My friend over on My Space posted these articles and I felt that they were both very good. One is called The 5 Types of Autism and the other is called Asperger’s Syndrome Information - "What is?". "Big Stuff" was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome about 3 years ago, before it was getting as much attention as it is now, and I've always had trouble trying to explain it without someone telling me, "But don't all kids do that?" So I hope that these articles serve to help explain something that I have trouble explaining sometimes. Oh, and keep in mind that "Big Stuff" does not exhibit all the Asperger's symptoms listed in the article. In fact, most people with Asperger's Syndrome or "Aspies" do not exhibit every symptom. Every person on the spectrum is definately different and unique!
The 5 types of autism
Autism may not be what you think it is.
The 1988 movie "Rain Man" — starring Hollywood heavyweights Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise — introduced autism to mainstream America. It also cemented stereotypes that all autistic people are savants with outstanding math skills, that they have no emotions or senses of humor, that they cannot make eye contact or show affection.
This is true for some people, but autism comes in many shapes and sizes, in countless combinations of characteristics.
Autism is one of five disorders coming under the umbrella of Pervasive Developmental Disorders, a category of brain disorders that affect the way people speak, socialize, play and react to their environment.
Below are definitions and characteristics of these five disorders.
• Classic autism — This is the most severe form of autism. People with classic autism have problems talking and relating to people. They can be hypersensitive to their environment. Certain sounds, colors and textures can upset them. They compulsively cling to rituals, such as eating the same foods or watching the same TV show every day at the same time. Changes in routine can upset them.
• Asperger's Syndrome — A type of autism that causes problems with social and communication skills, but does not trigger language delays. People with Asperger's can be socially awkward, may not understand conventional social rules or may show a lack of empathy. They may make limited eye contact, seem to be unengaged in a conversation and not understand the use of gestures. They also have average or above-average intelligence.
• Childhood Disintegrative Disorder — A type of autism that develops in children who previously seemed perfectly normal. Sometime between ages 2 and 4, these children stop talking, lose potty-training skills and stop socializing. They can stop playing, lose motor skills and fail to make friends.
• Rett Syndrome — A condition that usually affects girls and is marked by poor head growth. People with this disorder have poor verbal and social skills. They have repetitive hand movements such as hand-wringing, excessive hand-washing and clapping. Mental retardation is common.
• Pervasive Developmental DisorderNot Otherwise Specified — A condition in which some — but not all — of the symptoms of classic autism and another pervasive developmental disorderare seen. In these cases, there can be social and speech problems, as well as unusual sensitivities to specific sights and sounds.
Sources: Autism Society of America, Cure Autism Now, Yale Child Study Center at Yale University, National Institute of Mental Health
SOURCE: http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/autism/types_of.html
Asperger’s Syndrome Information - "What is?"
In 1944, Asperger's Syndrome was first described and named after the Austrian doctor, Hans Asperger. He described individuals who showed odd-like behaviours, a lot like the symptoms thought to be shown by Albert Einstein and Bill Gates.
Asperger's Syndrome is a form of autism that affects how a person communicates and relates with others. This means that they commonly have difficulty in social relationships, in communicating, and have limitations in imagination and creative play
Individuals with Asperger's Syndrome are quite often easily understood, and have intelligible speech before being 4 years old. Their grammar and vocabulary are usually very good, but they often repeat what they say and partake in conversations that revolve around themselves. They are usually obsessed with complex topics like patterns, weather, music, and technology.
IQ's of people with Asperger's Syndrome fall along the full spectrum, but many are above normal for verbal abilities and below average in performance. Many have dyslexia, writing problems and difficulty with mathematics. They mainly have concrete thinking and often lack common sense.
People with Asperger's Syndrome have odd forms of self-stimulatory behaviour and their movements are often clumsy and awkward. They are often overly sensitive to sounds, taste, smells, and sights; preferring soft clothing, certain foods, and can be bothered by sounds or lights no one else can see or hear.
They have a great deal of difficulty reading body language, have trouble determining personal body space, and are socially aware but often react the wrong way. It is because of this that those with Asperger's Syndrome are often viewed as eccentric or odd and can easily become victims of teasing and bullying.
