The Rebel Housewife on Asperger Syndrome

I published a two-part article about Asperger Syndrome on The Rebel Housewife blog because I needed to write this information for my son's school and also to provide a resource for other parents and teachers. When I first heard the term Asperger's, I had no idea what it was. My first question: "Is it a degenerative condition?" (No, it isn't!)

I had a lot to learn, as my son's diagnosis was confirmed several months later and my personal investigative journey into Autism and Asperger Syndrome began. I read everything I could get my hands or Internets on; I talked and worked with other parents, doctors and experts. I took my son out of an elementary school that wasn't working for him and home schooled (through Georgia Cyber Academy) for two years.

I have since come to see Asperger's as a gift -- a unique personality: quirky, but brilliant. I see Asperger's as a child, with love, support and guidance, destined for an amazing future, someone who can and will change the world.

Not easy, though. Never easy.

I like to think challenges build character, strength and resilience. I have a lot of faith that will prove to be true.

Although I have loved home schooling with my Aspie Phenom, as he enters 6th grade and Middle School, we both need more regular interaction with other kids and supportive adults. He is going back to public school and I have my hopes and concerns, optimism and pessimism in equal measure.

I needed to share my experience and what I have learned with my son's teachers and the people who will be working with him. I learned before that not a lot of people in our schools know much, if anything, about ASD/Asperger Syndrome, so I have tried to share some information, without deluge of technical detail or information overload.

Feel free to copy, link, reference, share and use this information as a brief introduction to ASD/Asperger Syndrome from an amateur expert. I hope it helps!

Part 1 - Helping Students With ASD/Asperger's Succeed
Part 2 - 10 Easy Ways to Help ASD/Asperger Students Succeed

Helping Students With ASD/Asperger's Succeed - For Teachers

Helping Student With ASD/Asperger's Succeed - For Teachers

By Sherri Caldwell, Asperger’s Parent, Researcher, Author and Learning Coach
For more information, contact Sherri@rebelhousewife.com.

Asperger Syndrome is a neurological difference and is classified as an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Every child is unique and Autism is a spectrum with wide variation. In my experience, Asperger’s kids are brilliant: sometimes scary-smart, logical and honest, with intense concentration, ability to focus and specialized interests, often in highly-technical areas: computers, science, math and defined aspects of history (i.e. WWII).

With so much brain specialization, it should not be a surprise that ASD/Asperger’s kids (also known as “Aspies”) can exhibit deficiencies in other areas:

• Emotional immaturity: Although often academically advanced, emotional maturity -- their understanding of self and others -- is typically about 3/4 their age: A 12-year-old Aspie behaves and responds to the world at a 9-year-old level.
  
• Social interaction/trust: A marked characteristic of Autism is extreme inner focus; kids seem to be preoccupied in their own little world much of the time. They have great difficulty seeing anyone else’s perspective or showing empathy. These kids must learn social awareness and interactions that we often take for granted.
  
• Sensory issues: Aspies see and experience the world very differently. Their five senses seem to be constantly under attack and overwhelm from noise, chaos, visual stimulation, touch, texture, hot/cold, etc.
  
• ANXIETY: Aspies have a high need for routine, structure and consistency.

Key areas ASD kids need to work on and need help with are flexibility, managing frustration/anxiety, social skills & interaction. They are easily overwhelmed, which can lead to dramatic meltdowns, from not knowing what to expect or how to respond and react in an often (to them) hostile and confusing environment.

Another marked characteristic of ASD/Asperger’s is the inability to look other people in the eye, which can be very frustrating to teachers, but should not be, if you understand why. As an extraordinary 13-year-old Aspie* author explains: “Sometimes it is too hard to concentrate on listening and looking at the same time.” The sensory overwhelm of trying to process and understand both visual and auditory cues at the same time is extremely challenging. So they listen. Eye contact improves as the Aspie child learns to trust the person who is speaking.
* Luke Jackson - Freaks, Geeks & Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence.

