My ASD Child

ASD Level 1, also known as "high-functioning autism," is characterized by mild symptoms that may interfere with an individual's ability to function in social or occupational settings. Some common traits of ASD Level 1 include: 1.    Challenges in social interactions, such as difficulty with initiating or sustaining conversations, and struggles with understanding nonverbal communication cues like body language and facial expressions. Difficulty in Understanding Social Cues— One of the primary challenges individuals with autism face in social interactions is difficulty in understanding social cues. This includes non-verbal cues such as body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. As a result, they may struggle to interpret the emotions and intentions of others, making it challenging to engage in typical social interactions. Trouble with Reciprocal Communication— Individuals with autism often experience difficulties in engaging in reciprocal communication. They may ...

A meltdown is a condition where the youngster with ASD level 1, or High Functioning Autism, temporarily loses control due to  emotional responses to environmental factors . It generally appears that the youngster has lost control over a single and specific issue, however this is very rarely the case.  Usually, the problem is the accumulation of a number of irritations which could span a fairly long period of time, particularly given the strong long-term memory abilities of young people on the autism spectrum. Wh y T he Problems Seem Hidden— ASD   kids don't tend to give a lot of clues that they are very irritated: Often ASD child-grievances are aired as part of their normal conversation and may even be interpreted by NTs (i.e., neurotypicals, or people without autism) as part of their standard whining. Some things which annoy ASD kids would not be considered annoying to NTs, and this makes NT's less likely to pick up on a potential problem. Their facial expressions v...

"My grandson has ASD. He is age 7. His diet consists of cheese, eggs, bread, milk, juice, wieners, fish, hamburgers, chicken, mashed or French fried potatoes and, on occasion, chocolate and bananas. He will eat no pasta, vegetables, or any other fruit. Does this eating problem go along with Autism? How can we get him to change his eating habits?"  Your grandson’s disorder may cause unusual reactions to new foods and he may not want to eat them. To him, they may taste bitter, salty, or just plain awful. They may smell bad (to him). He may dislike the textures of new foods. Consequently, he doesn’t want to eat foods that cause these reactions. Compared to some other kids on the spectrum, your grandson’s diet is not that terrible. He gets protein from eggs, milk, cheese, wieners, fish, hamburger, and chicken  ...grains, which provide B vitamins, from bread and hamburger and hot dog buns  ...some vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C, from juice, potato...

It's common for ASD level 1 (high functioning autistic) children of all ages to experience school anxiety and school-related stress. This is often most apparent at the end of summer when school is about to start again, but it can occur year-round. Social, academic and scheduling factors play a major role, as do hidden environmental stressors. Below are some of the anxiety-related factors that both moms and dads and teachers should consider when dealing with ASD children: 1. Many schools now have anti-bullying programs and policies. Though bullying does still happen at many schools, even those with these policies, help is generally more easily accessible than it was years ago. The bad news is that bullying has gone high-tech. Many children use the Internet, cell phones and other media devices to bully other children, and this type of bullying often gets very aggressive.  One reason is that bullies can be anonymous and enlist other bullies to make their target miserabl...

It is not uncommon for ASD youngsters to experience great pain and discomfort that goes unreported, unnoticed by others, undiagnosed, and untreated. Enduring pain and allowing it to become chronic is extremely detrimental to your youngster's ability to function, grow, and learn. Untreated pain and discomfort will also seriously affect your child's behavior and ability to communicate with others. Of all the “meltdown triggers” that drive behaviors, experiencing pain and discomfort is extremely significant. This is because pain affects behavior. Think of the last time your youngster was sick and feeling significant pain or discomfort (e.g., flu symptoms, migraine, menstrual cramps, pulled muscle, etc.). Now, think of how being in such pain manifested in his/her behavior. Perhaps he/she: Felt especially vulnerable Just wanted to be left alone Just wanted to crawl under the covers and stay there Lashed out or snapped at family members Lashed out or snapped when anyone made a demand...

One clinical review published in 2015 in the Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics journal looked at the overlap between digestive health and autism spectrum disorders like Asperger's .   A meta-analysis found that for every 4 children with autism spectrum disorders at least 1 was found to have some sort of gastrointestinal symptom and this was lower in children without ASD.    The most common symptoms were increased gas at 60% Bloating, diarrhea , acid reflux under 50%, and constipation the least common symptom found in 10% of participants. It's thought that through the gut & brain axis, gut health could affect Asperger's .   The Microbiome of Autistic Children     Through stool & urine samples it is possible to test the bacteria makeup of the microbiome and see if there is dysbiosis or not. This first study from 2010 found that children with Autism had a higher concentration of Clostridium genus pathogenic bacteria in their gut.   A ...