Urine Test for Autism?

Recent news stories about a urine test for autism caught my attention this week. Many studies have shown that individuals on the autism spectrum have difficulties with digestion. In many cases, although certainly not all, people on the spectrum tend to be very large or very thin. This tendency to cling to the extremes is curiously obvious at most Asperger social groups. Digestive "issues" are pervasive. Many aspies complain about these. I have noticed, for example, that under stress my stomach is easily upset and takes time to return to normal. Others can consume vast quantities of food without gaining a pound of weight for it. Yet others have difficulty losing weight despite diets and medicine. Aspies also tend to be picky eaters, betraying digestive sensitivity.

Researchers have homed in on these digestive problems and now believe they can detect autism, in some cases, with a urine test. Although it sounds ridiculous it just might work. No gene has been identified as "causing" autism and it has been noted that individuals on the autism spectrum almost always have a series of neurological and physical difficulties. The fact that these other problems accompany autism is to me a clue that there is more than one cause. It may be a series of genetic, environmental, and developmental causes that lead to autism. Whatever the case, the prospect of better diagnosis offers an opportunity to improve conditions for those on the spectrum. Perhaps children will not have to be terrorized in kindergarten, as I was, and spend many years suffering from symptoms of a condition they have never even heard of.

The availability of a detection method only underscores the growing need to spread neurodiversity and educate the general public about Asperger's and Autism.

~Isaac Kight, President

The Asperger Society

Asperger's and the Law

I have always been a strong advocate for neurodiversity. Far too many people have been mistreated due to their neurological condition. People with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) do know the difference between right and wrong, or can be taught, and cannot use their condition as an excuse. In the case of John Patrick Rogers of Huntington Beach, California, AS can neither explain nor defend his actions. This man has two convictions, to both which he plead guilty, of assault with a deadly weapon. He is terrorizing his neighbors, and he is now facing a third felony conviction. NA third strike felony conviction could mean a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

While the three strikes law has had the benefit of lowering crime, it also has some drawbacks. I personally oppose laws that remove discretion from juries because juries should have the right to determine how the law is applied, a power that for the last century has been usurped by judges. For a while judges were too lenient and more people fell victim to serious crimes by repeat offenders. This has led to a series of laws supported by victims advocates like the three strikes law. I can understand the reasons for these laws although on principal I do not support them.

I cannot see any reason why John Rogers should serve a life term. Such a sentence would be a serious miscarriage of justice. The most serious crime he has committed this time seems to be causing $400 worth of damage to a car and a long series of similar small incidents. In this news report we can see that the media is not favorable to neurodiversity:

1 While Asperger's Syndrome is reported as being a form of autism, the media continues to use the word autism afterward instead of Asperger's.

2 One man interviewed said that Rogers was "close to going over the edge." Over the edge of what? He seems to be implying that Rogers is somehow insane and will soon "lose it." This is a common problem, many people do not understand the difference between neurological challenges and mental challenges.

3 Toward the end of the report a second interviewee refers to mental issues. Again, Asperger's Syndrome is not a mental disorder, it is a neurological one. The reporters should have made some effort to clarify this point.

I do agree with the District Attorney that Rogers does know right from wrong. I disagree with his being prosecuted this way. Clearly he needs treatment and support to change his habits, but he does not need a 25 year jail sentence. Once again, Aspies find ourselves being punished for having AS.

Finally, I wonder if this story would have made the news if Mr. Rogers did not live in a gated community in an upscale part of southern California...

Think About Thursday: Teaching Disabilities

I have worked with a number of children who have been diagnosed with, or otherwise identified as having learning disabilities. It has always been curious to me that this label appears so often. In my experience many of these learning disabilities are not the real problem. The more relevant problem is teaching disability.

It is a fact that children learn in different ways. Some learn better through reading and writing, others through hearing and seeing, and yet more need to do something in order to learn it. The real problem is the "one size fits all" education. The current education system, designed in the 19th Century, draws children together at a time early in the morning and has them perform repetitive and often mindless tasks for several hours before they are allowed to go home and continue performing repetitive tasks that we call homework. It is an education system that is ideal for an industrial society wherein one must rise early in the morning, be at work on time, perform mindless repetitive tasks all day and then go home.

