Aspergers Checklist: Motor Clumsiness

Motor Clumsiness: This refers to difficulties with motor functioning and planning. The Asperger individual can have difficulty with both gross and fine motor skills.

A. Difficulties with gross motor skills:
  1. An awkward gait when walking or running.
  2. Poor balance.
  3. Difficulty when throwing or catching a ball (appears afraid of the ball).
  4. Difficulty coordinating different extremities, motor planning (shoe tying, bike riding).
  5. Difficulty with motor imitation skills.
  6. Difficulty with rhythm copying.
  7. Difficulty with skipping.

B. Difficulties with fine motor skills:
  1. Difficulty with handwriting/cutting/coloring skills.
  2. An unusual pencil/pen grasp.
  3. Rushes through fine motor tasks.
  4. Difficulty applying sufficient pressure when writing, drawing, or coloring.
  5. Difficulty with independently seeing sequential steps to complete finished product.
  6. Frustration if writing samples are not perfectly identical to the presented model.



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Aspergers Checklist: Narrow Range of Interests and Insistence on Set Routines

Narrow Range of Interests and Insistence on Set Routines

This refers to the Aspergers child’s rigidity, obsessions, perseverations, and need for structure/routine/order.

A. Rules are very important as the world is seen as black or white:
  1. Takes perfectionism to an extreme — one wrong answer is not tolerable, and the child must do things perfectly
  2. Has difficulty with any changes in the established routine
  3. Has a set routine for how activities are to be done
  4. Has rules for most activities, which must be followed (this can be extended to all involved)

B. The child has few interests, but those present are unusual and treated as obsessions:
  1. Patterns, routines, and rituals are evident and interfere with daily functioning (note: this is driven by the child’s anxiety; the world is confusing for her; she is unsure what to do and how to do it; if she can impose structure, she begins to have a feeling of control)
  2. Has developed narrow and specific interests; the interests tend to be atypical (note: this gives a feeling of competence and order; involvement with the area of special interest becomes all-consuming)
  3. Displays rigid behavior:
  • Has unusual fears
  • Has narrow food preferences
  • Carries a specific object
  • Plays games or completes activities in a repetitive manner or makes own rules for them
  • Insists on driving a specific route
  • Arranges toys/objects/furniture in a specific way
  • Is unable to accept environmental changes (e.g., must always go to the same restaurant, same vacation spot)
  • Is unable to change the way she has been taught to complete a task
  • Needs to be first in line, first selected, etc.
  • Erases over and over to make the letters just right
  • Colors with so much pressure the crayons break (e.g., in order to cover all the white)
  • Only sits in one specific chair or one specific location
  • Cannot extend the allotted time for an activity; activities must start and end at the times specified
  • Selects play choices/interests not commonly shared by others (e.g., electricity, weather, advanced computer skills, scores of various sporting events) but not interested in the actual play (note: this could also be true for music, movies, and books)
  • Has narrow clothing preferences
  • Feels need to complete projects in one sitting, has difficulty with projects completed over time

C. Failure to follow rules and routines results in behavioral difficulties. These can include:
  1. Anxiety
  2. Tantrums/meltdowns (e.g., crying, aggression, property destruction, screaming)
  3. Non-compliant behaviors
  4. Increase in perseverative/obsessive/rigid/ritualistic behaviors or preoccupation with area of special interest, engaging in nonsense talk
  5. Inability to prevent or lessen extreme behavioral reactions, inability to use coping or calming techniques
  6. Emotional responses out of proportion to the situation, emotional responses that are more intense and tend to be negative (e.g., glass half-empty)

Children with Aspergers and High-Functioning Autism have very few things that really interest them, but those interests are very important and may help them alleviate anxiety. They also cope better when there are set routines in their lives. Because change causes anxiety, Aspergers children will want to live by rigid rules that they construct for themselves. They want their own rules so that they can be the “king” or “ruler” -- and they have a difficult time understanding why society has a different set of rules.

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Toilet Training Your Aspergers Child: Part I

"Any tips for toilet training my Aspergers son? It's not been going very well so far. Help!"

Even for the normal child, toilet training is often a difficult skill to master. But for the child with Aspergers or High-Functioning Autism, there are additional factors that may inhibit toilet training. The things that would encourage the average child may not be effective with the "Aspie."

Social motivation is a critical factor in determining "readiness" for toilet training. An Aspergers child may not be motivated by the opportunity to wear “big boy pants.” He may not understand what is expected of him. Following all the steps necessary for toilet training may be difficult for this child. Changes in his routine may also be a challenge.

An Aspergers child may not be aware of the need to use the toilet. The first step in toilet training will be to determine his level of readiness.

Assessment--

1. Establish a positive and meaningful routine around toileting, and collect data about your child's readiness for schedule training or for independent toileting.

2. Use a simple chart to collect the data needed about your child's readiness. On a routine basis, the child is taken to the bathroom for a "quick check" every 30 minutes, and data is recorded on each occasion.

3. Over a period of 1 or 2 weeks, patterns of data begin to emerge:
  • Is the child dry for significant periods of time?
  • Is there some regularity in his wetting/soiling?
  • Does the child show any indication that he/she is aware of being wet/soiled?
  • Does the child pause while wetting/soiling?

4. If the answer to all of these questions is no, then it may not be time to toilet train the child.

5. During this trial period, assess other aspects of the process of toilet training:
  • Is the child beginning to pick up on the routine involved?
  • Does the child have dressing skills?
  • Are there any fears associated with the process of toileting?
  • What is the child’s attention span?

It may be beneficial to develop a task analysis of the steps of toileting. This can provide a picture of all the skills needed and will also let you see where specific trouble areas may be. The task analysis can be very general or very specific, including everything from entering the bathroom, to flushing the toilet and leaving the bathroom.


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