My ASD Child

"My teenage son [with ASD] goes crazy when he sees women’s feet. He likes to touch them. I can’t go out anywhere because I always have this problem. When I try to stop him, he turns violent and tries to hit me or hits himself. What can I do to help him?" Teens with Aspergers and high-functioning autism have a difficult time understanding sexual feelings and appropriate actions regarding sexual activities. Many times, the sexual interests of people with ASD at your son’s age, are one-sided, not reciprocal, as it is when he touches the feet of women he doesn’t know. As you have seen, this results in some terribly difficult situations. Your son is unable to understand the rules that govern this type of behavior; he only knows that he must (as far as he is concerned) touch those feet! He misunderstands the situation and acts too intense and very inappropriately. His frustration when you try to stop him results in violence. If all sense of proportion is lost, a

"I'm 16 years old and I have ASD [level 1]. My parents and my friends tell me that I'm always blinking my eyes. Does everybody with autism have tics? What causes it? What can I do to stop it?" Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can have many complications such as tics. Tics are rapid sudden movements of muscles in your body. Tics can be vocal, too. Both kinds of tics are very hard to control and can be heard or seen by others. However, some tics are invisible (e.g., toe crunching, building up tension in your muscles). Simple tics involve just one group of muscles and are usually short, sudden and brief movements such as twitching the eyes or mouth movements. Some simple tics can be head shaking, eye blinking or lip biting. Simple vocal tics can be throat clearing, coughing or sniffing. Complex tics involve more than one muscle group and are longer movement which seem more complex such as jumping, hoping, touching people, hitting yourself or pulling clothes

"What is the best way to teach social stories? Should this be done by parents, a therapist, or in a peer-group setting? And are social stories good resources for the home-schooler?" Indeed, social stories can be effectively used to teach appropriate behavior in a variety of settings. Social stories may be used by parents, therapists, or in peer group settings. And home-schooling parents often use social stories effectively. Social stories are used to address many  psychological and social symptoms, including: A lack of imagination in play or expression Consistent shyness, anxiety, and unhappiness Depression during the years of adolescence and early adulthood Difficulty in relationships with others Feelings of isolation from others Obsessions, including irrational fears and anxieties Timidity The Importance of Social Stories Social stories are a teaching device for kids. The stories are used to

"I would like to know how to advise my son with ASD [level 1] on social skills, such as relating to friends without being insulting to others and driving them away." One of the behavioral traits seen in kids with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lack of "demonstrated" empathy (i.e., they can empathize, but may not show it). They don’t realize that other people have thoughts and interests that are different from theirs. They’ll interrupt a conversation and start churning out facts about their pet interest (e.g., medieval history, Star Wars’ trivia, Math, etc.) even if it has nothing to do with what the other kids are talking about. This and their lack of other social skills (e.g., looking others in the eyes when conversing, responding appropriately to greetings and questions, understanding fads and the interests of peers, etc.) makes making friends very difficult for ASD kids. With some of these children, social abilities remain intact or aren’t re