What are the common symptoms to look out for?

Question

For a mom or dad who suspects their youngster may have Aspergers, what are the common symptoms to look out for?

Answer

Aspergers is a developmental disorder that affects a youngster's ability to socialize and communicate effectively with others. Kids with Aspergers typically exhibit social awkwardness and an all-absorbing interest in specific topics.

Signs and symptoms of Aspergers include:

• Appearing not to understand, empathize with, or be sensitive to others' feelings
• Displaying unusual nonverbal communication, such as lack of eye contact, few facial expressions, or awkward body postures and gestures
• Having a hard time "reading" other people or understanding humor
• Having an odd posture or a rigid gait
• Moving clumsily, with poor coordination
• Showing an intense obsession with one or two specific, narrow subjects, such as baseball statistics, train schedules, weather or snakes
• Speaking in a voice that is monotonous, rigid or unusually fast

Autism and Aspergers are difficult to diagnose especially in young kids where language and cognitive skills are still developing. All kids are different, and many toddlers show a sign or symptom of Aspergers at some point. It's natural for small kids to be egocentric, and many little ones show a strong interest in a particular topic, such as dinosaurs or a favorite fictional character. These alone aren't reasons to be alarmed!

However, if your youngster has frequent problems in school or seems unable to make friends, it's time to consult your pediatrician. These difficulties have many possible causes, but developmental disorders such as Aspergers shouldn't be ruled out.

Aspergers Teens: Drug Abuse and Addiction

Whether you are a parent, grandparent or any other person who cares about an Aspergers child's future, it is important that you be knowledge about how to prevent drug abuse. It's hard for us to imagine that an Aspergers child we love could end up using drugs. But chances are, many Aspergers children will be faced with, "Should I, or shouldn't I?" As parents we must teach our kids to know that the answer is, "I shouldn't, and I won't."

If you suspect your Aspergers teen has been using drugs or drinking alcohol, it's important to act quickly: the longer your teen abuses substances, the more likely they are to become addicted. If you do find the problem is beyond your expertise, there are teen drug treatment programs that specialize in the special needs of this population.

Be especially scrutinizing as you determine the drug rehab program that meets your Aspergers child's specific needs.

Chemical dependency in Aspergers teens is a treatable condition. The first goal of treatment is abstinence. The chemically dependent child must stop using alcohol or drugs. This sometimes requires a period of medical detoxification.

Once alcohol and/or drug use is stopped, Aspergers teens may honestly feel that they have the desire and ability to remain sober. This period can last days, weeks or months before cravings (the obsessive pressure to use) return. To reduce the risk of a relapse, the Aspergers teen must address personal problems and life issues related to the chemical dependency.

Some of those issues are addressed in group therapy, individual counseling sessions, educational lectures, and discussion groups in chemical dependency treatment. The therapy process helps chemically dependent teens obtain the insight and skills needed to understand and deal with problems associated with their alcohol and drug use. They learn to deal with their problems from a psychological, emotional, and spiritual perspective as well as from a physical perspective. After treatment, personal problems and other major life issues can be handled at a higher level of functioning.

Treatment for chemical dependency is available in residential settings, in outpatient centers, and now online.

Asperger's Syndrome and Substance Abuse

Pain, loneliness and despair can lead to problems with drugs, sex and alcohol/drugs. In their overwhelming need to fit in and make friends, some Aspergers teens fall into the wrong high school crowds. Teens who abuse substances will use the "Aspie's" naivety to get him to buy or carry drugs and liquor for their group.

Growing from childhood into adulthood can be very difficult for those diagnosed with Aspergers, and the typical pressure of drinking can lead to substance abuse, especially since substance abuse can seem like a temporary “cure-all” or an escape method for coping with other issues. If the symptoms of Aspergers have never been successfully treated or acknowledged, this can make alcohol/drugs abuse an even more likelihood, just as there is an increased risk for substance abuse for anyone with untreated disorder such as depression.

Despite wanting to have friends and engage with others, the awkward attempts and social deficits of individuals with Aspergers often make them the outsider in their peer groups. “Aspies” are often bullied or made the butt of mean-spirited jokes. Older children, teens and adults may simply be ostracized. Their repeated, but often rebuked attempts at friendships, and their painful awareness of their differences from their peers, often lead individuals with Aspergers to develop anxiety and/or depression, which may lead to alcoholism and/or drug abuse as a way to cope.

Aspergers comes not only with its own characteristics, but also with a wide variety of comorbid conditions such as depression, anxiety, obsessive–compulsive disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), drug abuse, alcoholism, and relationship difficulties (including family/marital problems). It may predispose individuals to commit offences and can affect their mental capacity and level of responsibility as well as their ability to bear witness or to be tried. The syndrome can color psychiatric disorder, affecting both presentation and management, for children and adults across a wide range of functional ability.

