www.aspie-editorial.com

JENNY SMITH

Last updated 14:29 18/08/2011

Plenty of opinion pieces have been published in recent years on the autistic spectrum condition known as Asperger’s syndrome.

It has been interesting to see the proliferation of an Asperger’s diagnosis of both adults and children throughout this decade, but it has raised serious questions for me when Asperger’s is confused with giftedness.

Diagnosis of any psychological, emotional or social condition is made on the basis of the behaviours of individuals and their reporting of their thoughts and feelings. When the same behaviours, thoughts and feelings can be attributed to more than one condition, it can be difficult to determine the cause.

When one significant condition is not well understood, the chances are that the diagnosis will be incomplete. The explanation that is not considered in the case of children and adults of high ability expressing concerns about their social engagement is that they may be gifted.

This is generally because being gifted and its attendant difficulties are not well understood within the medical or educational communities.

For centuries, writers and researchers have observed and recorded how very high ability, particularly in the cognitive domain, leads to asynchronous development in the emotional, social and physical domains.

Long before Dr Asperger identified behaviours related to an inability to relate to others and social difficulties, many gifted individuals had spoken of how their intellectual drive made it difficult to connect with the mundane aspects of life.

They found that connecting to people with whom there was little in common, or sharing ideas which were new, complicated and demanding in a way that others could follow was problematic and made communication awkward.

Gifted children can appear to have the same behaviours as those with Asperger’s. They have good language skills and great memories. They have areas of deep interest, and can have great imaginations so are often dreamy and out of tune with what’s around them or be so logical and straightforward in their thinking that imagination and pretence are a mystery to them.

Many gifted children fidget, since it can help keep the brain occupied and allow them to organise their thoughts more easily, while others may hum, sing or talk to themselves to achieve the same effect.

They need time to engage in the activities that they are most satisfied by. If there are other children who also enjoy those activities, they will play with them, but most often there are not.

Gifted children will often share, at length, their interests and ideas before recognising the lack of understanding others have in the topic, so seem to be talking at, rather than with, them. They are often difficult to manage when their needs clash with the expectations and needs of others. They are protective of their time and resist being organised into joining in with children or activities they don’t relate to.

Read in Full:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/5464232/Autistic-or-just-brilliant/

Seizures are a common co-existing condition with autism, as many as one in every four people with autism will develop seizures. While some children may have seizures when very young, they may develop or increase during puberty. It isn’t understood exactly why but it is thought to be at least partially due to changing hormones.

Some seizures are accompanied by convulsions and there is little doubt that your child is having a seizure. Many seizures, called subclinical seizures, go unnoticed because of the mild symptoms or the complete lack of symptoms. There are some behaviors which can signal seizure activity:

• *Changes in behaviors, such as increased aggression, self-injury or melt-downs
• *Slowing down or lack of forward progress in academic work as compared to previous years
• *Losing cognitive gains

A child having a subclinical seizure may seem to be staring or in a daze for a few minutes. The may look like he is daydreaming or seem like he is deliberately ignoring you. The seizure can be over within seconds and although he was unaware of what was going on around him during the seizure, he quickly has full awareness once the seizure has ended. This type of seizure  often goes unnoticed because parents see this behavior as a symptom of the autism rather than a seizure. An EEG may not pick up on seizure activity, unless your child is having a seizure at the time of the EEG. If your child is suspected of having seizures, his doctor may order an extended EEG, where he is monitored for 24 to 48 hours.

Studies have shown that vitamin B6 and magnesium supplements and dimethylglycine (DMG) can help to reduce seizures and according to the Autism Research Review International, these supplements should be tried. [Autism Research Review International, 2005, Vol. 19, No. 1, page 3]. Magnesium supplements have also been found to help reduce hypersensitive hearing. Because these supplements should be taken based on your child’s weight, you should speak to your doctor about the correct dosage.

Some seizures can also be your child’s reaction to severe pain. Because late-onset autism is sometimes associated with abdominal pain and GI problems, and children with autism may not be able to communicate their pain to you, it is beneficial to talk with a gastroenterologist to find out if there is any problems that can be corrected which may help your child.