That society does not exist anymore. Today we need an education system that promotes creativity and innovation. One that allows children to develop their own unique talents, strengthen their academic weaknesses, and grow their general knowledge. I can recall that in 8th Grade my history teacher had me speak to the class about the pros and cons of the 17th Amendment (to the US Constitution). My classmates were astounded. In my high school government class I was one of seven students who passed the US citizenship test and the first student in that schools history to earn a 100% on said exam. Meanwhile, it took me two years to complete Algebra 1 with barely passing grades, the less said of Geometry the better!

Why can't we have an education system wherein a student who has a talent for history can advance at their own pace and take more advanced classes when they are ready for them, while also taking math a little slower? A system wherein a child who is an audio-visual learner can receive help in learning through reading and writing.

The fact is that our current education system has several serious teaching disabilities. It cannot adapt to varying learning styles. With 30 children in a room there are too many students to receive individualized instruction. It cannot offer instruction in the audio-visual, reading-writing, and doing learning styles for each subject.

A change needs to be made.

Asperger's is About to Be Merged With Autism

When I began helping my younger brother about 12 years ago, Asperger's Syndrome (AS) was a new condition. I found that there were very few resources available for children and almost none for adults with the condition. Eventually, I founded the Asperger Society because, while a great deal of attention was being paid to Autism, the greater part of that attention was focused on lower functioning autism. Individuals with Asperger's, I believe, have a very different set of needs from those with Autism. The largest issues are those of function and dependency: an individual with AS can build their social skills and eventually become self-sufficient. In fact, individuals with AS have a great deal to contribute to the world.

As I began working in education I realized that the Asperger's diagnosis had a few drawbacks. Under the IDEA 2004 special education law, students with "autism" are entitled to services that students with Asperger's (note the absence of the word Autism) do not have access to. As a result medical professionals began to use the diagnosis of "High Functioning Autism" (HFA) in order to give some children access to these services.

As Asperger's is about to find itself merged into "Autism Spectrum Disorders" (ASD) I find I have mixed feelings. On the one hand it will help to end the political strife that has surrounded the Asperger's diagnosis, on the other it once again lumps all individuals on the spectrum into one category. I do believe, however, that a greater understanding of what Autism really is has resulted from the increased attention drawn to it in recent years, and I do not think that any stigma will be attached to this the diagnosis. The old mental image of children rocking back and forth grunting has given way in large part to a deeper understanding of the condition.

Nevertheless, the world of mild-Autism, including AS, must remain separate as those with AS continue to have needs that are vastly different from those with Autism. Unfortunately, politics seem to be interfering with this reality.

Video Games

I have heard all of the arguments that video games are a good thing, and all of those arguing that they are all bad. Neither is the case, in my opinion. In the case of Nintendo's Wii game system, for example, there are virtual sports and activities that involve real movement, making it an excellent supplement for the child whose sensory challenges make outside play difficult. However, it is no substitute for slow desensitization, but it is something.

The fact is that video games are generally a bad thing. It is not necessary, however, to remove them from your child's life all together. Careful regulation of play time, careful monitoring of themes and content of games, and of course the perpetual struggle against obsession are all necessary.

Role Playing Games (RPGs) are now designed to have several days of play time (many in excess of 60 hours) because they are aimed at teens and adults who are willing to dedicate this amount of time. For a young child who may be interested in the game, it can be a nightmare for a game to go on for hours and hours without reaching any major plot points. These games can easily become obsessions and should be avoided.

Games that involve a lot of senseless violence or criminal behavior (WWE, the Grand Theft Auto series, and such) should be restricted to children who are 1) teenagers, and 2) have been prepared for the fact that these are fictitious games and do not apply to real life. Many parents I have helped will swear up and down that their child understands this distinction. When their child hits another child at school and says "it doesn't really hurt in my WWE video game," the parent finds out that this distinction, especially for young children on the autism spectrum, is not always clear.

