Re: Fw: camp sheet.......

[Guest guest]

this is great. After our recent camp experience, maybe this might have helped.

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> From: O'Brien <nicole.obrien@...>

> Subject: ( ) My presentation...

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> Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 10:09 AM

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> Aspergers Syndrome is not something that can be seen. People with Aspergers

(AS as it’s often called) look just like you or me. But you might notice

things about them that are a bit different.

>  

> Aspergers, like other types of Autism, is a neurological disorder †" which is

just a big fancy way of saying that their brains work differently than yours or

mine do. Not wrong, just different! Two cars might be wired differently, but

they both work!

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> AS isn’t an illness, it cannot be caught like a cold †" because those who

have it were born with it. It also won’t ever go away… but over time, people

with Aspergers can learn most of what comes naturally to the rest of us.

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> Some things you might notice about someone with Aspergers Syndrome:

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> ·         They might not look you in the eye when they speak to you.

This isn’t because they’re trying to be rude, but rather because there’s

so much information in your face that they don’t understand, that if they get

stressed out trying to make sense of that, they won’t hear anything you say.

> ·         They don’t understand how to tell the difference between

friendly teasing, and bullying teasing. To them, it all seems like bullying

teasing. This makes them feel stressed and upset, which can lead to some

difficult behaviours. It might be hard for you to understand why they yell at

you, or say bad words to you, or sometimes even HIT you, when you were just

kidding and trying to be funny. Please tell a teacher if this happens, so they

can help. And remember that they don’t mean to upset you when they get angry,

and they don’t mean to hurt you when they get mad. They just don’t know what

else to do.

> ·         When they get upset, or stressed, they might say or do

things that hurt your feelings. They really aren’t trying to be mean or

hurtful. You can help by calmly and quietly telling them when they’ve said or

done something that upset you, so they can start to learn how friends talk to

and treat each other!

> ·         When you’re playing with them, they might seem bossy or

selfish, and always want things their way. When it comes to sharing, taking

turns and playing games, people with Aspergers Syndrome get easily confused

about what other people are doing, and what they themselves are supposed to be

doing. So if they are “in chargeâ€, they feel much safer, and less stressed.

You can help by reminding them in a friendly way when they need to take turns,

and taking the time to explain the rules of a game before you start.

> ·         They like things to be the same ALL the time. When things

are the same, when there are routines, they know what to expect and don’t have

to worry about what they are supposed to be doing. They might want to sit in the

same spot, or the same chair, or eat the same thing every day. If they aren’t

prepared for changes… even something as simple as having a substitute teacher

for a day, for them it is like visiting a foreign country with no map and no

knowledge of their language!. Very scary and confusing!

> ·         You might notice that they’re very interested in one or

more things, and want to be doing those things a lot, or talking about them all

the time †" even too much sometimes! Maybe they love dinosaurs, and like to

draw them, read books about them, learn about them, talk about them, and play

with dinosaur toys. They don’t realize that not everyone may love dinosaurs as

much as they do, and won’t realize if you’re getting bored, or tired of

listening about it. They might need help knowing when it’s time to talk about

something else.

> ·         Even though they are very smart, they might miss obvious

pieces of information †" and even though they’re confused, they might not ask

for help. They might try to hide their confusion, or act like they don’t care,

or don’t want to do something †" when really they just need help

understanding.

> ·         They get VERY overwhelmed with input of all types †"

sights, sounds, touch and smell. When someone has Aspergers Syndrome, they

aren’t able to shield certain types of information the way you or I can. Take

this library for example… when you or I come into the library we know that

this is a place where we can read, look at and borrow books. There are tables

and chairs we can use. There’s a coloured mat we can sit on to listen to

stories. We know we should be quiet while we’re here, we should walk not run,

and we should watch what we’re doing so to not mess up any of the books. For

us, these thoughts come and go from our heads without us really having to think

about it. But for someone with Aspergers, this library is very overwhelming.

They see books… and those books are everywhere. They are different sizes,

different colours, different heights and widths. They are about different

subjects. They hear people flipping pages in

> books. People talking quietly. People tapping their fingers. Chairs shuffling

on the floor. Someone walking in the hallway outside. They smell the different

types of shampoo that people have used, they smell the different laundry

detergents on people’s clothes. They see the mat on the floor and know that it

will feel different to walk on that. They have to think about how to walk

through the room without bumping into anyone, without knocking over a chair. How

to be careful when taking out a book so to not mess up the others. And ALL the

while, all that other information is still clogging their brain. Add to that,

that they can also feel the shirt they’re wearing, the tag might be itchy,

their jeans might be too tight. Their socks might have a funny seam that bothers

their toes. And every single bit of this information is hitting their brain ALL

at the same time, and they have NO idea how to tell which is the most important

information to pay

> attention to!! You can see how this would be very upsetting and confusing,

and how they could need to go to a quiet place to take a break, and sort some of

the information out in their head.

> ·         When they are upset, or stressed, or overwhelmed, you might

see them doing some pretty strange things… hiding under a desk, yelling,

crying, rocking back and forth, hitting, saying bad words… this isn’t them

trying to be weird, or mean, or rude… even though it might look that way to

you! This is just their way of trying to feel less stressed, or less angry, or

less scared.

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> Having Aspergers Syndrome isn’t ALL bad. There are positive things too !!!

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> ·         People with Aspergers usually have an EXCELLENT memory, and

will remember things that most other people have long forgotten about.

> ·         They can become EXPERTS in their areas of interest! They

might even use that to get a job doing their favourite things when they grow up!

> ·         They notice details about things that most of us would

miss.

> ·         They are usually VERY smart, and happy to help others with

things they are very good at! Even Albert Einstein is believed to have had

Aspergers!

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> If you know someone with Aspergers or another type of Autism, and can find a

way to understand a bit more, and look past the different, sometimes weird and

sometimes difficult behaviours, you will find that people with AS are like you

and me in so many ways.

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> ·         They really want friends, even if they don’t always know

how to make and keep them.

> ·         They HATE being teased (I don’t think any of us like it!)

> ·         They feel all kinds of different feelings, and don’t

always know the best way to deal with them (I think we’re all guilty of this

one!)

> ·         They want to be accepted and liked in their classroom.

> ·         They want to feel safe at school!

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> You can help by asking your teacher or another trusted grown up if you

aren’t sure what to do, by making sure you have their attention before you

start talking. By using small sentences, and being patient. By using friendly

words. By NOT doing things that you know will upset them. By ignoring the

difficult behaviours, and letting them know instead when you really like

something nice they’ve done. By watching out for them, and sticking up for

them against bullying. And most importantly, by acknowledging the ways they are

like you and also by accepting the ways they are different, the same way all of

us are different, and knowing that differences are just what makes us all

unique.

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> Thank you.

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> =)

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