It is important to understand that Aspergers does not cause substance abuse. Substance abuse can be caused by a number of circumstances, including social reasons, depression, and even genetics. However, those with Aspergers may be slightly more susceptible to substance abuse, just as those with depression or bipolar may also be. Alcohol/drugs is often seen as a way to self-medicate oneself or deal with problems. Perfectly “healthy” people are just at as much risk for substance abuse as someone with Aspergers may be.

Effects on Families and Relationships—

There is often a tremendous amount of stress on families (parents, grandparents, siblings) of children and teens with Aspergers, as well as spouses who are married to adults with Aspergers. Not everyone reacts similarly, nor do all families experience the full range of potential issues, but some of the issues to be aware of include the following:

• Having a romantic or intimate partner with Aspergers can affect the relationship in a number of ways, most notably in the areas of communication and emotional give-and-take. Incorrect assumptions made by the individual with Aspergers often lead to self-protective strategies of distancing oneself entirely and then not responding at all to one's partner. An emphasis by the non-affected partner on expressing feelings is likely to lead to frustration and dissatisfaction

• Parents may experience a range of concerns and emotions as they attempt to understand what caused the disorder. They may ask, "Was it my fault?" and inappropriately assign self-blame. They may feel guilt and grief over having an individual in their family they love who will suffer a lifelong disability. They may wonder and worry about what others will think, and feel personally inadequate. They may fret about how they will explain Aspergers to their family and friends, what can they do to help, and what financial resources will be necessary to help. And, they may worry about what will happen to this individual in the future, when the parents are no longer there to support him or her

• Siblings may often feel embarrassed around peers, frustrated by not having the type of relationship with their sibling that they wanted or expected, and/or angry that the child with Aspergers requires so much of the family's time and resources at their expense

Treatments—

Treatments are not cures, but there are a number of different interventions that have been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms associated with Aspergers. There are primarily three different environments for receiving services: schools, the physician's office, and various specialists' offices (including rehabilitation therapists, and mental health professionals).

School districts are required to provide a range of services from support in the mainstream classroom to special education classes, depending upon the needs of the individual.

A physician's treatment usually involves prescribing medication to address symptoms associated with Aspergers: attentional issues, obsessive-compulsive issues, anxiety and/or depression.

Rehabilitation therapy includes speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, vision therapists, and art or music therapists.

Asperger's Kids: Difficulty Labeling Emotions

Question

Tips on teaching black-and-white kids labels for different emotions would be invaluable. With our nine-year-old, everyone is either happy, sad, frustrated or mad. His difficulty labeling emotions compounds problems because by not being able to adequately express what he’s feeling and be understood. This frustration usually ends with a day full of sitting on the couch with his head down, not talking to anyone because he’s so upset. How can I help him better express himself?

Answer

It can be very difficult for some children with Asperger’s Syndrome to understand their own emotions. They have a very hard time reading the emotions of others as well. This can be a very frustrating place for a child to be and helping him to learn how to identify these emotions can be very beneficial for your child.

Understand that it will be difficult for your child to learn how to identify emotions. He’ll first need to have a frame of reference. In her book, “What’s That Look on Your Face? All About Faces and Feelings,” Catherine S. Snodgrass has created a set of pictures of exaggerated facial expressions. These pictures are accompanied by poems that further reinforce the emotion shown in the face to help reinforce the connection in the child’s mind. This is a great way to begin to teach your child how to read and identify emotions.

You can also create activities for you and your child to participate in, depending on the age of your child and his desire to participate. You can photograph yourself and your child making faces that portray different emotions. You can have pictures of happy faces, sad faces, frustrated faces, and mad faces – all sorts of faces. Take a picture of you and take a picture of your child making the same face. You can take those photographs and turn them into flash cards so your child can practice identifying emotions.

Once he has a language and a frame of reference, then you can begin to help your child learn to identify how he is feeling. This can be a time consuming process, but a very important process. When you see your son is happy, have him stop what he’s doing and talk about what it feels like to be happy. He will begin to equate the feeling he’s having with the word. You can do this with many emotions, such as anger and frustration. Once your son begins to connect words with the emotions he is having, he’ll be able to correctly identify the emotions. This will help greatly when you are trying to help him modify some of his behaviors that may surround some of his emotions, especially around anger and frustration issues.

Be patient with your son and try to understand how frustrating and confusing this can be for him. If he begins to understand that you are trying to help him understand this confusing issue, he will be better able to open up to you.