Asperger-blog.com

Telling your child he has Aspergers does not have to be a problem if you try to make it into a possitive thing, that’s what I did. I told my oldest son at age 7 about the advantages of Asperger and his challenges (not problems)!

In the beginning it can be hard news to handle but I told him right away how proud I was of him, how much I loved him and how much I aprieciate him being in my life. My son (now age 14) wears a T-shirt to highschool which says: I am not rude, angry or misbehaved, I have Aspergers, what’s your excuse? He makes jokes about him having it, he will deliberately take things literally and we both have to laugh a lot about that.

When I told him it is raining cats and dogs he replied: if I would take this literally I would look up to the sky and wait for  dogs to come falling out.

A few months  ago I told him in the playground to let other kids have a turn on the swing. He replied with: mom, I have an ‘a-social disorder’, do you think I care? and he laughed really hard with himself while getting off the swing imediately to let other kids play. They can learn so much more than you can possibly imagine if they only have the change to learn more about who they are and what challenges they face in life. How else can they except themselves for who they are? For more information on how to tell your child he has Aspergers go to:

http://www.Asperger-Advice.com/asperger-tell-your-child.html

 Be your best!

Joy

The Black Balloon, a debut film from Australian writer and director Elissa Down. She grew up in a military family which moved around Australia and two of her three brothers have autism. She transfers these experiences into her film.The film captures the tensions of such family life, especially the swing between siblings. The domestic scenes between the two brothers and the parents (Toni Colette & Erik Thompson) are full with details both chaotic and loving than any family dealing with autism will recognize as being true. It’s the first representation in which a character was more than some kind of label or stereotype.

The film has won Cristal Bear for best feature at the 2008 Berlin Film festival!

for more information on how Aspergers can affect your family life go to: http://www.Asperger-Advice.com

Joy

A MAN recently diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at the age of 31 has set up a group in Worcester, England  to help others with the condition. The 31-year-old man from Worcestershire, who has asked not to be named, has set up the Asperger’s Awareness Campaign to help people in the county who have the disorder, as well as their friends and families, who are also affected.  He said: “There are many, many people like me in society. Many people go through their lives without ever receiving a diagnosis. This is a life-long condition. “Many, like myself, will probably have struggled at school, some being labelled as ‘naughty’ and never receiving the help they so required from the education system.”   So far, 60 people have already expressed an interest in the group!

for more information on Asperger Syndrome go to http://www.Asperger-Advice.com

Joy

New resource center focuses on Asperger and other forms of autism

The space at the Easter Seals building off Keystone Avenue will offer families affected by the condition a place to find support and information. According to a recent national Easter Seals survey, parents of autistic children could use the support. Many of those polled expressed a host of concerns, from how their children will fit into society to whether they can handle Asperger or the the other autism disorders financially.

Experts said the results did not surprise them: “Autism is a whole family condition,” said Cathy Pratt, director of the Indiana Resource Center for Autism at Indiana University. Over the past 30 years, Pratt has seen the incidence of autism soar from one in 500 children to one in 113.

More than half the parents surveyed said they felt autism drained their families’ resources and would affect retirement savings. Nearly 80 percent expressed concern about their child’s independence as an adult vs. 32 percent of other parents.

Asperger or autism has an impact on a family’s daily life for example the social isolation of the families with autism,” These factors helped persuade Easter Seals to open the center. Their focus is on:

“The most important thing is parent-to-parent support,”  “It’s overwhelming for families to figure out where to get good information.”

For more information on Asperger Syndrome go online to: http://www.Asperger-Advice.com

Joy

Bless those people who put in so much effort to reach out to those with Aspergers and their families!  

A special weekend retreat offered twice a year by the Easter Seals in the Wisconsin Dells gave children with the Asperger’s Syndrome, a type of autism, a chance to feel like they were one of the crowd. Organizers say those who suffer from the disorder usually don’t have any physical handicaps, but lack many social skills. The camp allows them to be in an environment where they aren’t judged and can just be themselves, if only for a weekend.“Oftentimes kids with Asperger’s are picked on a whole lot,” said camp coordinator Valerie Croissant. “Here they can come here, and it’s a safe place for them to be because everyone understands.”Organizers say this is the only type of camp in Wisconsin that caters to children with Asperger’s. They’ve been holding these retreats for the past three years.

for more information on Asperger Syndrome go to: http://www/Asperger-Advice.com

Joy

You may think that there aren’t many children with Asperger or other forms of autism. But this condition may be more common than you suspect. In countries such as the UK and the United States, about 4 in 1,000 to 6 in 1,000 children have some form of autism. About 1 in 100 children may have any type of autism spectrum disorders. This is a group of conditions that includes Asperger Syndrome, PDD, PDD_NOS and some other forms of autism. Autism affects about six times as many boys as girls. And it happens in children from all ethnic backgrounds, and in people in all countries around the world. Doctors once thought autism was rare. But newer studies show it seems to be getting more common. The way autism is defined has gotten wider so many people who are now adults have Asperger but were never diagnosed. More children fit within the criteria these days. For more information on the Asperger criteria go to: http://www.Asperger-Advice.com/asperger-diagnostic-criteria.html 

