Game:

• Venison Stew

Lamb:

• Lamb, Herb Roasted
• Lamb, Chops with Pomegranate Relish

Pork:

• Beans and rice, Louisiana Red
• Black Beans and Cumin Scented Rice, Cuban
• Ham and Apple Stacks
• Navy Bean/Split Pea Soup with Ham
• Pork chops, Stuffed
• Pork fried rice
• Pork Shoulder roast
• Pork, Pulled sandwiches
• Pork, Roast Loin with Apples
• Pozole
• Ribs, Melt in your mouth
• Roast pork loin, Simple
• Sausage, Italian with peppers and onions
• Tamales, Traditional pork

Poultry:

• Almost-Cobb salad
• Apple pecan chicken salad
• Chicken Diane
• Chicken Fajitas
• Chicken Marengo
• Chicken Noodle soup
• Chicken Nuggets, Battered
• Chicken Nuggets, Pecan-coated
• Chicken Vegetable Soup
• Chicken, Alex’s Double-coated Fried
• Chicken, and rice
• Chicken, Apricot Glazed with dried plums and sage
• Chicken, Arroz con pollo
• Chicken, BBQ
• Chicken, Citrus-garlic-ginger sauce
• Chicken, Coconut finger salad
• Chicken, Drumsticks, Apricot glazed
• Chicken, Honey Mustard kabobs
• Chicken, Lemon
• Chicken, Lemon-Pepper Thyme
• Chicken, Maple Orange Glazed breasts
• Chicken, Pulled BBQ sandwiches
• Chicken, Roasted Rosemary with Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Chicken, Sticky Coconut
• Chicken, Stir-Fry
• Cornish Hens, Glazed
• Goose, Roasted with cherry sauce
• Shish Kebabs (beef, chicken, veggie and shrimp), Build-your-own
• Turkey & Rice Soup
• Turkey, Brined
• Turkey, Roast

Seafood:

• Salmon, Baked, maple glazed
• Salmon, Grilled
• Salmon, Poached
• Shish Kebabs (beef, chicken, veggie and shrimp), Build-your-own

Vegetarian:

• Black Bean-Chipotle chili
• Shish Kebabs (beef, chicken, veggie and shrimp), Build-your-own

Side dishes:

• Caramelized apples
• Cranberries, Best Relish
• Polenta
• Rice, Arroz Con Gandules
• Rice, Brown
• Rice, Brown, Salad with tomatoes
• Rice, White
• Rice, Wild
• Rice, Wild, stuffing with hazelnuts and dried cranberries
• Salad, Watergate
• Spring rolls
• Stuffing, World’s best cornbread
• Sweet Potatoes, Candied

Bread:

• Cornbread

Vegetables:

• Artichokes, BBQ
• Artichokes, Boiled
• Asparagus, Grilled
• Asparagus, Grilled with Meyer lemon vinaigrette
• Asparagus, steamed
• Beans
• Beans, BBQ Baked
• Beans, Black
• Beans, Mexican
• Broccoli
• Butternut squash
• Carrots
• Chard
• Collard greens
• Corn on the cob
• French fries
• Green beans with lemon and walnuts
• Hash browns
• Plantain Rounds, Double-Fried
• Potato and zucchini pancakes (latkes)
• Potato, tomato, corn and basil salad
• Potatoes, Bacon
• Potatoes, Baked
• Potatoes, Mashed
• Potatoes, Sliced baked
• Spaghetti squash with marinara
• Spinach, Sautéed
• Sweet potato casserole
• Sweet potato fries, Baked
• Sweet potatoes, Candied
• Zucchini, Fried
• Zucchini, Grilled

Dressing, Gravy & Sauces:

• 1000 Island
• Apple Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Avocado Dressing
• Basil Vinaigrette
• Blackberry Dressing
• Creole mustard dressing
• French Dressing
• Gravy, Foolproof Giblet
• Gravy, Turkey
• Honey Sesame Dressing
• Kitchen Bouquet Recipe
• Marinara Sauce
• Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette
• Sweet and Sour Dressing
• Tarragon Egg Dressing
• Vinaigrette Dressing

Soups:

• Beef Stew
• Beef Stew, Red Wine with Potatoes and Green Beans
• Beefy Stew
• Black Bean-Chipotle chili
• Chicken Noodle Soup
• Chicken Vegetable Soup
• Chicken Veggie Stew
• Chili
• Louisiana Red Beans and Rice
• Meatball and Rice soup
• Navy Bean/Split Pea Soup with Ham
• Turkey & Rice Soup
• Venison Stew

Desserts:

• Apple pecan pie
• Chocolate, Sweet dark
• Meringue Triple Stars
• No-bake pumpkin pie
• Peanut butter balls
• Peanut butter cookies
• Popcorn, Party
• Popcorn, Sweet nutty treats

Salads:

• Almost-Cobb salad
• Apple pecan chicken salad
• Chicken salad
• Chicken, Coconut finger salad
• Fancy salad
• Mushroom spinach salad with tarragon egg dressing
• Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon and Apple Cider Dressing
• Turkey & Mixed Green salad with Strawberries and Kiwi
• Watergate salad

Kids Only:

• Buffalo Burgers, Mini
• Chicken Fries
• Chicken Nuggets, Batter-dipped
• Chicken Nuggets, Pecan-coated
• Food-on-a-stick
• French Fries, Oven
• Potato Logs
• Shepard Pie, Easy
• Sweet Potatoes and Red Potatoes, Baked

Holidays—

Meats:

• Goose, Roasted with cherry sauce
• Ham
• Lamb, Chops with Pomegranate Relish
• Lamb, Herb Roasted
• Prime rib with roasted garlic and horseradish crust
• Rib Roast, Herbed
• Salmon, Poached
• Turkey, Brined
• Turkey, Roast

Sides:

• Cranberries, Best Relish
• Gravy, Foolproof Giblet
• Gravy, Turkey
• Green beans with lemon and toasted walnuts
• Jello mold with canned fruit
• Potatoes, Mashed
• Salad (fancy)
• Salad (plain)
• Salad, Watergate
• Stuffing, Rice
• Stuffing, World's Best Cornbread
• Sweet potatoes, Candied

Desserts:

• Apple pecan pie
• Chocolate, Sweet dark
• Meringue Triple Stars
• Peanut butter balls
• Peanut butter cookies
• Pears, Poached
• Popcorn, Party
• Popcorn, Sweet nutty treats
• Pumpkin Pie
• Pumpkin pie, No-bake

My Aspergers Child: Preventing Tantrums and Meltdowns