My ASD Child

"We seem to be having ever increasing difficulty with our 13-year-old daughter (high functioning autistic). We began to notice a change for the worse around the time she reached puberty. Her anger and anxiety have reached a new level. She also seems very very depressed much of the time. Is this normal for a teen with this disorder? What can we do to slow down what I see as a train wreck in the making?" Puberty brings with it challenges for all children, however, children with ASD level 1 [High-Functioning Autism] face increased challenges through puberty. The behavior issues of impulsivity can increase in both frequency and intensity. Kids with ASD who experienced bullying in elementary school - and now continue to experience bullying during their middle school years - may become increasingly aggressive.  Adolescence can become a very difficult time for a child with ASD as peers may no longer be willing to tolerate someone who seems different. Moodiness, depression

"We just discovered that our son has ASD [high functioning autism]. I wish we had a summary of the difficulties associated with this disorder so we could know what to expect (and what to work on)." Sure! There are several areas of difficulty associated with ASD Level 1 or High-Functioning Autism that you will need to consider. Here's the summary: Children with ASD display varying difficulties when interacting with others. Some children and adolescents have no desire to interact, while others simply do not know how. More specifically, they do not comprehend the give-and-take nature of social interactions. They may want to lecture you about the Titanic or they may leave the room in the midst of playing with another child. They do not comprehend the verbal and nonverbal cues used to further our understanding in typical social interactions. These include eye contact, facial expressions, body language, conversational turn-taking, perspective taking, and matching

Do you need some assistance in parenting your Aspergers or HFA child? Click here to use Mark Hutten, M.A. as your personal parent coach. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My name is Heather. I have a 6.5 year old child on the high functioning end of the spectrum. I wanted to send you a message over Facebook as that is where I found your content, but, there wasn’t an option. I found your email through your website. I wanted to personally send you a quick message to say thank you for disseminating such important and vital information specifically targeting children who are have Aspergers. Because my son is so high functioning, we have been questioned, ridiculed, and at times been laughed at when trying to explain his struggles. My son is very verbal and friendly and is often labeled as a bad child or an awkward weird child but never autistic. Luckily , his school has recognized the autism and we are getting a lot of help through them. However, we have family members that we cannot be around a

 "I need some tips on how to deal with my HFA teenager. We're dealing with so many issues at the moment - depression, social isolation, backtalk, failing grades, and the list could go on and on here..." Parenting adolescents brings many challenges – hormonal changes, self-identity, and the pressure of being socially acceptable, just to name a few. When you add Asperger’s or High Functioning Autism (HFA) to the equation, the element of difficulty increases significantly. Parents can help their “special needs” adolescents, but this begins with becoming knowledgeable about what they face. Parents should learn as much about the disorder as possible and how they can support and help these young people face their challenges. The “typical” teenager is really into his or her friends. The tools for developing social skills as an adolescent are shared experiences and conversation with peers . But, for the teenager who has poor social skills or struggles to communicate, t

"Nothing we have done to get our ASD teen to avoid the ups and downs of his behavior and mood swings has helped. We need help now!" Disciplining a teenager with Aspergers or High-Functioning Autism (HFA) is likely to bring out the best and the worst in a parent. Moms and dads try to help their “special needs” teenager make up for what's missing by increasing their love and attention, but he or she often triggers special frustrations in parents. Most teens go through predictable stages of development in adolescence. You know about when to expect what behavior and how long it will last. Knowing you don't have to weather this “difficult behavior” indefinitely helps you cope. But with many teens on the autism spectrum, stages seem to go on forever, as do the frustrations in both the teenager and the parent. Parenting an Aspergers or HFA son or daughter is a tough job. The ups and downs and joys and sorrows are magnified. You rejoice at each accomplishment, and you

Do you need some assistance in parenting your Aspergers or HFA child? Click here to use Mark Hutten, M.A. as your personal parent coach. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hi Mark Thank you for helping me some years ago with my teen She is happily married now with 2 beautiful baby girls. And she thanks me often for not quitting on her.Your teaching was a big part of my not giving up and keeping on keeping on ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I found your website today as I was educating myself about this disorder.  I have a 13 YO daughter who has been diagnosed with ODD.  We have been fighting depression and anxiety for 3 years now and thought I had it under control till about 8-12 months ago.  She has gotten horribly worse.  She refuses to accept responsibility for her actions and blames everyone else when she gets punished.  She has now gotten to the point of complete disobedience.  My mother picked her up from school yesterday and she tried to run away from her.  She had to call the sheriff