Asperger’s syndrome is considered to be a type of high-functioning autism. While these children may appear somewhat “normal” they do still have a lot of issues that they must work through. Unfortunately, this can cause them to have a lot of learning disabilities too. While you may be tempted to think that these are issues that the public school is best equipped to deal with, you may be surprised to learn that this isn’t necessarily true at all.
In fact, you may actually find that your child is much better off being homeschooled. Here you will actually be able to cater to his particular needs and in doing so provide him with a much higher quality of education. This section will help you learn more about Asperger’s syndrome so that you can understand why homeschooling may actually be the best option for your child.
Aspergers Checklist | Aspergers Facts
Is there one Aspergers checklist we can use for all young children? Unfortunately, there is not, but there are Asperger’s facts and figures that we can go by to look at and determine if our child might be suffering from Asperger’s syndrome. Let’s look and understand a little more into Aspergers Syndrome facts, figures and statistics.
Children that have Asperger’s Syndrome tend to struggle to fit in whenever they are a part of a social setting, such as school. Unfortunately, there isn’t any cure for this condition. However, you can help them cope with such settings. First, you must understand the implication of Asperger’s Syndrome so that you will become more tolerant and accepting of those you have it. With this in mind, here are some traits and behavior patterns that you will commonly see:
- Most people who have Asperger’s Syndrome actually have average or above-average intelligence.
- These people usually have great thinking skills whenever it comes to things but they do not do nearly as well whenever it comes to interpreting human relationships.
- People with Asperger’s Syndrome are intensely preoccupied with certain toys or areas of interest. Some of the most common obsessions amongst children are dinosaurs and forms of transportation, as well as how they work.
- Oftentimes these people will seek out other people to talk to about their interests. However, this conversation will usually be one-sided so that it sounds more like a lecture whereby they tell you all about the knowledge that they have in this area. Usually, they aren’t even interested in receiving any feedback from the other person.
- Older children who have Asperger’s Syndrome may enjoy a club that is focused upon their interest.
- Those who have Asperger’s Syndrome do not understand eye contact, so they tend not to use it.
- A child with Asperger’s Syndrome may appear to be cold and uncaring. However, this is not deliberate. He simply does not think about other people and is not able to understand the social graces that keep society functioning.
- While it is possible to teach social skills to someone who has Asperger’s Syndrome, it is a long slow process. Oftentimes parental intervention is also needed in order to repair any social damage that may occur whenever they act inappropriately.
- You can use short stories to teach social skills (i.e. listening to others, keeping quiet and still while others talk) . These often include one page of visual aids.
- Children who have Asperger’s Syndrome prefer to have routine and structure. However, whenever something unexpected happens they can become irritable and distressed.
- Gross and fine motor skills are often underdeveloped. This will cause problems whenever it comes to playing sports.
- Asperger’s Syndrome is oftentimes detected whenever a child first starts preschool. At this time you will find that your child will interact better with his teacher than with his peers. He may also display silly, loud, aggressive or socially withdrawn behavior.
- Those who have Asperger’s Syndrome interpret things very literally. This means that sarcasm, teasing and various figures of speech are not understood.
- Rules are very important to children who have Asperger’s Syndrome. In fact, many of these children may actually grow angry if a game is not played fairly or his peers break the rules. On a positive note, this means that these children are a lot less likely to experiment with smoking, drinking, drugs, and sex as he grows older.
- Many children who have Asperger’s Syndrome are perfectionists. Therefore, they tend to struggle if they fail to produce perfect schoolwork. As a parent, you need to encourage them to move on. You may even need to create distractions in order to help them do so.
- Children with Asperger’s Syndrome find it difficult to generalize. For instance, if these children are taught not to hit a child at school, they may not automatically make the connection that they also shouldn’t hit a child at the mall.
- Children with Asperger’s Syndrome tend to express their feelings in unpredictable ways. Therefore, they may seem emotionless at times. At other times they may display extreme emotions that simply are not appropriate for the situation.
- Interrupting conversations is a common problem that children with Asperger’s Syndrome have. This is because they do not understand the social signals that allow a conversation to move forward from one person to another.
- Parents can help a child who has Asperger’s Syndrome by consistently working with them and highlighting their strengths while working consistently on his weaknesses.
Learning the Aspergers facts about what research has been done can help us develop a general Aspergers checklist for our children to look for signs and symptoms of Asperger syndrome.
While this may seem like a lot for you to be able to cope with, keep in mind that there is hope for these children. It does require a lot of training and support from their family and health professionals though. However, with this type of help Asperger’s children are able to go on to live meaningful, productive lives.