Behavior in Children with Aspergers

Children with aspergers syndrome have the specific behavioral symptoms that can make it difficult for them both in their family and at school. It was Hans Asperger, a Viennese pediatrician, who first documented a group of behaviors that is now known as aspergers syndrome in the early 1940s. He observed a group of boys with the condition which characterized a variety of levels of intellect and language development but seem to have difficulty with communication and socialization.

It wasn't until the mid-1990s that psychiatry recognized the diagnosis in the DSM-IV and even later than that before professionals and parents understood the disability of aspergers syndrome.

Aspergers syndrome falls in the spectrum of autistic spectrum disorders or pervasive personality disorders. Because it is one of many in this spectrum and because aspergers syndrome manifests in a variety of ways children may not display exactly the same set of symptoms but will show similarities in behavior. These challenges make it somewhat difficult to accurately diagnose children with aspergers syndrome. Some experts will use a variety of terminologies including as for autism or high functioning autism all of which have common symptoms to those of aspergers syndrome.

What differentiates individuals with aspergers from autism is that autistic behavior manifests itself much earlier in age band does aspergers syndrome. Aspergers will happen when the child is well past the age of three with most diagnoses occurring in five to nine years of age. Individuals with autism will often be diagnosed prior to the age of two.

Children who have aspergers syndrome will exhibit behaviors such as an inability to interact with others or they may acquire obsessive fixations on things. These obsessive fixations can be misinterpreted as obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is one diagnosis misinterpreted as aspergers syndrome.

Children may also develop peculiar speaking habits and even act with weird gestures. These behaviors may be a results of the neurological deficits from which they suffer and are the basis of their aspergers syndrome. They are also not expressive and find it difficult to interpret other people's nonverbal communication. The combination of these two behaviors often singles children out as targets for bullies and teasing. Some other children also believe that these kids are self-centered, selfish or egotistical because they are unwilling to participate in social interaction when in fact they are unable.

Children with aspergers syndrome also tend to be extremely sensitive to specific sensory stimuli. These include touch, sound and light. Bright fluorescent lighting may cause them to shield their eyes and they may place their hands over their years for sounds that others find pleasing. These behaviors in children with aspergers syndrome decrease their ability to participate in mainstream society and increase their ostracization for social immaturity, eccentricity and even clumsiness.

Children will have limited interaction with other people, not because they wish it but because they are on able to interact in a social situation which engages the other person. They have reactions to other people that are incompatible with the social situation.

A child who has autism will have delayed language development but children with aspergers syndrome will have excellent grammar skills and even high levels of vocabulary. However, they are on able to read the nonverbal cues in communication and misinterpret most humor.

Children will develop appropriately when it comes to being able to dress themselves, help themselves and feeding but they will be unable to have a "normal" attention span and will have very little organizational abilities.

Children with aspergers syndrome will appear to have absolutely no common sense, especially as they grow older. This is because they interpret the world around them in a very concrete manner and are on able to exhibit any social imagination. Using the social imagination, a child should be able to interpret humor, nonverbal social communication skills and be able to finish another person sentence when they understand the entire circumstance. Children with aspergers syndrome will be unable to complete those tasks.

Children with aspergers syndrome will also have an imbalance in their ability to participate in gives and takes social relationships. Even though the child may be able to initiate interactions they are typically considered to be "on his own terms". These children's look very egocentric from the outside and may relate primarily to the child specific wants, needs and desires. Sometimes they appear very quiet or withdrawn and have a very limited social drive. This means they are unwilling to interact with other children their own age because of either fear or of rejection or because of the severity of the condition.

These children also, typically do not learn social rules. They don't learn either by observing or through frequent verbal reminders. They don't intentionally ignore or break the rules body have a difficult time accurately understanding their social environment and don't understand that a particular rule is applied to a specific social events. For example, a teacher may remind the child with aspergers syndrome that he cannot push other children. He may be reminded prior to going out to recess at ones they are the child will push several other children.

