Tell me about Aspergers?

[pollyward]

I know its a milder form of Autism, but what are the differences?
I'm wondering if my 5.5 year old has AS or ADD-she has concentration problems but also mild Autistic traits?
Our 3 year old girl has severe Autism.

[cyberpedz]

Have you had a look here? <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.autismnetwork.co.uk/whatisaspergers.php">whatisaspergers.php</a><!-- l -->

[louisereecejones]

I think it would be good to look into it further because everyone I know with children with autism there other children have problems as well x

[nsmerritt]

Its hard to explain in a post...I will get back to you with some helpful links. My seven year old has Aspergers and what he has difficulty with is social situations, he has a routine and it CANNOT be broken, he can not be rushed, we can not skip a step. he is social but can not idenify emotions or read body language all the things that we all take for granted that children learn on their own children with Aspergers do not learn on their own. he has one friend and even playdate with him are tough he does not know to negotiate or compromise...sharing almost never happens. He is very concrete so he does not get idioms or expression like it is raining cats and dogs. He is very smart and is high functioning is many other areas which is why it was so hard to diagnose him and his school just did not get it, they did not get that he could read the NY Times but could not function during kickball in gym. he is at a special ed school now and doing great no behavior issues at all. I will get back to you with some links to get more info but I would be willing to answer questions you may have. hang in there!

[nsmerritt]

here are a few links for now, let me know if you need more
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/aspergers-syndrome/DS00551">www.mayoclinic.com/health/aspergers-syndrome/DS00551</a><!-- w -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://aspergersyndrome.org/">http://aspergersyndrome.org/</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/aspergerssyndrome.html">http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/aspe ... drome.html</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/asperger/detail_asperger.htm">http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/aspe ... perger.htm</a><!-- m -->

[kateykay]

Aspergers is a neurological disorder that is listed within the field of autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
I would suggest this book to read before you get into the technical aspects.

-all cats have asperger syndrome by kathy hoopmann

-Next, I would Read

-This is asperger syndrome by Elisa Gagnon and Brenda Smith Myles

[midget22]

what would u like to know... my 3yr old son has aspergers....

[heatherndon]

Hi, my son is nearly 20 and he wasn't digonosed untill he was a teen, so those of you that have youngsters that have been digonosed, lucky you, you can get help earler. My son too is very smart and missed 2 years of high school whilst I was fighting to get him digonosed, they put him in a main stream school, without any support and he couldnt cope, then when he went into his "comfort zone" which usually involved small spaces ie under tables or in cupboards, they couldn't cope. When he was diganoses and transfered to a special school he compleated all his highschool education within 2 years, then spent his last year of high school doing another 2 years worth of work to gain extra GCSE's unfortunatly he has not been able to continue with either his education or a full time job as he hasn't been able to find anything he feels comfortable with and panics with every situation he finds himself in.
I have 3 other children all whom are fine and only my youngest shows signs of AS, but as I read in a book some where we all have a little AS is us. The signs my son has are so mild I don't find them a problem. He is 10, and copes fine in all situations and most of all he CAN read people. I have heard Autisum is more common in boys than girls and would like others views on this please.

Heather.

[cyberpedz]

I can confirm that Autism is about 70% more common in boys than in girls.

[Joanna]

<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.contactafamily.org">www.contactafamily.org</a><!-- w --> is a good website, it has a-z of all conditions. Also the National Autistic Society.