Asperger's

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Home : 2005 : January : 30

Asperger's
By proud to have been his teacher

As the other poster mentioned, Tony Attwood is a great source.

Three years ago I was the "chosen one" by the parents of a boy with Asperger's. I was scared and intimidated at first at what my year would be like. The
first half of the school year was a real challenge, but he made so many behavioral gains with all of the support from home and school.
To address your questions, I had a difficult time all that year trying to determine what was the syndrome and what was learned behavior, or like you said, manipulation. Those kiddos are brilliant! I set high expectations and followed through with consistency

in my rewards and consequences. Although I might not have been able to tell the boy's motivation at the beginning of a "meltdown," I could eventually figure it out by being consistent with expectations. If he responded in a disgruntled way, I knew that he was trying to push my buttons. I knew it and he knew it and life went on smoothly. If things started escalating quickly, I knew I had to change what I was doing and that he was not in control at the moment. It took me a few months to get to that point.

Now, three years later, that student is in 6th grade at my school and doing wonderfully!

Good luck and post back. I'd like to see how you're doing!