My ASD Child

Kids with Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) have the intelligence to participate in regular education, but they often do not have the emotional resources to cope with the demands of the classroom. These “special needs” kids are easily stressed due to their inflexibility. Self-esteem is low, and they are often very self-critical and unable to tolerate making mistakes. Young people with AS and HFA, especially teenagers, may be prone to depression (as a side note, a high percentage of depression in grown-ups with AS and HFA has been documented). Rage and temper outbursts are common in response to stress and frustration. Kids with AS and HFA rarely seem relaxed and are easily overwhelmed when things are not as their rigid views dictate they should be. Interacting with peers and school staff – and coping with the ordinary demands of everyday life take constant strenuous effort. ==>  Teaching Students with Aspergers and HFA Programming Suggestions for ...

"How can parents teach nonverbal communication and body language to a child who can read neither?" Most children communicate naturally and instinctively. However, communication is a highly complex process that requires the spontaneous organization of several different functions. For example: Emotional controls: to be comfortable socially requires that a child learns how to control his emotions and use them in a way appropriate to the circumstance Listening skills: for a child to understand what she is hearing requires that what she hears is automatically turned into understood thoughts Reading body language: reading body language accurately requires that the child learns the meaning of non-verbal cues (e.g. smiling, frowning, etc.) Verbal communication: to speak naturally requires that the cerebellum has hard wired the process of turning thoughts into speech With Asperger's (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA), one or more of these skills are not full...

For some moms and dads, a diagnosis of Asperger's may feel like a kick to the groin. You feel overwhelmed, and your world has been turned upside down. 

Kids with Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA): frequently have an excellent rote memory, but it is mechanical in nature (i.e., the youngster may respond like a video that plays in set sequence) have a pedantic speaking style and impressive vocabularies that give the false impression that they understand what they are talking about, when in reality they are merely parroting what they have heard or read have poor problem-solving skills  tend to be very literal (i.e., their images are concrete, and abstraction is poor) usually have average to above-average intelligence – especially in the verbal sphere – but lack high level thinking and comprehension skills Programming Suggestions for Teachers: 1. The writing assignments of students with AS and HFA are often repetitious, flit from one subject to the next, and contain incorrect word connotations. These kids frequently do not know the difference between general knowledge and personal ideas, and therefore assu...

"Our daughter (autistic) has trouble managing her mood and behavior when changes in her daily routine occur. How should we handle this?" Children with Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) tend to crave sameness, despise change, become upset when there is a break in routine, or experience a “meltdown” when it is time to transition from one activity to another. Among these “special needs” children, there is a propensity for doing - or thinking about - the same things over and over, because doing so brings great comfort (e.g., repeatedly lining up toys in a certain order). Unlike “typical” children who may, for example, experiment with lining up train cars in a variety of ways, and move them along the track once they have decided on an order, a youngster with AS or HFA might have only one acceptable order – and have a temper tantrum if a single car is moved out of place. Many children on the autism spectrum have deep-seated “rituals" where certain thi...