For pre-teens and teens violent games should be, as often as practicable, as realistic as possible. Games like Medal of Honor and Ghost Recon, where real war scenarios are being played out are good examples. When people are shot they are hurt and they die. The connection between real violence and the real effect of violence is clear. However, I would not recommend these games to younger children on or off the spectrum. I recall that my grandfather (of blessed memory), who served in the US Army in the Pacific during WWII, once visited us for a few days. When my younger brother started playing a WWII game my grandfather's eyes were suddenly open wide and he turned pale white. He walked out of the house and started pacing back and forth. The violence was so real that he was taken back to the "killing fields of Okinawa." While I recommend these games over others because it is important to see the real cause and effect of violence, the fact is that these games are much too real.

Games where there is violence against aliens, the less human-like the better, are not as bad. Logistics games can be very useful. I recall a game I had for the Super-Nintendo (giving away my now old-age) that included six WWII battlefields in Europe. I could move regiments around, establish a long-term strategy, and had to make sure each unit had food, ammunition, fuel, and an appropriate amount of rest before being committed to action. Later, I had a game where I could design and run a roller coaster theme park. It was remarkably accurate to running a business: I had to hire and pay employees, take loans and pay them off, address costs, quality, and price... This was very useful as I studied business management and administration.

Generally video games are not a good thing, but they can have their uses.

Haiti Relief Effort

Please help Doctors Without Borders help the people of Haiti! http://htxt.it/A4X9

Effect of Asperger's Syndrome

The effects of Asperger's are important to understanding everything from eligibility for services to how those services need to help the person in need of them. This label will include information about how AS impairs development, how that effects the educational environment, and what can be done to help in each area.

Psychologists have established that there are three developmental domains: Psychological/Cognitive, Physical/Motor, and Social. For children with AS their impairments fall in subsets of these categories. Under Psychological/Cognitive there are three primary areas of impairment: Executive Function/Judgement, Cognitive Processing and Sensory Processing.

Executive Function

Executive Function impairment in AS is usually manifested in the form of general disorganization and what will appear to others as exercising poor judgement. It is not so much that people with AS are not able to reason their way through problems as that they reason through problems differently than others. Their judgement may be perfectly sound in their eyes.

Cognitive Processing

Cognitive Processing is two problems in one: accuracy and speed of processing. A person with AS may not be able to process information accurately because they are not able to receive and process all of the relevant information available to them. Even when they are able to process all of the information they may do so slower. If rushed they may leap to incorrect assumptions and conclusions much as they might when they are not able to process all of the information. I like to use driving as an example: one has to be able to see and process all of the relevant information about the location of nearby cars, state of traffic lights, and such fast enough to respond before an accident occurs. Imagine the consequences for those who process this information too slowly. An individual with AS might describe their academic and social situation to be a series of head-on collisions.

Sensory Processing

Perhaps the most difficult thing for those who do not have AS to understand about those who do is sensory overload. The next problem is that people with AS will tend to oscillate bak and forth between hyper-sensitivity and hypo-sensitivity (Ed Phipps). Helping children and adults with these sensory challenges can be very difficult. It is important to know what each individual's sensory challenges are. If there is a certain color or shape that consumes their attention, or loud sounds. There will also be times when the things that often bother them do not; this does not mean that they no longer bother the person only that it does not bother them at that moment. A long-term approach of desensitization is necessary whereby the individual is slowly introduced to new sensory stimuli. At times individuals with autism will "stim" on an item, that is focus on it. This should not be discouraged because it is often part of their self-soothing. Instead, work to establish rules and limitations on stiming over time. One might create an opportunity for the child to take space in a safe place with a stim until they have calmed down or for a specific amount of time (5 mins, for example). Over time this system of regulating stim and increasing sensory processing abilities will help the individual "outgrow " of their sensory processing challenges.

Motor Skills

Individuals with AS often have awkwardness in their motor development. Motor development is an area of impairment for some individuals with AS. They will often have awkward physical movements, difficulty coordinating their bodies for sports activities, and general clumsiness. This is also an area of impairment that tends to lead to bullying, bullies will note an individual's physical clumsiness as a sign that they cannot adequately defend themselves. There solution is increased coordinated physical activity, playing catch with a baseball or football, for example. Martial arts are also an excellent means of building physical discipline, mental discipline and learning how to apply a minimum of force in one's own defense; thus avoiding trouble with school officials when they want to punish the victim of violence because they are a "problem child." It is important to note that while video games do improve hand-eye coordination, they do so for the thumbs only. Writing and drawing with a pen or pencil will provide a broader degree of hand-eye coordination.

