My ASD Child

"Do you have any simple, 'cut-to-the-chase' advice I could share with my son's teacher (who seems to know very little about how to handle students on the autism spectrum who 'meltdown')? He is currently in the 6th grade and has a new teacher." Sure. Here goes... Students with ASD level 1, or High Functioning Autism (HFA), desperately need support from educators when they struggle with emotional and behavioral issues in school. Here are many helpful strategies that every teacher should know: HFA can co-exist with other disorders (e.g., ADHD, depression, anxiety). But mostly, this disorder affects the ability to socialize. These youngsters have difficulty recognizing facial expressions, sarcasm, and teasing, and struggle to adapt to unexpected changes in routine. Their interests tend to be very narrow, and this can limit their capacity to relate to others. Due to these struggles, kids on the autism spectrum oftentimes experience anger, fear, sa

"My 6-year-old son was diagnosed with ADHD at age 5. But now we are seeing signs that he may have 'high functioning' autism. What percentage of ADHD children also have autism? Is a dual diagnosis common?" Most kids with ASD level 1 (high functioning autism) don’t receive that diagnosis until after age 6. Usually, they are diagnosed with ADHD as toddlers. Part of the reason is that physicians routinely screen kids for ADHD but not for autism.    Another reason is that an ASD child's social impairment becomes more evident once he starts school. Finally, physicians are reluctant to label a youngster "autistic." It is okay - and even a badge of honor - to have a hyperactive youngster , but it is another thing entirely to have an autistic youngster . Physicians make their diagnoses based on the youngster’s behaviors. Since kids with ADHD and ASD share similar behaviors, the two can appear to overlap. However, there is a fundamental difference between th

"I need some advice on how to handle behavior problems in my child with ASD, such as how to use the right discipline, dealing with his obsessions, sibling issues, sleep problems, school-related problems, and acting-out behavior in public. Thanks!" Disciplining kids displaying ASD-related behavior will often require an approach which is somewhat unique to that of "typical" kids. Finding the balance between understanding the needs of a youngster with ASD - and discipline which is age appropriate and situationally necessary - is achievable when applying some simple, yet effective strategies. These strategies can be implemented both at home and in more public settings. General Behavior Problems— Traditional discipline may fail to produce the desired results for kids with ASD level 1 ("high-functioning autism"), primarily because they are unable to appreciate the consequences of their actions. Consequently, punitive measures are apt to exacerbate the type of

"Do children with ASD Level 1 have speech or language problems, or is this purely an issue in ASD Level 3?" Although kids with ASD level 1, or High-Functioning Autism (HFA), acquire language skills without significant general delay - and their speech typically lacks significant abnormalities - language acquisition and use is often atypical. Abnormalities include: abrupt transitions auditory perception deficits literal interpretations miscomprehension of nuance oddities in loudness, pitch, intonation, prosody, and rhythm  unusually pedantic, formal or idiosyncratic speech use of metaphor meaningful only to the speaker verbosity Three aspects of communication patterns are of clinical interest: marked verbosity poor prosody tangential and circumstantial speech Although inflection and intonation may be less rigid or monotonic than in ASD level 3, young people with HFA often have a limited range of intonation (e.g., speech may be unusually fast, jerky or