My ASD Child

Mark, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for your help with tips and other vital information.  It has really helped me and my daughter in so many ways!! Lisa ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mr. Hutten:  You have been an invaluable resource for me and my family--your newsletters about teens and those about AS have helped us navigate adolescence with our 14 year-old daughter with AS (and ADHD and anxiety).  Your newsletter today addressed restrictive eating disorders in teens.  May I suggest a future newsletter about binge eating disorder?  My daughter with AS has bouts of nocturnal eating--we (and her counselor) have been unable to figure out if it is AS "stimming" or a true eating disorder.  I just wondered if this binge-eating behavior is common in teens with AS.  Thanks again for sharing your knowledge in your wonderful newsletters.  Nancy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Dr. Mark Hutten: thank you for sharing this topi...

Your child is majorly upset over something - but is it a meltdown, shutdown, tantrum, or full-blown panic attack? As a parent of a child with High-Functioning Autism (HFA), you know that your child is capable of having a meltdown occasionally. We’ll describe a meltdown as “an over-reaction to environmental stimuli designed to give HFA children a sense of control when they feel that their world is out-of-control.”  Let’s also make the distinction between a meltdown and a temper tantrum. We’ll describe tantrums as “normal acting-out behaviors designed to help children assert their independence as they learn they are separate beings from their parents.” Having defined meltdowns and tantrums, parents need to know that there are times when their “acting-out” HFA children are having neither a meltdown nor a tantrum; rather, they are in the throes of a legitimate panic attack. Let’s describe panic attacks as “periods of intense fear and apprehension that are of sudden onset and...