Issues faced by high-functioning kids-what I want scientists to explore

Hello, I started this post. My only suggestion would be to make sure your child can be in a smaller class size. We come from a one horse town too. Don't let that be the deciding factor. It almost ruined our family and our son. The school was totally wrong for him - and us. Some schools are great when they're the only game in town, ours was not.

Check out as many schools in your area that have a culture of acceptance. Not acceptance of disabled children, acceptance of EVERYONE. Then your child will just feel that they "fit".

I suggest that you go on a tour first, then you take your child. Kids get a vibe right away about the teacher, kids and staff and environment.

I wish you luck. Do your homework early in your child's school years.

I had my son go through private Educational Assessments because he wasn't receiving services through his original school. After going through three highly regarding institutions and getting Auditory Processing Disorder at 5 years and PDD-NOS at 8 years. Here's what we have now:
*Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Predominatntly Inattentive Type.
*Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder
*Reading Disorder
*Learning Disorder NOS (oral comprehension)
*Generalized Anxiety Disorder

So officially, he is no longer dx with ASD. His behaviors mirrored ASD because of his language problems and he evidentially had OCD and happened to have had bowel problems and chronic ear infections and strep.

He'll be ten on August 2, maybe this will give us a new start. It's unbelievable, isn't it? At least I really know why he didn't speak, listen and has poor social skills.....

Hi MzUnderstood!

I'm so glad to hear your news. Hopefully, these in depth evaluations will help guide treatments and intervetions to provide even more help for your son than before.

I just wanted to note: because he looked so ASD-ish, there may be ASD-related techniques you've learned about that may still prove helpful. That is often true when a child is in that borderland where conditions overlap and resemble one another.

Also: if you're participating in IAN Research, you are still qualified to participate. The criteria are that your child has ever been diagnosed with an ASD. Researchers are actually interested in how diagnoses change over time. You might want to write the IAN Research Team and let them know about the change, too: researchteam@kennedykrieger.org

Best wishes to you both!

My son is 12 years-old and was diagnosed with high-functioning Aspbergers and ADHD with anxiety disorder. He is in the 7th grade this year and this has been the worst school year thus far. Obviously in the 7th grade they are preparing these kids for homework, responsibility to complete the homework, etc. My son is failing miserably this year. He is a very smart kid and I do not understand why he is not doing his homework, but he is not. So, therefore he is getting 4- F's and 1-D. I am so lost. We have taken away his screens (video games, TV, etc) for the last two months. He gets very defensive when we approach the subject of a tutor or going to the afterschool program. His testing he gets mostly all A's and B's on, but not turning in his homework is causing him to fail.

I just do not know where to go anymore with him. He continually tells me he is trying, but I receive a note every day that there was an assignment he did not turn in. The school has given him a small computer to do his long assignments on as he does not like fine manipulation and he writes like a kindergartner.

We do get family therapy and he gets individual therapy. He is on Ritalin every day. I am completely lost and do not know where to turn or what to do anymore so if there is someone that can offer me some sort of advice- I would so appreciate it. Please HELP!!!

Hi Jmm, and welcome to IAN.

As social complexity and academic demands increase, students with Asperger's can have a very difficult time. Middle school is one of the points where both social and academic demands increase.

One strategy might be to call an IEP and explore what does work for your son. If he is learning, and he is doing well on tests, and homework is the main issue leading to failure and stress -- then maybe homework load could be reduced as part of his accommodations.

In Tony Attwood's book on Asperger's syndrome, he discusses how just holding it together through the day is a huge strain on students with Asperger's. Often, they need a lot of down time to recover, and loads of homework can preclude that. He would actually prescribe "no homework" for his patients in distress. I know the program for Asperger's in our county's middle school program keeps the homework load very light, concentrating on making the most of the school day. As children learn to cope, the load can be increased.

Another issue is simply executive function. Many individuals with Asperger's have a terrible time with organization -- including keeping track of their materials and assignments. This is something that can be addressed in the IEP, and should be viewed by the school as part of the disability that needs remediation, not as a personal failing.

You might find our section on Asperger's helpful - be sure to look at each of the sub-sections, including the one on Executive Function: http://www.iancommunity.org/cs/about_asds/aspergers_syndrome

There are also some good resources offered by the Organization for Autism Research, including "An Educator's Guide to Asperger Syndrome" (in case your school doesn't really understand Asperger's) and "A Parent's Guide to Assessment": http://www.researchautism.org/resources/reading/index.asp

You guys are correct- Thru most of the books I have read and the research I have done, it is widely accepted by doctors and researchers that early intervention is VITAL to helping your child with ASD. No matter what side of the spectrum your child is on, there is a "critical period" in which it is necessary for your child's development. Like learning languages, people have a critical period in their lives to learn certain tasks at or before a certain age. The human brain has a higher capacity for learning languages at a younger age than it does at an older age. In the same way, researchers are showing that the first 5 years of a child with ASD is his/her own critical learning period. To make progresses in your child's disorder, to give him/her the most normal life possible, it is absolutely necessary to intervene in those first five years.
To those of you with children that are older- just remember the analogy to languages I posed before: while it is easier for a child to learn a second language than an adult, an adult still has the capability. When it comes to your child and his/her own welfare, it is never too late to intervene.

Hi Popo2, and welcome to IAN.

You are so right that early intervention is critical, but also that intervention later is ALSO important. For many kids, especially higher functioning ones, a diagnosis does not even happen until later - sometimes not until middle school, or even adulthood.

I am working on a new article about behavioral treatments in autism that will explain interventions with a behavioral component that are used both very early (like Discrete Trial Training or Pivotal Response Training) and that are used later, with older individuals (like Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy or CBT). Hopefully, the article will go up on IAN Community in December.