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Dyspraxia in Children with Asperger's and High-Functioning Autism

Dyspraxia is a disorder that affects motor skill development. Most children with Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) have a history of delayed acquisition of motor skills (e.g., hand writing, pedaling a bike, tying shoe laces, catching a ball, opening jars, climbing monkey-bars, etc.), which is called “motor clumsiness.”

These kids are often visibly awkward, exhibiting rigid gait patterns, odd posture, poor manipulative skills, and significant deficits in visual-motor coordination. Although this presentation contrasts with the pattern of motor development in autistic kids (for whom the area of motor skills is often a relative strength), it is similar in some respects to what is observed in older people with autism.

In this post, we will discuss the following:
  • Constructional Dyspraxia  
  • Ideational Dyspraxia  
  • Ideomotor Dyspraxia  
  • Oromotor Dyspraxia
  • Speech and language therapy
  • Perceptual motor training
  • Occupational therapy 
  • Active play Equine therapy

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The #1 Symptom Exhibited by Children with High-Functioning Autism

"In your practice, what would you say is the most common symptom shared by children with high functioning autism?"

I would say the most commonly observed symptom in High Functioning Autism involves preoccupation with restricted patterns of interest. Children with High Functioning Autism (HFA) and Asperger’s (AS) are not commonly reported to exhibit ALL of the typical symptoms associated with this disorder…

(e.g., encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus; failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level; inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals; lack of social or emotional reciprocity; lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people; marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction; persistent preoccupation with parts of objects; stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms)

…with the exception of the all-absorbing preoccupation with an unusual and restricted topic, about which vast amounts of factual knowledge are acquired and all too readily demonstrated at the first opportunity in social interaction. Although the actual topic may change from time to time (e.g., every year or so), it may dominate the content of social interchange as well as the activities of HFA and AS children, often immersing the whole family in the subject for long periods of time.



Even though this symptom may not be easily recognized in childhood (because strong interests in dinosaurs or fashionable fictional characters are so common among young kids), it may become more noticeable later on as interests shift to unusual and narrow topics. This behavior is odd in the sense that extraordinary amounts of factual information are learned about very limited topics (e.g., dinosaurs, maps, names of stars, railway schedules, snakes, etc.).

The good news is that the HFA or AS child’s special interest can be used as both a learning and a social skills training tool. More on the topic of “special interests” can be found here: Children and Their Special Interests: A Good or Bad Trait?
Your article is spot on with my 20 year old Aspergers son. He has an eidetic memory for numbers and has been obsessed with math and physics for years, to the point that he taught himself all the college level math courses during high school. He is now a graduate student in mathematics focusing on number theory, as well as majoring in computer engineering. He works as a TA. He spends the rest of his time studying or with his professors, who he idolizes. They seem to have filled the spot his family used to have in his life. I feel as though I am losing touch with him. We were always very close when he was at home. We did everything together and enjoyed each others company. Now he rarely calls. I am the one who initiates phone calls a couple of times a week, but he acts resentful as though I am a bother. He will tell me everything (in detail) about his studies, but never asks about other family members even though there have been a couple major life events. He never comes home unless it is a holiday when the dorms and dining halls will be closed. We have pre- arranged to visit him, making certain it iwas a good time for him, but it ended in disaster. He was sullen, angry, and non communicative the entire day. I feel as though we are no longer relevant in his life. He seems to dread being home because we no longer have anything to offer him that he values. When he is here on break he often avoids us and refuses to communicate. I am desperate for advice on how to maintain a good relationship with our son. I miss him and want to remain a part of his life. Sorry if this is a repeat comment. It seemed like my first one didn't go through. Nancy
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Preparing for Summer School: How to Advise Your Aspergers Child's Teacher

If you have a child with Asperger's or high functioning autism, here's how you can prepare his or her teacher for dealing with Aspergers-related issues in the classroom: 



==> How to Prevent Meltdowns and Tantrums in Children with Aspergers and HFA


Comment: Thank you for all the information that was provided and how important it is for the parents to be involved. Parents + teachers will equal a successful summer school for the student/ child.
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Communication Issues in Children with Asperger's and HFA

Do kids with high functioning autism have communication problems, and are they similar to those with autistic disorder?

In contrast to Autism, there are no symptoms in this area of functioning in the definition of High Functioning Autism (HFA) or Asperger’s (AS). Although significant abnormalities of speech are not typical of HFA and AS children, there are at least three aspects of communication skills which are of clinical interest:

1. One aspect typifying the communication patterns of AS and HFA children concerns the marked verbosity observed, which some researchers see as a prominent differential feature. The youngster may talk incessantly, usually about his favorite subject, often in complete disregard to whether the listener is interested, engaged, or attempting to interject a comment, or change the subject of conversation. Despite such long-winded monologues, the child may never come to a point or conclusion. Attempts by the listener to elaborate on issues of content or logic, or to shift the interchange to related topics, are often unsuccessful.

2. In AS and HFA children, speech may often be tangential and circumstantial, conveying a sense of looseness of associations and incoherence. The lack of coherence and reciprocity in speech is a result of failure to provide the background for comments, failure to clearly demarcate changes in topic, failure to suppress the vocal output accompanying internal thoughts, and the one-sided conversational style (e.g., unrelenting monologues about the names and classifications of dinosaurs).



3. Though inflection and intonation may not be as rigid and monotonic as in the speech of Autistic children, the speech of AS and HFA children may be marked by poor prosody (e.g., there may a constricted range of intonation patterns that is used with little regard to the communicative functioning of the speech).

Despite the possibility that these symptoms may be accounted for in terms of significant deficits in pragmatics skills, lack of insight, and lack of awareness of other's expectations, the challenge remains to understand this phenomenon developmentally as techniques for social adaptation.




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Teaching Social Skills to Children with Asperger’s & HFA: Guidelines for Parents & Teachers

This post will provide some crucial guidelines for how parents and educators can teach social skills to children with Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) at home and in the classroom. 

We will discuss the following:
  • Components to a good social skills training program
  • The actual process of teaching social skills
  • Teaching social skills to a group of students
  • Why Asperger's and HFA is largely a disorder of social skills

Click here for the full article...



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