Asperger's Syndrome? Need some guidance. About This Page:

[Teresa]

My sister has e-mailed me 3 times today! Very, very unusual for her, as she is devoted to her job, and really never "goofs off"

Anyway, she has an 11 year old boy and he is having some problems. She found some things about his "symptoms" on the internet (an educated person's best friend, and worst enemy). She is now sure that he (and she) may have Asperger's Syndrome.

Here are the things that are peculiar to him (I have * things that she does also)

1. Not good socially*****
2. Very, very intelligient****
3. Very literal (has a hard time interpreting what his teachers are trying to get him to do, unless they spell it out, step by step) ***
4. He doesn't understand things people say to him, because of the ways things are worded
5. He has developed a tic, and it is lessened a bit by removal of his contacts, but not much.

From my observations - my DH, Daddy, and I are all fun-loving and love to tease kids. My kids, and Sis's daughter "gets it", but the boy does not. Neither does Sis most times.

Questions for those that have kids with Asperger's (or people that know about it)
1. Does this fit the "criteria"?
2. Where do we go now?
3. Is there a way to help him with the social aspect?
4. Ideas for how to help him understand his teachers? (he is in an advanced 6th grade class, and is starting to really struggle because he is not doing the homework - he doesn't understand it)

[statelady01]

There are so many disorders on the autistic spectrum that include Asperger's but is not limited to it as well. It sounds like he does have some characteristics of it and it would certainly be worth it to pursue evaluation and testing.



Probably the first way to get some help is to go through the school and ask guidance counselors or an administrator to do some testing. Some schools are responsive, some aren't- if you find the latter to be the case, you might contact any children's service organization or a state social services agency for a referral.



That's a starting point.



My 9 year old has Aspergers and my 8 year old has moderate autism. Both of them are in a special ed classroom and do spend half of their day in a regular classroom. My oldest who has the Aspergers- is doing much better in school now as his frustration level is extremely low- which wasnt the case in a regular classroom.



It's a long journey but there are many wonderful organizations out there for support and information. Please pm me if your family has any questions or needs to talk.



Sending !!

[Nick and Ryans Mom]

I definitely agree with Maureen. The first step is getting him evaluated and a good place to start is with the school district.

When we were told DS#1 probably was AS I called around to my local PTA buddies and was able to get the name of a specialist within a few hours. We had to wait 8 months for an appt. In the meantime the school was able to do their evaluation. You might ask the pediatrition for a reccomendation, although I would still ask other parents who are already in the process.

He definitely sounds like he has AS/PDD syptoms.

My son is making progress with the social concerns. We were able to get 1/2 hour of daily therapy with the special ed teacher put on him IEP. During that time every day they read social stories, role play situations, discuss "social" strategies. If someone walks up to you and says hello, you will probably say hello back (even if you don't know the person). Nick most likely will ignore them, even if he knows them. He is learning that saying hello back is a social requirement to blend in. This is illogical to him: person interrupts me, speaks to me, I have no desire at this time to make contact with this person yet I must at least say hi back hmmm... He is making progress!

Unfortunately it will require the teacher's cooperation in order for his school work to improve. I work very closely with Nick's teachers. I have found some who have been so caring and concerned that I couldn't believe it and I have found others who were unable to make any effort at all. Now that we have an IEP in place at school the staff is forced by law to work within the parameters we have set.

Good luck to your sister

[JoanW]

There is also something called social skills groups, where they meet in a group to "practice" social skills and how to "read" people. Once she starts the testing process, a lot of info will come her way. There's lots of books out there too. Do an Amazon search under both autism and Aspergers. There's so much more out there than 10 years ago. to your sister.

[DyanKJ130]

I may be able to help you & your sister a little - at least get you pointed in the right direction - I am a Special Education Teacher and have taught children with all sorts of disorders including Aspergers.

In order to get a true picture, your sister should have your nephew looked at both medically AND educationally. She should NOT rely on what she has read on the internet for a diagnosis. I can guarantee that if we looked at the characteristics of many disorders, most of us would have at least 1 or more of the characteristis, but would not have the disorder. Some of the characteristics listed also made me think of children with Central Auditory Processing Disorders, ADHD and I am sure there are other disorders too. She really needs to seek advice from the professionals to get the answers to her questions so she can stop worrying & put in place any interventions to help her son IF he needs them!

Medical diagnosis - your sister should make an appointment with your nephew's pediatrician and talk to him/her. When I figured my son had ADHD, my son's pediatrician referred us to a psychologist she trusted. That psychologist also worked in conjunction with a psychiatrist. If any medical personnel diagnosis a disorder without psychological testing, without detailed information from the family and/or without collecting and reviewing data from your nephew's classroom teachers - I would suggest getting another opinion. This didn't happen to me, but I have heard it happening to others. Anyway, that should help with ruling in or out a medical diagnosis.

Educational Evaluation - Your sister should contact your nephew's school requesting the possibilibty of an Educational Evaluation. Where I teach, we have the parent come in for a meeting and discuss concerns. If the team (parent included) feels the child needs to be looked at we conduct a full Educational Evaluation with parent permission. A full Educational Evaluation here includes educational testing, psychological testing, social history. Some children also have different tests depending on the concern - hearing, writing, etc. Once testing has been completed, the parent comes in to review the results and a decision is made as to whether the child has a 'handicapping condition' that is effecting the child's success in school. If yes, the child is usually given some sort of Special Education services - this can range from Self-Contained classes, co-taught classes, Resource, etc. I'm not sure how your state does it, but it must be pretty similar I would imagine.

If I think of anything else I will definitely post it - If you have any questions, I will try to help you find the answers. States do vary with educational procedures so some of my information may not be correct in your state. Hope this helps (& I hope this makes sense) Good luck!


Dyan