“I read a lot online that children with Asperger syndrome have a ‘pedantic’ style of speaking. Can you help me to understand what that means?”
While kids with Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) may have begun talking at an appropriate age, they often used a rather long-winded (and sometimes rather concrete or literal) style of speaking. Pedantic describes speech that is overly focused on the details of its topic. It is speech that appears to list details about a topic one after the other. In a child on the autism spectrum, this type of speech does not appear to be impacted by the environment (e.g., by the nonverbal cues of others), and therefore seems less conversational and more like a monologue.
In addition, kids on the spectrum often understand and use words concretely and literally. For example, a teacher discussed possible consequences for misbehavior with her Asperger’s student. This child heard that if he did not complete his classwork when asked, he would receive detention. He became very upset over this perceived injustice. He didn’t understand that the teacher had meant that when she saw a “pattern” of incomplete work, she would provide the consequence of a detention.
With such a concrete way of understanding others, children with AS or HFA can easily misinterpret the intent of others and respond in an unexpected and possibly inappropriate way. Thus, when speaking to these young people, it’s important for parents and teachers to be very specific (e.g., instead of saying, “You need to get ready for lunch” …be more detailed by saying, “Hand in your assignment, put your pencil and notebook away, and get in line with the other students”).
While kids with Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) may have begun talking at an appropriate age, they often used a rather long-winded (and sometimes rather concrete or literal) style of speaking. Pedantic describes speech that is overly focused on the details of its topic. It is speech that appears to list details about a topic one after the other. In a child on the autism spectrum, this type of speech does not appear to be impacted by the environment (e.g., by the nonverbal cues of others), and therefore seems less conversational and more like a monologue.
In addition, kids on the spectrum often understand and use words concretely and literally. For example, a teacher discussed possible consequences for misbehavior with her Asperger’s student. This child heard that if he did not complete his classwork when asked, he would receive detention. He became very upset over this perceived injustice. He didn’t understand that the teacher had meant that when she saw a “pattern” of incomplete work, she would provide the consequence of a detention. With such a concrete way of understanding others, children with AS or HFA can easily misinterpret the intent of others and respond in an unexpected and possibly inappropriate way. Thus, when speaking to these young people, it’s important for parents and teachers to be very specific (e.g., instead of saying, “You need to get ready for lunch” …be more detailed by saying, “Hand in your assignment, put your pencil and notebook away, and get in line with the other students”).
More resources for parents of children and teens with Asperger's and High-Functioning Autism:
==> Preventing Meltdowns and Tantrums in Asperger's and HFA Children
==> Discipline for Defiant Asperger's and HFA Teens
==> Teaching Social Skills and Emotion Management
==> Launching Adult Children with Asperger's and HFA: How to Promote Self-Reliance
==> Parenting Children and Teens with High-Functioning Autism
3 comments:
I have an 11 year old with aspergers and adhd does anyone have their child on meds. He's having trouble at school like licking others papers etc... not being on task always losing papers.
Hi Kathy,
Yes my 7 year old has both Aspergers and ADHD. When he is on his medication its like a totally different child (in a good way) but when he is off. . . he is back to his hyper and non being able to function ways. Some parents are afraid to put their child on medication but I always say this.. . Aspergers is a disorder where he/she may need assistance to function. If your child was diagnosed with a disorder such as high blood pressure and needed medication to help control the pressure, would you not give it to them?
I also have an 11 year old diagnosed with both Aspergers and ADHD. With a little more research and with a better understanding of how their brain works (I was stumped up until that point) We've been able to set up an immediate reward system and with a lot better understanding and patience he's made BIG improvements in his behavior.
Once the official diagnosis came the doc suggested meds and we did try them since prior to his evaluation we felt we were doing him more harm than good by NOT medicating him. He needed help. His impulsive behavior and inappropriate comments were getting him into trouble and it was only getting worse. He's highly intelligent but because he was so disorganized and unable to follow through on simple instructions, his grades didnt reflect it.
The meds put him to sleep. If he wasn't sleeping he was almost asleep. He lost his appetite completely and looked horribly depressed. WAS horribly depressed just in the week he was on them but it.was more than enough time for us. Although I feel a lower dose could have helped him, I took him off the meds considering he was already making such huge strides in his behavior prior to them. I will be discussing using a much lower dose with his doctor bc even a slight calming effect would help him a great deal with less worry about extreme changes in his demeanor and side effects.
Our kids are always going to struggle on some level because of their Aspergers so I could see this being a heck of a balancing act finding what works best for our kid. Meds or no meds.
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