Re: Advice for grandmother who see's Asperger but parents don't?

[Guest guest]

Hi

My son is 11 and was just diagnosed with Aspergers. He was VERY social from

the beginning, but more so with adults in retrospect. He began to have more

difficulties with attention and initiating with peers as he got older. He tends

to tune in when its something of interest (like history) but tunes out when its

not something of high preference. His play has always been strange and he never

played with toys like other children. But he has always been extremely bright,

extremely talkative, etc...so it took me going back to school for my pysch MA

and then going to work for an autism center to truly see that my oldest son has

aspergers. He was just Dx last week and we are in the process of getting some

evals done to see if we can get him some OT and some ABA to help with focusing

and social skills. I will keep you posted on our progress.

There are several books to see where your child should be in regards to play

development, when I get home I will send you the titles of the ones I have.

Here at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, we are currenly in the

process of developing a parent guide to developmental play and a guide to help

parents implement intervention. We hope to have it published within the year,

although currently it is still a work in progress.

Sonya Emerson (pasadena, ca)

<thecolemans4@...> wrote:

Hi all -

I met a lady who works with horseback riding therapy

for children with disabilities who stated that she

believes her 7 yr old grandson has Asperger, and that

she has given information to his parents and urged

them to seek assistance for him, but they are " in

denial " , stating he is just super smart and is

sociable. She observed from infancy that his startle

reflexes were too strong (we've most all seen that

one, haven't we?) and that if you give him, for

instance, a toy car, he will open and close doors

repetitively rather than play the way a typical child

would. He is also having problems at school with

attention. She worries (probably a lot to be in a

'helpless' position) that they are missing an

important period that therapy could help, so I wanted

to ask for anyone's input on how they would approach

such an issue with their children.

I did not get any type of medical history on the

child, but would trust the grandmother's educated

observance, so I plan to give her info and would

also include any comments you all may have on the

topic if she is interested. I don't think she needs

much confirmation that " Asperger " children can still

be social. Don't social problems often show up later

in age?

I think that a child with " Aspergers " who is

functioning well enough to escape attention from

professionals would probably be detected as they get a

bit older. I wonder, though, if there is any good

info someone could point me to that refers to the

stages of play development, perhaps so that she could

show the parents periods that the child may have

missed so that the parents could be more aware of

those aspects of development, along with sensory

dysfunction... couldn't a child get therapy for these

issues without any 'formal diagnosis'? (We all know

how 'valuable' those are anyway.)

Thanks in advance... I think any person interested in

and involved with special needs children should have

any information at their disposal to help those kids.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I recommend this parent-led therapy for such a child www.rdiconnect.com

-

<thecolemans4@...> wrote:

Hi all -

I met a lady who works with horseback riding therapy

for children with disabilities who stated that she

believes her 7 yr old grandson has Asperger, and that

she has given information to his parents and urged

them to seek assistance for him, but they are " in

denial " , stating he is just super smart and is

sociable. She observed from infancy that his startle

reflexes were too strong (we've most all seen that

one, haven't we?) and that if you give him, for

instance, a toy car, he will open and close doors

repetitively rather than play the way a typical child

would. He is also having problems at school with

attention. She worries (probably a lot to be in a

'helpless' position) that they are missing an

important period that therapy could help, so I wanted

to ask for anyone's input on how they would approach

such an issue with their children.

I did not get any type of medical history on the

child, but would trust the grandmother's educated

observance, so I plan to give her info and would

also include any comments you all may have on the

topic if she is interested. I don't think she needs

much confirmation that " Asperger " children can still

be social. Don't social problems often show up later

in age?

I think that a child with " Aspergers " who is

functioning well enough to escape attention from

professionals would probably be detected as they get a

bit older. I wonder, though, if there is any good

info someone could point me to that refers to the

stages of play development, perhaps so that she could

show the parents periods that the child may have

missed so that the parents could be more aware of

those aspects of development, along with sensory

dysfunction... couldn't a child get therapy for these

issues without any 'formal diagnosis'? (We all know

how 'valuable' those are anyway.)

Thanks in advance... I think any person interested in

and involved with special needs children should have

any information at their disposal to help those kids.

__________________________________________________