TURNING FAILURE INTO SUCCESS IN THE FOURTH DIMENSION
By Dan Coulter
Ever gotten frustrated when you've failed? I have. It's especially hard when you feel that you're somehow failing as a parent -- or that your child is failing at something and you can't fix the problem.
If you're trying hard and you've made repeated attempts, it can be especially disheartening.
But even this kind of failure can be a step toward success.
To illustrate, let's look at the movie, "Back to the Future." Marty McFly, the time-traveling lead character, is a young musician who won't send his audition tape to a record company because he's afraid of failure. During the film, Marty is continually admonished by time machine inventor Doc Brown, "You're not thinking fourth dimensionally!" By that, he means Marty isn't taking the effects of time into account.
What does time and thinking fourth dimensionally have to do with failure and success?
Failure can feel final in the moment when you experience it. But it's really only final for that moment. The next moment, you can start looking for another way to succeed.
In the film, Doc Brown has a framed photo of Thomas Edison over his fireplace. Edison tried thousands of experiments that failed before finding a good filament for the first practical electric light blub. The inventor said of these failures, "They taught something that I didn't know. They taught me what direction to move in."
So, we just have to get into that mindset, right? Simple. Okay, not simple. But possible.
Late in the movie, we learn that Marty has what it takes to be a successful musician when he plays a knock-em-dead version of Johnny B. Goode on guitar
at a high school dance. This means, like almost all other good musicians,
Marty had learned to practice through his initial failures to play songs adeptly, gradually becoming better.
Just like off-key notes are part of learning to play a piano or guitar, failure is part of the process in raising children. And no matter how experienced you get, no one gets it perfect.
My kids are 23 and 24 years old. They're both doing well. But I still have moments when I wish I could convince each to do things differently -- and fail. But I'm much less likely to let frustration hamper me than I used to be.
I've learned to be more strategic, and try less direct approaches.
For example, when you encounter a behavior you want to change, biting your tongue and not commenting may be the best way to start the change process.
Let's say you're at dinner with your family and your daughter is taking large bites of food and talking with her mouth full. It's tempting to correct her then and there. But if you've tried that before and it just caused an emotional scene, maybe it's better to let it go for the moment.
Then, plan a session where you sit with her and talk about it. Be inventive. Who are her favorite movie stars? Maybe you could find a movie that involves one of them sitting at a dinner table eating with good manners. Show her that section of the video and practice eating a meal with just you and her. Describe how you are both going to eat beforehand, demonstrate doing it right, then let her try. Make it fun. Don't expect too great a change in one session. Eat a number of private, practice meals.
Talk about the benefits of eating politely. Praise progress.
Generating even a small success can help your child feel, well, successful.
And success is a great building block to more success. Especially if you take on behaviors you want to change one at a time.
At the end of the movie, Marty (having traveled to the past, overcome numerous failures, and helped his father find new ways to succeed) returns to the future to find things changed for the better. He also finds a new optimism.
The lesson is that success or failure can be a state of mind. If you're willing to use patience and keep trying new approaches, you can always be in the process of turning failure into success where it counts -- fourth dimensionally.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Dan Coulter is the writer/producer of the DVD, "Manners for the Real World - Basic Social Skills," and other videos that can be helpful to people with Asperger Syndrome and autism. You can find more articles on his website: www.coultervideo.com.
Copyright 2008 Dan Coulter Used By Permission All Rights Reserved
Monday, June 30, 2008
Asperger's: the IT industry's dark secret
Asperger's: the IT industry's dark secret
IT is a uniquely attractive industry for the autistic
By Tracy Mayor, Framingham | Monday, 23 June, 2008
"Ryno" is a 50-something ex-sysadmin, by his own account "burned out and living on disability" in rural Australia.
He loved the tech parts of being a system administrator, and he was good at them. But the interpersonal interactions that went along with the position — the hearty backslaps from random users, the impromptu meetings — were literally unbearable for Ryno.
"I can make your systems efficient and lower your downtime," he says. "I cannot make your users happy."
Bob, a database applications programmer who's been working in high tech for 26 years, has an aptitude for math and logic. And he has what he calls his "strange memory". If he can't recall the answer to a question, he can recall exactly, as if in a digital image, where he first saw the answer, down to the page and paragraph and sentence.
Bob has some behaviour quirks as well: He can become nonverbal when he's frustrated, and he interprets things literally — he doesn't read between the lines. "I am sure [my boss] finds it frustrating when I misinterpret his irony," he says, "but at least he knows it is not willful."
"Jeremy" excels at being able to see an engineering problem from the inside out, internalising it almost from the point of view of the code itself. He's great at hammering out details one on one with other intensely focused people, often the CEOs of the companies he contracts for. To protect his anonymity, he doesn't want to mention his programming subspecialty, but suffice it to say he's a very well-known go-to guy in his industry.
What Jeremy is not good at is suffering fools in the workplace or dealing with the endless bureaucracy of the modern corporation. If someone is wrong — if their idea just plain won't work — he says so, simply states the fact. That frankness causes all manner of upset in the office, he's discovered.
These IT professionals are all autistic. Bob and Ryno have Asperger's Syndrome (AS); Jeremy has high-functioning autism (HFA).
Though the terms are debated and sometimes disputed in the medical community, both refer in a general way to people who display some characteristics of autism — including unusual responses to the environment and deficits in social interaction — but not the cognitive and communicative development impairments or language delays of classic autism.
People with Asperger's, widely known as "Aspies," aren't good at reading nonverbal cues, according to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. They can have difficulty forming friendships with peers, they form a strict adherence to routines and rituals, and they may exhibit repetitive and stereotyped motor movements like hand or finger flapping.
Dr Tony Attwood, a world-renowned Asperger's clinician and author in Brisbane, Australia, defines Asperger's in a more human context: "The [Asperger's] person usually has a strong desire to seek knowledge, truth and perfection with a different set of priorities. ... The overriding priority may be to solve a problem rather than satisfy the social or emotional needs of others."
Problems over people? Hmm, sounds like a techie.
A paper on Asperger's from Yale University's Developmental Disabilities Clinic continues down the same path: "Idiosyncratic interests are common and may take the form of an unusual and/or highly circumscribed interest (such as in train schedules, snakes, the weather, deep-fry cookers or telegraph pole insulators)."
Or technology. When Ryno spoke with a receptionist to make an initial appointment for an evaluation with Attwood, she asked him, what is your "Big Interest?"
"She inadvertently gave me a diagnostic question I have found invaluable," he recalls. "The Big Interest is a great start to Aspie-spotting."
Ryno's Big Interest is computers and communications. He's not the only one, not by a long shot.
The Asperger's-IT connection
Autism, though first identified and labeled in 1943, is still a poorly understood neurodevelopment disorder, and nearly every aspect of its causes, manifestations, research and cure is mired in controversy. Asperger's and HFA, being hard-to-define, often undiagnosed or underdiagnosed variants on the high end of the autism spectrum, are even less quantified or understood.
Diagnoses of autism, including Asperger's, have skyrocketed in the US in recent years — the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention now estimates that one in 150 8-year-old children has some form of autism.
It's not clear if the increase is because of better detection, a change in the diagnosis to include a wider range of behaviours, a true increase in case numbers, or some combination of those or other factors.
It's even less clear how many adults have Asperger's. Because Aspies are usually of average or above-average intelligence, they're often able to mask or accommodate their differences socially and in the workplace, meaning many of them make it well into middle age, or live their whole lives, without being formally diagnosed.
A spokesman for the National Institute of Mental Health says the agency is not aware of any government organisation or academic research that tracks the incidence of AS in adults.
Where statistics come up short, anecdote is happy to take up the slack. Ask an Asperger's-aware techie if there is indeed a connection between AS and IT, and you're likely to get "affirmative, Captain".
When the question is put to Ryno, he emails back a visual: "Aspies--> tech--> as fish--> water."
And Bob, the database applications programmer, says, "Yes, it is a stereotype, and yes, there are a higher than average number of Aspies in high tech."
Nobody, it seems, has more to say on the subject than Temple Grandin, a fast-talking PhD Aspie professor who's the closest thing Asperger's has to an elder stateswoman.
Grandin made her mark designing livestock-handling facilities from the point of view of the animal; she now has a thriving second career as an Asperger's author (Thinking in Pictures, Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships) and speaker.
"Is there a connection between Asperger's and IT? We wouldn't even have any computers if we didn't have Asperger's," she declares. "All these labels — 'geek' and 'nerd' and 'mild Asperger's' — are all getting at the same thing. ... The Asperger's brain is interested in things rather than people, and people who are interested in things have given us the computer you're working on right now."
Career opportunities, career limitations
Grandin has compiled a list of jobs and their suitability to Aspies and autistics according to their skills. No surprise, tech jobs are cited early and often. Her list of "good jobs for visual thinkers", for example, includes computer programming, drafting (including computer-aided drafting), computer troubleshooting and repair, web page design, video game design and computer animation.
Grandin's "good jobs for nonvisual thinkers", which she further defines as "those who are good at math, music or facts," includes computer programming, engineering, inventory control and physics.
Why do Asperger's individuals gravitate to technology?
