My ASD Child

"Any advice for a child (high functioning) who absolutely hates change and will meltdown at the drop of a hat?! Help!!!" Research suggests that the brains of kids on the autism spectrum are quite inflexible at switching from rest to task, and this inflexibility is correlated with behaviors characteristic of spectrum disorders. This behavioral inflexibility can manifest as restricted interests (e.g., preoccupation with particular activities, objects or sounds). These behaviors impact how a youngster attends to the external world. Compared to “typical” kids, young people on the autism spectrum show reduced differentiation between brain connectivity during rest and task (called “brain inflexibility”). Also, there is a correlation between the degree of brain inflexibility shown in the fMRI scans and the severity of restrictive and repetitive behaviors in this population. Symptoms of inflexibility or behavioral rigidity are often difficult to quantify, and yet often in

“Why are transitions so difficult for my autistic child (high functioning)? It’s impossible to get him to stop what he’s doing at the time without a huge row. What are some strategies which can help when moving from one thing to the next?” One frequently observed feature of High-Functioning Autism (HFA) and Asperger’s is inflexibility in thought and behavior. Inflexibility seems to pervade so many areas of the lives of children on the autism spectrum. Novel situations often produce anxiety. These kids may be uncomfortable with change in general, which can result in behavior that may be viewed as oppositional and can lead to emotional meltdowns. This general inflexibility is what parents and teachers often label as “rebellion.” There are two types of inflexibility: Cognitive inflexibility occurs when the child is unable to consider alternatives to the current situation, alternative viewpoints, or innovative solutions to a problem. The child with inflexible thinking tends t

"We have generally been against trying medication, even to treat the worst symptoms of our autistic child, but is there a point at which the advantages of some form of drug treatment outweigh the disadvantages?" To answer this question, we will need to look at six clusters of symptoms. They are a convenient way of talking about drug treatments for the common kinds of behaviors that hinder the lives of children and teens who have Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA). These clusters are not comprehensive, but were chosen because they are common reasons to seek drug treatment for HFA: 1. Inflexibility and Behavioral Rigidity: Symptoms of inflexibility or behavioral rigidity are often difficult to quantify, and yet often introduce some of the most disruptive chronic behaviors exhibited by children with HFA. These can be manifest by minor differences in the environment (e.g., changes in location for certain activities), difficulties tolerating changes in rout

Aspergers (high functioning autism) is a developmental disorder falling within the autistic spectrum affecting two-way social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and a reluctance to accept change, inflexibility of thought and to have all absorbing narrow areas of interest. Individuals are usually extremely good on rote memory skills (facts, figures, dates, times etc.) many excel in math and science. There is a range of severity of symptoms within the syndrome, the very mildly affected youngster often goes undiagnosed and may just appear odd or eccentric. While Aspergers is much more common than Autism it is still a rare condition and few people, including professionals, will know about it much less have experience of it. It seems to affect more boys than girls. In general terms they find making friends difficult, not understanding the subtle clues needed to do so. They often use language in a slightly odd way and take literal meanings from what is read or heard. They

Aspergers is a developmental disorder falling within the autistic spectrum affecting two-way social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and a reluctance to accept change, inflexibility of thought and to have all absorbing narrow areas of interest . Individuals are usually extremely good on rote memory skills (facts, figures, dates, times etc.) many excel in math and science. There is a range of severity of symptoms within the syndrome, the very mildly affected youngster often goes undiagnosed and may just appear odd or eccentric. While Aspergers is much more common than Autism it is still a rare condition and few individuals, including professionals, will know about it much less have experience of it. It seems to affect more boys than girls. In general terms they find making friends difficult, not understanding the subtle clues needed to do so. They often use language in a slightly odd way and take literal meanings from what is read or heard. They are happiest w

Hyperactivity— There has recently been considerable interest and research into the possible connection between autism spectrum disorders and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This interest includes both the similarities in symptoms as well as genetics. Hyperactivity, inattentiveness and impulsivity can be present in a number of childhood onset disorders, including ADHD as well as autism spectrum disorders. Kids with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) are often considered as having some characteristics indicative of Aspergers. Although they are two distinct disorders, they are not mutually exclusive and a youngster could have both conditions. One nine year old boy with Aspergers, Jake, displayed severe symptoms of hyperactivity. He could barely contain himself when in his therapist's office, preferring to remove all the books from her bookshelf and trying to race down the hallways. Another possibility is that of misdiagnosis. Some kids originally diagnosed