If your child is found to be having seizures, he may be given anti-convulsant medications. Becaus these medications can interact with other medications, it is important to tell your doctor of all medications your child is on. While taking this medication, he may need regular blood tests to monitor the amount of medication in his bloodstream. If your child is having upset stomachs or is feeling dizzy, it can be a sign that the medication dose is too high.

References:

“Autism, Epilepsy & Seizures: How to Recognize the Signs and Basic First Aid When You Do,” Date Uknown, Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation

 
“Autism, Puberty, and the Possibility of Seizures,” Date Unknown, Stephen M. Edelson, Ph.D. Together for Autism

“Puberty, Aggression and Seizures,” Author Unknown, Autism Research Review International, 2005, Vol. 19, No. 1, page 3

“Revealing Answers Using the Unseen,” 2010, May, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Medical Research Institute

 
“Seizures, Epilepsy and Autism,” Date Unknown, Author Unknown, Autism-Help.org

Source:

http://www.healthcentral.com/autism/c/1443/142656/puberty-subclinical/

By Dalia Colon, HealthyState.org
In Print: Saturday, August 13, 2011

By DALIA COLON

HealthyState.org

Growing up, Paul McAuliffe says he “felt like a Martian.” He was always saying the wrong thing or overreacting, but he didn’t know why. Then several years ago for his job as a case manager, the Panama City resident started reading online about the symptoms of autism.

“And I said, my God, that’s me,” recalls McAuliffe, now 57.

The doctor’s official diagnosis was no surprise: Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder that impairs social skills. “I joke that one would’ve liked to have had this diagnosis, say, a half century ago,” McAuliffe says. “That would’ve been helpful.”

Still, he focused on the present, devouring in equal measure books about “Aspies” and neurotypicals — people not on the autism spectrum.

“They are the folks we have to interact with in order to live our lives,” says McAuliffe, who is on an advisory board for the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at Florida State University.

For McAuliffe, a lifelong musician, American Indian flutes help grease the wheels of his interaction with neurotypicals. He travels the Southeast giving a presentation called “Flutes, Autism and a Different Way of Seeing.'”

HealthyState.org is a public media project of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting at WUSF in Tampa.

Parents can help children cope, an ‘Aspie’ says

McAuliffe describes what he has learned about his brain as “empowering.” In hopes of empowering others even earlier, here are some tips he offers for parents of children on the autism spectrum.

1. Always presume intellect. Researchers are finding that even kids who are nonverbal often have high IQs. Be on the lookout for new-tech ways to communicate with your child.

2. Routine is important. Those on the autism spectrum need to know they have safe, comfortable and dependable routines at home even when learning new things and experiencing new situations.

3. Encourage friendships with other children on the spectrum. There’s an intuitive resonance — a bond — between those with autism, and it’s a relief to spend time together and compare stories. Of course, friendships with neurotypical kids are crucial, too.

4. Encourage the child to be neurologically “bilingual.” As kids gets older, reading Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People can be a real eye-opener.

5. Speaking of eyes, children need to learn to fake eye contact. Encourage them to look at the mouth, the forehead, the bridge of the nose — whatever works.

6. Spectrumites tend to really get into certain subjects; that’s why they’re inventors and innovators. Encourage children to get into subjects that will help them in the world as they get older.

Read in Full:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/man-has-a-late-life-epiphany-i-have-aspergers-syndrome/1185587

David H. Skuse

A couple of years ago, I was asked about autism by a journalist from the New York Times. The reporter had been travelling the world, discussing the subject with many people who had contributed to our understanding of this fascinating and complex disorder. Why, she asked, was it that this subject aroused such passions? Never before had she come across a group of scientists who criticized each other quite so much as those working in the field of autism. She was astonished, dismayed and perplexed in equal measures.

This controversy forms the backdrop to a recent review of the history of autism, written by Adam Feinstein (2010). His story begins in the birthplace of so many ideas in psychiatry, Vienna in the 1930s. Here, in 1938, Hans Asperger gave a lecture on autistic psychopathy some years before the landmark paper by Leo Kanner (1943), which is often credited with initiating the avalanche of research that followed. Kanner was also born in Austria, but his parents emigrated to Germany when he was still a child, and he left for the USA as a young doctor in the 1920s.