"Adults with Asperger's have a social naivety that prevents them from understanding how people relate. What draws them in is not parties and social interaction, but work that allows them to feel safe, to feel in control," explains Steve Becker, a developmental disabilities therapist at Becker & Associates, a private practice in the Seattle suburb of Des Moines, Washington, that conducts ongoing small group sessions for adults with AS, among other services.
"What's better for that than a video game or a software program?" Becker asks. "When you're designing a software program, there are rules and protocols to be followed. In life, there is no manual."
While careful to protect his clients' confidentiality, Becker confirms that he sees many adults and children of adults who work for the region's tech powerhouses — Microsoft and Boeing — and the hundreds of smaller companies that orbit around them.
Some of the Aspies he counsels are at the very top of their tech game: software and aerospace engineers, computer scientists, PhDs. But for every research fellow with Asperger's, he says, there are a legion of fellow Aspies having a much tougher time in the middle or lower ranks of the industry.
"The spectrum of success is much broader than one would expect," agrees Roger Meyer, the Oregon-based author of The Asperger Syndrome Employment Workbook who runs one of the oldest peer-led adult Asperger's groups in the country. "Adults who have grown sophisticated at masking and adaptive behaviours can either bubble along at the bottom of the market or do very well at the top."
It's that "bubbling along at the bottom" that has Becker, Meyer and other Aspie specialists concerned. Employees with Asperger's might do well for years in data entry or working in a job like insurance claims, where knowledge of ephemera is a prized work skill, only to flounder when they're promoted to a position that requires a higher degree of social interaction.
"The more technical the job, the better they do. But for some, managing people in a supervisory capacity can be a problem," Becker says.
That can leave Asperger's employees stuck on the lower and less remunerative ranks of IT, sometimes in jobs that are vulnerable to outsourcing, says Meyer. For example, certain tech support situations, where sensory distractions are minimal and human interactions are reduced to a screen or a voice on the phone, are a natural fit for some Aspies.
"They're good at diagnostic work. They can get in and slosh around in the computer, use their encyclopedic knowledge of applications and work-arounds, and arrive at a solution that may be unorthodox but effective," says Meyer. As those jobs increasingly become automated and/or outsourced, Aspies' chances for employment are diminished as well.
IT's dark little secret
Becker and Meyer say they have yet to hear of a single corporation that has any kind of formal programme in place to nurture and support employees with Asperger's and HFA, aside from covering the costs of therapy through standard health care plans.
Which begs the question: If Aspies are everywhere among us, why isn't the IT industry doing more to support them or even to simply acknowledge their existence?
High-tech companies, after all, have been at the forefront of supporting workers with nearly every type of social, ethnic, physical or developmental identification. Microsoft, to take just one example, sponsors at least 20 affinity groups — for African Americans, dads, deaf and hard of hearing, visually impaired, Singaporeans, single parents, and gay/lesbian/bisexual and transgendered employees, to name a few. Just nothing for autistics.
A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed that the company has no group or formal, separate support for Asperger's. On rare occasions, an employee with AS has requested accommodation, she says. When that happens, the employee is paired with a disability case manager to determine "reasonable accommodation" on a case-by-case basis.
Intel and Yahoo didn't respond to requests to discuss their policy toward Asperger's employees, and a Google spokesman says the company was "unable to accommodate the inquiry".
To be fair, the question of whether and how corporations should support Aspies is a thorny one to untangle.
For one thing, unlike a disability that confines an employee to a wheelchair or the language barrier that a foreigner faces, autism is something others can't see or easily understand.
"A readily visible disability is easier [for co-workers] to cognitively take on board, it seems," Ryno laments. "Ah, if only Asperger's made one turn green!"
"If you meet someone from another country," Jeremy elaborates, "people know they're from a different country and they cut them some slack."
And by their very nature, Aspies are not uniters. Microsoft's clubs and support groups are all initiated and chartered by employees. That leaves Aspies out by default: It would be highly unusual for an employee with Asperger's to voluntarily organise any type of social group, with or without other autistics.
Finally, many Aspies aren't "out" in the workplace; they haven't acknowledged their condition publicly or to more than one or two individuals.
Whether they should is a matter of contention. Ryno revealed his Asperger's at only one job (his last) and lived to regret it, even though his boss happened to be a young Aspie as well.
"It's the first time I've had an AS person as a superior," he says. "It was definitely a refreshing change not to have to explain why I didn't do eye contact, hated meetings and could not suffer fools, let alone feign gladness."
In retrospect, however, Ryno regrets having told anyone he has AS. "I'd say there were many disadvantages and few gains. The gains were short-lived, too." Specifically, systems that Ryno and his boss had designed both to help users and to minimise interruptions to their own workdays were resented and little used.
Now that Ryno is gone — he quit after being ordered by an executive to restore internet access for an employee caught downloading pornography against company policy — "the other AS employee is being forced into meetings, crowded social gatherings and many of the situations we had previously been allowed to keep to a minimum," he reports.
Jeremy has found that when he asks co-workers and bosses to accommodate his differences, it doesn't help, and in fact always seems to lead to the same end: termination.
"I don't blink. I stare. I don't understand boundary issues very well. I don't have a feeling of group membership, but other people have a very firm idea of membership in groups," he says, struggling to define the problem as precisely as possible.
As a result, where other employees are able to correct their mistakes and adjust their behaviours day to day in the office environment, Jeremy isn't. "People won't give me negative feedback. I don't know what I'm missing until it's already become a problem. I pick up on a lot of stuff, but I miss some cues. They're like little black holes, and the little black holes accumulate, and I end up being forced out. It keeps happening."
It isn't a question of work — he is sought out for his programming specialty and always busy as a contractor — but of social relationships. "I get the feeling what they'd like to do is put me in a black box, give me an assignment and get it out the other end in few weeks."
Building a better workplace?
The subtle social engineering that Jeremy and other HFA and Aspie employees struggle with may be beyond the ken of even the most proactive human resource organisations. But that doesn't mean the industry's heavy-hitters can't and shouldn't proactively fashion a more Asperger's-friendly workplace, a kind of "if you build it they will come — and work" scenario.
These changes needn't be monumental, or limited to Aspies only, specialists say. Bob, the database applications programmer, was just one of several Aspies interviewed for this story who spoke admiringly of the work/life accommodations in place at internet companies like Google.
"I would not demand it from anyone, but I do wish every employer were as accommodating as Google, supplying prepared meals and encouraging people to bring their dogs to work," he says.
Physical changes to the office environment can help as well, Grandin and others point out. Many Asperger's workers are debilitated by blinking or flickering lights; the mechanical noise of an air conditioner, photocopier or ringing telephones; or simple office chatter. A quiet corner, an office or cubicle with soundproofing or a white-noise machine may be all it takes to turn the situation around.
And more than one person spoke highly of the rumours that Microsoft offers a "buddy system" for Aspies, pairing an Asperger's employee with a neurotypical — that is, nonautistic — colleague who coaches them through the whys and wherefores of meetings and other social interactions. A Microsoft spokeswoman says there is no official information available on any buddy programmes, but says there is a good chance such initiatives are conducted on a team-by-team basis within the company.
Beyond that, Asperger's individuals hope only that they be given a chance to find a niche in the modern corporate landscape. Companies have evolved to accommodate everything from workers' physical height to their hearing ability, sexual orientation or ethno-religious status, Ryno points out.
In the same way, he says, "employers of Aspies should look at the person and the tasks, environment, and communication structure and adjust for the best viable fit."
Seattle-area psychologist Becker has seen some early signs that forward-looking high-tech companies may be doing just that. "I have seen cases where [a client] will say, 'I have Asperger's,' and receive a positive response from social workers employed by the business or the insurance companies," he reports.
On the whole, Becker is willing to cut IT some slack — for now at least. "Most corporations have never dealt with Asperger's. It's a fairly new diagnosis, even newer for adults," he points out. His general feeling is that high tech wants to support Aspies as valuable employees, it just doesn't yet know how. But that too shall change.
"In the next five to 10 years, we'll see more businesses treating autism spectrum disorders as routine," he predicts.
Copyright © Fairfax Business Media A Division of John Fairfax Publications Pty Limited, 2006
IT is a uniquely attractive industry for the autistic
By Tracy Mayor, Framingham | Monday, 23 June, 2008
"Ryno" is a 50-something ex-sysadmin, by his own account "burned out and living on disability" in rural Australia.
He loved the tech parts of being a system administrator, and he was good at them. But the interpersonal interactions that went along with the position — the hearty backslaps from random users, the impromptu meetings — were literally unbearable for Ryno.
"I can make your systems efficient and lower your downtime," he says. "I cannot make your users happy."
Bob, a database applications programmer who's been working in high tech for 26 years, has an aptitude for math and logic. And he has what he calls his "strange memory". If he can't recall the answer to a question, he can recall exactly, as if in a digital image, where he first saw the answer, down to the page and paragraph and sentence.
Bob has some behaviour quirks as well: He can become nonverbal when he's frustrated, and he interprets things literally — he doesn't read between the lines. "I am sure [my boss] finds it frustrating when I misinterpret his irony," he says, "but at least he knows it is not willful."
"Jeremy" excels at being able to see an engineering problem from the inside out, internalising it almost from the point of view of the code itself. He's great at hammering out details one on one with other intensely focused people, often the CEOs of the companies he contracts for. To protect his anonymity, he doesn't want to mention his programming subspecialty, but suffice it to say he's a very well-known go-to guy in his industry.