People with Asperger's Syndrome are often punctuality, reliability and dedication.
Sometimes people assume everyone who has autism and is high-functioning has Asperger's syndrome. However, it appears that there are several forms of high-functioning autism, and Asperger's syndrome is one form. Asperger's Syndrome is probably hereditary in nature as many families report having an "odd" relative or two. It is often reported in those also with depression and bipolar disorders.
Asperger's syndrome is a neurobiological disorder that affects the brain and the people who have it seem very "normal" and people with Asperger's Syndrome are often of average or above average intelligence. As a guess there is about 1 in every 500 people in the US have this dysfunction which can include everything from language disabilities to sensory problems and physical awkwardness. These people are very intelligent, extremely structured and have no social awareness; they are often very literal. Individuals with Asperger's Syndrome can exhibit a variety of characteristics and the disorder can range from mild to severe. Persons with Asperger's Syndrome show marked deficiencies in social skills, have difficulties with transitions or changes and prefer sameness. They often have obsessive routines and may be preoccupied with a particular subject of interest.
It's important to remember that the person with Asperger's Syndrome perceives the world very differently. Therefore, much behaviour that seems odd or unusual is due to those neurological differences and not the result of intentional rudeness or bad behaviour, and most certainly not the result of "improper parenting".
Most individuals (although not all) exhibit exceptional skill or talent in a specific area. Because of their high degree of functionality. People with Asperger's Syndrome often develop an almost obsessive interest in a hobby or collecting. Usually their interest involves arranging or memorising facts about a special subject, such as train timetables, Derby winners or the dimensions of cathedrals.
As soon as we meet a person we make judgements about them. Just by looking we can guess their age or status, and by the expression on their face or the tone of their voice we can tell immediately if they are happy, angry or sad and respond accordingly. Not everyone has this natural ability. People with Asperger's Syndrome find it more difficult to read the signals which most of us take for granted. As a result they find it more difficult to communicate and interact with others and have a large problem with social interaction. Meanwhile they often develop overwhelmingly obsessive interests, which can preoccupy them (but may form an ideal basis for a job).
People with Asperger's Syndrome often find change upsetting.
Young children may impose their routines, such as insisting on always walking the same route to school. At school, sudden changes, such as an alteration to the timetable, may upset them. People with Asperger's Syndrome often prefer to order their day according to a set pattern. If they work set hours then any unexpected delay, such as a traffic hold-up, or a late train, can make them anxious or upset.
The causes of autism and Asperger's Syndrome are still being investigated. Many experts believe that the pattern of behaviour from which Asperger's Syndrome is diagnosed may not result from a single cause. There is strong evidence to suggest that Asperger's Syndrome can be caused by a variety of physical factors, all of which affect brain development - it is not due to emotional deprivation or the way a person has been brought up. There is not treatment.
Asperger's Syndrome is most likely hereditary in nature as many families report having an "odd" relative or two.
As they get older, they may realise that they are different from other people and feel isolated and depressed. People with Asperger's Syndrome often want to be sociable and are upset by the fact that they find it hard to make friends. But Adults with Asperger's Syndrome can and do go on to live fulfilling lives, to further education and employment and to develop friendships. Many lead productive lives, living independently, working effectively at a job (many are college professors, computer programmers, dentists), and raising a family.
A Visitor Commented that "Those with Asperger's Syndrome have normal scores on IQ tests and are of average or above average intelligence. You should know that normal means a score above 70. You create the impression that those with AS are all very bright. This is not so. Incidentally, current research suggests that there are good reasons for not differentiating between autism and Asperger's Syndrome."
SOURCE: http://www.pickbrains.com/articles/aspergers
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
2 Great Article Regarding Autism Spectrum Disorders
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
So we ran this story today...
...about the relationship between birth weight and autism:
"Low birth weight may be linked to autism.
Doctors with the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention studied the birth records of more that 550 children with autism and compared them with a control group of children.
Babies born before 33 week gestation who weighed less than five and a half pounds had a two-fold risk for autism.
