My ASD Child

Question My Aspergers son spends all his time collecting and ruminating over his baseball cards. That’s ALL he talks about, all day long: baseball trivia (names of teams, names of players, player stats, and on and on...). Is this Aspergers related behavior, and how can I get him to broaden his interests? Answer Rituals and obsessions are one of the hallmarks of Aspergers (high functioning autism) and other Autistic Spectrum Disorders. In order to cope with the anxieties and stresses about the chaotic world around them, children often obsess and ritualize their behaviors to comfort themselves. While some children may spend their time intensely studying one area, others may be compulsive about cleaning, lining up items, or even doing things which put them or others in danger. Based on data from psychological testing, it is likely that the memory of the youngster with Aspergers may not be better than others in general, but the huge collection of facts he knows probabl...

Question My 10-year-old son with Aspergers has a variety of stereotypical behaviors (e.g., he flaps his arms, hops, makes some odd writhing movements). They get worse when he is excited or over-stimulated. At age 10, these behaviors are really sticking-out and can be quite annoying and embarrassing to the rest of the family when we are out with him, in particular his older sister. Do you have any suggestions of what to do about it? Answer Almost all kids with any form of autism tend to repeat behaviors, an action referred to as stereotypic behaviors or perseveration. Your youngster may stare at objects or repeat behaviors that seem to have no purpose for hours at a time. This can be seen in the “flapping” of your child’s hands or other circumscribed, repeated movements, even those that are self-injurious or destructive to others or property. In kids with Aspergers (high-functioning autism), these stereotypic behaviors may diminish and give way to obsessive interests, ...

Like other conditions on the autism spectrum, Aspergers (high functioning autism) is believed to be caused primarily by errant genes, and it is not typically associated with low IQ. Although there's no consensus on prevalence, a study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry pins it at 1 in 400 among 8-year-olds, more often in boys than girls. Though professionals use the same diagnostic criteria, interpretations make for wide disparities in diagnosis. Some people may have family members with autism-spectrum disorders and exhibit features of Aspergers, such as "social deficits and a great deal of rigidities," but these traits are not tantamount to the diagnosable condition. A person with Aspergers often has trouble understanding the emotions of other people, and the subtle messages that are sent by facial expression, eye contact and body language are often missed. Research suggests that the divorce rate for people with Aspergers ...

Delays and atypical behaviors related to Aspergers (high functioning autism) are observable in the first 2 years of life. Some babies with Aspergers show less-than-expected interest and pleasure in other people. Infants with Aspergers may share interests and activities less and may even babble less than other infants. Your baby may seem less interested in communicating through sounds or physical gestures, and his speech may be delayed to some extent or robotically copied from books or TV shows. Kids with Aspergers tend to display better attachment to parents than kids with more severe forms of classical autism. However, you may notice that despite your youngster’s bonding with you, he still has difficulty connecting with her peers. Later in childhood, he may be more likely to engage in conversation (although this often is one-way conversation) with you and other adults than with his peers. One mother of an Aspergers child recalls: “My daughter was very much in her own w...