Aspergers Syndrome?

I took a course on it. What exactly do you need to know?

My friends son has aspergers syndrome. He is a successful college student and children's church helper/teacher. He is also a joy to be around. One thing she has done for him is she has encouraged him to have a public side. He only lets down at home. Kind of like the rest of us but for him it is really important to make that distinction. At home he is allowed to be himself. That gives him an avenue to express himself and "process". She encourages him to develop his special skills and patiently helps him when he struggles. I know this is not advice or the information you were looking for but I hope it encourages you. As for those special skills. He listened to a song in a another language and was able to sing it word for word. I have listened to the same song maybe a hundred times and could not sing even a verse. I hope you learn to enjoy the blessing of aspergers syndrome as we have. If you want I can get you in touch with his mom. Just let me know.

This website http://www.autismspeaks.org/navigating/index.php?WT.svl=T... will give you some basic information. There are pediatricians specializing in this. Pick up a copy of Our Kids magazine (found at H.E.B.) and they usually have advertisements in there.

I agree with Karen. In particular, I learned a lot from the book titled "The OASIS guide to Asperger Syndrome" by Bashe and Kirby. There are forewords by Simon Baron-Cohen, Ph.D. and Tony Attwood, Ph.D.

I would say that I found a real turning point, even after getting occupational therapy and speech therapy were started, when I had my son, oh, in the 3rd or 4th grade, make a comment. I didn't catch on at first. His comment was "Mom, I sneezed at school today and no one said [responded with] 'God bless you'. I mean not one person!"

What I didn't realize until later, was that he perceived that no one in the classroom liked him -- simply because no one was friendly enough to say a simple "God bless you". Something that you or I would ignore because it is pretty inconsequential. But to him it was a big deal. He misunderstood the subtleties of the human language. That is a huge part of Asperger's.

Also, you are welcome to send me any individual question you may have.

D.

Your best bet is to get info from your doctor and if you are worried that your son might have aspergers (or is already diagnosed)get information from your local school. Special Education teachers who are trained really well can help you out. I am a kinder teacher and have seen how well our sp. ed population is taught. I hope you find the answers you are looking for!

A., how does your son sleep? I'm asking because I've learned that in many cases of neurological disorders, such as ADHD and the autism spectrum, sleep is a challenge. It's kind of like the chicken and egg question. Which came first-the poor quality sleep or the neurological disorder?

Our son used to thrash in his bed all night, and get up several times per night. In the mornings his covers were in a jumbled heap at the foot of his bed. After we learned about how the Nikken Sleep System has helped improve sleep quality, we tried it. His very first night on it, he stayed still and slept deeply.

When I woke him up the next morning, his covers were still neatly over him, and the first thing he said was, "Wow. I feel a lot better than I usually do.". His neurological function has improved, he retains what he learns in school better, his behavior is better, and his conversational skills have improved. This is consistent with sleep studies conducted by Nikken and Autism and ADHD doctors.

I was so impressed with how Nikken products improved my son's life, that I decided to sell them. If you'd like to learn more about the Nikken sleep system, please visit my website at www.nikken.com/brendaramsey, or contact me via this site. I'd be happy to speak with you more about it.

Hi, A.!
My son is thirteen and was only diagnoses with high functioning aspergers about four and a half years ago. He went to occupational and speech therapy and it made such a difference for our whole family. The speech therapy is for pragmatic speech, ie. they don't understand facial expressions, body language and tone of voice. They tend to be very literal. So, the speech therapist helps with all of this. The occupational therapist even helped with homework. He went two days a week, they suggested three days but didn't have a slot on a third day.
If you are concerned about costs, insurance covered it for us, and when my husband's job didn't have insurance Medicaid covered it.

I hope this was helpful. There is a work book also, very expensive, that you can work through with your child to help him understand why he is the way he is and help him understand others. It is really good. I will have to get the title of it. If you email me, if you are interested, I will find that for you as well as I book I used to help the teachers at the school to understand him as well as help me and the school to know how to educate him and set up an IEP.

I think (not sure) it`sa cousin to autisim. I do know children that have it are loners and do not like to play with other children , they rather be by themselves, and are smart. I am sure you can look it up on the internet.

H.

You are so lucky to learn about #aspergers while Nicholas is young. My son didn't receive a diagnosis until he was 18; he is 19 now. It explains soooo much! We are learning, and our approach to him is changing; he is making rapid progress now. We always knew he was a really great kid; medical issues slowed him down, then school issues. I have four older children who love him dearly and "handle" him well; we do see some asd traits in some of the others, too--including parents. There are many good books available to help you. Are you on Twitter? You'll meet lots of other parents of aspie-kids. Eveeryone is so helpful and willing to share!

Hi A.-

I've probably responded on your other posts. My son, Tyler was diagnosed when he was 4 1/2 and is now 7. If there is anything specific you're wondering about feel free to send me a message. Otherwise, the thing that helped us more than anything else was getting our son into speech and occupational therapy. I'm sure you've already done this, but there are a ton of websites out there if you google aspergers. There are also yahoo groups devoted to the subject as well. If you go to your library for books, there are a ton, but Tony Attwood in particular has several books that are helpful to parents.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/

Good luck,
K.