My 5 1/2 year old son was diagnosed with aspergers by a neurologist over this summer. My in-laws were so upset that we had him tested. They insist that we "labeled" him and have now made his life hard. We feel that now he is getting the help that he needs and the label is not a "bad" thing. What do we do or say to those that think aspergers is something to fear?
Answer
The importance of getting a diagnosis for a child who truly has Aspergers cannot be emphasized enough. If the issues that cause a child to behave strangely are unknown, parents can never get the child the help he needs and is entitled to. And someone with Aspergers does need help!
Aspergers children and adults see the world from a different point of view. They think “normal” people speak in riddles. Their thoughts go something like this:
• “How come they are not interested in details like me?”
• “Why are relationships so complicated?”
• “Why don’t people say what they mean?”
• “Why use non-verbal signs like body language instead of just telling something like it is!”
Aspergers children and adults think their world is more logical then ours. However, the majority of people do not have Aspergers – so, how the majority “thinks” is considered normal. An Aspergers child has to adjust to our “strange” way of relating to each other and our ways of communication. It’s very hard for an “Aspie” to adjust to something so far off from logic.
Parents and teachers need to understand and relate to the Aspie's different way of thinking. In order to be able to do that, a diagnosis has to be made. If you don’t know what is wrong, how can you help or reach out?
The Aspergers Comprehensive Handbook
2 comments:
Giving someone a label doesn't change them but it can help others to more quickly and easily see things from their point of view and understand their issues.
That can't be a bad thing.
Thank you, I have recently been searching for information about this topic for ages and yours is the best I have discovered so far.
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