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Preparing Your Aspergers Child for Transition to Middle-School

Parents who have children that will attend middle-school for the first time in the fall of this year need to initiate preparations pronto! More on this crucial topic can be found here...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes,been there done that,now goin in to high school.we just met with an advocate to get our daughter the help she needs NOW and feel better about a new school year.

Anonymous said...

Mark, thank you for your letter and your website. My son, Danny, is now 5.5 and we are getting him ready for kindergarten. We live in BIllings, MT where Danny has been receiving OT, PT, Speach via Eater Seals since he was 3 years old (just after diagnosis). We have also participated in the P.L.A.Y. Project with the local therapist. All of this hard work has leadus to believe that Danny should be able to go to a regular classroom, but of corse, we won't know for sure until we see it happen. If you have any information/publications/literature tha you think I should see, please, let me know. I was very impressed with your website. It made me realize how limited we are in MT in terms of Aspergers support and education.

Anonymous said...

My 12 year old son was recently diagnosed with Aspergers. He starts Gr 7 next month and that has been a source of anxiety for me. In Gr 6 he got quite a few suspensions and many times I was called in to deal with his outbursts. He went an entire week refusing to do any school work and was ripping up his hand out sheets. He also has other learning disabilities that have me dreading each new school year

Anonymous said...

My son will be 12 at the end of Sept, and is also starting the 7th grade. He was diagnosed this summer. I am dealing with some of the same issues, but in his case he seems to have regressed. He doesn't shower, brush his teeth or use deoderant unless someone is standing over him to make sure he does it. I have no idea what I am going to do this year considering I leave for work hours before he has to get up. HELP!!!

Anonymous said...

hi there my son is 12 and is asperger too i found that setting and posting a large schedule broken down into steps helps him alot also putting reality into his heigene helps alot like he is interested in girls so i tell him girls dont like smelly armpits he forgets but as soon as i remind him to put pit stick on he goes right away and he wont take showers because he is afraid of the drain but he will take baths so and as far as teeth i find a good nighttime brush and rinse with mouthwash is just as good as in the morning also he likes to see his teeth get whiter good luck

Leanne Strong said...

Hi,

I'm 22 (23 in June), and have Asperger Syndrome. If your child has difficulty knowing when the rules do or don't need to be followed, make sure to explain this to his/her teachers in middle school/Jr. High. Especially if this has led your child to have conflicts with other people when s/he sees them do something s/he thinks is against the rules. This is especially important because when your child starts middle school/Jr. High, s/he might notice that some of his/her teachers are not as consistent with following or enforcing rules as most of his/her teachers in elementary school were.

Some middle school students on the Autism Spectrum might still think that rules are the same in all situations, and may not realize yet that some rules may not apply in certain situations.

Also make sure your middle schooler's teachers (and classmates if your child says it's OK) understand that even though your child's intellectual state may be above average for his/her age or grade level, he/she may (or may not) still have the social/emotional skills of an elementary school age child. If your child does not want his/her classmates to know about this, make sure all of his/her teachers know that s/he doesn't want the other classmates to know.

My child has been rejected by his peers, ridiculed and bullied !!!

Social rejection has devastating effects in many areas of functioning. Because the ASD child tends to internalize how others treat him, rejection damages self-esteem and often causes anxiety and depression. As the child feels worse about himself and becomes more anxious and depressed – he performs worse, socially and intellectually.

Click here to read the full article…

How to Prevent Meltdowns in Children on the Spectrum

Meltdowns are not a pretty sight. They are somewhat like overblown temper tantrums, but unlike tantrums, meltdowns can last anywhere from ten minutes to over an hour. When it starts, the Asperger's or HFA child is totally out-of-control. When it ends, both you and your child are totally exhausted. But... don’t breathe a sigh of relief yet. At the least provocation, for the remainder of that day -- and sometimes into the next - the meltdown can return in full force.

Click here for the full article...

Parenting Defiant Teens on the Spectrum

Although Aspergers [high-functioning autism] is at the milder end of the autism spectrum, the challenges parents face when disciplining a teenager on the spectrum are more difficult than they would be with an average teen. Complicated by defiant behavior, the teen is at risk for even greater difficulties on multiple levels – unless the parents’ disciplinary techniques are tailored to their child's special needs.

Click here to read the full article…

Older Teens and Young Adult Children with ASD Still Living At Home

Your older teenager or young “adult child” isn’t sure what to do, and he is asking you for money every few days. How do you cut the purse strings and teach him to be independent? Parents of teens with ASD face many problems that other parents do not. Time is running out for teaching their adolescent how to become an independent adult. As one mother put it, "There's so little time, yet so much left to do."

Click here to read the full article…

Parenting Children and Teens with High-Functioning Autism

Two traits often found in kids with High-Functioning Autism are “mind-blindness” (i.e., the inability to predict the beliefs and intentions of others) and “alexithymia” (i.e., the inability to identify and interpret emotional signals in others). These two traits reduce the youngster’s ability to empathize with peers. As a result, he or she may be perceived by adults and other children as selfish, insensitive and uncaring.

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to read the full article...

Highly Effective Research-Based Parenting Strategies for Children with Asperger's and HFA

Become an expert in helping your child cope with his or her “out-of-control” emotions, inability to make and keep friends, stress, anger, thinking errors, and resistance to change.

Click here for the full article...