The risk was higher for low birth weight girls than boys." (This was the actual script).
"Big Stuff" was a week over due and you'd think that he would have been huge by then, but he was only a little over 6 and 1/2 lbs. at 41 weeks! "Little Bit" was early by 2 weeks when she was born she was WELL OVER 7 and 1/2 lbs. (and I gained less weight with her!) Now I realize that neither of my children were premature by any standard ("Little Bit" born at 38 weeks so technically that's full term), but it just made me wonder if there is something to this study.
Forgive me...I just babbling on...no real thought went into this post if you didn't notice.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Historic Autism Bill Passes BOTH House and Senate in Florida and is now on to Governor Crist!
I received the following email today and wanted to share:
A number of you have called the CARD office to see what we know about the autism bill that passed on Friday. Krystal and I have hesitated to answer questions because we weren't really hearing anything and we weren't sure what to tell you. I spent a few hours this afternoon combing through Google to see what is out there. Here are a few links that will hopefully answer your questions about the bill. It helped me understand a little bit better what has happened.
A fantastic site that seems to have the most information about the autism bill is the site by Floridians for the Future of the Developmentally Disabled.
http://www.ffddnews.com/blog1b.php?blog_id=2008050221562257
Watch the historic and emotional speech by the Speaker of the House and the vote in the Florida House that passed Senate Bill 2654.
http://www.ffddnews.com/articles0b.php?art_id=2008050609203252 Read the instructions on this page to watch the roughly 10 minutes toward the end of the session where the bill was passed.
FFDDnews discusses the passage of the Senate Bill 2654.
http://www.ffddnews.com/blog1b.php?blog_id=2008050615181171
Article "Last Minute Miracle ... Florida Autism Bill Passes ..." from a parent who is thankful that the bill passed. http://findingnoah.org/?p=417
Panama City News http://www.wjhg.com/news/headlines/18553574.html
The News Press (Insurance companies have two years to come up with agreements to cover all children with disabilities or face mandates to serve autism).
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/OPINION/805060321/1015
There is more out there if you want to search but these links will give you an idea of what happened.
All of you who worked so hard for months and in some cases for years, deserve the thanks of every one who has a family member who has an autism spectrum disorder. A special thanks to the CARD families who called their legislators every time we sent out an alert.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
This is a two for one post!
First off this is a post that I was going to do anyway for Autism Awareness, but by a stroke of luck it also works for Earth Day as well! I guess that I should disclose that even though I was going to do this post anyway I was happy to know that A Girl For all Status is giving away 100ec for the first 50 people who write a post of a minimum of 50 words for Earth Day Awareness you can find her post here, but for now I give you PIZZA FUSION! (FYI other than the ec's I'm NOT BEING PAID FOR THIS POST...this is strictly something I think is great!)
I wanted to highlight this company Pizza Fusion! Why? While "Big Stuff" doesn't have a problem with gluten, he does have a problem with casein as I've mentioned before...I know that there are other's out there who know someone or are related to someone that has problems with gluten or casein or both. I first learned about Pizza Fusion through GFCF Mommy's blog. There, unfortunately, isn't a franchise near me, and boy do I wish I could afford buy one myself; however, I have heard that their pizzas are quite good. In particular their Gluten-Free Pizza ...the next time I get close to one I'll have to try it out for myself! I can hear you all now,"Ok I see how this is good for someone on the spectrum following a GF/CF Diet, but how it this good for Earth Day?"
Tah-Dah!!! They are also an eco-conscious company as can be seen by their slogan,"Saving the Earth one pizza at a time." You can view their company profile and mission statement here, but the short version is this: They follow LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification standards set forth by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), they deliver their food in company owned hybrid vehicles, they give their customers discounts when they return their pizza box to recycle it, among a laundry list of other things!
Long story short (I know...too late) if there is a location near you I'd check them out especially on April 22nd! Oh, if someone could open one it the Tampa Bay Area I know a few people who'd definately be there!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
My Spectrum Blog Pick of the week...AND my bracelet arrived!!!
