My ASD Child

Why children with Aspergers and High-Functioning Autism have difficulty concentrating -- and what parents and teachers can do about it: Teaching Students with Aspergers and HFA

Research suggests that up to 80% of students with Aspergers and High-Functioning Autism experience school-related anxiety at some point during their school career. Anxiety Disorders such as OCD, Social Anxiety and Generalized Anxiety Disorder commonly co-occur with Aspergers. When anxiety symptoms are untreated, they can further interfere with a child's quality of education. Kids with both Aspergers and Anxiety Disorders experience a more limited social world than kids with only one disorder. They may have difficulty in adapting at school by avoiding opportunities to make friends, join social activities, and break their usual rituals to try something new. Although little is known about what anxiety symptoms look like in Aspergers students, the following symptoms (which overlap with Anxiety Disorders) indicate school-related anxiety: Avoidance of new situations Becoming "silly" Becoming explosive easily (e.g., anger outbursts) Increased insistence on rou