The origins of the term autism are therefore mired in controversy, with some claiming that Kanner plagiarized Asperger’s work. Certainly, he was better known in English-speaking countries for years before the latter’s papers were translated. The term ‘Asperger syndrome’ has since acquired a connotation that is far-removed from what Asperger himself described. It has become a sort of ‘autism for the middle classes’ and is about to be consigned to history. In the 5th revision of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the eponym will be abolished. Lorna Wing, who was responsible for introducing Asperger’s work to the English-speaking world ( Wing, 1981), will not be sad to hear this. …

by: K. M. Lampi, A. Sourander, M. Gissler, S. Niemelä, K. Rehnström, E. Pulkkinen, L. Peltonen, L. Von Wendt

First Published: Friday, August 05, 2011, 7:15 AM     Updated: Friday, August 05, 2011, 7:25 AM]

By Frank Donnelly

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The state is looking to fire the supervisor whom prosecutors deem criminally responsible in the death of a 27-year-old autistic man in a South Beach mental health unit last December.

 
Erik Stanley, 37, of Middletown, N.J., has been suspended without pay in the aftermath of the death of Jawara Henry, 27, at the state-run Multiple Disabilities Unit at 777 Seaview Ave. on Dec. 4, said Travis Proulx, a spokesman for the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, which runs the unit.

Yesterday, prosecutors announced Stanley’s indictment on charges of criminally negligent homicide, accusing him of putting Henry in a fatal chokehold instead of restraining him properly when he became erratic and started biting people.

“We are seeking Mr. Stanley’s termination, and will unequivocally seek the termination of any employee who is guilty of abuse or neglect of an individual with developmental disabilities,” Proulx said on Wednesday.

 
The Multiple Disabilities Unit is located on the South Beach Community Campus, a state-owned complex that houses a number of facilities that serve individuals with special needs, including the South Beach Psychiatric Center.

Proulx also commented generally on restraint practices in the unit:

“[The agency] has training and certification for staff in proper techniques and acceptable use of restraint. Recertification is required annually. Training focuses on calming techniques to avoid intrusive restraint.

Read in Full:

http://www.silive.com/eastshore/index.ssf/2011/08/state_moves_to_fire_mental_hea.html

William Kotarski has Aspergers Syndrome and has just achieved a first in a maths masters degree.

Published on Friday 5 August 2011 11:00

OBTAINING a first class masters degree in maths is a huge achievement for anyone.

But the success is particularly sweet for Dunstable graduate William Kotarski, who has Asperger’s Syndrome – and was only diagnosed with the condition two years ago.

Although very bright, the 22-year-old maths whiz, of Sundown Avenue, has always struggled with social pleasantries and communicating with strangers.

And simple things like going to the shop or using public transport requires lots of preparation.

Mum Hilary told the Gazette: “We’ve had to train him to do things. If he wanted to go to the shops we had to walk him through it first.”

And William agreed. He said: “I went to Reading on the train at the weekend and I had to do a trial run with my dad to start with. That sort of thing used to be really hard but I’ve got a bit better at it.”

William – a former Hadrian Lower, Millvale Middle and Northfields Upper pupil – showed signs of Asperger’s from a young age, but it was only when he went to the University of Reading that he was encouraged to see a doctor by a friend who was also on the autistic spectrum.

He said: “I thought that it made sense for me to have Asperger’s but I didn’t want to self-diagnose.

“If you read the list of symptoms of Asperger’s, most teenagers might think ‘oh, that’s me’. But my friend almost physically dragged me to the disability office for an assessment.”

His parents were asked to bring a medical history and meet with staff and just one hour after the assessment, William was told he has Asperger’s.

“We weren’t surprised,” admitted Hilary. “I didn’t want him to have a diagnosis but he did. I didn’t think he should have a label but he’s proud to have it because it makes him the person he is.”

And William can now also call himself master of maths after collecting a first class masters at his graduation recently.

He will head back to Reading in October to start a PHD.

William, who was awarded a prize for his dissertation, said: “I thought I’d try for a 2:1 but in my first year I got firsts for everything so I thought I should aim higher and aim for a first.

“I didn’t like school, it was boring. But university maths was really interesting.”

Hilary said: “We are really proud of him.”

Source:

http://www.dunstabletoday.co.uk/news/local/william_makes_it_count_with_a_special_degree_1_2926581

5:30 AM, Aug. 17, 2011

WEST NYACK — Ever since his bar mitzvah, Jacob Machlis has wanted to be a stand-up comedian. Robin Williams is a professional idol, as are the fast, frantic ad-libbers on “Whose Line Is it Anyway?”

