Mild Aspergers?

[Guest guest]

What distinguishes the mild form from a more severe form of Aspergers?

I hear parents say this alot but want to know what it means.

TIA

[Guest guest]

>

> What distinguishes the mild form from a more severe form of Aspergers?

> I hear parents say this alot but want to know what it means.

I'm not sure this is anything official. When my son was dx'd, his diagnosis

said Asperger's Disorder, period (along with the neurological profile and

co-existing conditions). The only thing slightly like this was that the

neuropsych said he was very confident of the dx, that our son was " firmly inside

the Asperger camp " .

[Guest guest]

great question!! I, too , would like to know the answer.

From: r_woman2 <me2ruth@...>Subject: ( ) Re: Mild Aspergers? Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2009, 7:44 PM

>> What distinguishes the mild form from a more severe form of Aspergers?> I hear parents say this alot but want to know what it means.I'm not sure this is anything official. When my son was dx'd, his diagnosis said Asperger's Disorder, period (along with the neurological profile and co-existing conditions). The only thing slightly like this was that the neuropsych said he was very confident of the dx, that our son was "firmly inside the Asperger camp".

[Guest guest]

For us, what distinguishes 'mild' from 'not mild' is the severity of the

symptoms, and the number of them as well. I read these checklists and while she

is firmly in there on some, there are others that are not even close. Same

thing when she was younger and underwent testing and they said Non verbal

learning disorder... Enough characteristics to give her real issues, but not

enough to warrant help from the school system. I'm wopndering now, if the NVLD

was inaccurate to begin with, as I've read that AS can mirror that as well (or

vice versa?). And actually, it seems that she has more of the AS qualities than

the NVLD qualities at this point.

Truly, I think a lot has to do with the child's behavior... if they are not

bouncing off the walls or something, they will fall through the cracks. Last

year, when the teachers and I spoke to the ISS person about having her

" targeted " (their word)as a first step in getting evaluated for an IEP, I was

told that because her behavior and grades were good, there was nothing they

would do.

[Guest guest]

I think it is just how much it affects their lives, ability to form relationships, sensory issues.

Its a spectrum.

From: dweeny123@... <dweeny123@...>Subject: ( ) Mild Aspergers? Date: Tuesday, 15 September, 2009, 7:40 PM

What distinguishes the mild form from a more severe form of Aspergers?I hear parents say this alot but want to know what it means.TIA

[Guest guest]

Usually what distinguishes a " mild " form from a more severe form is

the ability to function. Interestingly enough, in all these years on

this list, I must read " my ds has a mild form of AS " a zillion times.

Seems like everyone thinks their ds has a mild form of AS. lol. I

don't know what I think about that or why that is. It could be that

people are used to making that excuse because AS is a mild form of

autism. Maybe saying that helps them distinguish their child from

someone who has autism. Or perhaps, their child is really functioning

fairly well. But overall, I would probably distinguish mild from

severe by level of functioning and even then, it's a personal opinion.

We've had people on here with kids who cannot even function in school,

cannot answer questions, have severe problems that require a lot of

intensive programming and therapies and meds. Then we have kids who

are in regular classes or classes with supports and are doing pretty

well overall. Then you have to consider that functioning changes over

time as demands change with age, experience and ability. But in

general, there is no specific criteria detailing mild from severe that

I have read or heard about.

 Roxanna

" The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do

nothing. " E. Burke

( ) Mild Aspergers?

What distinguishes the mild form from a more severe form of Aspergers?

I hear parents say this alot but want to know what it means.

TIA

[Guest guest]

I consider my son (13, 8th grade) "mild" now b/c he's doing so good. He still has problems/challenges and he still most certainly has Asperger's, but it seems he's been able to adapt/cope in ways that have made his functioning improve over the years. We struggled for a long time though and he still has problems reading social cues, dealing appropriately with sensory overload, and making friends. It's been a long, hard road, but things seem to be getting better. He most recently stopped wearing his Daytrana patch (diagnosed w/ ADHD in Kindergarten and has been medicated during the school week ever since) and the jury is still out on that decision but he feels a lot better and I'm in frequent contact with his teachers to see how it might be effecting his behavior in school.

