Re: Talking to 7yr old about Asperger's

[Guest guest]

Hi all, thanks so much to everyone who responded to my question a few weeks ago.

There was so much helpful advice. We decided to watch the Temple Grandin movie

with our son with Aspergers and our NT daughter. I had seen it before, and

thought it would be good for them to see, even if we didn't have " the talk "

right away. I pointed out the things that make her autistic throughout the

movie...both the negatives and the positives, both the traits my son has, and

the ones he doesn't. I didn't relate them to him at all, just made general

observations like, " the crowd of people at the party made her feel anxious " and

" see how she covers her ears? "

About 5 minutes after we watched it, my son said, " Am I autistic? " That sure

caught me off guard. I said there was a kind of autism called aspergers, and I

have some books about it. I told him we'd read the books and see what he

thought.

We read the books (both books for kids) and then we looked at a drawing I had

done with my son right after he was diagnosed in September. It was a chart, with

several of his traits and interests across the bottom (math, running, staying

calm when upset, etc). I asked him to give himself a number on a scale of 1-10

of how good he was at each thing (he gave himself a 4 for staying calm, and a 13

for running, lol). Today we talked about how those things he thought he was not

so good at were " Asperger's things " .

Long story short, it went very well. At this point we have just introduced the

concepts of autism and Asperger's, and we have established that there are good

parts and bad parts, as the movie so beautifully demonstrates.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Sent from my iPhone

[Guest guest]

Awesome! The Temple Grandlin film was a good lead into discussion for us too. My next talk will be with his youngest siblings. I have no clue as to what to tell them about his brother. To: "autism-aspergers " <autism-aspergers > Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012

10:52 PM Subject: Re: Talking to 7yr old about Asperger's

Hi all, thanks so much to everyone who responded to my question a few weeks ago. There was so much helpful advice. We decided to watch the Temple Grandin movie with our son with Aspergers and our NT daughter. I had seen it before, and thought it would be good for them to see, even if we didn't have "the talk" right away. I pointed out the things that make her autistic throughout the movie...both the negatives and the positives, both the traits my son has, and the ones he doesn't. I didn't relate them to him at all, just made general observations like, "the crowd of people at the party made her feel anxious" and "see how she covers her ears?"

About 5 minutes after we watched it, my son said, "Am I autistic?" That sure caught me off guard. I said there was a kind of autism called aspergers, and I have some books about it. I told him we'd read the books and see what he thought.

We read the books (both books for kids) and then we looked at a drawing I had done with my son right after he was diagnosed in September. It was a chart, with several of his traits and interests across the bottom (math, running, staying calm when upset, etc). I asked him to give himself a number on a scale of 1-10 of how good he was at each thing (he gave himself a 4 for staying calm, and a 13 for running, lol). Today we talked about how those things he thought he was not so good at were "Asperger's things".

Long story short, it went very well. At this point we have just introduced the concepts of autism and Asperger's, and we have established that there are good parts and bad parts, as the movie so beautifully demonstrates.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Sent from my iPhone

[Guest guest]

Great news that it went well! We told our son at about that age as well and I think in some ways it helped him to be more confident when he understood that there was nothing wrong with him - just that his brain worked differently and we had to make adaptions for him to succeed. We have always said that Aspergers is a reason but not an excuse!

Good luck!

lj

Re: Talking to 7yr old about Asperger's

Hi all, thanks so much to everyone who responded to my question a few weeks ago. There was so much helpful advice. We decided to watch the Temple Grandin movie with our son with Aspergers and our NT daughter. I had seen it before, and thought it would be good for them to see, even if we didn't have "the talk" right away. I pointed out the things that make her autistic throughout the movie...both the negatives and the positives, both the traits my son has, and the ones he doesn't. I didn't relate them to him at all, just made general observations like, "the crowd of people at the party made her feel anxious" and "see how she covers her ears?"