Some children and also have specific preferences for closing that are due to comfort level or in relationship to sensory sensitivities. Children do not often make their decisions about what to wear based on peer pressure but rather for a concern of their own comfort. For instance, some children prefer no ridges on the caller or no elastic on the waste were wrist or no buttons down the front of his shirt. Other children would rather wear blue jeans while others were only elastic waist pants.

Their lack of social imagination and communications skills will also mean that they have difficulty acquiring and reading or solving skills. These children will also exhibit some physically clumsy and uncoordinated movements that makes them a target for teasing at gym class and poor choices for sporting activities.

While there are highly articulate and expressive language skills may convince some that they have advanced communications skills this is a mis-labeling of the child's abilities. Children can exhibit difficulty with their narrative skills including relating pass defense or retelling stories or television shows in a sequential manner. They often leave out important pieces of rock with relevant information and may revise the story completely.

Children who have aspergers syndrome have the intelligence and the language development to be able to function in a mainstream classroom. However, there appears and classmates should be told of their unique behavioral mannerisms and learning abilities that are associated with their condition. It should be noted that the parent of the child with aspergers syndrome must give permission prior to any peer training. This sharing of information with the child's classmates, especially when children learn that the child with aspergers syndrome does not choose to act in these ways and is unable to function any other way, often leads to better understanding and more social acceptance by their peers.

While the behaviors of children and with aspergers syndrome can be a significant challenge to the parents, peers and teachers there are specific strategies which can be used to encourage more productive interaction for the children and social strategies which help them throughout life.

Alternative Treatments for Autism

Usually the first treatment mentioned for Autism is medication. This is changing. More people are open to trying alternative treatments. Medications can have terrible side effects, so more people are looking for natural products. Here are some alternative treatments used for Autism.

Nutritional

There are several diets that can be used when treating Autism. They range from eating Gluten free products to eliminating dairy from the diet. Some Autistic children have a sensitivity to certain ingredients in food. These ingredients will contribute to behavioral problems, or meltdowns when eaten.

Omega 3's

Omega 3 has been found to be helpful in treating Autism, as well as many other disorders. People using the Omega 3 have found better sleep patterns, social interaction, and over all health of their child. People wanting to try this alternative treatment can add fish oil to their children's diet. Fish oil can be found in capsule for or liquid. Some children have trouble swallowing the capsule. The liquid form can be found in a flavorless type that is mixed in a drink.

Music Therapy

Several studies have found music therapy to be very beneficial to the Autistic child. Sometimes an Autistic child will sing along with music while they will not speak. This is one way of working on the child's speech. The music can be soothing to an Autistic child. It can relax them enough to take part in an activity with other people.

Sensory Integration

Children with Autism can be very sensitive to noises, tastes, textures, and smells. Sensory integration therapy helps the child to deal with whatever it is causing them problems. It can also be used to calm a child with something like a certain smell or texture.

Speech Therapy

Speech therapy is a must for any child with Autism. Children with Autism usually misuse words. They often have a hard time understanding the meanings of words like few or many. Speech therapists can help teach gestures and communication skills to nonverbal children. They can help the child to learn how to read other people's body language.

Play Therapy

Play therapy can be very useful when treating an Autistic child. Play therapy allows the child to relax and focus on things they enjoy. A therapist working with an autistic child will play on the floor with the child. They will give the child various toys and see if the child takes a liking to one of them. If the child begins to play the therapist will then try to interact with the child. After the therapist has formed a relationship with the child they might bring another child into play therapy. This can be a great way to get the Autistic child to play with other kids. Usually a therapist does the play therapy, however the parent can do the therapy after they have learned the techniques used.

These are just a few of the many alternative treatments available for Autism. Medication does not have to be a first resort. These can also be combined with medication for a better treatment plan.