My blog pick for this week is: Asperger's Aid as it is a wealth of information! I do want to highlight one article in particular...and that is The Autism/Aspergers Checklist. There are 17 different items listed and some will answer yes to all, and others (for instance "Big Stuff") will only say yes to some (in "Big Stuff's" case the number of yeses came to 13).
My bracelet arrived this past Friday!!! 
Chrisi over at Chrisi’s Creations was incredible to conduct this transaction, and I couldn't be happier with the bracelet! She, again, makes awareness bracelets for a number of various causes besides Autism Awareness and she donates a portion (I'm not certain on the percentage off hand...sorry) of her profit to various charities...for example...my bracelet will end up supporting Autism Speaks, and an Alzheimers Awareness Bracelet will end up being a donation to the Alzheimers Association Memory Walk. Check her out if you can. She also does mother & grandmother jewelry as well.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
I wanted to highlight a blog on the "Blogging for Autism Awareness" List
NOTE: In honor of Autism Awareness Month I am Blogging for Autism Awareness. There are several others doing the same and I thought that a few times this month I would highlight a few, from whom, I have learned a little something. My first highlighted blog is: The Gluten Free/Casein Free Experience
My son doesn't have a problem with Gluten. We discovered this when were trying the GF/CF Diet to see if it would helped "Big Stuff" we did discover that he DOES have a problem with Casein. ANYWAY, my main problem was finding receipes that my son would actually try...let alone eat! I wished that Thomas' Blog, The Gluten Free/Casein Free Experience, had been around back then. I've only glanced over a few of the receipes since learning of the blog last month, but I've already found several that I can't wait to try!
Check out this wonderful blog!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
My Autism Awareness Bracelet
I finally found the bracelet I was looking for:
I found it at Chrisi's Creations, which I learned about from This Post at Mom around the Clock.
I will be wearing it as soon as I receive it as a daily awareness raiser.
JUST A REMINDER:
April 2, 2008 is the FIRST World Autism Awareness Day!
You can read more about the World Wide Events by following this link
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Both Autism Bills in Florida Pass!
Both SB 2654 and HB 1291 passed in the State House and Senate Committee meetings. These bills will reform Florida state law to provide appropriate insurance coverage for children with autism for treatments and therapies.
This is HUGE! In our case, "Big Stuff" is an Aspie (He has Asperger's Syndrome), but because he was "normal" meaning he'd met all his milestones and he spoke and had/has a large vocabulary insurance wouldn't cover the testing (even after his diagnosis).
My son thinks in brilliant and different ways that have taught me and hubby and others sooo much, but he did require some OT (occupational therapy), at first (which by the way is not cheap), to help with his handwriting and other day to day things that most would take for granted like dressing yourself in something other than a T-shirt and pants/short with an elastic waistband...he knew how to button, zip, and tie things, but he didn't always have the physical strength to do so, and it frustrated him more than it did Hubby and I as "Big Stuff" understandably wanted privacy when doing things like dressing; however, insurance wouldn't cover the OT because "If your son has Autism how can he speak? We'll only cover therapy if he's not speaking or has never spoken." Needless to say, we paid it out of pocket. He can now do those things easily and is no longer undergoing OT. He wanted to do things like swimming, at which he excels, and gymnastics, which he loves, and piano lessons, which he is scarily good at for his age. His therapist agreed with us that these things would be better for him than traditional OT because {a} he can now do the day to day stuff and {b} HE LOVES DOING THEM! An add bonus for us was that all of these things together didn't hit our pocketbook as hard as the OT by itself did.
ANYWAY...that's just an example of how this could help a lot of families. Here are the summaries of the State House and State Senate Bills that passed.
