My ASD Child

The recent school shooting may have raised many questions for your Aspergers youngster. There are no easy answers about this kind of tragedy, but it is important for moms and dads to try to explain what has happened in order to help ease their youngster’s fears and anxieties about his personal safety. If your child will be around other kids or has access to media of any type, it’s important to discuss the shooting. It will be less frightening if she hears about it from you instead of from a classmate or reading about it on the Internet.  To guide you through difficult discussions about school violence, here are a few suggestions: 1. Be patient. Tragic news takes time for children to process. They may express their confusion and fear in unexpected ways. Be there with lots of extra, love, support and reassurance. 2. Create a safety plan with your Aspergers youngster. Help identify which grown-ups (e.g., teacher, school counselor, coach, etc.) your youngster can talk to if he

Question My husband and I have just started looking into special schools for our 11 year old with Aspergers. He's very bright and does well in the public school academically, but suffers from the usual social problems of an Aspergers child. His psychiatrist also does not think his intellect is being sufficiently challenged or developed by the public school curriculum. Can anyone suggest some school that is not too far from the Essex County area? Answer I’m not sure where Essex County is located. Here are a few schools below. Consider contacting the school closest to you and ask a staff member if he/she knows of any schools near Essex County. • Baltimore, Maryland-- The Millennium School Opening Fall of 2004: The Millennium Day School in Baltimore, Maryland will open its doors in the Fall of 2004. The school will have a fully integrated social skills curriculum and will serve the needs of children with Aspergers and related disorders in an inclusive environment. For further informat

Adolescent bullying includes a wide range of aggressive behavior, including direct and indirect hostility. Direct contact can be either verbal or physical (e.g., teasing, name-calling, pushing and hitting). Direct bullying is more common among males than females. Indirect bullying (which is more common among girls) happens when teens spread rumors about each other, often in an attempt to exclude a peer from social gatherings or other activities. When adolescent bullying meets technology, “cyber-bullying” emerges. Through digital technology, aggressive messages can be instantly broadcast to a wide audience. Senders can remain anonymous or fake a user name, and they can attach demeaning or explicit images. This so-called "electronic hostility" includes any type of harassment or intimidation that occurs through various sources, for example: blogs chat rooms email instant messaging text messaging websites other electronic formats Despite the fact that adolescent

Question What do you do if your 9 year old with high functioning autism is refusing to go to school ever again? Do I take her kicking and screaming? Home-school? What? Answer Some ASD (high-functioning autistic) kids experience fear or panic when they think about going to school in the morning. These kids may tell their moms and dads that they feel nauseous or have a headache, or may exaggerate minor physical complaints as an excuse not to go to school.    When the ASD youngster or teen exhibits a developmentally inappropriate and excessive anxiety concerning separation from their home or from those to whom they are attached, they may be experiencing a Separation Anxiety Disorder. Separation Anxiety Disorder is characterized by the youngster exhibiting three or more of the following for a period of more than four weeks: persistent and excessive worry about losing, or about possible harm befalling, major attachment figures persistent and excessive worry that an untoward

"I've decided to home-school my son (high functioning autistic) starting next year (even though it's in the middle of school year) because of the bullying that is going on in his public school this year. Am I being over-protective? Also, how can autistic children be helped with bullying so they can return to public school at some point?" Unfortunately, the majority of kids with High-Functioning Autism (HFA), or ASD level 1, experience bullying or victimization at school. There are many reasons for this, but mainly it is because these young people stand out from typically developing children due to their problems in social situations. Kids who bully are socially savvy and are able to keep from getting caught, which makes bullying difficult to spot and stop. Children on the autism spectrum have a low social IQ , so they either do not notice the bullying, retaliate, or get the blame for it shifted onto them! It is the responsibility of parents and teachers to

Kids with and Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) commonly experience anxiety. Estimates report that as many as 80% of kids on the spectrum have anxiety disorders such as specific phobias, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder. Physical complaints with no apparent medical basis is often an indicator of anxiety (e.g., stress in a social situation, a demanding school setting, sensory sensitivities, etc.). Factors that can make existing anxiety even worse can include an introverted temperament, having highly anxious parents, high levels of family stress or conflict, and a family history of anxiety. Signs of school anxiety in AS and HFA children include the following: Behavioral Signs— Abnormal failure or delay to complete everyday responsibilities Change in eating habits Change in sleeping habits Frequent lying Nail biting Pacing Significant change in school or work performance Trouble getting along with classmates and/or