So is he truly a case of "mild" Aspergers? I don't know. It's hard to figure all of this out at times. But this year is better than last year, better than 6th grade, and a ton better than 5th grade, so I'm assuming he's improving.

"Over-optimism is waiting for you ship to come in when you haven't sent one out."

From: r_woman2 <me2ruth@...> Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 9:44:01 PMSubject: ( ) Re: Mild Aspergers?

>> What distinguishes the mild form from a more severe form of Aspergers?> I hear parents say this alot but want to know what it means.I'm not sure this is anything official. When my son was dx'd, his diagnosis said Asperger's Disorder, period (along with the neurological profile and co-existing conditions). The only thing slightly like this was that the neuropsych said he was very confident of the dx, that our son was "firmly inside the Asperger camp".

[Guest guest]

That's how I tend to view " mild " as the level of functioning. I've always said

was " mild " . He never had any problems with school or behavior (actually

my easiest son). Oh things with schoolwork could have me seeing the " Aspie

part " but he pretty much made all A's so school was okay (his OCD affected him

badly when it began around age 11.5 and that messed school up). However with

daily living/self-help type skills, that is where he was affected much more;

that and socially. Those areas stood out a lot for me at home. They all

improved much later in high school though.

>

> Usually what distinguishes a " mild " form from a more severe form is

> the ability to function. Interestingly enough, in all these years on

> this list, I must read " my ds has a mild form of AS " a zillion times.

> Seems like everyone thinks their ds has a mild form of AS. lol. I

> don't know what I think about that or why that is.

[Guest guest]

Sounds about right to me, Roxanna. My son makes As and Bs in school with no reduction in homework or special test taking accommodations. He does get extra time to turn in assignments though without penalty (although I'm not sure all of his teachers have figured that out this year, but I'm okay with him getting points off for late work right now b/c he seems to be doing pretty good even w/ a few penalties here and there.) My goal is for him to be in school w/ minimal to no supports, if that is possible. He technically is in Special Education (has an IEP in place) and can access the SCORES room when needed (a room w/ a specially-trained teacher on austism and Aspergers) but I think he's been in there one time this year and he has no aide support in any of his classes. I pretty much stay on top of his homework/assignments in school and help him stay organized. It's hard to do w/ everything else I do,

but I'd rather be the one to help him than to turn it all over to the school and hope for the best. As my school picks up (yes, I'm back in school this year!) and we get further into D's school year, I might push back for more help from the SCORES teacher or his individual teachers, but since I've already established relationships w/ his academic teachers, I don't think it will be a problem. We'll see!

He's 1st chair tuba in the Honors Wind Ensemble, is learning bass guitar in Jazz Band, and plays on a recreational soccer team with a bunch of 13- to 15-yr-old boys. He has two friends outside of school that he gets along with great - no problems there - but one moved to Phoenix a year ago and the other moved farther away so we only see him once a month or so. It sounds like he might have a very small group of friends at school this year, but I can't really figure it out. He eats with the same kids at lunch each day so I'm thinking there has to be some sort of reciprocal relationship. He also belongs to a church youth group he enjoys quite a bit and went on a 10-day white water rafting camp with them this past summer which was really successful. All of this makes me pronounce him as "mild." Like Roxanna said, I'm basing this on his current level of functioning and my personal opinion.

"Over-optimism is waiting for you ship to come in when you haven't sent one out."

From: Roxanna <MadIdeas@...> Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 8:08:00 AMSubject: Re: ( ) Mild Aspergers?

Usually what distinguishes a "mild" form from a more severe form is the ability to function. Interestingly enough, in all these years on this list, I must read "my ds has a mild form of AS" a zillion times. Seems like everyone thinks their ds has a mild form of AS. lol. I don't know what I think about that or why that is. It could be that people are used to making that excuse because AS is a mild form of autism. Maybe saying that helps them distinguish their child from someone who has autism. Or perhaps, their child is really functioning fairly well. But overall, I would probably distinguish mild from severe by level of functioning and even then, it's a personal opinion. We've had people on here with kids who cannot even function in school, cannot answer questions, have severe problems that require a lot of intensive programming and therapies and meds. Then we have kids who are in regular classes or

classes with supports and are doing pretty well overall. Then you have to consider that functioning changes over time as demands change with age, experience and ability. But in general, there is no specific criteria detailing mild from severe that I have read or heard about. Roxanna"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." E. Burke ( ) Mild Aspergers?What distinguishes the mild form from a more severe form of Aspergers?I hear parents say this alot but want to know what it means.TIA