HB 1291 - Autism Spectrum Disorder
GENERAL BILL
by Porth (CO-SPONSORS) Anderson; Brandenburg; Chestnut; Coley; Davis, D.; Fitzgerald; Flores; Garcia, L.; Gibbons; Heller; Jenne; Kiar; Kriseman; Llorente; Machek; Nehr; Planas; Robaina; Sachs; Schwartz; Vana; Williams; Zapata
Autism Spectrum Disorder: Includes autism spectrum disorder within training requirements for personnel of child care facilities; requires health insurance plans to provide coverage for screening, diagnosis, intervention, & treatment of autism spectrum disorder in children; requires treatment plan; prohibits insurers from denying or refusing coverage or refusing to renew or reissue or terminate coverage based on diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder; provides coverage limitations; provides treatment plan requirements; limits frequency of requests for updating treatment plan; provides maximum benefits limitation; requires public institutions of higher education to incorporate into educator certificate course curricula recommendations of Commissioner of Education relating to autism awareness & teaching students who have autism spectrum disorder; requires commissioner to develop recommendations for instruction & course curricula relating to autism spectrum disorder & requires commissioner to submit such recommendations to SBE & BOG; requires DOH, in conjunction with DOE, DCFS, AHCA, & APD to establish statewide system of early autism spectrum disorder intervention services for infants & toddlers; requires DOH to establish Internet website for disseminating information.
Effective Date: January 1, 2009, and applies to health insurance policies or plans issued, renewed, entered into, or delivered on or after that date.
CS/SB 2654 - Autism Spectrum Disorder [EPCC]
GENERAL BILL
by Banking and Insurance and Geller (CO-SPONSORS) Ring; Bennett; Deutch; Villalobos; Rich; Fasano; Garcia; Wise; Atwater; Margolis
Autism Spectrum Disorder [EPCC]: Cites this act as the "Window of Opportunity Act." Requires health insurance plans to provide coverage for screening, diagnosis, intervention, and treatment of autism spectrum disorder in certain children. Prohibits an insurer from denying or refusing coverage or refusing to renew or reissue or terminate coverage based on a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, etc.
Effective Date: 01/01/2009
You can read both Florida Bills in their entirety through the following links:
HB 1291
AND
CS/SB 2654
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
I know it's not April but...April is Autism Awareness Month
In honor of Autism Awareness Month I will be doing the following:
POSTING MORE THAN I NORMALLY DO ABOUT AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS (aka ASDs)
I came across this blog, and one of it's purposes is to create a greater awareness of autism. Autism affects 1 in every 150 births and is the fastest-growing developmental disability. By creating awareness, parents and other people would have a better understanding of the disorder and the children they affect and hopefully, gain more commitment to support further studies, treatment and programs. Now with that information in mind she is 
So I am participating in this and even though it is only March I thought that I would let everyone know that
On April 2 Autism Speaks will Celebrate World Autism Awareness with Day-Long Series of International Events
- New York Stock Exchange Bell-Ringing
- Shafallah Center Celebration
- and “Walk on the Web” Highlight Global Awareness Initiative
To learn more click here!
ALSO
Others, like myself, who have taken on this effort as well are listed below as well as on my side bar...please take some time to visit their blogs as well:
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Some ASD article links
My friend over at MySpace sent these articles to me and I thought I'd share them with you.
Thin Bones Seen In Boys with Autism and ASD
Louisville Girl Raises Money For Autism Selling Bracelets
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Five For Fighting Raising Money For Autism Speaks...
This is real check out the Snopes article
Five for Fighting, is generously donating $0.40 to Autism Speaks
for *EACH TIME * this video is viewed . When you have a moment, please
visit the link below to watch the video and pass it along to your friends and
family.
They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass
this goal!
PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!
Link to the site
"What kind of world do you want" Video for Autism Speaks
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorders in Adults
A friend of mine on MySpace posted this, and I thought I would share as you all know, if you've read this blog for any amount of time, that one of my children has Asperger's Syndrome. So I post articles on Spectrum Disorders from time to time.
Diagnosis: the process for adults
Diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders in adults
The Autism Helpline frequently receives calls from adults who suspect they may have Asperger syndrome (AS) or High-Functioning Autism (HFA) and are looking for a diagnosis. In this article the term Asperger syndrome is used to include all forms of high-functioning autism.
Gaining a diagnosis as an adult isn't easy, especially as Asperger syndrome isn't widely heard of among GPs. The typical route for getting diagnosed is to visit your GP and ask for a referral to a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist, preferably one with experience of diagnosing autism. If you are already seeing a specialist for other reasons, for example, a psychologist because you suffer from depression, then you might wish to ask them about a referral instead.