Bullying

Children with AS are often bullied at school. There are several reasons for this. Many individuals are often lacking in assertiveness, and others are too assertive without a proper means of building respect or authority. Physical awkwardness and a lack of control over their feelings can lead to tantrum attacks where the child launches an uncoordinated lunge at another. These only escalate conflicts. What is more, children with AS are often pegged as troublemakers by school officials which will give bullies the idea that the child is an easy target. As an example, I was recently hired by parents who became fed up when their son was suspended after he was attacked by three other children. He managed to push two of the children off of him and proceeded to give the third a bloody nose. Naturally, the only student punished was the victim. The school district thus opened itself to a discrimination suit (probably in court by next year) and the other children continued to bully the student until he was moved to another placement. Interestingly enough, they never choose to hit him again. I think the student should be given a medal for defending himself but he made one mistake: by giving the other student a bloody nose he applied too much force in his own defense. In a martial arts class he might have learned how to force someone to the ground so he could get away without hurting that person too much.

As for the school officials, who wants to be known as a bigot. When I conduct a training at a school district, as I often do, I begin by defining discrimination against a special needs child and how they need to be aware. If you treat a student as a trouble child, so will the other students.

Deliberate Behavior

I am always put off when I hear the tired statements about a child with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) along one of these lines:

"Oh, he just won't behave."

"His parents just aren't tough enough."

"All the kid needs is to do what he's told."

"He just needs an attitude adjustment."

I remember an IEP where a teacher, after hearing the parent complain about the teacher's utter lack of knowledge about AS, blurted out "[Johnny] doesn't have Asperger's he just can't sit still, won't stop talking about whatever he wants to, and won't follow directions." After the tirade I calmly pointed out that she had just given a fair description of the symptoms of AS (the school psychologist nodding along with me). I then had to explain to all present one reality of the condition:
It isn't that [Johnny] won't follow directions it is that he can't. He does not know how to show respect for authority because he has not learned that social skill and adapted it to his everyday life (he barely followed his mother's directions at the time). Because he has AS [Johnny] has an impairment in the area of social learning which means he will have more difficulty learning the skill. Some children have trouble learning how to multiply, [Johnny] has trouble learning how to follow directions.

In answer to the cliches at the beginning of the post:

It is not that a child won't behave but they can't. They do not know what good behavior means. Teaching them this will require some patience.

Parents need to be understanding. Their lives would be a living hell if they did not give their child some space to grow. Naturally, they are teaching the child skills at what speed the child can learn. Even the "best" parents by social standards have a great deal of difficulty raising children on the spectrum. In fact among parents of children with Autism there is an 80% divorce rate.

Finally, doing what you are told, and having a good attitude, involves a good number of social skills. First they have to trust the person telling them to do the thing; knowing whom to trust is an acquired skill for any person. Next they must understand why the directive is given. If [Johnny] is comfortable with his room being a mess, what of it? Mum wants it to be organized; that's her problem, why should he care? People expect one's home to be clean and neat; why? Who cares what other people think?

These characteristics are not just the result of bad attitude, they are the result of acculturation. A child with AS will have his own culture and it will take time to teach him the value of adopting ours. When [Johnny] wants to have friends, he will learn that having friends means having consideration for their thoughts and feelings. It will be a long struggle, but he will eventually learn as long as someone believes in him enough to be patient and work through it.

A Lesson On Tourette's Syndrome

I had a wonderful student I worked with some years ago when I served as a consultant for an Asperger's Syndrome (AS) school. When he first arrived he started to disrupt the class frequently. I spoke with his mother and it turned out he had a duel diagnosis: Asperger's and Tourette's. I immediately thought what I often do when a student has an OCD or ADHD diagnosis along with Asperger's Syndrome (AS): The doctor is using the symptoms of AS that overlap with other conditions. A student with ADHD is easily distracted, but if they also have very poor social skills and a great deal of difficulty learning these skills they more likely have AS. Can a person have ADHD and AS at the same time? Doctors continue to debate this but if all of the symptoms of ADHD fall within AS and a student has the latter diagnosis I would say that the ADHD diagnosis is irrelevant.

