My ASD Child

For the Aspergers (high functioning autistic) student, schools are full of environmental stimuli that can (a) create a state of anxiety and (b) wreak havoc on his or her sensory sensitivities. Many Aspergers kids are already anxious about wanting to follow the rules, live up to the teacher’s expectations, and get through each day without any major problems.  There have been plenty of studies out there conducted by educational psychologists that show that school settings affect not only those with Aspergers, but other students as well. But keep in mind that the "Aspie" student must also grapple with having her senses assaulted throughout the day. In some instances, if she is not yet a self-advocate, or if she is unaware of her own sensitivities, she may be unable to pinpoint exactly what triggers her anxiety and subsequent loss of control. Most Aspergers children are keenly aware of the social, educational, and environmental expectation that they “fit in” with the

Although Aspergers (high functioning autism) is at the milder end of the autism spectrum, the challenges parents face when disciplining a "special needs" teenager are more difficult than they would be with an average teen. Complicated by defiant behavior, the Aspergers teen is at risk for even greater difficulties on multiple levels -- unless the parents' disciplinary techniques are tailored to their child's special needs. Click here for My Aspergers Teen eBook

Not until the middle of the twentieth century was there a name for a disorder that now appears to affect an estimated 3.4 every 1,000 kids ages 3-10, a disorder that causes disruption in families and unfulfilled lives for many kids. In 1943 Dr. Leo Kanner of the Johns Hopkins Hospital studied a group of 11 kids and introduced the label early infantile autism into the English language. At the same time a German scientist, Dr. Hans Asperger, described a milder form of the disorder that became known as Aspergers. Thus these two disorders were described and are today listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR (fourth edition, text revision)1 as two of the five Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD), more often referred to today as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). All these disorders are characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills, social interactions, and restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Aut