My ASD Child

If your Aspergers (high functioning autistic) youngster is having difficulties socially in school, you may be tempted to sign him up for basketball or soccer with the other youngsters. You know your youngster better than anyone. Just be sure that you’re setting your youngster up for a positive, rather than a negative experience. Make sure you know who will be coaching your youngster, and make sure that he is someone who you want in charge of your youngster’s self-esteem for the next few months. Make sure your coach is a “good guy.” If the coach has any insight into Aspergers, even better! However, if team sports are not your youngster’s strong suit and he or she gets very stressed or has that “lost” look while participating, then here are some alternatives: Bike Riding (go on bike trails if you are concerned about safety) Camping as a family Going on Long Walks with You Going to the Park (just being a kid!) Karate (again, make sure the people in charge of the facility are w...

From birth to 12 years— Raising our wonderful son Kyle wasn't an easy task, especially for a first time mother. We lived on a farm a fair distance from town and I didn't know many people at first. Kyle had a difficult birth; he was eight days late (in summer) and then decided to arrive in a rush. From first contraction to birth was approximately three hours and I was having two minute contractions on the 25km trip to hospital. He voided just before birth and needed his mouth and airways cleared so it was fairly scary waiting for that first cry. As Kyle had low blood sugar he was transferred to a major hospital for more intensive care. His poor tiny feet were pricked every two hours to test his blood sugar and after a while, when they squeezed to get the drop of blood, all the other pricks would ooze too. Horrible for Kyle and terrible thing for me to watch. He walked at 12 months and started talking at about the right time; however we didn't realize that ...

If you choose to home school your youngster with Aspergers, you might run across some extra issues in finding the right curriculum. This article will help you get started. More and more moms and dads are making the choice to home school their kids with Aspergers. There are countless resources available for choosing the curriculum that best meets their needs. If you will be purchasing curriculum, as opposed to creating your own, it is best to consider several packages before making a final decision. There are many wonderful companies which offer special needs curriculum. If you make a purchase before researching thoroughly, you may overlook a program that would have been more suited to your youngster’s needs. Visit your local library or bookstore. Many informative books have been written on this subject. Read the recommendations of other moms and dads. Find out what worked well for them and what didn’t. Join a home school group, either locally or online. Moms and dads are alway...

Like any youngster, kids with Aspergers (high-functioning autism) bring a unique set of problems and benefits to the classroom. Several key characteristics of the Aspergers youngster are presented here as they relate to the classroom setting. Because of their ability to focus in on one area of interest, Aspergers kids can make good students. Their ability to focus, however, can also be their weakness. The Aspergers youngster may, for instance, be expert at history, but will study that subject to the detriment of all other subjects. It is up to the educator to help the Aspergers youngster to broaden his interests. It helps if the educator can find a tie-in from the subject of the youngster’s interest to the subject at hand. For example, if the child is a history buff and you need to get him on board with math, it might help to give him some historical information related to math. Introduce him to some of the greatest mathematical minds of all time like Pythagoras, or Sir Isaac N...

If you know of a youngster who is having a greater degree of language impairment than other kids or has diminished communication skills and also exhibits a restrictive pattern of thought and behavior, he may have Aspergers. This condition is more or less similar to that of classic autism. The main difference between autism and Aspergers is that the youngster suffering from Aspergers retains his early language skills. The peculiar symptom of Aspergers is a youngster’s obsessive interest in a single object or topic to the exclusion of any other. The youngster suffering from Aspergers wants to know all about this one topic. Sometimes their speech patterns and vocabulary may resemble that of a little professor. Other Aspergers symptoms include the inability to interact successfully with peers, clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements, repetitive routines or rituals, socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior, and last, but not least, problems with non-verbal communication. Aspe...

We struggled with this issue for some time, and eventually sat our son down and told him. In our case, he kept asking why the other kids called him "weird". To tell or not tell your youngster or others of their diagnosis of Aspergers (high functioning autism)? It’s really a personal decision that has pros and cons on either side. Some parents may struggle with telling a 3 year old they have Aspergers, fearing they may not understand; that it could frighten them. While saying directly “The doctor says you have Aspergers,” may be unnecessary, talking about the characteristics of Autistic Spectrum Disorder in a way the youngster can relate to is vital in helping the youngster towards self-acceptance as they mature. Being open about your youngster’s different way of thinking and processing, and connecting those traits to Aspergers characteristics is the key to success in helping your youngster towards self-acceptance. The earlier they become comfortable with Aspergers...

Between the age of 6-18 kids spend a third of each day at school, so it’s important to ensure they’re in the best environment for their needs. This is particularly true for kids with Aspergers (high functioning autism). So what should parents/care-givers look for when choosing a school for their Aspergers youngster, or consider in their monitoring of the school environment? Kids with Aspergers cope best in schools with small class sizes. This option is less a reality these days, when Education systems worldwide are struggling to survive with less funding and increased consumer demand. However, there are many other procedures and practices you can monitor to make certain your youngster with Aspergers is being educated in an optimal setting. You should ensure your Aspergers youngster’s school has an extensive, in-depth knowledge of Aspergers; from the Principal to the Classroom teacher, Administration staff and Ancillary staff. This guarantees that whoever has contact with...