Supportive adults empower kids -- not only to recognize and manage challenges, but to value individual strengths and very special abilities, too. The key to success for any child is self-improvement through self-knowledge and learned strategies for self-management and interaction. ASD kids get upset very easily and recovery can be difficult. Very often, they simply need a break from the constant bombardment of sensory stimuli and confusion -- a quiet place to regroup. Most of all, they need supportive adults to accept them, love them and help them figure themselves out at school and in the world.

See Part 2: 10 Easy Ways to Help ASD/Asperger Students Succeed

Sherri Caldwell is an amateur Asperger's expert, with extensive personal experience as a parent, researcher, writer and teacher with an Asperger's son, diagnosed at age 9.
For more information, contact Sherri@rebelhousewife.com.

Part 2 - 10 Easy Ways to Help ASD/Asperger Students Succeed

10 Easy Ways to Help ASD/Asperger Students Succeed

By Sherri Caldwell, Asperger's Parent, Author and Learning Coach
See Part 1 - Helping Students With ASD/Asperger's Succeed

1. ASD kids respond to positive reinforcement and calm re-direction, non-verbal cues as much as possible. The student will be more successful if seated near the teacher and away from distractions, where he can be quietly re-focused or re-directed through proximity, touch or a signal.
   
   
2. Silent signal/understanding when a break is needed – designated safe place and person(s) to visit when necessary.
   
   
3. Sarcasm, humiliation, shame, anger and physical restraint are counter-productive and will escalate a meltdown.
   
   
4. Transitions and unstructured time can be difficult, especially if sensory overload (noise & confusion of cafeteria, hallway, etc.). ASD kids need structure. Use written schedules, early warnings & time to transition.
   
   
5. Offer clear, limited choices and clear consequences: “When you (behavior/task)...then (consequence/reward).”
   
   
6. Break things down to one clear and specific instruction at a time. Written directions or checklists are helpful (also maps), if they are not overly complicated. Aspies will forget a long list of verbal instructions and get easily distracted and off-track, which leads to everyone’s frustration.
   
   
7. Allow movement in/around classroom without distracting other students. Be sensitive to sensory needs and challenges. Aspies can be quirky, but there is usually a method to their madness, so to speak. Repetitive movement or behaviors (often called “stimming”) are self-calming and should be accommodated (ignored), whenever possible, or re-directed, if necessary.
   
   
8. Use purposeful missions – jobs, tasks, assignments, responsibilities, especially making use of special skills, talents and interests. (Chances are, your Aspie student will be able to help you and other students with computer and IT issues!)
   
   
9. Ignore minor emotional outbursts (verbal). Initial response to anything/everything is NO due to anxiety; calmly move forward. Student will usually go right along after initial verbal outburst.
   
   
10. Be direct: “You are (making me happy/sad, helping me, annoying me, making me angry, etc.) because (specific reason or example).” Aspies don’t generally read facial expressions and they are not very good at subtlety. Let them know what you are feeling, help them identify emotional states and the reasons. Adults must stay calm, supportive and positive to be most effective.
    
    Sherri Caldwell is an amateur Asperger’s expert, with extensive personal experience as a parent, researcher, writer and teacher with an Asperger’s son diagnosed at age 9. For more information, contact Sherri@rebelhousewife.com.

7-Day Menu Planner for DUMMIES - Rebel Review

"New-NEW Culinary Classic...NOT Just For Dummies!"

7-DAY MENU PLANNER FOR DUMMIES
by Susan Nicholson, RD/LD
(Wiley, 2010)

[Paperback, 342 pages, $19.99 U.S. - buy for less on Amazon.com]

Being a woman "of a certain age" and married for 20+ years, I have been cooking for a long time. I admit, I am far from gourmet: I don't specialty shop; I don't watch the TV cooking shows or reality shows starring angry chefs and their desperate-to-please minions; glossy gourmet food and recipe magazines make me nervous.