What Jeremy is not good at is suffering fools in the workplace or dealing with the endless bureaucracy of the modern corporation. If someone is wrong — if their idea just plain won't work — he says so, simply states the fact. That frankness causes all manner of upset in the office, he's discovered.
These IT professionals are all autistic. Bob and Ryno have Asperger's Syndrome (AS); Jeremy has high-functioning autism (HFA).
Though the terms are debated and sometimes disputed in the medical community, both refer in a general way to people who display some characteristics of autism — including unusual responses to the environment and deficits in social interaction — but not the cognitive and communicative development impairments or language delays of classic autism.
People with Asperger's, widely known as "Aspies," aren't good at reading nonverbal cues, according to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. They can have difficulty forming friendships with peers, they form a strict adherence to routines and rituals, and they may exhibit repetitive and stereotyped motor movements like hand or finger flapping.
Dr Tony Attwood, a world-renowned Asperger's clinician and author in Brisbane, Australia, defines Asperger's in a more human context: "The [Asperger's] person usually has a strong desire to seek knowledge, truth and perfection with a different set of priorities. ... The overriding priority may be to solve a problem rather than satisfy the social or emotional needs of others."
Problems over people? Hmm, sounds like a techie.
A paper on Asperger's from Yale University's Developmental Disabilities Clinic continues down the same path: "Idiosyncratic interests are common and may take the form of an unusual and/or highly circumscribed interest (such as in train schedules, snakes, the weather, deep-fry cookers or telegraph pole insulators)."
Or technology. When Ryno spoke with a receptionist to make an initial appointment for an evaluation with Attwood, she asked him, what is your "Big Interest?"
"She inadvertently gave me a diagnostic question I have found invaluable," he recalls. "The Big Interest is a great start to Aspie-spotting."
Ryno's Big Interest is computers and communications. He's not the only one, not by a long shot.
The Asperger's-IT connection
Autism, though first identified and labeled in 1943, is still a poorly understood neurodevelopment disorder, and nearly every aspect of its causes, manifestations, research and cure is mired in controversy. Asperger's and HFA, being hard-to-define, often undiagnosed or underdiagnosed variants on the high end of the autism spectrum, are even less quantified or understood.
Diagnoses of autism, including Asperger's, have skyrocketed in the US in recent years — the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention now estimates that one in 150 8-year-old children has some form of autism.
It's not clear if the increase is because of better detection, a change in the diagnosis to include a wider range of behaviours, a true increase in case numbers, or some combination of those or other factors.
It's even less clear how many adults have Asperger's. Because Aspies are usually of average or above-average intelligence, they're often able to mask or accommodate their differences socially and in the workplace, meaning many of them make it well into middle age, or live their whole lives, without being formally diagnosed.
A spokesman for the National Institute of Mental Health says the agency is not aware of any government organisation or academic research that tracks the incidence of AS in adults.
Where statistics come up short, anecdote is happy to take up the slack. Ask an Asperger's-aware techie if there is indeed a connection between AS and IT, and you're likely to get "affirmative, Captain".
When the question is put to Ryno, he emails back a visual: "Aspies--> tech--> as fish--> water."
And Bob, the database applications programmer, says, "Yes, it is a stereotype, and yes, there are a higher than average number of Aspies in high tech."
Nobody, it seems, has more to say on the subject than Temple Grandin, a fast-talking PhD Aspie professor who's the closest thing Asperger's has to an elder stateswoman.
Grandin made her mark designing livestock-handling facilities from the point of view of the animal; she now has a thriving second career as an Asperger's author (Thinking in Pictures, Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships) and speaker.
"Is there a connection between Asperger's and IT? We wouldn't even have any computers if we didn't have Asperger's," she declares. "All these labels — 'geek' and 'nerd' and 'mild Asperger's' — are all getting at the same thing. ... The Asperger's brain is interested in things rather than people, and people who are interested in things have given us the computer you're working on right now."
Career opportunities, career limitations
Grandin has compiled a list of jobs and their suitability to Aspies and autistics according to their skills. No surprise, tech jobs are cited early and often. Her list of "good jobs for visual thinkers", for example, includes computer programming, drafting (including computer-aided drafting), computer troubleshooting and repair, web page design, video game design and computer animation.
Grandin's "good jobs for nonvisual thinkers", which she further defines as "those who are good at math, music or facts," includes computer programming, engineering, inventory control and physics.
Why do Asperger's individuals gravitate to technology?
"Adults with Asperger's have a social naivety that prevents them from understanding how people relate. What draws them in is not parties and social interaction, but work that allows them to feel safe, to feel in control," explains Steve Becker, a developmental disabilities therapist at Becker & Associates, a private practice in the Seattle suburb of Des Moines, Washington, that conducts ongoing small group sessions for adults with AS, among other services.
"What's better for that than a video game or a software program?" Becker asks. "When you're designing a software program, there are rules and protocols to be followed. In life, there is no manual."
While careful to protect his clients' confidentiality, Becker confirms that he sees many adults and children of adults who work for the region's tech powerhouses — Microsoft and Boeing — and the hundreds of smaller companies that orbit around them.
Some of the Aspies he counsels are at the very top of their tech game: software and aerospace engineers, computer scientists, PhDs. But for every research fellow with Asperger's, he says, there are a legion of fellow Aspies having a much tougher time in the middle or lower ranks of the industry.
"The spectrum of success is much broader than one would expect," agrees Roger Meyer, the Oregon-based author of The Asperger Syndrome Employment Workbook who runs one of the oldest peer-led adult Asperger's groups in the country. "Adults who have grown sophisticated at masking and adaptive behaviours can either bubble along at the bottom of the market or do very well at the top."
It's that "bubbling along at the bottom" that has Becker, Meyer and other Aspie specialists concerned. Employees with Asperger's might do well for years in data entry or working in a job like insurance claims, where knowledge of ephemera is a prized work skill, only to flounder when they're promoted to a position that requires a higher degree of social interaction.
"The more technical the job, the better they do. But for some, managing people in a supervisory capacity can be a problem," Becker says.
That can leave Asperger's employees stuck on the lower and less remunerative ranks of IT, sometimes in jobs that are vulnerable to outsourcing, says Meyer. For example, certain tech support situations, where sensory distractions are minimal and human interactions are reduced to a screen or a voice on the phone, are a natural fit for some Aspies.
"They're good at diagnostic work. They can get in and slosh around in the computer, use their encyclopedic knowledge of applications and work-arounds, and arrive at a solution that may be unorthodox but effective," says Meyer. As those jobs increasingly become automated and/or outsourced, Aspies' chances for employment are diminished as well.
IT's dark little secret
Becker and Meyer say they have yet to hear of a single corporation that has any kind of formal programme in place to nurture and support employees with Asperger's and HFA, aside from covering the costs of therapy through standard health care plans.
Which begs the question: If Aspies are everywhere among us, why isn't the IT industry doing more to support them or even to simply acknowledge their existence?
High-tech companies, after all, have been at the forefront of supporting workers with nearly every type of social, ethnic, physical or developmental identification. Microsoft, to take just one example, sponsors at least 20 affinity groups — for African Americans, dads, deaf and hard of hearing, visually impaired, Singaporeans, single parents, and gay/lesbian/bisexual and transgendered employees, to name a few. Just nothing for autistics.
A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed that the company has no group or formal, separate support for Asperger's. On rare occasions, an employee with AS has requested accommodation, she says. When that happens, the employee is paired with a disability case manager to determine "reasonable accommodation" on a case-by-case basis.
Intel and Yahoo didn't respond to requests to discuss their policy toward Asperger's employees, and a Google spokesman says the company was "unable to accommodate the inquiry".
To be fair, the question of whether and how corporations should support Aspies is a thorny one to untangle.
For one thing, unlike a disability that confines an employee to a wheelchair or the language barrier that a foreigner faces, autism is something others can't see or easily understand.
"A readily visible disability is easier [for co-workers] to cognitively take on board, it seems," Ryno laments. "Ah, if only Asperger's made one turn green!"
"If you meet someone from another country," Jeremy elaborates, "people know they're from a different country and they cut them some slack."
And by their very nature, Aspies are not uniters. Microsoft's clubs and support groups are all initiated and chartered by employees. That leaves Aspies out by default: It would be highly unusual for an employee with Asperger's to voluntarily organise any type of social group, with or without other autistics.
Finally, many Aspies aren't "out" in the workplace; they haven't acknowledged their condition publicly or to more than one or two individuals.
Whether they should is a matter of contention. Ryno revealed his Asperger's at only one job (his last) and lived to regret it, even though his boss happened to be a young Aspie as well.
"It's the first time I've had an AS person as a superior," he says. "It was definitely a refreshing change not to have to explain why I didn't do eye contact, hated meetings and could not suffer fools, let alone feign gladness."
In retrospect, however, Ryno regrets having told anyone he has AS. "I'd say there were many disadvantages and few gains. The gains were short-lived, too." Specifically, systems that Ryno and his boss had designed both to help users and to minimise interruptions to their own workdays were resented and little used.
Now that Ryno is gone — he quit after being ordered by an executive to restore internet access for an employee caught downloading pornography against company policy — "the other AS employee is being forced into meetings, crowded social gatherings and many of the situations we had previously been allowed to keep to a minimum," he reports.