This lovable student and I actually went back and forth for a time about whether he had Tourette's. I thought he was using it as an excuse to talk out all of the time. At one point I began to think I might have fallen into the classic trap: a failure to understand. I conducted some research and talked with the student. He was quite eloquent in explaining the difficulty he had controlling his need to speak and his need to do so about otherwise inappropriate topics.

I watched him exert such an effort, even tensing his lips until they looked at though they might explode and yet he could barely control himself. The other students could not help but respond to his comments and problems would erupt from there.

While I managed to convince some of the other school staff members to show him greater patience, the staff were used to helping children with Asperger's and did not accommodate the Tourette's element.

I helped him as much as I could during the time that I was there, and he made major progress. When I left that school to my next project I was heartbroken at having to leave this student behind. I understand that the staff did not treat him with the same degree of fairness and understanding after I left.

Incredibly, this student has awesome musical talent. Not only does he play the guitar but has a good ear for improvisation. He was also able to learn new songs by listening to them. I can't do that. When we put on a play at the school we organized a band with some instruments we had purchased through a grant. He was our lead guitar player and what a show he put on!!!

In the business of helping special needs children one should never presume that what a child does they do deliberately. In some cases they cannot control it.

Why I Work in the Asperger's Field

I am occasionally asked how I came to working with children with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) and why I am regarded as an expert. You might wonder: "how a guy with a business degree ended up in this field?" It is true that I am neither a psychologist, a counselor, nor a doctor, but I do have a talent as a businessman: I am a problem solver. I approach every situation like a challenge that has to be overcome. If I have to contract out IT services for a sizable mortgage company on a five digit budget in three weeks, then I need to start finding solutions. In fact I had an IT service working for my company within two weeks and under budget (an IT service in the United States, by the way).

How did I come to working with AS... It is a long story, but I can offer the short version here.

Some years ago my younger brother was diagnosed with AS. My father and I noticed that Asperger's-like tendencies existed in our family. I myself once sought the counsel of a medical professional about whether I have AS and received the label "sub-clinical Asperger's."

I began to work with my brother to help him learn things he did not know about social skills. I soon found myself volunteering one day a week is his special education classroom. I attended some parent groups and became somewhat involved. Parents were complaining about problems with the special education system. It was not long before parents started inviting me to their special education meetings (called IEPs). Schools started inviting me for trainings and speaking engagements. Eventually, someone pointed out that if I charged for my time this could be a career. Thus ended my promising career as the VP of a real estate and mortgage firm and began my career as an advocate and AS specialist.

Not too many years later after many letters to many members of Congress both from parents I knew, and tens of thousands more across the country, Congress began to piece together IDEA 2004; the latest special education law. I watched as many of committee hearings as I could stand, read the legislation several times over, and attended meetings, along with parents and other education activists, with several members of Congress as they explained what this law would do. Things became a little easier for the parents, but challenges remain.

I later founded the Asperger Society (www.AspergerSociety.com) an organization that provides free social groups for children and adults with AS.

In serving many clients, parents, schools (public and private), and mentoring at the social groups, I have become something of an expert. I have met and helped hundreds of special needs children the greater number of them having AS. I have thus gained expertise through experience. I have also had the opportunity to work with and learn from experts like Ed Phipps and with organizations like Autism Speaks, The Reading Clinic, and The Autism Project.

Well that is the short version, contact me to find out how I can help you.

Unity

A good friend of mine who is also an advocate for those with mental illnesses, that is everything from depression to schizophrenia, recently pointed out the flaw in the approach many have to community advocacy.