I do have skills. I have one small shelf of cookbooks in my kitchen. I can cover the basics, having more or less successfully fed and nourished a healthy family of five for some time now. Culled from a 25-year-old, well-worn copy of the cooking classic: BETTY CROCKER'S COOKBOOK (1987), family magazines and, in more recent years, recipe searches on AllRecipes.com for the iPhone and iPad, I have compiled my very own cookbook: a mish-mash of photocopies, hand-written classics and typed recipes, all carefully preserved in plastic page protectors and haphazardly "filed" in a white, plastic-coated (easy wipe!), 3-ring binder.

However, having said all of that:

Even with my vast and very practical culinary knowledge and experience, I love, Love, LOVE Susan Nicholson's 7-DAY MENU PLANNER FOR DUMMIES. An instant new-NEW classic, this book should be a treasured kitchen bible for every man, woman or young adult trying to prepare and serve nutritious, delicious, affordable and do-able meals for a family, couple or even healthy meals for one.

Susan Nicholson is a registered dietitian and creator of the 7-Day Menu Planner newspaper column, featured in major newspapers and in online syndication, too. She is a culinary professional and a talented writer with a lot of experience and a great sense of humor, which makes 7-Day Menu Planner for Dummies more than just another cookbook.

7-Day Menu Planner for Dummies gives you a year's worth of weekly dinner idea and recipes that "take about 30 minutes to prepare, contain an average of 30 percent calories from fat, and use common ingredients to save time and money." It is a well-organized and simple roadmap for menu planning, offering great recipes, practical instruction and tips, and a very consistent weekly plan of coordinated dinners: Family Night; Kid's Night (not just for children!); Express Meal; Budget Night; Heat and Eat; Meatless Night; and Easy Entertaining. I love the fact that the week's meals are coordinated to use ingredients in common and a central philosophy of reduce, re-use, recycle and re-format throughout the week's plan. (Trust me, not repetitious, you will not get bored!)

7-Day Menu Planner for Dummies makes planning and preparing meals less of a chore and more fun: simple, easy, quick, healthy and delicious. Whether you are an old pro in the kitchen or a culinary "noob" (as my kids say), make room on your cookbook shelf for a new classic:

7-DAY MENU PLANNER FOR DUMMIES
★★★★★

OMG Recipe & Rebel Review: 7-Day Menu Planning for Dummies!

Happy Holidays, Rebel Readers! A special gift recipe from RebelHousewife.com and 7-Day Menu Planning For Dummies by Susan Nicholson (reprinted with permission from the author). This is one of the easiest, best, *yummiest* recipes I have ever made -- enjoy!!!

Check out the Rebel Review:
7-DAY MENU PLANNING FOR DUMMIES

Pasta with Tomatoes, Spinach, and Gorgonzola

(henceforth, a.k.a. Gorgonz Penne in the Rebel household)

Prep time: 15 min - Cook time: About 5 min, plus pasta - Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

8 ounces penne pasta
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
3/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup low-fat or regular gorgonzola cheese
2 cups fresh spinach leaves

Directions

1) Cook pasta according to directions; drain.

2) In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil on medium. Add tomatoes, salt, crushed red pepper, and garlic to skillet; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

3) Stir in half-and-half and cheese; cook 2 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly.

4) Stir in spinach and pasta; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts, stirring occasionally.

Per serving: 350 calories, 13g protein, 10g fat (26 percent calories from fat), 5.3g saturated fat, 52g carbohydrate, 24mg cholesterol, 388mg sodium, 4g fiber.

Week 48: Wednesday - Meatless
Pasta with Tomatoes, Spinach, and Gorgonzola makes a terrific no-meat meal. Serve it with a romaine salad and Italian bread.
From 7-Day Menu Planning For Dummies by Susan Nicholson, pages 269 & 271.

7-Day Menu Planner for Dummies makes planning and preparing meals less of a chore and more fun: simple, easy, quick, healthy and delicious. Whether you are an old pro in the kitchen or a culinary "noob" (as my kids say), make room on your cookbook shelf for a new classic:

7-DAY MENU PLANNER FOR DUMMIES
★★★★★