Aspergers Children & Middle School

By Mark Hutten, M.A.
The following post was written by Myla, a 17-year-old middle school student with Asperger Syndrome [good advice for all]:

Aspergers information for middle school teachers is essential as the youngster suffering with the disorder will face social as well as behavioral problems as he grows up and enters middle school, especially because he will need to adjust with the more mature environments. The unfortunate part is that these kids are often not properly classified as having Aspergers at all because of several reasons, for example, if the youngster is good in studies or is not very prominently different compared to the others, he may not be noticed at all, until and unless the Aspergers youngster suddenly bursts in an extremely inappropriate manner due to the pressure that has built up in him over time. They are thus misunderstood by their peers, educators and even moms & dads and their peculiar habits are blamed on emotional and motivational issues.

The social environment of middle school is tough for a youngster with Aspergers, it is a place where rules are strict and being different means either mistreat or isolation from the peers. What will happen due to the teasing and isolation is that the Aspergers youngster will withdraw further into shell due to the contrast between his wish of making friends and the reality of his inability to do so. Non-cooperation, angry and violent behavioral outbursts and depression are the most frequent symptoms seen in Aspergers kids during middle school. The youngster might be hardly recognizable as someone having Aspergers, especially if he has no learning disorders because then his academics would most likely be great. However, tendency to misinterpret data and communicating with idiomatic language might be torturing the youngster.

The most important way to help a youngster with Aspergers is by understanding him or her and the developmental disorder, and that’s most important for the moms & dads and secondly for the school staff. These kids cannot be treated as other general kids meaning the youngster will require special treatment from the school staff as they react differently to the different stimuli. Humorous and kind affectionate behavior from teachers would definitely influence the youngster with positive effects like better mood and social skills, because the emotional attitude of the teacher will affect the Aspergers youngster unconsciously and involuntarily.

Resource Rooms or tutorials for these kids are often helpful in case they have learning disabilities although such cases are not always observed. Social skills training by the school counselor can be quite an effective move to help the kids with Aspergers and if an issue with pragmatic language is observed, then the school therapist would most probably be able to help in a great way. An important thing to remember is that one should avoid surprise tests and quizzes while teaching the Aspergers kids; they mostly are uncomfortable on being surprised. Aspergers kids tend to follow rules with absolute perfection therefore they should be subjected to more flexible and special rules. Schedules, pictures, lists and other visuals are great ways to connect with these kids, rewarding also works great as far as learning is concerned. Educators can also associate the youngster’s special interest with his teachings therefore making it easier for him or her to learn.

The above are a few bits of important information which can be really useful to the teachers of the middle school while teaching Aspergers kids, moms & dads, however, has the most important duty as the youngster’s personality will mostly shape on how he is being treated at home by his or her moms & dads. Also it is the duty of the moms & dads to understand their youngster’s problem and take the appropriate steps to ensure that he or she has a good and safe life ahead.

Myla






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