In conversation, Machlis, 17, of Tappan likes to tell jokes to warm up the room. His act is clean. His monologues touch on topics such as George Washington’s wooden teeth.

Machlis, who is entering his senior year at Tappan Zee High School, also has Asperger syndrome. This might be considered a disability for some, but the aspiring comic regards it as an asset in the unscripted world of improv comedy.

“If you have Asperger’s, you tend to talk without thinking,” he said, pausing for a beat as he worked up to a punchline: “In improv, you always talk without thinking.”

Machlis was one of 14 Rockland County teens who graduated Tuesday from the Total Teen Experience, a new summer program that teaches social skills to high-functioning teens with Asperger syndrome.

The six-week pilot program was developed this year by Michele Koenig, director of clinical programs at Jewish Family Service, after a parent expressed a need for special resources to help the teens. Koenig also runs a social-skills group program for people with Asperger’s with the nonprofit family service agency.

Asperger syndrome is a mild form of autism that affects how a child responds to social cues. Children with Asperger’s are awkward around others or will show a single-minded obsession on a particular subject, such as baseball statistics or train schedules.

But children with Asperger’s also often function successfully in scientific or technological careers, where the intense concentration and well-regulated routines fit their personalities.

“These kids are extremely intelligent,” said Koenig, who noted that many teens with Asperger syndrome go on to graduate from college. “It’s just the social stuff that gets in the way.”

The teens met for six hours a day, five days a week at the Jewish Community Center in West Nyack. During morning sessions, they worked in the JCC’s administrative offices, as well as the fitness center and cafe. Two of the teens interned at People to People, a food pantry in Nanuet.

Read in Full:

http://www.lohud.com/article/20110817/NEWS03/108170347/Rockland-pilot-program-helps-teens-mild-autism-build-workplace-social-skills?odyssey=nav|head

Julia Gillard visits a children’s support centre in Melbourne. Picture: Stuart McEvoy Source: The Australian

• Stephen Lunn
• From: The Australian
• August 11, 2011 12:00AM

.

AUSTRALIA will have a National Disability Insurance Scheme after Julia Gillard yesterday declared her unequivocal support for the key social policy and the Productivity Commission said any hostile state could be bypassed.

The Prime Minister’s support for the historic reform came in response to the commission’s final report on disability care and support, which strongly endorses a commonwealth-run, no-fault NDIS.

“I certainly want to see a national disability insurance scheme. I share the vision of a national disability insurance scheme as the right way forward for our country,” Ms Gillard said.

But the Prime Minister said there was a lot of policy work still to do before the scheme, estimated to cost an additional $6.5 billion beyond current disability funding, could be rolled out. She said it could be seven years before the scheme was up and running.

Ms Gillard also warned that the new system must be “fiscally sustainable”, saying “We’ve got to get the money right and that will take time”.

Fierce resistance from some states to the mining tax, the carbon tax and aspects of health reform have dogged the federal government’s recent reform agenda, leading to concerns over its ability to deliver major policy.

But a disability insurance scheme, along with large-scale, aged-care reforms proposed earlier this week, could be the circuit-breakers the government is looking for. The NDIS has received bipartisan support, with the federal opposition and most states backing the measure. Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten, a former parliamentary secretary for disabilities, said the NDIS was a key plank of social policy.

“There are four pillars which assure the quality of Australian life for all – the minimum wage, the age pension, compulsory superannuation and Medicare. The National Disability Insurance Scheme has the potential to be the missing fifth pillar,” he said.

The Productivity Commission’s final model released yesterday calls for a full federal takeover of disability care and support from the states with the creation of a single agency – the National Disability Insurance Agency.

It says the current system is “underfunded, unfair, fragmented and inefficient”.

Under its proposed reform, all Australians would be covered in the event of a significant disability and about 410,000 people with existing disabilities would receive funding support.

NDIS funding would cover such issues as physical and psychological therapies, domestic help with cooking and shopping, home and vehicle modifications and personal care needs such as help with showering and toileting.

It said an additional $6.5bn a year would be needed to fund the scheme, proposing that the money come from consolidated revenue, with the states agreeing to cut some of their more inefficient taxes such as stamp duty.

