Life with Aspergers

Sensory issues are common amongst children on the autistic spectrum and one of the most obvious places is in the mouth. Some children need extra sensation there while others have a very low tolerance. Either way, it causes problems. The Need for Extra Sensation My youngest son was always putting objects into his mouth as a baby. In fact, it's something that he still does most of the time now, aged six. It wasn't just food that interested him, it was wallpaper - which he ate at night from the walls nearest his cot. It was toys and stones and bits of fluff too. My wife used to have to watch him closely all the time becuase he'd often start choking and have to be rescued. The sensory needs were so overwhelming though that no sooner had he spat out the object he was choking on then he would start eating it all over again. On the first Christmas we had after he could sit up, we had to unplug the lights on the Christmas tree because he kept trying to mouth them. Later on, ...

Image by Lorri Lang from Pixabay "Congratulations! Your child has Aspergers!" I'll sometimes say this to parents and the blank/astonished looks that I receive make it clear that they just can't see the good in the label. There are many worse conditions that your child can have. People with autism spectrum disorders can have rich and fulfilling lives. They can get married, they can become successful business people and they can have loving and supporting families. The main keys are; Early Intervention Supportive and Understanding Parents, friends and partners Early Intervention There's a lot more to early intervention than just detection. In fact, if you're going to stick with detection only, then you might as well, not bother getting a diagnosis. For a start, there's information dissemination. You can't keep the diagnosis to yourself. You're going to have to tell people. A lot of parents hide the diagnosis on the grounds that they feel ...

I received an email from a concerned parent who was struggling with her child's new label and I wrote a reply. Afterwards, when I re-read the reply, I thought that it might be a good thing to share with other parents who are in the same situation.  So with names and places changed to protect the innocent, plus a whole lot more detail added, here it is; Image by Виктория Бородинова from Pixabay An Asperger's or autism diagnosis is always frightening and overwhelming for parents but you are not alone. There are lots of parents out there in the same boat and lot of very successful "aspies" and "auties" out there too. Your child will not be "defined" by their label. It won't describe them fully and it won't necessarily limit what they can do. All people on the spectrum show considerable variation from one trait to another and the mix is always unique. More importantly though, your child is, and always will be, an individual. First Steps ...

As discussed a few posts back, I've been doing a lot of cub scout leader training recently. It's been very interesting because it has taught me a lot about myself. In this post I want to discuss a recent experiment with eye contact. Overcoming the Eye Contact Behavioural Issues I don't have a particular problem with eye contact compared to my aspie peers. This is because most people assume that I am giving good eye contact and don't hassle me about it. In truth, although I don't give good eye contact, I give great "lip contact", though probably not the kind you're thinking of. Being deaf has taught me to stare at people's lips when they talk as an aid to lip-reading. Since most people simply assume that I'm looking at their eyes when they're talking I haven't been subject to the constant corrections that other aspies have to suffer. Of course, it has its downsides too. Every now and then, someone will realise that I'm not look...

First things first was a series of articles collated by Hartley Steiner. Since her site no longer exists, I can't link to the original article or any other articles in the series. I'm keeping this page active because unlike most of my pages relating to this series, this has other information on it.  Since the entire "First things First" series is Hartley's brainchild, I was really looking forward to reading her entry. It didn't disappoint - and it was called " All Showers Lead to Australia". Hartley Steiner is the author of; This is Gabriel Making Sense of School , A Book About Sensory Processing Disorder. Hartley's eldest son Gabriel struggles with Sensory Processing Disorder, High Functioning Autism, Bipolar and Learning Disabilities. She is a sensational writer-mom and used to blog at "Hartley's life with three Boys". My thoughts on her post This article touched a raw nerve for me. It's not that I don't take care of my...