Dairy Free Diet to Treat Autism

Parents are turning to their child's diet to when treating Autism. Some believe that Autistic children have a food sensitivity. They believe dairy, also known as Casein, is one of the foods to cause problems with Autistic children. Removing all dairy from your child's diet can at first seem very difficult to do. Most kids love cheese and ice cream.

Most people following a dairy free diet also remove Gluten from the diet. The ingredient in dairy that it thought to cause problems is Casein. Casein is a protein found in dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, and some hotdogs. It is very important to read all labels on food the child will be eating.

If you are going to try the dairy free diet with your child you will need to make sure they are getting enough calcium. This can be done with vitamin supplements, or milk substitutes. Many types of food are including calcium.

It is thought that the Casein reacts in the Autistic child's body causing the unwanted behaviors. They think if the dairy products are removed some of the behaviors will leave. It should take a few months to know if the diet is working for your child. If you are considering removing Gluten from the diet too it is advised to try removing dairy first. The dairy is removed from the body much faster than the Gluten. Gluten can take ten months or more to be completely removed from the body.

Following a Casein free diet can be expensive. Most milk replacements cost double the price of regular milk. Not all stores will carry the dairy free products. They can usually be found at specialty, or health food stores. You can find Casein free products on the internet for mail order. There are also lots of Casein free recipes available online. To save on the cost of Casein free foods some families find another family in their area using the same diet, and share the cost of ingredients by buying in bulk. They then split the foods.

If you choose to try a Casein (dairy) free diet with your Autistic child remember to allow enough time to see if the diet is helping. It can be helpful to keep a journal while trying the diet. Keep a record of behaviors your Autistic child has. Then you can see if the number of behaviors is dropping. If you have not removed Gluten from your child's diet you may want to consider this if your child is not improving from the dairy free diet.

To find out if your Autistic child has a sensitivity to dairy (Casein) have them allergy tested. This will tell you if you should remove any other foods from the diet. If you are wanting more information about Casein free diets visit your local library. You can find many books that deal with dairy free living. The internet is also a great source of information.

A Casein free diet might be helpful in treating your child's Autism. It is not a cure for Autism though. It will only help treat some of the symptoms.

Doctors and Diagnosing Autism

When a doctor first suggests that your child has autism, your immediate reaction might be disbelief and the urge to seek a second, third, or even fourth opinion. Because autism is so different in every child, it is a tricky disorder to diagnose. However, there are a few key ways in which doctors can efficiently identify autism in children, and if your infant or toddler is showing any of these signs of autism, you should visit your pediatrician immediately to express your concerns.

Autism occurs at a young age, rather than being a disorder an older child might develop. It is usually detected before the age of three, and many times much earlier. The first signs or autism are usually delays or regression in speech communication. Another early sign is abnormal behavior in group play situations and other social situations. The first step to diagnosing autism is a thorough physical examination as well as a review of family history by a specialist. Although your regular pediatrician will be able to spot unusual behavior, you'll want your child to be examined by a professional who specializes in autism and other similar diseases to make sure your child is properly diagnosed.

The next step includes hearing tests. Sine language and social skill delays could be due to inadequate auditory sensations. There are two types of auditory tests, one of which records the tones a child can hear and the other of which requires sedation and measures the brain response to certain tones. Of course, the first method is preferred, since it does not require any use of a sedative. After auditory testing, your doctor may encourage testing your child for Fragile X syndrome, which often times goes hand in hand with autism. Metabolism can also be evaluated. To do this, your doctor will need a blood or urine sample to analyze DNA.

An MRI or CAT scan can also be helpful in diagnosing autism. The important thing is to work with doctors you trust. Second opinions can be very helpful, but when your child has been diagnosed, stick with one doctor so that treatment is uniform and so that your child will get used to this person. Autism is difficult to diagnose and even more difficult to treat, so remember that you should begin to learn as much as possible about the disorder as soon as your doctor identifies it. If you have yet to speak with your doctor about abnormal behavior in your child, do so immediately. By detecting autism early, you give your child a better chance at becoming a high-functioning individual with much more opportunities in life.