The commission also recommended the creation of a separate National Injury Insurance Scheme that provides no-fault insurance for anyone suffering a catastrophic injury such as the loss of a limb, an acquired brain injury or a spinal cord injury. The extent of a person’s coverage currently depends on which state they live in and how the injury was caused.

Ms Gillard said an NDIS not only had social benefits, but economic benefits to the nation as well, allowing both people with disabilities and their carers to play more active roles in the workforce.

“Our focus is on giving them the keys that they need to be full participants in the life of our nation, including in work, and of course if we can do better in services, that does make a difference for carers who now are out of the workforce entirely,” Ms Gillard said.

Federal opposition disabilities spokesman Mitch Fifield said the commission had come up with a “good model” that should be “funded from core government spending”.

NSW and Victoria broadly backed the idea of an NDIS and a move to a federal takeover, with Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu saying it was now up to governments to work together to make it a reality.

But West Australian Premier Colin Barnett attacked the plan, saying the federal government’s bungled reform efforts meant it shouldn’t expect the states to fall in line on this policy.

“Those days are finished because of the complete shambles of the commonwealth in key areas like the GST, the mining tax, the carbon tax and even the health package,” he said. “I am getting a little tired of schemes coming out of Canberra to take over areas of state administration only to find that they invariably fail.” However, the Productivity Commission report says the scheme could continue without the participation of one or more states.

Read in Full:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/julia-gillard-throws-weight-behind-historic-disability-reform/story-fn59niix-1226112718025

Everyone gets anxious from time to time: there’s public speaking, job interviews, the dentist and all the rest.

For about one in six of us this will cross over into what psychologists term a disorder at some point in our lives. This is when people are almost continuously anxious and find it difficult to concentrate, have trouble sleeping and become irritable and restless. Women are roughly twice as likely as men to suffer from an anxiety disorder.

For the rest of us anxiety will come and go as part of the normal human condition. Whether it’s a constant or occasional affliction, dealing with anxiety effectively is important.

People are often prescribed drugs for anxiety but these are less effective in the long-term and have side-effects so relaxation training is often preferred.

Relaxation training comes in a variety of flavours, but the five methods which have much in common and the most evidence to support them are (Manzoni et al., 2005):

1. Progressive relaxation

The most commonly studied type of relaxation therapy may be familiar to you. It involves mentally going around the muscle groups in your body, first tensing then relaxing each one. It’s as simple as that. And with practice it becomes easier to spot when you are becoming anxious and muscles are becoming tense as, oddly, people often don’t notice the first physical signs of anxiety.

This is based on the idea that the mind follows body. When you relax your body, the mind also clears.

2. Applied relaxation

Applied relaxation builds on progressive relaxation. First you learn to relax you muscle groups one after the other. The next stage is to cut out the tensing phase and move straight to relaxing each muscle. Next you learn to associate a certain cue, say thinking ‘serenity now!’ (hello Seinfeld fans!) with a relaxed state. You then learn to relax really quickly. Finally you practise your relaxation technique in real-world anxiety-provoking situations.

Once again, mostly this is about mind following the body.

3. Autogenic training

Goes back to the 1930s and is another technique for progressively relaxing the muscles. To help you do this it has a mantra which you repeat to yourself as you go around major muscle groups: “my right arm is very heavy” and so on. A second stage involves inducing a feeling of warmth in the muscles. Once they feel ‘heavy’ from the first stage, you follow another mantra about warmth: “my right arm is very warm” and so on.

Further stages involve calming the heart and the abdomen and cooling the brow in much the same way.

Once again, you’ll notice that this is all about the mind following a calm body. As before practitioners recommend daily practice so that you can relax more and more quickly. With practice the simple intention to start the training will be enough to cause the body to become relaxed and warm.

4. Meditation

Here’s our old friend meditation which has so many different benefits. If you’ve been reading PsyBlog for a while you’ll have seen this come up in numerous contexts. There is certainly evidence that it can work for people who experience anxiety as well. I describe the basics of mindfulness meditation in this article about attention and meditation.

Read More …

http://www.spring.org.uk/2011/08/feeling-anxious-5-scientifically-proven-relaxation-techniques.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PsychologyBlog+%28PsyBlog%29