Asperger’s Syndrome is Real, Even When It’s Hard to See

Christina Goodney Bailey My son was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome when he was four. The first time someone suggested that Sam might have autism was just after his second birthday. Between those two milestones, we saw two pediatricians, a developmental pediatrician, and a speech pathologist, with inconclusive results. For two years, my husband and I rode a seesaw of emotions, playing “Does He or Doesn’t He Have Autism.” When Sam spontaneously shared his blueberries with a playmate, we breathed easier. When he spun a rattle repeatedly, we worried.  When Sam imitated me sweeping, I called my husband triumphantly.  When he had a meltdown on the playground after another child attempted to interact with him, I left quickly and did not mention the incident to anyone. We combed the Internet, reading countless checklists designed to alert parents to behaviors that might point to autism.  We were confused, as our son seemed…

Support the Autism Science Foundation

Dr. Paul Offit is the Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and a relentless advocate for children’s health and childhood vaccination. We interviewed Dr. Offit several weeks ago here on The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism, and in a continuing effort to support him with the release of his new book, we are encouraging people to buy the book via Amazon on Monday, February 21, 2011. A frenzy of book-buying could push the title into Amazon’s Hot New Release list, raising publicity about the importance and safety of vaccines. Even if you already have a copy of the book, consider purchasing another copy and donating a book to your local public or high school, a health education teacher, or your child’s pediatrician. Hard cover: Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All ($17.11) and the Kindle edition: Deadly Choices on Kindle ($9.99) (Dr. Offit is…

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Autistic Fixation Shapes Photographer’s Unique Images

Scott Standifer Disability Policy and Studies Office School of Health Professions University of Missouri dps.missouri.edu/Autism.html standifers@missouri.edu All images copyright Luna The Moon Girl, used with permission. The photographs of an emerging French photographer depict her fascination with reflections, a feature of her autism. The photographer, who uses the online name “Luna” to protect her privacy, has been quietly posting her haunting, evocative images in the Flickr photo sharing website for the last two years. With oddly vibrant colors, they show entrancing and disorienting scenes of overlapping images which trap one’s eye in layers of meaning. Like most people with autism, Luna has several fixations — topics which intensely fascinate her and dominate her thoughts. For Luna, these include cats, reflections, and vegan cooking. All three show up in her photographs, but her most moving images involve the reflections she finds everywhere. She explains that, for her, “When I’m shooting, I…

For Physicians: 10 Things You Can Do To Help Families With Children Affected By Autism or Developmental Delays

Dr_Som www.pensivepediatrician.com/ This is a follow up to a previous post, Who Wins When Parents Spank? at the Pensive Pediatrician I certainly do not mean to trivialize the behavior issues that erupt as typical children develop, but the problems of atypical kids are more difficult and less likely to be fully addressed by general pediatricians, family practice physicians, and society at large. The 10 things pediatricians and family practice physicians can do to help families affected by autism or other developmental delays in their in their practices: 1. Understand the ABCs of behavior A= Antecedent = What happened immediately before the behavior? B= Behavior = A description of the behavior (not “he got angry”) C= Consequences = How did the parent or teacher respond and/or what kind of reinforcement did the child receive? For example, when David, my autistic son, was three, every time I fastened or unfastened his car…

Bullying and Special Needs: Walk a Mile in Their Shoes

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.thinkingautismguide.com www.squidalicious.com According to Tim Shriver, Chairman and CEO of the Special Olympics, FX is currently the only TV network that bans the word “retard.” Bullying of people with special needs remains entrenched, and insidious. According to AbilityPath.org, “Some reports estimate that nearly 85 percent of children with special needs experience bullying.” But it doesn’t need to stay that way. In partnership with the Special Olympics and Best Buddies, Abilitypath.org is launching a nationwide “Disable Bullying” campaign that will “engage a broad coalition of parents, educators, activists and policymakers to prevent and combat behavior that is widespread but has until now not been clearly documented.” Glee’s Lauren Potter and her mother Robin Sinkhorn are leading the call for action: AbilityPath has created Walk a Mile in Their Shoes, a toolkit-rich campaign report and guide [PDF]: AbilityPath.org is an online hub and special needs community for parents…

Roots and Wings

Liane Kupferberg Carter www.huffingtonpost.com/liane-kupferberg-carter Editors’ note: While some of the referenced documents discuss parents who seek “cures” for their children with autism, it is our opinion that overall Autism Speaks advises those parents to seek evidence-based supports and therapies. If you ask our son Mickey what he might like to be when he grows up, he will probably say, “A librarian. Or a Pokemon Master!” There aren’t too many jobs for a crackerjack Nintendo player, but Mickey is learning other skills. At 18, he attends the Comprehensive Support Program at our local public high school. But no one program can ever be fully comprehensive. We also run a home-based program to address self-help goals, and send him three mornings a week to a vocational and life skills program at an A.B.A.-based learning center. At home and at both his schools, we work on such tasks as making a grocery list…

ASD and Giftedness: Twice Exceptionality on the Autistic Spectrum

Corin Barsily Goodwin http://giftedhomeschoolers.org Mika Gustavson MFT http://www.mika-mft.com/ Editors’ note: “Gifted” — meaning a person of substantially above-average intellectual or cognitive abilities — has various meanings and implications across the English-speaking world. In the US, education is publicly funded and provided from kindergarten (approximately age 5) through 12th grade (approximately age 18). There have been various federal and state programs and mandates addressing the educational needs of “gifted and talented” children in public school, which have generated various definitions and dividing lines. One of the central concepts in the English-speaking world about “giftedness” in children is “asynchronous development” — the child is in some domains developing in a range of normal for his or her age; and in other domains, is far ahead of same-age peers. A key concept in “giftedness” is exceptionality — the child who is gifted is rare — “one in a hundred thousand” or “one in…

The Power of Presupposition

Lynne Soraya www.psychologytoday.com/blog/aspergers-diary Presuppositions. We all know what they are — but what part do they play in our interactions? Any member of a minority group will tell you stories in which they felt that they have been unfairly stereotyped – in which the other person made a presupposition about their character dependent on certain criteria – be it age, gender, race, or some other factor. These are obvious cases of presuppositions impacting our social interaction. But are there situations in which presuppositions more subtly impact interactions? If you reach out to touch someone, and they jerk away, do you make a presupposition as to what that means? If someone is habitually quiet, do you make presuppositions regarding their intelligence or competence? As I have learned about autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, I have learned to question certain aspects of my experience. Things that I accepted as “normal,” because I experienced…

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Interview: Sharon DaVanport of the Autism Women’s Network

Sharon daVanport is the executive director of the Autism Women’s Network and the host of the AWN Radio Show. She’s a mom to four children — one of whom has Asperger’s — and she is a tireless advocate for women and children, particularly those whose lives have been touched by domestic violence. She is also an adult who has Asperger’s Syndrome. TPGA contributor and BlogHer contributing editor Mir Kamin was lucky enough to spend some time chatting with Sharon for Autism Awareness Month. Can you tell me about how/when you were diagnosed with Asperger’s? I always like to remind people that even though I was diagnosed as an adult, it didn’t mean I became autistic as an adult. But it explains so much, everything really, so well, now that I know.  My 17-year-old son was diagnosed with Asperger’s in kindergarten. His therapist later said she knew about me right from…