Essentially, there are so many different conditions each of which is unique, and each of the individuals with each condition are equally unique, advocacy becomes utter chaos. Autism, as an example, is a condition where no one can agree on the cause and cure. Some parents want research for a medical cure; some want better diets, some want social cognitive training and other behavioral improvement programs, and within these the pro-ABA, anti-ABA, and Ed Phipps modified ABA. In essence everyone is after the same piece of the metaphorical pie and each group has a different agenda for it. We pull in all different directions and eventually we will fall.

What can we do to get on the same page? Not just the autism community but the mental health community as a whole? It is a very good question. If we all banded together we might move slower toward our goals but we would be marching together without stepping on each other's toes. It is also important to note that if we all work together, we can grow our piece of the pie, but if we continue to act haphazardly, the pie will eventually shrink.

One problem is that Autism is the "diagnosis of the day." Right now everything, everywhere is about Autism and Developmental Disabilities (DD). Interestingly enough, Asperger's and similar mild forms of autism and DDs seem to go virtually unnoticed. What will happen when another condition or series thereof becomes the "diagnosis of the day?" When Childhood Apraxia and selective mutism are the big conditions tomorrow, what will the Autism community do? The same thing the schizophrenia community is doing now: clamor again to get a seat at the table. Why not simply agree to find more chairs?

"A house divided against itself cannot stand." ~Abraham Lincoln

Genius and Asperger's

BBC has done an excellent job of covering Asperger's syndrome (AS) in a positive light, unlike the US media. In the following article the BBC explains the suspicion on the part of scientists like Dr. Michael Fitzgerald of the University of Dublin who believe that AS is behind the genius of many renown personalities.

Added to this list are characters like Lewis Carroll, Andy Warhol, and Marie Curie are also thought to have had the condition. Many founders of the United States are also suspected including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson to name a few. Many tech geniuses are highly suspected: Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, and Steve Jobs.

There are upsides to AS. It is also important to note that if you have a child with AS who is not an Einstein, Warhol, or Gates, that is okay too. For every AS "genius" there are many who are bright and capable in their own way. I believe that every child ought to be treated as a prospective genius and perhaps we might have a more intelligent society.

Vitamin D

Scientific American Magazine recently published an article about the apparent connection between the presence of vitamin D and autism. Mothers who do not spend enough time in the sun, where they will absorb more sunlight and make more vitamin D, may be at higher risk for a child with Autism. Also, children who have a lower exposure to sunlight may be at higher risk.

While this does not answer all of our questions about Autism, it is an interesting development. Many people have commented about the success achieved by Paul Bondonno, MA Psych. and myself in our free social groups. It is interesting that our activities involve, first of all being outdoors at a public park, and second, that the children are being active. Several neurologists have suggested to me in recent years that the physical activities the children engage in help them to coordinate their movement and develop their motor skills.

I am not a doctor, but in my day children would go outside and run around. We played basketball, soccer, and other games. Many of the children we work with today in our groups want to play video games indoors all of the time. Many of them are sensitive to sunlight and avoid being outdoors for that reason. In any case, we work to motivate these children to spend more time outdoors, and to be more active.

Studies are being conducted now on the vitamin D theory. I believe this will not answer all of our questions about Autism but it will add to our knowledge.

Social Skills Consulting

Once again I have been approached by a significant corporation to provide social skills education for their employees. As usual they want to have a training specifically on Asperger's Syndrome (AS). They also want to create AS support groups within the organization. While I certainly appreciate being approached for this kind of business there several problems with what they are asking for.

Technology companies often have a large number of eccentric employees, some with AS and some without, and a good number of employees from differing cultural backgrounds. Just about everyone can benefit from social skills training sessions but many would be insulted by the mere suggestion that this is the case.

It is by far an easier road to travel when a company simply holds a "parallel" social skills training session. As an example, a company can set up a team building workshop for a given department. In addition to other team building exercises and lectures, I would be included to provide some social basics. Now instead of having a training session set up specifically for social learning the session now simply includes it. I usually insert a good amount of humor into my powerpoint presentations and try to have a good time with these social skills sessions. This makes the process fun and avoids insulting anyone.

Instead of feeling singled out or insulted, employees who have Asperger's, or similar challenges, will often approach me after the training session and inquire after my background with AS.

