My ASD Child

"How have some of you dealt with a depressed teenager? My autistic son is 16 (high functioning) and a loner. His self-esteem is shot, and we're worried. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!" Adolescents suffer from depression more often than any number of grown-ups who live their entire lives with it. Moms and dads are generally dismissive of their child’s low moods, because they think that ALL teenagers are simply moody, hormonal, or tired and cranky.    This dismissive attitude generally results in teenagers being even more depressed, because they think their mother or father doesn’t care. Take that in combination with adolescents with High-Functioning Autism (HFA) or Asperger’s (AS) who have very little impulse control as it is, and you have a horrible combination. Depression is a serious medical problem that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in activities. It affects how your teenage son or daughter thinks, feels and behaves, and it c

"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

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

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