Today is International Asperger’s Day!

Happy International Asperger’s Day everyone 🙂

I’ve been blogging about Asperger’s Syndrome for the past few days and today, the 18th February is the day.

My son is very excited that he has a day dedictated to him. He said to me ‘at last I am getting the respect I deserve’ – haha.

He is adorable and will be getting some treats today – we are going out for dinner and he will get a whole hour on the computer (up from his usual 1/2 hour). His sister is a little jealous 😉

Today I am posting a video of the wonderful Temple Grandin, an inspirational women with Asperger’s Syndrome who lectures all over the world (and had a movie made about her life). She is an expert on the design of cattle management systems as well as autism. This video is a must see. She explains things in a way that is so much better than reading about this stuff.

____________________________________

Written for International Asperger’s Day 2011 (18th February)

Autism Heroes

Autism Heroes

Many people on the Autism spectrum (which includes Asperger’s Syndrome) have reached dizzy heights in their chosen career or creative endeavour.

There is a wonderful book for children (aged 8-12) on the autism spectrum called Different like me: my book of autism heroes by Jennifer Elder. It is very inspiring.

The book describes the lives of famous/inspirational people who had/have autism or who probably would have been diagnosed with autism if they had lived in this day and age. These people excelled in the world of science, art, literature, maths, comedy and philosophy. They all had great difficulty fitting in, but still managed to achieve great things.

It is beautifully illustrated by Marc Thomas and Jennifer Elder.

The book outlines the lives of:

Albert Einstein
Dian Fossey
Andy Warhol
Benjamin Banneker
Andy Kaufman
Wassily Kandinsky
Julia Bowman Robinson
Piat Mondrian
Alan Turing
Sophie Germain
Lewis Carroll
Isaac Newton
Nikola Tesla
Paul Erdos
Glenn Gould
Immanual Kant
Barbara McClintock
Joseph Cornell
Hans Christian Andersen
Temple Grandin

The biographies include some of their autistic characteristics.  For instance, Albert Einstein didn’t speak until 3 and didn’t speak well until at least 9. He was not considered very smart by his teachers and got thrown out of one school. But he had an intense interest in all things physics and went on to develop his famous theories of space and time.

Temple Grandin says ‘this book will help inspire kids who are different and show them that they too can succeed’ .

I would recommend this book for all children, but particularly those with autism, as well as a terrific resource for teachers, parents/carers, siblings.

_________________________________________

Written for this Friday’s International Asperger’s Day 2011

Aspie’s Rock

Photograph by Tessa Bryden

Aspie’s Rock

People with Asperger’s Syndrome often call themselves aspies.

Aspies mostly call people who are not on the autism spectrum – neurotypicals. I nearly choked on my Weet-Bix when I heard that expression for the first time – haha.

There is a theory (promulgated by aspies I should think) that people with Asperger’s Syndrome are higher up the evolutionary ladder than the rest of us. I don’t know about the scientific basis for that theory  🙂  but there are certainly many wonderful things about aspies.

These may include some of the following:

Lateral thinkers (the inventors of the world)
Loyal
Enthusiastic
Focused
Genuinely goodhearted
Inventive
Original
Reliable
Unique sense of humour
Persistent (they will solve the problems of the world)
Determined (they will keep going when others give up)
Creative (some have outstanding artistic, musical and other talents)
Great attention to detail and can spot mistakes others may not notice (make great editors)
Super senses (wine connoisseurs and perfume makers of the world )
Strong sense of social justice (make good policemen, judges)
Direct, honest and speak their mind
Strive for perfection
Can list large amounts of factual information
Strong desire to seek knowledge (great on game shows and trivia nights)
Extremely knowledgeable on topics of interest (the trainspotters, collectors of the world)
Visual thinkers (make great surveyors, architects and engineers)
Exceptional long-term memory
Logical thinkers (the computer programmers of the world)
Great desire for fairness
Great respect for rules
Dedicated to special interests (many aspies reach the top of their chosen career because of their single minded dedication to an area of interest)

Unique

Endless potential

and the list goes on …

I know and love quite a few aspies and I think they rock!

__________________________________________

Written for this Friday’s celebration of International Asperger’s Day 2011

International Asperger’s Day 2011

This Friday the 18th of February, 2011 is International Asperger’s Day.

Happy 105th birthday Dr Hans Asperger for Friday. I’m getting in early as I’d like to do a couple more posts on Asperger’s in the next few days.

International Asperger’s Day is a day to celebrate the good doctor’s birthday and to increase awareness of Asperger’s Syndrome. So here goes.

Dr Hans Asperger was an Austrian paediatrician who in 1944 described the key features of Asperger’s Syndrome. The syndrome has more recently been classified as belonging on the autism spectrum and can be found sitting near or sometimes on top of high functioning autism.

My 10 year old son has high functioning autism but his behaviours are indistinguishable from someone with Aspergers Syndrome. The key difference lies in the fact that he did not develop speech typically (could not communicate effectively) by the age of three. A historical differentiation which is essentially not important in the grand scheme of things.

Features of Asperger’s Syndrome include intelligence within the normal range and a profile that includes some or all of the following characteristics:

‘A qualitative impairment in social interaction:
* Failure to develop friendships that are appropriate to the child’s developmental level.
* Impaired use of non-verbal behaviour such as eye gaze, facial expression and body language to regulate a social interaction.
* Lack of social and emotional reciprocity and empathy.
* Impaired ability to identify social cues and conventions.

A qualitative impairment in subtle communication skills:
* Fluent speech but difficulties with conversation skills and a tendency to be pedantic, have an unusual prosody and to make a literal interpretation.

Restrictive Interests:
* The development of special interests that is unusual in their intensity and focus.
* Preference for routine and consistency.

The disorder can also include motor clumsiness and problems with handwriting and being hypersensitive to specific auditory and tactile experiences. There can also be problems with organisational and time management skills and explaining thoughts and ideas using speech.’

The above extract is from Dr Tony Attwood’s website which can be found here.

Dr Attwood is the author of ‘The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome’ which is widely considered the ‘bible’ of texts on the subject. If you can only afford one book on Asperger’s Syndrome, this is the one to buy.

If you’d rather surf the net, his website is the one to go to for all the information and links you could ask for on the subject. I and many others think Tony Attwood is the bees knees 🙂 in this business. He lives and works in Brisbane, Queensland too!

Tony considers that people with Asperger’s Syndrome have a ‘different, not defective, way of thinking’.

I agree.

Further support and information can be found through the volunteer, not-for-profit, organisation Asperger’s Services Australia.