Jeremy has found that when he asks co-workers and bosses to accommodate his differences, it doesn't help, and in fact always seems to lead to the same end: termination.
"I don't blink. I stare. I don't understand boundary issues very well. I don't have a feeling of group membership, but other people have a very firm idea of membership in groups," he says, struggling to define the problem as precisely as possible.
As a result, where other employees are able to correct their mistakes and adjust their behaviours day to day in the office environment, Jeremy isn't. "People won't give me negative feedback. I don't know what I'm missing until it's already become a problem. I pick up on a lot of stuff, but I miss some cues. They're like little black holes, and the little black holes accumulate, and I end up being forced out. It keeps happening."
It isn't a question of work — he is sought out for his programming specialty and always busy as a contractor — but of social relationships. "I get the feeling what they'd like to do is put me in a black box, give me an assignment and get it out the other end in few weeks."
Building a better workplace?
The subtle social engineering that Jeremy and other HFA and Aspie employees struggle with may be beyond the ken of even the most proactive human resource organisations. But that doesn't mean the industry's heavy-hitters can't and shouldn't proactively fashion a more Asperger's-friendly workplace, a kind of "if you build it they will come — and work" scenario.
These changes needn't be monumental, or limited to Aspies only, specialists say. Bob, the database applications programmer, was just one of several Aspies interviewed for this story who spoke admiringly of the work/life accommodations in place at internet companies like Google.
"I would not demand it from anyone, but I do wish every employer were as accommodating as Google, supplying prepared meals and encouraging people to bring their dogs to work," he says.
Physical changes to the office environment can help as well, Grandin and others point out. Many Asperger's workers are debilitated by blinking or flickering lights; the mechanical noise of an air conditioner, photocopier or ringing telephones; or simple office chatter. A quiet corner, an office or cubicle with soundproofing or a white-noise machine may be all it takes to turn the situation around.
And more than one person spoke highly of the rumours that Microsoft offers a "buddy system" for Aspies, pairing an Asperger's employee with a neurotypical — that is, nonautistic — colleague who coaches them through the whys and wherefores of meetings and other social interactions. A Microsoft spokeswoman says there is no official information available on any buddy programmes, but says there is a good chance such initiatives are conducted on a team-by-team basis within the company.
Beyond that, Asperger's individuals hope only that they be given a chance to find a niche in the modern corporate landscape. Companies have evolved to accommodate everything from workers' physical height to their hearing ability, sexual orientation or ethno-religious status, Ryno points out.
In the same way, he says, "employers of Aspies should look at the person and the tasks, environment, and communication structure and adjust for the best viable fit."
Seattle-area psychologist Becker has seen some early signs that forward-looking high-tech companies may be doing just that. "I have seen cases where [a client] will say, 'I have Asperger's,' and receive a positive response from social workers employed by the business or the insurance companies," he reports.
On the whole, Becker is willing to cut IT some slack — for now at least. "Most corporations have never dealt with Asperger's. It's a fairly new diagnosis, even newer for adults," he points out. His general feeling is that high tech wants to support Aspies as valuable employees, it just doesn't yet know how. But that too shall change.
"In the next five to 10 years, we'll see more businesses treating autism spectrum disorders as routine," he predicts.
Copyright © Fairfax Business Media A Division of John Fairfax Publications Pty Limited, 2006
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Investigational Drug Study for Children with Autistic Disorder Seeking Participants
Does your child seem overly irritable or aggressive (towards either self and/or others)?
Does your child throw tantrums or have quick changes in mood? Is your child between 5 and 17 years of age?
If so, your child may be eligible to participate in a research study being conducted at the Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism and Developmental Disorders, a member of the North Shore-LIJ Health System. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the study drug on irritability and related behaviors associated with Autistic Disorder in children and adolescents.
Participation in this study involves:
• A diagnostic assessment
• Monitoring visits with the study psychiatrist and research staff
• Study drug or placebo (a substance containing no medication) for 6 weeks, with the possibility of a 26-week extension trial where all participants will receive the study drug.
If your child qualifies, all of the above is provided at no charge, including all aspects of the evaluation, study visits and study drug.
For more information about the project, contact the study coordinator,
Linda Spritzer, at (516) 802-8608 or e-mail at lspritze@nshs.edu.
This study is being conducted at 4300 HEMPSTEAD TURNPIKE, BETHPAGE, NY 11714
Does your child throw tantrums or have quick changes in mood? Is your child between 5 and 17 years of age?
If so, your child may be eligible to participate in a research study being conducted at the Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism and Developmental Disorders, a member of the North Shore-LIJ Health System. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the study drug on irritability and related behaviors associated with Autistic Disorder in children and adolescents.
Participation in this study involves:
• A diagnostic assessment
• Monitoring visits with the study psychiatrist and research staff
• Study drug or placebo (a substance containing no medication) for 6 weeks, with the possibility of a 26-week extension trial where all participants will receive the study drug.
If your child qualifies, all of the above is provided at no charge, including all aspects of the evaluation, study visits and study drug.
For more information about the project, contact the study coordinator,
Linda Spritzer, at (516) 802-8608 or e-mail at lspritze@nshs.edu.
This study is being conducted at 4300 HEMPSTEAD TURNPIKE, BETHPAGE, NY 11714
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Weighing Nondrug Options for A.D.H.D.
June 17, 2008
Well
Weighing Nondrug Options for A.D.H.D.
By TARA PARKER-POPE
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/tara_parkerpope/index.html?inline=nyt-per> About 2.5 million children in the United States take stimulant drugs forattention and hyperactivity<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/hyperactivity/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> problems. But concerns about side effectshave prompted many parents to look elsewhere: as many as two-thirds ofchildren with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> , orA.D.H.D., have used some form of alternative treatment. The most common strategy involves diet<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/specialtopic/food-guide-pyramid/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> changes, like giving up processedfoods, sugars and food additives<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/nutrition/food-additives/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> . About 20 percent of children with thedisorder have been given some form of herbal therapy; others have triedsupplements like vitamins<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/nutrition/vitamins/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> and fish oil or have used biofeedback, massageand yoga. While some studies of alternative treatments show promise, there islittle solid research to guide parents. That is unfortunate, because forsome children, prescription drugs aren't an option. The drugs have been life-changing for many children. But nearlyone-third experience worrisome side effects, and a 2001 report in TheCanadian Medical Association Journal found that for more than 10percent, the effects could be severe - including decreased appetite<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/appetite-decreased/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> and weight loss, insomnia<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/specialtopic/insomnia-concerns/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> , abdominal pain<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/abdominal-pain/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> and personality changes. Although the drugs are widely viewed as safe, many parents were alarmedwhen the Food and Drug Administration<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/food_and_drug_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org> ordered in 2006that stimulants like Adderall, Ritalin<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/ritalin_drug/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> and Concerta carrywarnings of risk for sudden death, heart attacks and hallucinations<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/hallucinations/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> in some patients.What about the alternatives? Last week, The Journal of the AmericanMedical Association reported<http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/299/22/2633> that thefirst study of the herb St. John's wort worked no better than a placeboto counter A.D.H.D. But the trial, of 54 children, lasted only eightweeks, and even prescription drugs can take up to three months to show ameasurable effect. But the larger issue may be that in complementary medicine, onetreatment is rarely used alone, making the range of alternative remediesdifficult to study. Natural treatments may well be beneficial, said thereport's lead author, Wendy Weber, a research associate professor at theschool of naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Wash."We just need to do more studies and document the effect."Other herbal treatments for the disorder include echinacea, ginkgobiloba and ginseng. There are no reliable data on echinacea; a 2001study showed improvement after four weeks in children using ginkgo andginseng, but there was no control group for comparison.There is more hope for omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish and fish-oilsupplements. A review last year in the journal Pediatric Clinics ofNorth America concluded that a "growing body of evidence" supported theuse of such supplements for children with A.D.H.D.As for dietary changes, a 2007 study<http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607613063/abstract> in The Lancet examined the effect of artificial coloring andpreservatives on hyperactive behavior in children. After consuming anadditive-free diet for six weeks, the children were given either aplacebo beverage or one containing a mix of additives in two-weekintervals. In the additive group, hyperactive behaviors increased.The study caused many pediatricians to rethink their skepticism about alink between diet and A.D.H.D. "The overall findings of the study areclear and require that even we skeptics, who have long doubted parentalclaims of the effects of various foods on the behavior of theirchildren, admit we might have been wrong," reported a February issue ofAAP Grand Rounds, a publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/american_academy_of_pediatrics/index.html?inline=nyt-org> .Data on sugar avoidance are less persuasive. Several studies suggestthat any link between sugar and hyperactivity is one of parentalperception, rather than reality. In one study, mothers who were told thechild received sugar reported more hyperactive behavior, even when thefood was in fact artificially sweetened. Mothers who were told the childreceived a low-sugar snack were less likely to report worse behavior.One interesting option is a form of biofeedback therapy in whichchildren wear electrodes on their head and learn to control video gamesby exercising the parts of the brain related to attention and focus.Research has suggested that the method works just as well as medication,and many children report that they enjoy it.The challenge is finding a doctor who will help explore the range ofoptions. For instance, the best way to tell whether dietary changes mayhelp is to eliminate the foods and then reintroduce them, monitoring thechild's behavior all the while. The best evidence may come from ateacher who is unaware of any change in diet. The Integrative Pediatrics Council, at www.integrativepeds.org<http://www.integrativepeds.org> , offers a list of pediatricians whooffer alternative treatments. Its chairman, Dr. Lawrence D. Rosen, chiefof pediatric integrative medicine at Hackensack University MedicalCenter in New Jersey, says parents should seek a holistic approach. Buthe notes that that may well include prescription drugs."I do prescribe medications in my practice, and there are kids whoselives have been saved by that," he said. "But it's a holistic approachthat is very different than one pill, one symptom. We're addressing notjust the physical, chemical needs of kids, but their total emotional andmental health<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/mentalhealthanddisorders/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> ."well@nytimes.com well@nytimes.com>
Well
Weighing Nondrug Options for A.D.H.D.
