My ASD Child

There is a certain set of symptoms common to Asperger’s Syndrome (high functioning autism). However, each case of Asperger’s Syndrome is unique and not everyone experiences the same combination of symptoms. Here is a checklist to help you identify Asperger’s symptoms: Social Interaction Difficulties— A child with Asperger’s Syndrome may have difficulty with the following aspects of social interaction: • Difficulty playing with others: She may not understand how to initiate play with her peers or how to play by common social rules. For example, she may take a ball from a group of kids playing a game without asking to join the game first. She will not return the ball if they ask for the ball back because she does not understand the negative reaction. • General social skills: She wants to socialize with others but does not understand how to interact. • Inability to understand common social cues: She may not comprehend common social cues such as facial expressions,

The Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, is a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults.    Definitely agree Slightly agree Slightly disagree Definitely disagree 1 I prefer to do things with others rather than on my own. 2 I prefer to do things the same way over and over again. 3 If I try to imagine something, I find it very easy to create a picture in my mind. 4 I frequently get so strongly absorbed in one thing that I lose sight of other things. 5 I often notice small sounds when others do not. 6 I usually notice car number plates or similar strings of information. 7 Other people frequently tell me that what I've said is impolite, even though I think it is polite. 8 When I'm reading a story, I can easily imagine what the characters might look like. 9 I am fascinated by dates. 10 In a social group, I can easily keep track of several different peop

One of the worst problems is that you can never really understand what is going on inside your youngster's head. This makes it so difficult for you to understand his behavior. This can leave you feeling emotionally beat-up and completely useless as a parent. You may have to cope with crisis on a daily, hourly or even minute-by-minute basis.   ==> Full article ...

The number of Aspergers adults, like the diagnosis, is hard to pin down. Anecdotal growth in their ranks and a burgeoning online "Aspie" adult subculture that includes dating sites, advocacy groups and chat rooms raises the question: Are we starting to discover generations who escaped diagnosis? The condition officially wasn't recognized until 1994, which leads people to believe doctors are playing catch-up with adult diagnoses. Symptoms of Aspergers— • Special Interests: Individuals with Aspergers are sometimes found to have an intense or even obsessive interest or hobby. Sometimes these continue for one's entire lifetime. However, in some cases, an individual may get smitten with a completely unrelated activity. However, this obsessive involvement with particular topics help them in gaining an amazing insight into those fields. These topics could vary from computers to knowing how to play the guitar. Encouraging such individuals to continue with their inte

I wanted to say thank you for info. I have just put all the pieces of a puzzle together and understand why parenting Richard (14) has been so hard, although he continues to delight me in so many unique ways, and also why my marriage to his father failed. I feel relieved, sad, positive and anxious all at the same time. Also - I feel guilty that this was not picked up sooner as the symptoms were there from the day he was born. Life has not always been easy for a child that is as different and unique as he is. Kind regards Elizabeth ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am looking forward to your next radio show and can't express my gratitude for your site and especially the social stories.  Those have been great! Gratefully, Stacy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My 15 yr old step son has asperger. He is obsessed with XBox. He does not want to do school work and often throws horrible temper tantrums at school, tries to run away, throws desks etc if he thin