Life with Aspergers

Songames for Sensory Processing: 25 Therapist-Created Musical Activities for Improving Fine and Gross Motor Skills, Muscle Strength & Rhythmicity. by Aubrey Lande. MS, OTR, Bob Wiz, Lois Hickman & Friends. It's no secret that music can provide excellent therapy for children with special needs and this book is designed to support teachers and therapists in that endeavor. At eighty pages, it's a short book but it covers a lot of ground. It's colourful and full of pictures of happy kids - and it comes with two CDs with 25 "songs" on them. The book is divided into five "circle forms" which despite a page and half of explanation, seem to be just "broad topic areas" to me. Balance Circle Form Message Circle Form Bob's Circle Form Lori's Circle Form Aubrey's Circle Form The songs on the CDs are all good and very professionally done and the book contains their lyrics and suggestions for their actions. In fact, the musical...

Yes, it's another "empathy post". I'm sorry if you're getting sick of them. I'll be on a different topic soon. Today I just wanted to say a few words about the perception of empathy.  Right now, my mother is in hospital. Her hospitalisation was sudden and unexpected but she is ok. I've checked. I've received an email from my father and my wife rang him later during the day. I'm happily convinced that everything is fine and that for the immediate future her main priority should be rest.  She lives too far away for a "quick visit" and I haven't contacted her directly yet. Unless I hear of changes in her condition, I'm best off giving her time to heal.   No doubt once she comes out she'll be annoyed at me for not having gone to panic stations and talked to her directly. The thing is that I can't do anything and chances are that I'll end up calling during her nap time.  Image by valelopardo from Pixabay Does that make m...

The is post is part of Best of the Best, Edition 8: Sleep Issues & Bedtime and Special Needs Kids . If you check the above link on about July 14, you'll find a whole host of similar articles by other authors. Sleep issues are very common for children and adults with Aspergers Sydnrome. I've talked about these before but last time it was a bit of a "scientific" post. This time, I want to be more practical. I want to look at why children with Aspergers Syndrome and Autism have sleep difficulties and what you as parents can do to improve their sleep. Some Reasons for Sleep Issues First of all, I want to look at some reasons why sleep may be difficult for children (and adults) with aspergers sydnrome; The Sleep Ritual Like many aspergers activities, sleep is a matter of ritual. If you get the ritual wrong, or out of order, then sleep can become much more difficult. The aspie can stress over the ritual instead of sleeping. A case in point is my youngest son (7.5)....

In case you haven't noticed, I'd like to draw your attention to an exciting new blog started by Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg (of Journeys with Autism ) called Autism and Empathy. I think this blog is going to be a great boon to the empathy debate and it's well worth bookmarking/following. Autism and Empathy http://www.autismandempathy.com/ I was reading a post there today and started a reply which (as is usual for me) got a bit too long. In any case, my fat fingers hit a wrong key and my comment disappeared, so rather that attempt to retype it there, I've decided to expand it and post it here. The post I was responding to is called Possessing But Not Expressing http://www.autismandempathy.com/?p=98 It's written by Miranda (from Inside the Heart ) It might be worth reading before you read my response. --- Miranda talks about how people with autism are often considered to "lack empathy" when what is really lacking is simply the "expected kind of expression...

For adults on the spectrum: I just want to draw your attention to an article which looks at whether orgasms are different for people on the spectrum. The Science of Autism and Orgasm by Lindsey Nebeker https://nakedbrainink.com/2642/science-autism-orgasm/ and it's on the Naked Brain Inc. Blog The article talks about an adult who has only recently realised their place on the spectrum. She says that she feels that her growing awareness has led to extreme distractibility so that objects in the room, such as the fan, or textures can make her feel overwhelmed and unable to climax.  The article looks at two possibilities; That orgasms on the spectrum are the same as those off the spectrum That orgasms on the spectrum are different to those off the spectrum It also highlights challenges to achieving orgasm for people with autism; Lack of sex education Difficulty "surrendering" self-control Environmental factors (non-sensory friendly environments) Stimulation and sensory issues...

It's not often that I get to review fiction on this blog and it's the first time that I've been able to review young adult fiction. From the title, you'd think that the screaming stone is a fantasy novel but its not. Although there is some talk of mythology, the main events of the book are firmly rooted in reality. It's a mystery and adventure novel with only the slightest hint of fantasy. I found the writing style to be quite different from the breezy style of J K Rowling but J P Osterman has a long history as an English and writing teacher. She seems to have pitched the book at the early teen and older readers. At about 300 pages, the book isn't overly long and a lot happens within its pages. While this is a mystery/adventure novel, it's a long way from the formula fiction one usually finds in young adult books on this subject such as The Three Investigators, Trixie Beldon, The Hardy Boys and Encyclopedia Brown. This is good because although I'm not a...