In addition to the training sessions, I work to provide support groups, but not built around AS. Instead of forming a group based upon "what is wrong with me" I prefer to form them around nerdy interests like Science-fiction, role playing games, and video games. These interests attract those with social deficits into an environment where they can receive "support" while avoiding the negatives. This program is also a major confidence building exercise.

Finally, I usually request hours for observations and one to one time. In this way I can meet with those employees who feel left out or put down within the organization and those who feel they need someone to listen to their complaints. Simply by doing this I help them relieve some of their stress. In addition they feel remarkably empowered when I share their insights, mostly anonymously except where unnecessary, with the upper management. This approach helps to provide feedback at all levels.

My methodology is simple: perspective taking. I understand the perspective of those eccentric and socially challenged individuals and help to communicate their perspective to those who do not. I also help those with social challenges who naturally have difficulty taking the perspectives of others (although they have an excuse) and help them to understand the perspectives of others around them. This provides a mutual benefit.

As an example, an employee at a given company had several ideas for how to improve operations. There are socially appropriate ways to do this. Frequently flooding your supervisor's email inbox with many long emails is not one of them. I helped him understand that there was an appropriate process and described the slow and subtle way of getting your point across. I then created a scenario wherein he was the supervisor and I was the subordinate who "bugged" him with issues through improper channels. He began to understand and sent an apology to his supervisor.

I then sat down with the supervisor and explained that in such situations the acknowledgment of the employee's idea initially is important. Then try to explain that while you are considering an idea he will need to wait until she (the supervisor) has heard back from her superiors. Whether or not the ideas were being communicated to a superior is irrelevant, it resolved the question for the time being.

These are just a few examples of ways I have been able to help companies. Unfortunately, they often approach me initially, as has happened once again, simply looking for Asperger's support and training sessions.

Bringing It On Yourself

A parent called me recently in a panic. A video came had been stolen from their child's backpack at school. What is worse, when they contacted the school an employee familiar with the child said: "he brought it on himself." The employee dismissed the parent's concerns and treated her as though she had no right to complain. Only later did we find out that there was in fact to be investigation of the incident.

How can a child with special needs bring anything like this on themselves? Yes they occasionally provoke other students and often lack the social knowledge to discontinue such provocation at an appropriate point. Nevertheless, these children are not responsible for security or the protection of private property on campus: the school employees are. If an item is stolen the fault is not on the student but on the school. The school is responsible for discipline on campus, not the parent. The negligence of the victim is not a defense for the perpetrator.

Tough Times

In this economy individuals with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) are being disproportionately impacted. First of all, high unemployment means more job competition and those with AS may find themselves at a disadvantage to their more socially skilled competitors, despite having equal or greater qualifications. It is important not to let this get you down. Find ways to practice for job interviews.

Here is a run through of several critical points to consider in a job interview:

Presentation- Dress well, wear deodorant, make certain your hair looks good.

Eye Contact- Practice making eye contact, no one will trust you unless you are willing to make eye contact.

Speech- Speak clearly and at a reasonable speed. Be concise, do not volunteer more information than is necessary to answer the interviewers questions.

Posture- Stand straight up, sit forward in your chair. This will help you look attentive. DO NOT FIDGET! Make sure there are no signs of nervous behaviors.

Question- Most importantly, while being humble about your qualifications enter the interview convinced that you are the best candidate for the job. The interviewer may ask: Why are you the best fit for this position? Have an answer: I am a team player; I take direction well; I love working in this field; I am motivated to do my best; and so on. If you are not convinced that you deserve the job, the interviewer will discern this from your body language and demeanor.

Good luck and good hunting! We must keep a stiff upper lip and remember that things will improve in time. Some economic indicators are showing the beginnings of a slow recovery.

Asperger Society goes Global

Peter Batten recently received the Winston Churchill Award in Australia for his work with children who have Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), a mild form of Autism that impairs social development. Mr. Batten, a former business executive, now teaches a class for children with AS in Canberra. The award allowed him to travel to the United States and the United Kingdom to visit AS programs in those countries. Among those Mr. Batten included in his application was Isaac Kight, President of the Asperger Society.

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