My ASD Child

Preoccupation Unusual in Intensity or Focus Many kids with Aspergers Syndrome have a preoccupation that is unusual in intensity or focus. They may talk relentlessly about their particular area of fascination, completely unaware of their listener’s fading interest. According to Tony Attwood, "The most popular special interests of boys with Aspergers Syndrome are types of transport, specialist areas of science and electronics, particularly computers." Females with Aspergers Syndrome can be interested in the same topics but clinical experience suggests their special interest can be animals and classic literature. Other common areas of interest are schedules and statistical information, as described in the following examples. Danny went through phases of being intensely preoccupied with different odd interests. One of his first preoccupations was peoples’ birthdays. In fact, the first question he would ask upon being introduced to someone was the date of his or her ...

Inappropriate Questions/Comments— The uttering of inappropriate comments or questions can be a serious problem. Sometimes the remarks are inappropriate to the setting. Sometimes the comments are sexually inappropriate. In any case, the remarks or questions do not take into account the impact on the other individual involved. For example, Conner was attending a funeral. Oblivious to the impact his question would have on the grieving friends and relatives, he wondered out loud about the process of bodies decomposing. In another example, Mike found himself attracted to a young woman and proceeded to stare at her. When she asked him what he wanted, he told her in sexually explicit details what he was staring at and the specific nature of his interest. Lack of Symbolic Play— For most kids, play is a crucial area of communication and development. Kids with Aspergers Syndrome generally display problems with imaginative or symbolic play. In autism, there is sometimes a lack of sy...

1. Difficulty Using Non-Verbal Behaviors in Social Interaction— There are several broad categories of difficulties falling under the general heading of impairment in social interaction. First of all, people with Aspergers Syndrome have difficulty using non-verbal behaviors in social interaction. Eye contact may be impaired, meaning that the youngster may not look at others upon greeting or during conversations and may not respond when others try to catch his/her eye. It is easy to see why others might inaccurately perceive the youngster to be rude or not paying attention. Social smiling may be impaired. In this case, people with Aspergers Syndrome may not smile back at someone smiling at them, may not smile during greeting or may not smile in response to something someone else said. Facial expressions used to communicate may be odd. Sometimes the expressions are limited or flat, sometimes they are inappropriate and at other times are exaggerated. Again, it is ...

Kids with ASD level 1 the world over share a common trait: meltdowns (also known as a tantrum , a birko , a go-off or spack-attack ). The visible symptoms of a meltdown are as varied as the kids themselves, but every parent is able to describe their youngster’s meltdown behavior in intricate detail. Meltdowns can be short lived, or last as long as two hours. They can be as infrequent as once a month (often coinciding with the lunar cycle/full moon) or occur as frequently as 4-6 times a day. Whatever the frequency and duration, an Aspergers youngster having a meltdown is difficult for parents and teachers to deal with. Meltdowns in these young people are triggered by a response to their environment. These responses can be caused by avoidance desire, anxiety or sensory overload. Triggers need to be recognized and identified. So how do we deal with a meltdown? What should you do when one occurs? A parent's (or teacher's) behavior can influence a meltdown’...

A meltdown is a condition where the youngster with Aspergers or High Functioning Autism temporarily loses control due to emotional responses to environmental factors . It generally appears that the youngster has lost control over a single and specific issue, however this is very rarely the case. Usually, the problem is the accumulation of a number of irritations which could span a fairly long period of time, particularly given the strong long-term memory abilities of young people on the autism spectrum. CLICK HERE for full article...