By TARA PARKER-POPE
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/tara_parkerpope/index.html?inline=nyt-per> About 2.5 million children in the United States take stimulant drugs forattention and hyperactivity<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/hyperactivity/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> problems. But concerns about side effectshave prompted many parents to look elsewhere: as many as two-thirds ofchildren with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> , orA.D.H.D., have used some form of alternative treatment. The most common strategy involves diet<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/specialtopic/food-guide-pyramid/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> changes, like giving up processedfoods, sugars and food additives<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/nutrition/food-additives/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> . About 20 percent of children with thedisorder have been given some form of herbal therapy; others have triedsupplements like vitamins<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/nutrition/vitamins/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> and fish oil or have used biofeedback, massageand yoga. While some studies of alternative treatments show promise, there islittle solid research to guide parents. That is unfortunate, because forsome children, prescription drugs aren't an option. The drugs have been life-changing for many children. But nearlyone-third experience worrisome side effects, and a 2001 report in TheCanadian Medical Association Journal found that for more than 10percent, the effects could be severe - including decreased appetite<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/appetite-decreased/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> and weight loss, insomnia<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/specialtopic/insomnia-concerns/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> , abdominal pain<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/abdominal-pain/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> and personality changes. Although the drugs are widely viewed as safe, many parents were alarmedwhen the Food and Drug Administration<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/food_and_drug_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org> ordered in 2006that stimulants like Adderall, Ritalin<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/ritalin_drug/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> and Concerta carrywarnings of risk for sudden death, heart attacks and hallucinations<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/hallucinations/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier> in some patients.What about the alternatives? Last week, The Journal of the AmericanMedical Association reported<http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/299/22/2633> that thefirst study of the herb St. John's wort worked no better than a placeboto counter A.D.H.D. But the trial, of 54 children, lasted only eightweeks, and even prescription drugs can take up to three months to show ameasurable effect. But the larger issue may be that in complementary medicine, onetreatment is rarely used alone, making the range of alternative remediesdifficult to study. Natural treatments may well be beneficial, said thereport's lead author, Wendy Weber, a research associate professor at theschool of naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Wash."We just need to do more studies and document the effect."Other herbal treatments for the disorder include echinacea, ginkgobiloba and ginseng. There are no reliable data on echinacea; a 2001study showed improvement after four weeks in children using ginkgo andginseng, but there was no control group for comparison.There is more hope for omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish and fish-oilsupplements. A review last year in the journal Pediatric Clinics ofNorth America concluded that a "growing body of evidence" supported theuse of such supplements for children with A.D.H.D.As for dietary changes, a 2007 study<http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607613063/abstract> in The Lancet examined the effect of artificial coloring andpreservatives on hyperactive behavior in children. After consuming anadditive-free diet for six weeks, the children were given either aplacebo beverage or one containing a mix of additives in two-weekintervals. In the additive group, hyperactive behaviors increased.The study caused many pediatricians to rethink their skepticism about alink between diet and A.D.H.D. "The overall findings of the study areclear and require that even we skeptics, who have long doubted parentalclaims of the effects of various foods on the behavior of theirchildren, admit we might have been wrong," reported a February issue ofAAP Grand Rounds, a publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/american_academy_of_pediatrics/index.html?inline=nyt-org> .Data on sugar avoidance are less persuasive. Several studies suggestthat any link between sugar and hyperactivity is one of parentalperception, rather than reality. In one study, mothers who were told thechild received sugar reported more hyperactive behavior, even when thefood was in fact artificially sweetened. Mothers who were told the childreceived a low-sugar snack were less likely to report worse behavior.One interesting option is a form of biofeedback therapy in whichchildren wear electrodes on their head and learn to control video gamesby exercising the parts of the brain related to attention and focus.Research has suggested that the method works just as well as medication,and many children report that they enjoy it.The challenge is finding a doctor who will help explore the range ofoptions. For instance, the best way to tell whether dietary changes mayhelp is to eliminate the foods and then reintroduce them, monitoring thechild's behavior all the while. The best evidence may come from ateacher who is unaware of any change in diet. The Integrative Pediatrics Council, at www.integrativepeds.org<http://www.integrativepeds.org> , offers a list of pediatricians whooffer alternative treatments. Its chairman, Dr. Lawrence D. Rosen, chiefof pediatric integrative medicine at Hackensack University MedicalCenter in New Jersey, says parents should seek a holistic approach. Buthe notes that that may well include prescription drugs."I do prescribe medications in my practice, and there are kids whoselives have been saved by that," he said. "But it's a holistic approachthat is very different than one pill, one symptom. We're addressing notjust the physical, chemical needs of kids, but their total emotional andmental health<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/mentalhealthanddisorders/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> ."well@nytimes.com well@nytimes.com>
Faculty and graduate students are joining a nonprofit agency in curriculum training to teach independent living skills.
By University Communications June 13, 2008
Students and faculty in The University of Arizona’s department of speech, language and hearing sciences and the UA Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques Center are taking part in a training program where they will learn to teach independent living to those afflicted with autism and or Asperger’s Syndrome.
The training program is part of a specially designed curriculum by Chapel Haven West, a private nonprofit agency founded in 1972 that is dedicated to helping adults with special challenges live independent and productive lives.
The training puts UA graduate students in the department of speech, language, and hearing sciences at the cutting edge of research and the opportunity to provide clinical services to the Chapel Haven West residents, who will live within walking distance of the UA campus. The Chapel Haven curriculum includes recreation programs and lessons on social communication, residential life skills, education and employment.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, or NINDS, Asperger’s is an autism spectrum disorder, one of a distinct group of neurological conditions characterized by a greater or lesser degree of impairment in language and communication skills, as well as repetitive or restrictive patterns of thought and behavior. The disorder is characterized by poor social interactions, obsessions, odd speech patterns, motor delays, clumsiness, limited interests and peculiar preoccupations.
Overall, people with Asperger’s Syndrome are capable of functioning in everyday life. Chapel Haven West opens its new two-year residential program on June 30 and will house and teach 17 men and women on the high end of leaning ability in the autism spectrum. Chapel Haven West is a part of Chapel Haven Inc., a private nonprofit agency founded in 1972.
“There are programs for children and adolescents, including the Autism Clinic Extension of the Grunewald Blitz Clinic for Communication Disorders in Children, a partnership with the UA and Tucson Alliance for Autism, but Chapel Haven West is the only program in the county focused on serving the adult population,” said Betty McDonald clinical instructor of speech, language and hearing sciences at the UA.
Funding for the two-week training program that began June 12 at the UA department of speech, language and hearing sciences comes from a $22,000 grant from Autism Speaks.
“This is a unique opportunity for our students to receive training in a much needed area. In addition, we are very pleased to be able to partner with an organization that will serve the Tucson Community,” said Elena Plante head of the department of speech, language, and hearing sciences at the UA.
The goals of Chapel Haven students vary and range from sampling classes and perhaps college matriculation to vocational goals and the possibility of employment on the University campus or within the community.
The residential program offers opportunity for socialization, volunteer or paid employment, continuing education classes, mentoring by college students, athletic events, and the atmosphere of a vibrant, active college campus. In addition, Chapel Haven West will provide a lifetime of support for its clients as they transition to independent living in the Tucson area.
The training program is a partnership between the UA department of speech language, and hearing sciences, Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques, UA Disability Resource Center and Chapel Haven West, a satellite program of Chapel Haven, Inc., of New Haven, Conn.
Students and faculty in The University of Arizona’s department of speech, language and hearing sciences and the UA Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques Center are taking part in a training program where they will learn to teach independent living to those afflicted with autism and or Asperger’s Syndrome.
The training program is part of a specially designed curriculum by Chapel Haven West, a private nonprofit agency founded in 1972 that is dedicated to helping adults with special challenges live independent and productive lives.
The training puts UA graduate students in the department of speech, language, and hearing sciences at the cutting edge of research and the opportunity to provide clinical services to the Chapel Haven West residents, who will live within walking distance of the UA campus. The Chapel Haven curriculum includes recreation programs and lessons on social communication, residential life skills, education and employment.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, or NINDS, Asperger’s is an autism spectrum disorder, one of a distinct group of neurological conditions characterized by a greater or lesser degree of impairment in language and communication skills, as well as repetitive or restrictive patterns of thought and behavior. The disorder is characterized by poor social interactions, obsessions, odd speech patterns, motor delays, clumsiness, limited interests and peculiar preoccupations.