It can be very hard to convince your doctor that a diagnosis would be either relevant or necessary. The following are just some tips on how to present your case so that they can see both why you might have AS and why having a diagnosis could be helpful.
Ways to bring up the subject with your doctor
Make sure the diagnosis is the only thing you are seeing your doctor about. If you try and drop it into a consultation about another subject they may not address it fully. A good way to bring up the subject is to mention that you have been reading about autism/Asperger syndrome and/or you have been in touch with The National Autistic Society.
Describing the triad of impairments
You should then explain why this is relevant to you. AS is characterised by something known as the triad of impairments. People with AS will be affected in some way by each of these impairments. I have given some suggestions below for ways in which you could describe how the triad of impairments relate to you. The autistic spectrum is very broad and two people with the condition may present very differently. No one person will have all the traits but by and large most people with AS will have problems in the following three areas:
Social communication
People with AS may be very good at basic communication and letting people know what they think and feel. Their difficulties lie in the social aspects of communication. For example:
they may have difficulty understanding gestures, body language and facial expressions
they may not be aware of what is socially appropriate and have difficulty choosing topics to talk about
they may not be socially motivated because they find communication difficult, so they may not have many friends and they may choose not to socialise very much.
Some of these problems can be seen in the way people with AS present themselves. for example classic traits include:
difficulty making eye contact
repetitive speech
difficulties expressing themselves especially when talking about emotions
anxiety in social situations and resultant nervous tics.
Social understanding
Typical examples of difficulties with social understanding include:
difficulties in group situations, such as going to the pub with a group of friends
finding small talk and chatting very difficult
problems understanding double meanings, for example not knowing when people are teasing you
not choosing appropriate topics to talk about
taking what people say very literally.
You might want to back this up with specific examples of the kind of social situations you find difficult.
Imagination
This can be a slightly confusing term. People often assume it means that people with AS are not imaginative in the conventional use of the word, for example, they lack creative abilities. This is not the case and many people with AS are extremely able writers, artists and musicians. Instead lack of imagination in AS can include difficulty imagining alternative outcomes and finding it hard to predict what will happen next. This frequently leads to anxiety. This can present as:
an obsession with rigid routines and severe distress if routines are disrupted
problems with making plans for the future, and having difficulties organising your life
problems with sequencing tasks, so that preparing to go out can be difficult because you can't always remember what to take with you.
Some people with AS over-compensate for this by being extremely meticulous in their planning, and having extensive written or mental checklists.
Secondary traits of Asperger syndrome
Besides the triad of impairments, people with AS tend to have difficulties which relate to the triad but are not included within it. These can include:
obsessive compulsive behaviours, often severe enough to be diagnosed as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD);
these can also be linked to obsessive interests in just one topic, for example they might have one subject about which they are extremely knowledgeable which they want to talk about with everyone they meet;
phobias: sometimes people with AS are described as having a social phobia but they may also be affected by other common fears such as claustrophobia and agoraphobia;
acute anxiety, which can lead to panic attacks and a rigid following of routines;
depression and social isolation: this is especially common among adults;
clumsiness often linked to a condition known as dyspraxia. This includes difficulties with fine motor co-ordination such as difficulties writing neatly as well as problems with gross motor co-ordination such as ungainly movements, tripping, falling a lot and sometimes appearing drunk as a result.
Not having these associated problems does not mean you do not have AS, but if you have any of them you might want to describe it in order to back up your case.
To conclude
You don't need to go and describe every single one of these features. Your doctor may be more likely to respond if you give one good example from each area of the triad. Once you have explained why you think you have AS to the doctor you could also show them this webpage or pass on a copy of the NAS document 'Diagnosis information for health professionals'.
What if the doctor disagrees?
If your doctor disagrees with your argument, ask for the reason why. If you don't feel comfortable discussing their decision then and there you can ask for a second appointment to talk it through.
