My ASD Child

One of the most significant problems for children with Asperger’s (AS) and High Functioning Autism (HFA) is difficulty in social interaction. AS and HFA also create problems with "mind reading" (i.e., knowing what another person might be thinking or feeling). Most young people can observe others and guess (through a combination of tone and body language) what's "really" going on. But without help and training, AS and HFA children can't. What comes naturally to “typical” kids does not come naturally to kids on the autism spectrum. The lack of interpersonal relationship skills makes it difficult for these boys and girls to make and keep friends – and often leads to social isolation. Now for the good news: Parents can learn to teach interpersonal relationship skills to their “special needs” youngsters. Indicators That Your Child Needs Social Skills Training  Here are some concrete ways to give AS and HFA children the tools they need to intera

"My child is so desperate to find just one close friend. It breaks my heart when he tries so hard to make friends but eventually gets rejected. How do you teach friendship skills? How can I help?!" For most children with ASD [High Functioning Autism], the most important part of a treatment strategy involves the development of communication and social competence. This emphasis doesn’t reflect a societal pressure for conformity or an attempt to stifle individuality and uniqueness. Rather, it reflects the clinical fact that most children with ASD are not loners by choice, and that there is a tendency (as these young people develop towards adolescence) for despondency, negativism, and depression as a result of the child's increasing awareness of personal inadequacy in social situations and repeated experiences of failure to make and/or maintain relationships. The typical limitations of insight and self-reflection experienced by children with ASD often preclude spontan

"How can parents tell the difference between deliberate, defiant and manipulative behaviors - as opposed to symptoms of autism (high functioning in this case)." Children with Asperger’s and High Functioning Autism (HFA) often exhibit different forms of challenging behavior. It is imperative that these behaviors are not seen as willful or malicious; more accurately, they should be viewed as connected to the child’s disorder and treated as such by means of insightful, therapeutic and educational strategies, rather than by inconsistent punishment or other disciplinary measures that imply the assumption of deliberate misbehavior. Parents and teachers need to recognize the difficulties that the youngster with HFA brings to each situation as a result of his or her neurologically-based disorder. Among the common traits of this “special needs” child include the following: A need for predictability and routine A tendency to respond based on association and memory, which lea