Life with Aspergers

Normally, I don't post correspondence here as I like to keep those things private and individual but I recently got an email from a parent who was concerned about a number of traits her son was showing.  I've replied to her questions in prose and as I was reading it back I thought it might be a useful thing to post, so... all identifying information removed and lots of extra links added, here it is. Eye Contact Inconsistent eye contact is generally a sign of "gaze avoidance" - ie: lack of eye contact. Darting ones eyes around the room during a conversation is a great avoidance tactic as it gives a person a break from being totally focused on the speaker - something which is quite painful at times. Some children with autism give good eye contact but most do not.  You might want to encourage your son to look at mouths instead as this keeps his head pointing in the right direction and reduces eye-darting without making uncomfortable eye contact. If he do...

I'd like to draw your attention to a good article on Hyperfocus on Additude, an ADHD site. Hyperfocus does come into play in ADD/ADHD but I think it's even more applicable to Aspergers. The article is: Learn About ADHD: Focus on Hyperfocus Information about ADHD symptom of hyperfocus -- a common symptom that explains why many attention deficit children and adults can concentrate so intently at times. by Royce Flippin http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/612.html The article covers the good parts of hyperfocus, which is something I've already done but it then goes into detail on the negative points too. Relating to the Article I can certainly relate to a number of points in the article, having had to be fetched from my office on various occasions when alarms have sounded without my noticing them. It might be possible to write some of these down to my deafness, but not the problems where we've lost lighting power (without wall outlet power), o...

One of the unusual abilities that aspies have is " Hyper-Focus . Like all aspie traits, hyperfocus is a double-edged sword. On the one hand when combined with the special interest and aspie long-term memory, it is responsible for the genius label as it applies to apsies. On the other, it's responsible for many learning and obedience issues with Asperger's children. Hyperfocus is commonly found in Asperger's children who also have the ADD/ADHD comorbid. Hyperfocus and ADHD/ADD In recent years, the definitions of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) have merged, in the medical sense under the banner of ADHD. Personally, I'm not keen on this merging of diagnosis because while the two share similar definitions, there are some fundamental differences between them. While both ADHD and ADD children have, by definition, attention issues, the hyperactive child is more likely to have attention problems due to hyperactivity itse...