Living with Asperger's Syndrome
Albert Einstein, Bela Bartok, Alan Turing, Bill Gates, Thomas Jefferson and I. Is this a list of Geniuses? People who have changed history?
Or are these people who display the symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome? Dr. Tony Attwood, the world-renowned Australian psychologist who is an expert on Asperger's Syndrome, cited them as examples of people with Asperger's during a Conference held at the Palisades Center in Rockland, New York, in October of 1999. Dr. Attwood is a practicing clinical psychologist at MacGregor Specialist Center in Australia, with twenty-five years of experience in the field of Asperger's Syndrome.
I had the opportunity to join over 200 other participants at the day-long Asperger's Conference. Participants came from as far away as Africa to assist with organizational tasks and to listen to Dr. Attwood's presentation, as well as his answers to questions from the audience. Dr. Attwood, who has worked with Asperger's patients and lectured around the world, commented, "I have always been impressed by their patience and ingenuity in achieving abilities others acquire without a second thought."
Where does the name Asperger's Syndrome come from? Over fifty years ago, a Viennese pediatrician,...
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...at comes naturally to most people: listening to others, looking them in the eye, and trying to understand another's point of view. Dr. Attwood believes, "Children with Asperger's Syndrome have the strong desire to have friends while recognizing their considerable difficulties with achieving and maintaining genuine friendships. Many experience ridicule, exclusion, teasing or bullying. Education programs can be used to assist them."
Education is a powerful tool. The conference provided lessons beyond Asperger's Syndrome. "The more you learn about one disability, the more you learn about the nature of all disabilities."
The Inuit, Iroquois, and Haida had very different tribes and had a different ways of doing everyday things but, very alike ways of living.
First, those who suffer from Asperger’s tend to lack the basic social skills required in everyday life, such as hugging, communicating, or expressing their feelings. For example, in “The Curious Incident” Christopher hits people who touch him in an unwelcome manner. So when his father became angry with him, and he latched onto Christopher’s arm: “I don’t like when people grab me. And I don’t like being surprised either. So I hit
A Comparison between Christopher Boone and Raymond Babbitt Asperger s disorder is not a disease, but a developmental brain disorder. It is four times more prevalent in boys than in girls and it shows no racial, ethnic or social boundaries. Family income, lifestyle and educational levels do not affect the chance of Asperger s disorder occurrence. According to Hans Asperger: It is important to know that the person with AS perceives the world differently. Therefore, many behaviours that seem odd are due to neurological differences and not the result of intentional rudeness or bad behaviour.
In the 1940’s two doctors in different countries observed children displaying similar behaviors and deficits. One of the doctors was Viennese pediatrician Dr. Hans Asperger and the other was a child psychiatrist named Leo Kanner. Dr. Kanner was the first of the two doctors to report his observations. What he described were behaviors similar to those seen in children with what we call Autistic disorder. The behaviors affected the children’s communication, social interaction and interests. Dr. Asperger later published an article discussing what he dubbed “Autistische Psychpathen im Kindesalter” which translates to “Autistic Psychopathy”. Although some behaviors overlapped, there were differences leading to the belief that these doctors were documenting two different disorders. The two most prevalent were the differences in motor and language abilities (Miller, Ozonoff). Another was Asperger’s belief that his patients were of normal or above average intelligence. It was not until 1994 that Asperger Syndrome was entered into the Diagnostics and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM IV), finally becoming an official diagnosis. At the time, Asperger Syndrome (AS) was labeled as a subcategory of autism along with autistic disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive development disorder. Since then, the community of people with Asperger Syndrome has grown to love and better understand the disorder that they live with every day. Some of them have even affectionately named themselves “Aspies”.
occurred in the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries; it was religion which was the major cause of the wars and devastation that occurred in this time period, and many times throughout history weather before or after the seventeenth century.
Cognitive challenges also exist when counseling children with ASD as they have difficulty distinguishing their own mind from somebody else’s, this is known as theory of mind (Woods et al., 2013). Counselors should address deficiencies in theory of mind as the lack of knowledge in others feelings and empathy causes challenges across all social contexts for children. While there are a numerous factors to consider when providing therapy for children with ASD, therapeutic interventions are crucial to the development of social skills as well as adaptive emotional and behavioral responses in social settings.
The author emphasises a unique approach to each individual who falls on the spectrum because each problem can be approached numerous ways to find a proficient solution. The author advocates that each individual experiencing ASD find a program or learning approach that works favorably for them. Siegel denotes that no two educational programs or teaching methods are the same, nor is there any program that is more effective than the other. When choosing a program, one must consider personal ability, necessary accommodations, and whether or not the curriculum is developmentally appropriate.
In his essay "Autism and Culture," Joseph Straus discusses the recreation of the concept of autism as a cultural and social category rather than a medical one. He also discusses how, as autistic community has emerged, autistic people have begun to look for historical figures that could be identified as autistic. Straus calls this practice "extremely problematic" (Straus 464) because he feels that the concept of autism is a modern social construction and that classifying historical figures as autistic denies this. However, associating prominent historical figures with autism has the benefit of providing autistic communities with role models and a sense of community through their shared history. Attempting to diagnose historical figures with
Many people across the world are unfamiliar with disorders associated with autism. Some people do not even know what autism actually is. Asperger’s Syndrome is one perplexing disorder, of countless, that needs to be acknowledged. Although it is one of the more well-known disorders, an understanding of Asperger’s is far from common knowledge. There is an abundance of misconceptions and people unaware of what Asperger Syndrome actually is. Being uncertain about the characteristics of a person with Asperger’s allows people to go through life not understanding the disorder itself and people who have it.
... can be difficult for a child with autism to initiate conversation on her own, by following your child’s lead and responding to what she does, you are encouraging further interaction. You can also help by encouraging friendships between your child with ASD and other children”
Understanding autism, which is professionally known as Autism Spectrum Disorder, otherwise known as (ADS) can be a difficult task, especially for someone who is not trained in helping persons with disabilities. The first person to discover autism was a child psychiatrist, Dr. Leo Kanner in 1943. He names the spectrum disorder after the Greek word autos, meaning of or for oneself, due to the way the child display social avoidance. Many doctors’ believed in the past that autism was caused by the way the mother not caring for her child properly or ignoring him or her. There was also a time when it was thought to be caused by certain environmental stresses that cause neurological issues within the brain. Autism is one of the most misunderstood
Asperger’s Syndrome which is part of the Autism Spectrum was identified by Hans Asperger and hence it is named after him. People who are diagnosed with Asperger are usually very intelligent. They don’t necessarily have language problems. However, they do have trouble with social interaction.
Children who suffer from ASD usually have the appearance of normal development and then become withdrawn and regress from social interaction (Melinda Smith, 2013). The impaired social interaction of the disorder affects communication both verbally and non- verbally (Melinda Smith, 2013). Their communication with others and the world around them is also affected, as well as their thinking and behavior (Melinda Smith, 2013).
One of the central themes that theologians often take note of in Jesus’s teachings, parables, and miracles recounted by Matthew and Luke is the
Jesus teachings were meant to bring those who listened closer to God and to know Him better. They listened to Jesus and were taught what God expects of them. Jesus was a very kindhearted and sympathetic person toward those who were suffering. He also recognized and rewarded the faith that people showed in Him. In Matthew 5-7, Jesus sat down on the mountainside to teach His disciples as the crowds started gathering around Him, and so began the Sermon on