Reasons why you might need a diagnosis
Diagnosis in adulthood can be a mixed blessing. Some people decide that they are happy with self diagnosis and decide not to ask for a formal diagnosis; for those that do there are a variety of benefits:
Understanding yourself
Many of the people we speak to have suffered from mental health problems and/or have been misdiagnosed as having mental health problems such as schizophrenia. They have known that they have specific difficulties for a long time without being able to explain them. A firm diagnosis can be a relief because it allows them to learn about their condition and understand where and why they have difficulties for the first time.
Gaining the understanding of others
Many people suffer the consequences of being constantly misunderstood. Often the fact that someone has AS can lead to teasing, bullying and social isolation. When the people close to you are able to understand that there is a reason for your difficulties it is much easier for them to empathise with your position.
Receiving services appropriate to their needs
Adults with AS may need support with day to day living (this is only the case for some people and many others have no support needs). If they are having these needs met it may be by people who do not understand Asperger syndrome and the specific difficulties associated with it. With a diagnosis, you can access autism-specific services such as the Prospects employment consultancy, run by The National Autistic Society.
Joining the AS community
It can be helpful to meet up with other people who have the condition in order to learn about their experiences and share your own. There are some support groups available for this and the NAS also supports a group called Asperger United who publish a newsletter written by people with AS for people with AS. Another good way of contacting people with AS is through the internet and you can find out more about useful websites on our links page. You do not have to have a diagnosis of AS in order to access this support.
Gaining a diagnosis can be difficult and very few adults find it easy. You are the only person who can decide if this is the best choice for you.
If you require further information please contact the NAS Autism Helpline (tel: 0845 070 4004; email: autismhelpline@nas.org.uk).
© The National Autistic Society 2003
SOURCE/LINK: Autism in adults
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Different types of Autism
NOTE: While my blog is primarily about my life, I periodically will throw in articles related to Autism as one of my children is on the spectrum with Asperger's Syndrome:
The different types of Autism. This will better help you distinguish the difference so you can choose the right method of treatments. Here are three common types....
Classical Autism
These signs and symptoms that appear differently in each child, and parents should fully remember that what is considered in one Autistic child may not appear in another child with autism. This is part of the time-consuming nature of the diagnosis of autism. Without a definative lab test such as bloodwork, diagnosis is a process of defining and understanding the symptoms as displayed. as a rule, children with autism exhibit the following signs and symptoms to a great degree :
- expressive & receptive communication and social deflicts
-insistance on routine & resistance to change
-appearing to be "off in their own little world"
-resistance to physical closeness such as hugging
-attachment to "odd" toys such as kitchen utensils
-parallel play (playing beside other children rather than interactively with them) & lack of imaginative play
-sudden and apparently unexplainable anger & tantrums
-repetative behaviors & obsessive-compulsive disorder
-splinter skills ( excelling in a particular skill that is ABOVE the apparent IQ level )
-appearing to have sensory overload in normal enviorments
Asperger's syndrome
-essentially normal speech development with phrases used by age 3
-essentially normal cognitive development
-essentially normal development in self-help & curiosity about the world
-gross motor skills are often delayed & clumsiness is common
-eye contact, facial expression, body launguage inappropriate to the social situation
-difficulty expressing emotions to others
-repetative mannerisms such as " flapping "
-insistance on routine
High functioning Autism
This disorder is often confused with Asperger's syndrome. It is , however, a distinct disorder. There is controversy due to it being so similar to Classical Autism, it may be difficult to determine the difference. The next following statements are important ....In 2004 it was thought 75% of children with Autism were mentally retarded. (Remember this was data from 2004). The technical standard for determining high-functioning autism and classical autism is the presence of mental retardation. In the past, a child with autism who was retarded was considered to have classical autism, and without mental retardation...the high-functioning autism was diagnosed. If your child has a diagnosis of Autism, do not assume he/she is mentally retarded, this may be the furthest thing from the truth.This is a gray area that is extremely difficult to determine for children on the spectrum. Due to the fact is almost impossible to determine an individuals IQ whom is non-verbal.
SOURCE: "Everything parents guide to children with Autism"
by Adelle Jameson Tilton (Author)
