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Children on the Autism Spectrum: The "Outcast” Subtype

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"My son (high functioning autistic) tries to make friends, but seems to not have the social skills to do it. He really wants to relate to his peer group, but is usually shunned by the kids he tries to bond with. How can I help?" The "Outcast” There are 3 basic subtypes in children and teens with Asperger's (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA): The Actor: This child desires inter-personal relationships with others and has learned enough social skills over time to pass as a "neurotypical" (i.e., he or she can "act" like someone who is not on the spectrum). The Loner: This child does NOT desire inter-personal relationships (except with a very safe/close family member or friend) and could care less about "fitting-in" with "the group." The Outcast: This child desires inter-personal relationships with others, but has difficulty finding and maintaining friendships due to a lack of social skills. He or she really wants

Asperger's Subtypes: The "Actor" - The "Outcast" - The "Loner"

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There are 3 basic subtypes in people with Asperger's and High-Functioning Autism: The Actor: This individual desires inter-personal relationships with others and has learned enough social skills over time to pass as a "neurotypical" (i.e., he or she can "act" like someone who is not on the autism spectrum). The Outcast: This individual desires inter-personal relationships with others, but has difficulty finding and maintaining friendships due to a lack of social skills. This person really wants to "fit-in," but usually gets ostracized from "the group" due to his or her "odd" behavior. The Loner: This individual does NOT desire inter-personal relationships (except with a very safe/close family member or friend) and could care less about "fitting-in" with "the group." In this video, we will look at the "Loner": ==> www.AdultAspergersChat.com

The Elimination of the Asperger’s Diagnosis

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There is a lot of confusion regarding the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder’s (DSM-5) revision to exclude Asperger’s. Hopefully this post will clarify some things… Taking into account the most up-to-date research, diagnostic criteria in the DSM are revised periodically by a team of professionals. Here are a few of the main changes in the DSM-5 that specifically apply to autism spectrum disorders: Sensory behaviors are included in the criteria for the first time (under restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviors descriptors). The terms used in the DSM-4 are autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder and PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified). In the DSM-5, when people go for a diagnosis, instead of receiving a diagnosis of one of these disorders, they will be given a diagnosis of “autism spectrum disorder.” The emphasis during diagnosis has changed from giving a name to the disorder to identifyi