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Anxiety-Free Haircuts for Aspergers and HFA Kids

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With Aspergers and High Functioning Autism (HFA), the brain seems unable to balance the senses appropriately. It's common for these youngsters to have sensory problems. They may be hypo-active (low sensitivity) or hyper-reactive (high sensitivity) or lack the ability to combine the senses. Aspergers and HFA kids often have a "fight or flight" response to sensation. This condition is called "sensory defensiveness" and may be diagnosed as a "sensory processing disorder." These children can be sensitive to many things (e.g., the noise hair clippers make, the sensation of cutting hair, feeling loose hairs on their body, seeing hair fall on their clothing or the floor, etc.). When their perceptions are accurate, they can learn from what they see, feel, or hear. On the other hand, if sensory information is faulty, their experiences of the world can be confusing. Many young people with Aspergers and HFA are highly attuned - or even painfully sensitiv

Aspergers 101: The Basics

Essential Aspergers Information That All Parents And Teachers Need To Know:

Aspergers/HFA Children and Dental Appointments: 40 Tips for Parents

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Taking your Aspergers (high functioning autistic) son or daughter to the dentist can be a difficult experience for both child and parent. Here are some helpful tips to effectively deal with dentist appointments: 1. Ask the dentist to lean the chair back before your child gets in it, because sometimes Aspergers and HFA children don’t like the feeling of being moved backwards. 2. Bring along a sibling or friend and let your child watch as the doctor or hygienist performs the task on them first. 3. Collaboration and teamwork are essential for a successful trip to the dentist. 4. Consider some physical exercise (e.g., riding a bike) to be done before and after the visit for calming. 5. Create and read a social story about going to the dentist with your child. The social story should take the uncertainty out of what will happen at the dentist office. 6. Deep pressure can be used before and during the visit for calming. 7. Dentists should review your youngster’s

Effective Teaching Strategies for Aspergers and HFA Students (Summary of PowerPoint Presentation)

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The following summary identifies the specific learning difficulties of Aspergers and high functioning autistic students and suggests a number of possible classroom strategies: Difficulties with language— “Comic Strip Conversations” can be applied to a range of problems with conversation skills difficulty understanding complex language, following directions, and understanding intent of words with multiple meanings encourage the student to ask for an instruction to be repeated, simplified or written down if he does not understand explain metaphors and words with double meanings limit oral questions to a number the student can manage pause between instructions and check for understanding small group instruction for conversational skills teach appropriate opening comments teach rules and cues regarding turn-taking in conversation and when to reply, interrupt or change the topic teach student to seek assistance when confused tendency to interrupt tendency to make irrel