Overall, people with Asperger’s Syndrome are capable of functioning in everyday life. Chapel Haven West opens its new two-year residential program on June 30 and will house and teach 17 men and women on the high end of leaning ability in the autism spectrum. Chapel Haven West is a part of Chapel Haven Inc., a private nonprofit agency founded in 1972.
“There are programs for children and adolescents, including the Autism Clinic Extension of the Grunewald Blitz Clinic for Communication Disorders in Children, a partnership with the UA and Tucson Alliance for Autism, but Chapel Haven West is the only program in the county focused on serving the adult population,” said Betty McDonald clinical instructor of speech, language and hearing sciences at the UA.
Funding for the two-week training program that began June 12 at the UA department of speech, language and hearing sciences comes from a $22,000 grant from Autism Speaks.
“This is a unique opportunity for our students to receive training in a much needed area. In addition, we are very pleased to be able to partner with an organization that will serve the Tucson Community,” said Elena Plante head of the department of speech, language, and hearing sciences at the UA.
The goals of Chapel Haven students vary and range from sampling classes and perhaps college matriculation to vocational goals and the possibility of employment on the University campus or within the community.
The residential program offers opportunity for socialization, volunteer or paid employment, continuing education classes, mentoring by college students, athletic events, and the atmosphere of a vibrant, active college campus. In addition, Chapel Haven West will provide a lifetime of support for its clients as they transition to independent living in the Tucson area.
The training program is a partnership between the UA department of speech language, and hearing sciences, Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques, UA Disability Resource Center and Chapel Haven West, a satellite program of Chapel Haven, Inc., of New Haven, Conn.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Research Study on Autism Seeking Participants
DOES YOUR CHILD HAVE AUTISTIC DISORDER?
DOES YOUR CHILD HAVE REPETITIVE BEHAVIORS?
Get upset when interrupted from the usual routineRepeat the same activities or movements again and againHave intense preoccupations with certain topics or activitiesIf you answered "YES" to both questions, your child may be eligible toparticipate in research being conducted byresearchers at the Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism and DevelopmentalDisorders, North Shore-LIJ Health System
This is a 14-week research study testing the safety and effectiveness ofdifferent doses of an investigational medication in children andadolescents who have been diagnosed with or have symptoms of autism.Participants will also be offered an open-label trial of theinvestigational medication at the end of the 14-week phase.
To be eligible for this study, participants must:_ Be between the ages of 5 and 17_ Meet diagnostic criteria for autistic disorder_ Not have a significant medical condition (e.g., heart disease, highblood pressure, lung disease, liveror kidney failure, unstable seizure disorder, thyroid disease)All evaluations and medications for this study are provided without costto participants. In addition, families who participate will bereimbursed for their time.
If you are interested in finding out more information about this study,please contact the study coordinator,Linda Spritzer, by phone (516) 802-8608 or by e-mail atLspritze@nshs.edu.
The Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism and Developmental Disorders, NorthShore-LIJ Health System4300 HEMPSTEAD TURNPIKE, BETHPAGE, NEW YORK 11714 * (516) 802-8600
DOES YOUR CHILD HAVE REPETITIVE BEHAVIORS?
Get upset when interrupted from the usual routineRepeat the same activities or movements again and againHave intense preoccupations with certain topics or activitiesIf you answered "YES" to both questions, your child may be eligible toparticipate in research being conducted byresearchers at the Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism and DevelopmentalDisorders, North Shore-LIJ Health System
This is a 14-week research study testing the safety and effectiveness ofdifferent doses of an investigational medication in children andadolescents who have been diagnosed with or have symptoms of autism.Participants will also be offered an open-label trial of theinvestigational medication at the end of the 14-week phase.
To be eligible for this study, participants must:_ Be between the ages of 5 and 17_ Meet diagnostic criteria for autistic disorder_ Not have a significant medical condition (e.g., heart disease, highblood pressure, lung disease, liveror kidney failure, unstable seizure disorder, thyroid disease)All evaluations and medications for this study are provided without costto participants. In addition, families who participate will bereimbursed for their time.
If you are interested in finding out more information about this study,please contact the study coordinator,Linda Spritzer, by phone (516) 802-8608 or by e-mail atLspritze@nshs.edu.
The Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism and Developmental Disorders, NorthShore-LIJ Health System4300 HEMPSTEAD TURNPIKE, BETHPAGE, NEW YORK 11714 * (516) 802-8600
Friday, June 6, 2008
Do I Have Asperger Syndrome?
Do I Have Asperger Syndrome?
<http://autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyndrome/a/adultsaspergers.htm>
Asperger syndrome (AS) is a pervasive developmental disorder at thehighest end of the autism spectrum. People with AS develop languagenormally, but often have difficulty with social interactions, fine andgross motor coordination, and eye contact. They may be extremelypassionate about just one or two topics, with little patience for smalltalk. They also may struggle to handle normal daily activities, such asorganizing time, managing conflict, or even facing the sensory overloadpresented by malls and grocery stores. Adults with AS may appear painfully shy, or they may be extremelyoutgoing - sometimes to the point of being "in your face." That'sbecause people with AS often misinterpret social interaction. Questionsthey may ask themselves: How far away do I stand from another person?How long can I talk about my favorite subject? What's the right answerto "how are you?" If these are the types of questions that puzzle you on a regular basis,you may already have considered the possibility that you have AS. And"if you think you have Asperger syndrome, you probably do," says MichaelJohn Carley, Executive Director of Global and Regional Partnership forAsperger Syndrome (GRASP) <http://www.grasp.org> . I Think I DO Have Asperger Syndrome - What Do I Do Now?<http://autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyndrome/f/dxasadults.htm> AS is in no way life threatening, and while there are therapiesavailable to aleviate symptoms and build new skills, there is notreatment which will cure it. That means you are under no obligation toseek a professional diagnosis, or to act on a diagnosis once you haveit. There are, however, good reasons to consider seeking a diagnosis<http://autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyndrome/a/www.autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyndrome/tp/whygetasdx.htm> , particularly if you feel thatAsperger syndrome may be causing problems or distress. If you do decide to seek a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome,<http://autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyndrome/f/dxcriteriaforas.htm>Carley recommends seeking out individual therapists, neurologists andautism centers that are familiar with tests for AS. The most criticalpoint is that you choose a therapist, neurologist or center withsignificant experience in diagnosing adults with AS. Since it isrelatively new to the DSM-IV (diagnostic manual), the diagnosis may besomething many practicing doctors will not have been trained in or haveexpertise in AS. Appropriate diagnosis will involve a variety of tests that focus onintelligence, "adaptive" social and communication skills, and personaldevelopmental history. An experienced professional can help distinguishbetween true AS and other disorders which have some of the same orsimilar symptoms (social phobias, anxiety, etc.). I Have an AS Diagnosis. Now What?<http://autism.about.com/od/adultsaspergersyndrom1/f/treatadultas.htm> Again, the decision is yours. The information may simply be interestingto you alone, and you may choose to keep it that way. Knowing that youhave AS can help you plan for and manage potentially difficult settingsor situations, and behavioral therapy geared to helping you buildsocial/communications skills may be helpful. If your medicalpractitioner feels that you have other, related disorders (such asanxiety, depression, or obsessive compulsive disorder), medication maybe appropriate. Carley also recommends seeking out books and websitesabout life as an adult with Asperger syndrome. On the other hand, you may choose to share your AS diagnosis withfriends and family. If you grew up with undiagnosed AS, your unusualsocial interactions may have created friction, and even bad feelings. Bysharing your diagnosis, you may open the door to better understandingand closer relationships. Are There Others Out There Like Me?Absolutely! GRASP is only one of several large organizations dedicatedto supporting teens and adults with AS. Others includeNeurodiversity.org <http://www.neurodiversity.org> , Asperger FoundationInternational <http://www.aspfi.org> , Wrong Planet<http://www.wrongplanet.net> and more. The purpose of theseorganizations is to provides adults with AS with support, socialcontacts, resources, treatment, and a sense of community. If you'reinteresting in learning more about these groups, click around thesites... join in the forums... and, if you can, attend a local groupmeeting. Sources: Asperger's Syndrome Fact Sheet, National Institutes of NeurologicalDisorders.<http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/asperger/detail_asperger.htm>Prepared by: Office of Communications and Public Liaison NationalInstitute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Institutes ofHealth Bethesda, MD 20892 Publication date January 2005. Interview with Michael John Carley, Executive Director of the Global andRegional Asperger Syndrome Partnership. April, 2007. Online Asperger Syndrome Issues and Support (OASIS) Website.