[Guest guest]

Right. I think it is number and type of symptoms and how they affect their functioning in school and home. When my son was being diagnosed, the dr. focused on two areas - the obsessive interest area and the social skills area. He definitely was lacking in people skills, and reading social cues, but he didn't have one specific area of interest that he focuses on. He does get obsessive about things, but it's always different things. This week it was the Scooby Doo movie, he told me about it at least 20 times so far. Next week it will be something else.But he had enough symptoms overall to be diagnosed, and the doctor classified it as 'mild" Aspergers. I think I have in mind someone who *only* talks about the weather or history or whatever, as having a severe Aspergers, and if my kid isn't like that, then it's mild.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suzanne

suzmarkwood@...

From: floridamom32211 <MoonDancerJax@...>Subject: ( ) Re: Mild Aspergers? Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 2:37 AM

For us, what distinguishes 'mild' from 'not mild' is the severity of the symptoms, and the number of them as well. I read these checklists and while she is firmly in there on some, there are others that are not even close. Same thing when she was younger and underwent testing and they said Non verbal learning disorder... Enough characteristics to give her real issues, but not enough to warrant help from the school system. I'm wopndering now, if the NVLD was inaccurate to begin with, as I've read that AS can mirror that as well (or vice versa?). And actually, it seems that she has more of the AS qualities than the NVLD qualities at this point. Truly, I think a lot has to do with the child's behavior... if they are not bouncing off the walls or something, they will fall through the cracks. Last year, when the teachers and I spoke to the ISS person about having her "targeted" (their word)as a first step in getting evaluated for an IEP, I was

told that because her behavior and grades were good, there was nothing they would do.

[Guest guest]

I would look to the neuropsychological report. If a child has

average cognitive skills and is a good or better student

(by cognitive skills I mean: processing speed, executive functions (attention,

organization skills), reasoning and verbal skills) and the only issue is a

social skill deficit that is not too severe I would call that mild.

The child is functioning well academically but is somewhat restricted in

interests socially but can connect to a few friends with

similar interests. I would call this mild.

To DX Asperger Syndrome the critieria is for restricted

social iteractions.

But so many AS kids have many learning

issues, sensory integration issues that affect then emotionally,

emotional issues with being overwhelmed and raging, issues

that boarder on obessive compulsive behaviors, severe anxiety

issues, severe isolation issues. These types of problems

I do not consider " mild " .

This is just what I think, I hope this helps,

Pam

, " dweeny123@... " <dweeny123@...> wrote:

>

> What distinguishes the mild form from a more severe form of Aspergers?

> I hear parents say this alot but want to know what it means.

> TIA

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi

I need to ask you about your son and his OCD. My son is 13 and he has OCD pretty darned bad. Started, honestly, about 2 months ago?

His doc put him on Celexa for the anxiety.........we talk about it, over and over and over....and we think it's getting better....a bit.

Ugh.

Does your son still deal with it? Does it ever go away? What was his OCD about?

Robin

From: <@...>Subject: Re: ( ) Mild Aspergers? Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 8:31 AM

That's how I tend to view "mild" as the level of functioning. I've always said was "mild". He never had any problems with school or behavior (actually my easiest son). Oh things with schoolwork could have me seeing the "Aspie part" but he pretty much made all A's so school was okay (his OCD affected him badly when it began around age 11.5 and that messed school up). However with daily living/self- help type skills, that is where he was affected much more; that and socially. Those areas stood out a lot for me at home. They all improved much later in high school though. >> Usually what distinguishes a "mild" form from a more severe form is > the

ability to function. Interestingly enough, in all these years on > this list, I must read "my ds has a mild form of AS" a zillion times. > Seems like everyone thinks their ds has a mild form of AS. lol. I > don't know what I think about that or why that is.