Newer studies have been better at finding children with Asperger but still it can take a long time before these children and their parents get the appropriate help and support they need.  Joy

Now this is a typical example of the need for more Asperger awareness:

An 8-year-old autistic little girl was arrested, handcuffed and taken to a juvenile detention center after she got into a physical altercation with two teachers.The child has Asperger’s syndrome. The incident happened Friday (1/9). The child apparently wanted to attend a Christmas party wearing her cow sweatshirt. Teachers told her she would have to tuck in the tail and put down the ears. Teachers say the girl refused. When two teachers tried to restrain her, the girl started kicking, pinching and spitting on the teachers.School officials called police and the girl’s mother.
When het mother Spring Towry arrived at school, she saw her daughter being lead away to a juvenile detention center by police. Towry says after about an hour at the center she was allowed to take her daughter home. The Bonner County prosecutor charged the girl with one county of battery, but Tuesday (1/13) the charge was dropped.

School officials say they followed a specific safety plan for the girl, but Towry says she’s never seen the plan, nor did she ever sign off on it. Towry and her husband are pursuing legal action. They say they don’t excuse their daughter’s actions, but that the school did not need to go this far.

I strongly believe this would not have happend if those teachers realised telling the girl she could not wear her cowshirt without a good reason, is not the right way to deal with Aspergers. Or if they would realise she needed help and acted out of frustration instead of aggression.

Find out more about Asperger Syndrome on my site: http://www.Asperger-Advice.com

Joy

Peyton Styles recently completed the final phase of a project on autism awareness. Donating a collection of books on autism to The Library of Graham marks the conclusion of an ambitious project.
Styles chose to do an advanced honors class at Graham High School in which she was judged upon independent research and the effectiveness of how she educated the community about autism. I chose the topic of autism because it hits close to home in our family,” said Styles. I selected 27 children and adults books and chose from a wide variety of subjects,” said Styles. “All the books have the newest information possible, which is found in books published since 2002. These books are carefully selected.” Styles knows that the books on autism will keep giving reliable knowledge to the community many years from now.
” A few of the new books on autism at the Graham library are “Different Like Me: My Book of Autism Heroes,” “I Am Utterly Unique: Celebrating the Strengths of Children with Asperger Syndrome and High-functioning Autism,” “Overcoming Autism: Finding the Answers, Strategies and Hope that Can Transform a Child’s Life,” “Disconnected Kids” and “The Autism Source book: Everything You Need to Know about Diagnosis, Treatment, Coping and Healing.”

To order any of those books on Asperger & Autism: click on the blogroll at the right hand side of the page to either amazone.com or the Autism Asperger Publishing Company! Spread some Autism Awareness today!

    Joy

 A British man who hacked into the computer systems of the US military and NASA did so because of his Asperger’s Syndrome and not because he is a criminal, a leading expert said Thursday. Gary McKinnon, 42, faces extradition from Britain to the US where he could be jailed for up to 70 years if convicted of sabotaging US defence systems in 2001 and 2002. He says he was looking for evidence of UFOs and insists he was motivated by curiosity. US authorities allege he gained access to 97 computers belonging to bodies including the army, navy, defence department and NASA. But Professor Simon Baron-Cohen of Cambridge University, a leading expert on Asperger’s Syndrome, said what McKinnon did was “the activity of somebody with a disability rather than a criminal activity”. “It can bring a sort of tunnel vision so that in their pursuit of truth, they are blind to the potential social consequences for them or for other people,” he added of the syndrome, which is characterized by difficulties in social interaction. “There are questions about whether he should be imprisoned at all because someone with Asperger’s Syndrome will find it very difficult to tolerate a prison environment.”

to find out more about asperger syndrome go to: http://www.Asperger-Advice.com

There are 60 million people with autism around the world. Many parents, carers, children and adults with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome are struggling without access to education, health, specialist speech therapy and respite care. Early intervention is key. That’s why a huge study in America is set up with the goal of finding the causes of major health problems like asthma, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, low birth weight, birth defects, and premature birth.  Starting this week, pregnant women in Duplin County, N.C., and Queens, N.Y., will be getting letters and phone calls asking them to be part of the National Children’s Study. This first-ever effort, 10 years in the making, will follow thousands of children from the womb to age 20,. In the months and years to come, 103 more areas of the United States will be included in this first large-scale, long-term study to investigate environmental factors like pollution and pesticides as possible causes. To find out more on Asperger Syndrome go to http://www.Asperger-Advice.com