My ASD Child

Ronnie was a well-liked seventh-grader, despite his quirkiness. His classmates accepted him and were understanding of his Asperger’s diagnosis. One day Ronnie was talking with his classmates in the restroom before class when his friend Seth began cussing in anger about his C in Math. Ronnie picked up on the cussing and associated it with being mad. The bell rang and Ronnie went on to his next class. As he sat down, he realized that he left his social studies book in his locker. His teacher, Miss Sanders, would not let him go back to his locker, and immediately Ronnie got angry and began to swear. Miss Sanders sent Ronnie to the dean’s office, leaving Ronnie perplexed as to what he did wrong. He thought it was acceptable to cuss when he was angry about something. He didn’t understand the “hidden curriculum” – in this case, that what is acceptable around fellow classmates may not be acceptable around teachers. Children with Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) have di

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A variety of strategies are available to enhance the predictability of – and benefits to be gained – from the environmental setting. The security that comes from being able to anticipate and understand activities, schedules, and expectations significantly enhances autistic kids’ capacity to appropriately respond to various home, classroom, and community demands. Establishing clear behavioral expectations and rules, following routines and schedules, and ensuring physical, environmental, cognitive, and attitudinal support are helpful in creating structure. Establishing and following clear behavioral expectations is one of the simplest and most effective means of establishing structure for children on the autism spectrum. Kids with High-Functioning Autism (HFA) clearly benefit from environments that offer clearly stated examples of desired behaviors. It is extremely important that these rules and expectations be reviewed regularly and that these children have an opportunity to

  Do you need some assistance in parenting your Aspergers or HFA child? Click here to use Mark Hutten, M.A. as your personal parent coach. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dear Mark, Thank you so much for your quick reply and assistance. I have successfully downloaded your ebook and, so far, I'm very much enjoying its content. I'm mum to a 9-year-old HFA girl who suffers from anxiety and depression as she has no friends at her school and feels she doesn't fit in. She already knows she is Aspergers (or HFA) as she asked me one day why she felt different from the rest ( she was fully aware of that) so I had to tell her the truth. Telling her helped her understand why she feels different but she still feels isolated, rejected by her peers and very lonely as she can't find anyone at her school who understands her.  Both me and my husband are really worried about her and it breaks our hearts to see her suffer :( When I saw your website and your ebook I felt so happy as

The vast majority of students with Asperger’s (AS) and High Functioning Autism (HFA) receive their educational experiences predominantly in general education classrooms. Thus, general education teachers are primarily responsible for the education of these “special needs” students, although frequently with the support of special education teachers. In many ways, students diagnosed with AS and HFA are well qualified to benefit from general classroom experiences. They typically have average to above average intellectual abilities, are motivated to be with their fellow classmates, and have good rote memory skills and other assets that bode well for their educational success. However, all too frequently, these young people have significant problems in academic performance, and some have learning disabilities. The reasons for these problems often are related to the social and communication deficits connected to AS and HFA. ==> Teaching Students with Aspergers and HFA In addit

A guide for parents who want to promote self-reliance in their older teens and adult children with Aspergers and High-Functioning Autism.  ==> Launching Adult Children With Aspergers: How To Promote Self-Reliance

Based on the challenges that Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) present, it’s no surprise that kids and teens diagnosed with Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) often have behavioral and emotional problems. These challenges are most often connected to social deficits associated with the disorder (e.g., when the youngster fails to take his turn in a playground game because he doesn't understand the social rules of an activity). These challenges frequently involve feelings of stress, loss of control, or the inability to predict outcomes. Therefore, children with AS and HFA typically have behavior problems connected to their inability to function in a world they see as unpredictable and threatening. As a result, they may behave in ways that appear mean-spirited or malicious. But, this is an unfair assessment. While these “special needs” children do have behavioral difficulties, their problems are most often associated with their social ineptness, an obsessive interest