About 5 minutes after we watched it, my son said, "Am I autistic?" That sure caught me off guard. I said there was a kind of autism called aspergers, and I have some books about it. I told him we'd read the books and see what he thought.

We read the books (both books for kids) and then we looked at a drawing I had done with my son right after he was diagnosed in September. It was a chart, with several of his traits and interests across the bottom (math, running, staying calm when upset, etc). I asked him to give himself a number on a scale of 1-10 of how good he was at each thing (he gave himself a 4 for staying calm, and a 13 for running, lol). Today we talked about how those things he thought he was not so good at were "Asperger's things".

Long story short, it went very well. At this point we have just introduced the concepts of autism and Asperger's, and we have established that there are good parts and bad parts, as the movie so beautifully demonstrates.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Sent from my iPhone

[Guest guest]

Great news that it went well! We told our son at about that age as well and I think in some ways it helped him to be more confident when he understood that there was nothing wrong with him - just that his brain worked differently and we had to make adaptions for him to succeed. We have always said that Aspergers is a reason but not an excuse!

Good luck!

lj

Re: Talking to 7yr old about Asperger's

Hi all, thanks so much to everyone who responded to my question a few weeks ago. There was so much helpful advice. We decided to watch the Temple Grandin movie with our son with Aspergers and our NT daughter. I had seen it before, and thought it would be good for them to see, even if we didn't have "the talk" right away. I pointed out the things that make her autistic throughout the movie...both the negatives and the positives, both the traits my son has, and the ones he doesn't. I didn't relate them to him at all, just made general observations like, "the crowd of people at the party made her feel anxious" and "see how she covers her ears?"

About 5 minutes after we watched it, my son said, "Am I autistic?" That sure caught me off guard. I said there was a kind of autism called aspergers, and I have some books about it. I told him we'd read the books and see what he thought.

We read the books (both books for kids) and then we looked at a drawing I had done with my son right after he was diagnosed in September. It was a chart, with several of his traits and interests across the bottom (math, running, staying calm when upset, etc). I asked him to give himself a number on a scale of 1-10 of how good he was at each thing (he gave himself a 4 for staying calm, and a 13 for running, lol). Today we talked about how those things he thought he was not so good at were "Asperger's things".

Long story short, it went very well. At this point we have just introduced the concepts of autism and Asperger's, and we have established that there are good parts and bad parts, as the movie so beautifully demonstrates.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Sent from my iPhone

[Guest guest]

I am so excited and jealous of you! Congratulations!! My nine year-old knows h e has Asperger's but I don't think he has any idea what it means. Ugh To: "autism-aspergers " <autism-aspergers > Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 9:52 PM Subject: Re: Talking to

7yr old about Asperger's

Hi all, thanks so much to everyone who responded to my question a few weeks ago. There was so much helpful advice. We decided to watch the Temple Grandin movie with our son with Aspergers and our NT daughter. I had seen it before, and thought it would be good for them to see, even if we didn't have "the talk" right away. I pointed out the things that make her autistic throughout the movie...both the negatives and the positives, both the traits my son has, and the ones he doesn't. I didn't relate them to him at all, just made general observations like, "the crowd of people at the party made her feel anxious" and "see how she covers her ears?"

About 5 minutes after we watched it, my son said, "Am I autistic?" That sure caught me off guard. I said there was a kind of autism called aspergers, and I have some books about it. I told him we'd read the books and see what he thought.

We read the books (both books for kids) and then we looked at a drawing I had done with my son right after he was diagnosed in September. It was a chart, with several of his traits and interests across the bottom (math, running, staying calm when upset, etc). I asked him to give himself a number on a scale of 1-10 of how good he was at each thing (he gave himself a 4 for staying calm, and a 13 for running, lol). Today we talked about how those things he thought he was not so good at were "Asperger's things".

Long story short, it went very well. At this point we have just introduced the concepts of autism and Asperger's, and we have established that there are good parts and bad parts, as the movie so beautifully demonstrates.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Sent from my iPhone