Sections

Syndicate

Meeting the Needs of Your Asperger's Child

| Print |

E-mail

Written by Phyllis Wheeler

Wednesday, 30 April 2008

by PhyllisWheeler

You have found out that your child is on the autism spectrum--he or she has Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism. Autistic kids can be on the odd side of normal, or they can be pretty seriously impaired. Your child with Asperger's is somewhere in the middle. Now, how can you help your child move toward being more normal? Work to aid his self-confidence, and shield him from those who would discourage him.

Your child can study music. He may even discover that he is gifted at it, as many autistic people are. He may have perfect pitch, as many autistic people do. Music lessons in childhood can bear fruit for a lifetime. But finding the right teacher can be a challenge. The typical teacher may be wary of an unusual student like yours. But a music therapist wouldn't, or perhaps a family friend or family member. Your student will require special patience and also a reward system for practicing. But you need a reward system anyway to get your child to do chores and homework without whining.

Children with Aspergers need to learn social skills--they don't come naturally. It is your job as a parent to find teachable moments and use them well. These moments may not start arriving until middle school, when the child is becoming more aware of those around him. He may figure out that he is isolated, and may not like it. When this happens, it's your turn to pull him aside and tell him how to replay a particular social situation, this time with a better outcome.

Steps you can take are:

* Group sessions with other kids for the purpose of learning social skills. These may be led by a speech therapist, a social worker, or a teacher.

* Guide him in a conversation game every day after school. You, the parent, can become the teacher.

* Sending him to a special-needs school that will help with this. I believe that mainstreaming the child without any support is not helpful. These children need careful coaching on how to interact with others, and protection from bullying.

Bullying has lasting damaging effects on your child's self-esteem.

An Asperger's child in regular school may be the target of teasing and bullying. It is your job to try to make sure that isn't happening. You may want to volunteer at your child's school, to find out what is happening. If your child has an aide assigned to him, you can talk to the aide. You can ask the aide to help protect your child from teasing, as well. Negative teasing often goes unpunished in our culture. But you need to find a way to defend your child from these ill effects.

* You may want to look into homeschooling. For advice, you can search the Internet.

* A private special-needs school may be able to protect your child by controlling most interactions between peers.

So remember, it's your job to protect your child's self-esteem.

About the Author:

To learn many tools for raising your Aspergers youngster, be sure to check out Phyllis Wheeler's ebook, Nurturing Your Aspergers Child. In it Ms. Wheeler defines workable tools, such as a point system.