<http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/> "Adult Issues, Resources andContributions From and For Individuals with AS and Autism."Q. How Do Experts Diagnose Asperger Syndrome in Adults?From Lisa Jo Rudy <http://autism.about.com/mbiopage.htm> ,Your Guide to Autism <http://autism.about.com/> .About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by StevenGans, MD <http://www.about.com/health/p4.htm> You've never really grasped small talk, and would rather talk to acomputer than another human being. Does that mean you have AspergerSyndrome (AS)? To find out, you'll have to see an expert. But howexactly do experts diagnose AS in adults?A. Dr. Shana Nichols of the Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism on LongIsland in New York specializes in diagnosing and treating teens andadults with Asperger Syndrome. While she uses several specificdiagnostic tools to identify specific symptoms, she says that even thosetools are somewhat out of date, as is the DSM IV, a psychiatricdiagnostic manual, which was last updated in 1994. "We've learned anenormous amount since then," she says. When adults come to the Lindner Center for a diagnosis, Dr. Nicholsbegins her exam with an IQ test. Since people with AS have normal orabove normal IQs, this is a good place to start. She also administers anassessment of adaptive skills which tests the patient's ability tomanage complex social situations. "If a parent is available," says Nichols, "we administer a parentinterview called the ADI (Autism Diagnostic Interview Revised). We're looking at current functioning and early history to get a sense ofthe patient's skills in social, communication and behavior domains."After all, as she says, "autism doesn't suddenly show up when you're 25,so most people with true AS showed symptoms throughout their childhood."If parents aren't available, Nichols and her colleagues ask the patientto recall their childhood, asking such questions as "Did you have a lotof friends?" and "What did you enjoy doing?" Nichols also administers the ADOS Module IV. ADOS is the autismdiagnostic observation schedule, and module four is for high-functioningverbal young adults and adults. Along with the ADI, it allows doctors tolook carefully at social and communication skills and behavior. Forexample, says Nichols, the tests look at such questions as "Can you havea reciprocal social conversation? Are you interested in the examiner'sthoughts and feelings? Do you demonstrate insight into relationships? Doyou use appropriate non-verbal gestures and facial expressions? Do youhave odd or over-focused interests?" The tests allow doctors to attach agrade in each each domain to determine whether the patient meets thecriteria for AS. It's not unusual, says Nichols, for a patient to come in expecting an ASdiagnosis and to leave with a different diagnosis. "Distinguishingbetween social phobias or shyness and actual impairment with AS can bevery tough for a layperson," she says. Other disorders, such asobsessive compulsive disorder (compulsions, hoarding, needing to dothings over and over) or social anxiety can sometimes look like AS. Ifdoctors do pick up on these other disorders, they can recommendappropriate therapy and/or medication. Sources: Ami Klin, Ph.D., and Fred R. Volkmar, M.D. Asperger's SyndromeGuidelines for Assessment and Diagnosis.<http://info.med.yale.edu/chldstdy/autism/asdiagnosis.html> Yale ChildStudy Center, New Haven, Connecticut. Published by the LearningDisabilities Association of America, June 1995 Interview with John Michael Carley, Executive Director, Global andRegional Asperger Syndrome Partnership (GRASP). <http://www.grasp.org>April, 2007. Interview with Dr. Shana Nichols, North Shore Long Island Jewish HealthSystem, Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism. May, 2007. [link url=http://www.nichcy.org/resources/asperger.asp]NationalDissemination Center for Children with Disabilities Asperger Syndrome page.FAQ Index <http://autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyndrome/f/> Q. What Treatments Are Available for Adults with Asperger Syndrome?Your symptoms seem to point to Asperger syndrome. But is it worth doingall the work of getting a diagnosis? What good will a diagnosis do andwhat therapies are available to you once you have an "official"diagnosis in hand?A. Children with Asperger syndrome (AS) and other forms of autismusually receive a set of treatments and therapies in school. Often,they'll receive physical,<http://autism.about.com/od/autismtherapy101/a/PTbasics.htm>occupational <http://autism.about.com/od/whatisautism/a/OTBasics.htm>and speech therapy <http://autism.about.com/od/whatisautism/a/SLP.htm>along with some kind of social skills training<http://autism.about.com/od/autismtherapy101/a/socskillbasics.htm> andbehavior support. If they over- or under-react to sensory input (lightsseem too bright, sounds seem too loud, etc.), their parents might alsosign them up for sensory integration therapy<http://autism.about.com/od/treatmentoptions/a/allaboutsi.htm> . As theyget older, they might get involved with social skills groups andcognitive therapy. While some of these therapies are appropriate for adults with AS, saysDr.Shana Nichols of the Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism, treatment foradults really depends upon the individual adult's response to thediagnosis. And responses can run the gamut from joy to anger -- andeverything in between. Says Dr. Nichols: "Some people are overjoyed because finally everythingmakes sense to them -- why they can't hold a job, keep a relationship.They have blamed themselves all their lives. Now they have a frameworkin which to understand their difficulties and their strengths. For a lotof people, it's a relief." Of course, there is no obligation to do anything about an AS diagnosis,and some people simply stop with the diagnosis and walk away. For thosepeople who are interested in exploring their AS further, says Nichols,"We do a debriefing and exploration focused what they feel now that theyknow about it. We do a diagnostic 'life mapping' and explore that; wetalk about how all people with AS are different from one another. Thenwe make a plan from there: We say you came there for a reason,' and weask, 'Where would you like to go next?'" Some of the issues Nichols explores with her patients include quality oflife concerns such as leisure interests, social activities, health,employment and family. "We look at all the different areas that make upquality of life, see how they're doing, and where they want to make somechanges." In addition to working on personal goals, says Nichols, "Family work isoften indicated. There are often rifts that have occurred where siblingsare no longer talking. We explore the questions, 'What do you want totell your family? How would you like to repair relationships?' Sometimeswe have families come in to work on issues together." Beyond cognitive therapy, adults with an AS diagnosis have a number ofother treatment options. They can request that their diagnostician writea report that clearly outlines diagnostic issues, IQ, and adaptivebehaviors. With that report, adults diagnosed with AS can often qualifyfor services provided by state and/or federal agencies. Such servicesrange from cognitive therapy to vocational training, job placement,health insurance, and, in some cases, housing. Some of the therapies that are useful for children are also helpful foradults with AS. For example, sensory integration therapy can be helpfulin alleviating hypersensitivity to sound and light; social skillstherapy (often in the form of life or job coaching) can improve jobsituations and even friendships. Perhaps most important, say AS advocates, is "do it yourself" therapy.Adults with AS have access to books, support groups, conferences andother resources that provide insight, ideas and information on allaspects of life with AS. The Global and Regional Partnership forAsperger Syndrome (GRASP) offers a whole page of links to sites andresources <http://www.grasp.org/links.htm#publishing> to support adultswith AS seeking ideas, insights, and next steps. Sources: Asperger's Syndrome Fact Sheet, National Institutes of NeurologicalDisorders. Prepared by: Office of Communications and Public LiaisonNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke NationalInstitutes of Health Bethesda, MD 20892 Publication date January 2005. Interview with Michael John Carley, Executive Director of the Global andRegional Asperger Syndrome Partnership. April, 2007. Interview with Dr. Shana Nichols, North Shore Long Island Jewish HealthSystem, Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism. May, 2007. Online Asperger Syndrome Issues and Support (OASIS) Website. "AdultIssues, Resources and Contributions From and For Individuals with AS andAutism."FAQ Index <http://autism.about.com/od/adultsaspergersyndrom1/f/
<http://autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyndrome/a/adultsaspergers.htm>
Asperger syndrome (AS) is a pervasive developmental disorder at thehighest end of the autism spectrum. People with AS develop languagenormally, but often have difficulty with social interactions, fine andgross motor coordination, and eye contact. They may be extremelypassionate about just one or two topics, with little patience for smalltalk. They also may struggle to handle normal daily activities, such asorganizing time, managing conflict, or even facing the sensory overloadpresented by malls and grocery stores. Adults with AS may appear painfully shy, or they may be extremelyoutgoing - sometimes to the point of being "in your face." That'sbecause people with AS often misinterpret social interaction. Questionsthey may ask themselves: How far away do I stand from another person?How long can I talk about my favorite subject? What's the right answerto "how are you?" If these are the types of questions that puzzle you on a regular basis,you may already have considered the possibility that you have AS. And"if you think you have Asperger syndrome, you probably do," says MichaelJohn Carley, Executive Director of Global and Regional Partnership forAsperger Syndrome (GRASP) <http://www.grasp.org> . I Think I DO Have Asperger Syndrome - What Do I Do Now?<http://autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyndrome/f/dxasadults.htm> AS is in no way life threatening, and while there are therapiesavailable to aleviate symptoms and build new skills, there is notreatment which will cure it. That means you are under no obligation toseek a professional diagnosis, or to act on a diagnosis once you haveit. There are, however, good reasons to consider seeking a diagnosis<http://autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyndrome/a/www.autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyndrome/tp/whygetasdx.htm> , particularly if you feel thatAsperger syndrome may be causing problems or distress. If you do decide to seek a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome,<http://autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyndrome/f/dxcriteriaforas.htm>Carley recommends seeking out individual therapists, neurologists andautism centers that are familiar with tests for AS. The most criticalpoint is that you choose a therapist, neurologist or center withsignificant experience in diagnosing adults with AS. Since it isrelatively new to the DSM-IV (diagnostic manual), the diagnosis may besomething many practicing doctors will not have been trained in or haveexpertise in AS. Appropriate diagnosis will involve a variety of tests that focus onintelligence, "adaptive" social and communication skills, and personaldevelopmental history. An experienced professional can help distinguishbetween true AS and other disorders which have some of the same orsimilar symptoms (social phobias, anxiety, etc.). I Have an AS Diagnosis. Now What?<http://autism.about.com/od/adultsaspergersyndrom1/f/treatadultas.htm> Again, the decision is yours. The information may simply be interestingto you alone, and you may choose to keep it that way. Knowing that youhave AS can help you plan for and manage potentially difficult settingsor situations, and behavioral therapy geared to helping you buildsocial/communications skills may be helpful. If your medicalpractitioner feels that you have other, related disorders (such asanxiety, depression, or obsessive compulsive disorder), medication maybe appropriate. Carley also recommends seeking out books and websitesabout life as an adult with Asperger syndrome. On the other hand, you may choose to share your AS diagnosis withfriends and family. If you grew up with undiagnosed AS, your unusualsocial interactions may have created friction, and even bad feelings. Bysharing your diagnosis, you may open the door to better understandingand closer relationships. Are There Others Out There Like Me?Absolutely! GRASP is only one of several large organizations dedicatedto supporting teens and adults with AS. Others includeNeurodiversity.org <http://www.neurodiversity.org> , Asperger FoundationInternational <http://www.aspfi.org> , Wrong Planet<http://www.wrongplanet.net> and more. The purpose of theseorganizations is to provides adults with AS with support, socialcontacts, resources, treatment, and a sense of community. If you'reinteresting in learning more about these groups, click around thesites... join in the forums... and, if you can, attend a local groupmeeting. Sources: Asperger's Syndrome Fact Sheet, National Institutes of NeurologicalDisorders.<http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/asperger/detail_asperger.htm>Prepared by: Office of Communications and Public Liaison NationalInstitute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Institutes ofHealth Bethesda, MD 20892 Publication date January 2005. Interview with Michael John Carley, Executive Director of the Global andRegional Asperger Syndrome Partnership. April, 2007. Online Asperger Syndrome Issues and Support (OASIS) Website.<http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/> "Adult Issues, Resources andContributions From and For Individuals with AS and Autism."Q. How Do Experts Diagnose Asperger Syndrome in Adults?From Lisa Jo Rudy <http://autism.about.com/mbiopage.htm> ,Your Guide to Autism <http://autism.about.com/> .About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by StevenGans, MD <http://www.about.com/health/p4.htm> You've never really grasped small talk, and would rather talk to acomputer than another human being. Does that mean you have AspergerSyndrome (AS)? To find out, you'll have to see an expert. But howexactly do experts diagnose AS in adults?A. Dr. Shana Nichols of the Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism on LongIsland in New York specializes in diagnosing and treating teens andadults with Asperger Syndrome. While she uses several specificdiagnostic tools to identify specific symptoms, she says that even thosetools are somewhat out of date, as is the DSM IV, a psychiatricdiagnostic manual, which was last updated in 1994. "We've learned anenormous amount since then," she says. When adults come to the Lindner Center for a diagnosis, Dr. Nicholsbegins her exam with an IQ test. Since people with AS have normal orabove normal IQs, this is a good place to start. She also administers anassessment of adaptive skills which tests the patient's ability tomanage complex social situations. "If a parent is available," says Nichols, "we administer a parentinterview called the ADI (Autism Diagnostic Interview Revised). We're looking at current functioning and early history to get a sense ofthe patient's skills in social, communication and behavior domains."After all, as she says, "autism doesn't suddenly show up when you're 25,so most people with true AS showed symptoms throughout their childhood."If parents aren't available, Nichols and her colleagues ask the patientto recall their childhood, asking such questions as "Did you have a lotof friends?" and "What did you enjoy doing?" Nichols also administers the ADOS Module IV. ADOS is the autismdiagnostic observation schedule, and module four is for high-functioningverbal young adults and adults. Along with the ADI, it allows doctors tolook carefully at social and communication skills and behavior. Forexample, says Nichols, the tests look at such questions as "Can you havea reciprocal social conversation? Are you interested in the examiner'sthoughts and feelings? Do you demonstrate insight into relationships? Doyou use appropriate non-verbal gestures and facial expressions? Do youhave odd or over-focused interests?" The tests allow doctors to attach agrade in each each domain to determine whether the patient meets thecriteria for AS. It's not unusual, says Nichols, for a patient to come in expecting an ASdiagnosis and to leave with a different diagnosis. "Distinguishingbetween social phobias or shyness and actual impairment with AS can bevery tough for a layperson," she says. Other disorders, such asobsessive compulsive disorder (compulsions, hoarding, needing to dothings over and over) or social anxiety can sometimes look like AS. Ifdoctors do pick up on these other disorders, they can recommendappropriate therapy and/or medication. Sources: Ami Klin, Ph.D., and Fred R. Volkmar, M.D. Asperger's SyndromeGuidelines for Assessment and Diagnosis.<http://info.med.yale.edu/chldstdy/autism/asdiagnosis.html> Yale ChildStudy Center, New Haven, Connecticut. Published by the LearningDisabilities Association of America, June 1995 Interview with John Michael Carley, Executive Director, Global andRegional Asperger Syndrome Partnership (GRASP). <http://www.grasp.org>April, 2007. Interview with Dr. Shana Nichols, North Shore Long Island Jewish HealthSystem, Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism. May, 2007. [link url=http://www.nichcy.org/resources/asperger.asp]NationalDissemination Center for Children with Disabilities Asperger Syndrome page.FAQ Index <http://autism.about.com/od/aspergerssyndrome/f/> Q. What Treatments Are Available for Adults with Asperger Syndrome?Your symptoms seem to point to Asperger syndrome. But is it worth doingall the work of getting a diagnosis? What good will a diagnosis do andwhat therapies are available to you once you have an "official"diagnosis in hand?A. Children with Asperger syndrome (AS) and other forms of autismusually receive a set of treatments and therapies in school. Often,they'll receive physical,<http://autism.about.com/od/autismtherapy101/a/PTbasics.htm>occupational <http://autism.about.com/od/whatisautism/a/OTBasics.htm>and speech therapy <http://autism.about.com/od/whatisautism/a/SLP.htm>along with some kind of social skills training<http://autism.about.com/od/autismtherapy101/a/socskillbasics.htm> andbehavior support. If they over- or under-react to sensory input (lightsseem too bright, sounds seem too loud, etc.), their parents might alsosign them up for sensory integration therapy<http://autism.about.com/od/treatmentoptions/a/allaboutsi.htm> . As theyget older, they might get involved with social skills groups andcognitive therapy. While some of these therapies are appropriate for adults with AS, saysDr.Shana Nichols of the Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism, treatment foradults really depends upon the individual adult's response to thediagnosis. And responses can run the gamut from joy to anger -- andeverything in between. Says Dr. Nichols: "Some people are overjoyed because finally everythingmakes sense to them -- why they can't hold a job, keep a relationship.They have blamed themselves all their lives. Now they have a frameworkin which to understand their difficulties and their strengths. For a lotof people, it's a relief." Of course, there is no obligation to do anything about an AS diagnosis,and some people simply stop with the diagnosis and walk away. For thosepeople who are interested in exploring their AS further, says Nichols,"We do a debriefing and exploration focused what they feel now that theyknow about it. We do a diagnostic 'life mapping' and explore that; wetalk about how all people with AS are different from one another. Thenwe make a plan from there: We say you came there for a reason,' and weask, 'Where would you like to go next?'" Some of the issues Nichols explores with her patients include quality oflife concerns such as leisure interests, social activities, health,employment and family. "We look at all the different areas that make upquality of life, see how they're doing, and where they want to make somechanges." In addition to working on personal goals, says Nichols, "Family work isoften indicated. There are often rifts that have occurred where siblingsare no longer talking. We explore the questions, 'What do you want totell your family? How would you like to repair relationships?' Sometimeswe have families come in to work on issues together." Beyond cognitive therapy, adults with an AS diagnosis have a number ofother treatment options. They can request that their diagnostician writea report that clearly outlines diagnostic issues, IQ, and adaptivebehaviors. With that report, adults diagnosed with AS can often qualifyfor services provided by state and/or federal agencies. Such servicesrange from cognitive therapy to vocational training, job placement,health insurance, and, in some cases, housing. Some of the therapies that are useful for children are also helpful foradults with AS. For example, sensory integration therapy can be helpfulin alleviating hypersensitivity to sound and light; social skillstherapy (often in the form of life or job coaching) can improve jobsituations and even friendships. Perhaps most important, say AS advocates, is "do it yourself" therapy.Adults with AS have access to books, support groups, conferences andother resources that provide insight, ideas and information on allaspects of life with AS. The Global and Regional Partnership forAsperger Syndrome (GRASP) offers a whole page of links to sites andresources <http://www.grasp.org/links.htm#publishing> to support adultswith AS seeking ideas, insights, and next steps. Sources: Asperger's Syndrome Fact Sheet, National Institutes of NeurologicalDisorders. Prepared by: Office of Communications and Public LiaisonNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke NationalInstitutes of Health Bethesda, MD 20892 Publication date January 2005. Interview with Michael John Carley, Executive Director of the Global andRegional Asperger Syndrome Partnership. April, 2007. Interview with Dr. Shana Nichols, North Shore Long Island Jewish HealthSystem, Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism. May, 2007. Online Asperger Syndrome Issues and Support (OASIS) Website. "AdultIssues, Resources and Contributions From and For Individuals with AS andAutism."FAQ Index <http://autism.about.com/od/adultsaspergersyndrom1/f/
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