ASPERGER

The day you showed the video in class I was ill and I didn't see it but I have done my task with my knowledge about this Syndrome and asking a friend with too much experience to compense the day i didn't go to class:

Asperger's syndrome is a part of a broader category called Autism Spectrum Disorder (ADS). In general they have got common characteristics: They have social problems like difficulty communicating and interacting with other or expressing their feelings, repetitive behaviors as well as limited interests or activities, problems to learn at school, or working... this problem is recognized in the firsts years of life because ADS have got too many evidences, like: 

It's a common definition but we have to know that not all people have the same behaviorism and the same symptoms because there are too many different syndromes involved on this category. Once we have seen there are a problem with a children he/she have to go to an specialist to diagnose his/her problem and to make sense us as a teachers.

If we want to talk about Asperger's syndrome we have to know two things about this persons:

1. They are as intelligent as other people. They only have more difficultly the relationships.

2. They tend to have an obsessive focus on one topic of perform the same behaviors again and again but we can't see them as a big problem: it's not bad.

This syndrome shows his face early in life; in the first years so we can remind different things to detect him: If one children seems awkward in social situations and doesn't know what to say or how to respond when someone talks to him; if he miss social cues that are obvious to the folks, like body language or the expressions on people's faces; if he show few emotions like, for example, not to laugh with a joke; if we doesn't like the changes and don't accept them or he may speak in a flat, robotic kind of way, he can have Asperger's syndrome.

This syndrome is diagnosed by the psychologist, the pediatric neurologist, the developmental pediatrician or the psychiatrist. It's too common that the children will be treated by all of them.

In spite of this syndrome is diagnosed in the first years of life it's too common to find now adult people with Asperger and without a diagnostic because the investigations about this topic are recent and when now adult people was a baby there wasn't a problem so they weren't diagnosed. In spite of there isn't a medical diagnosed, there are too many things like activities and test that we can do, like this:

http://romeoasperger.blogspot.com.es/2009/05/test-de-sindrome-de-asperger.html

Doing this test you can see if you have a problem with relationships and if you have Asperger. It's interesting to do it because there are many reactions that make us to think that we can be an undiagnostised person but if we put attention at the results we can see that it is a false illusion: we can be bad at relationships but without a problem, for example.

To include this children in the educational system we can do a lot of things related principally with the interest centre of the boy to ensure their exit in the life. We should adapt the curriculum and the classes remind their likes and the things they are interested in because this is the unique form to catch their attention for work in class.

When we're preparing their activities we have to know that their intelligences are normal and in the most of cases it's underdeveloped and superior so they can do all things like their parents if we found the way to motivate and guide them.

They could very despair abilities: we can found a children very good at mental operations in maths but bad at geometry, for example, or one children who writes very well but he don't understand the phrasal analysis. Their less point are the language and the social relationships. If we look at this children we can see they talk very well but they don't understand things like "Me tomó el pelo" or " Eres un paquete", so they don't understand the jokes and the typical language expressions; they understand it at literally way and, obviously, they don't found the mean to this phrase.

Other thing we should remind is they are "visual thinking". It means they learn in a better and easier way with images, comics... things with meaning but without language so to help them we can adapt the curriculum on this way; we can do activities to teach with images and comics.

As teachers and tutors we should bring them extra-help for classes and for homework; it's very important they know we're with them for help them. We can do a lot of things to do it:

• For the exams we should remark the questions with different colors to make the organization more easier. 

• We should bring extra-time in the exams because they need it. 

• For homework and diary classes we can bring them help to their organization: post-it, notes... one good way to do it is trough a partner: one partner can help them in the organization. 

• THE DIARY: It's very very important to have a diary with all dates, meetings, exams, homework.. all this types of things should be clear for them, and it's too difficult.

• In class, we can put them in the table with a responsible, organized and sociable partner. This is important for too many things: for relationship with all partners and the organization. We can say it's the union between the students, the environment and the class. 

• Other characteristic of this children is the poor self-steem so we should do anything to remediate it. In the most of cases this self-steem is made because they need too much helping in class and the other partners think they are spoilt. We should strengthen their positive image: one way is, for example, to make them the responsible of things that they do very well. If a boy or a girl is very good at pass list, for example, because he/she in very good at looking people, we can make them pass list every day, as a responsible of this activity. We can show to the others their artistic and sportive skills for example. 

• If they go to the help-class is good for them and for the class environment because other partners can know their way to work. It's a good form to destroy prejudices. 

• We have to anticipate at routine-changes. It should be a caotic thing for them and we have to know how to help on this aspect, for example, if the next tuesday we're goig to have an excursion we should introducing the topic, the place and the activities a days before. The goal is to make always concious this children the things they are going to do then, 

• To explain the activities and the games with images because it's easier for them to know the rules, for example, trough visual things. 

• We can leave them go out to the park or the class that we have change, for example, a few minutes before the rest of the class because for this children the noise and the people-mass is very extressing so we should evite this situations. 

• In the activities that they ahve to put in groups is a good idea to make a little group with them because for them is easier to work on this way and they can do more things and to be careful and enjoy it. One example of this actions in the dining room. 

• To make excurssions and extra-activities is a good form to motivate them and to teach them too. 

• This is the most important thing: to show the problem to the other partners: if the family wants and the direction of the school is agree is a good idea to explain with their partners what is Asperger and how we can help this partner because is a good idea to elimine prejudices and to realize the class in general: if they know how they are, they see at this as a normal thing and no as a bad thing. 

I have to say thank you to Almudena for help me to do this work. She's my uncle's friend and she's mother of two boys with Asperger's Syndrom. She created an association with other mothers and proffesionals in Villalba, Madrid, the Arcoiris Association to help the families, to orient the schools, and to bring information for the society. They persevere on to leave them making little but important things like to go to the supermarket, to pay if we're shopping with us, to ask someone something... it's the best help to them because it develop their comunication skills, the things that are more difficult for them. I know this association and their way to work with children and adults and I thing that their work is a increible work. You can see more things about them on this page:


http://www.asociacionproautismoarcoiris.org/



Since years ago I know Almudena and her boys and i have to say that they are a fantastic family, and in too many cases more normal than our families, because... Who decides what is it appropiate? (Alice in wonderland) We only have to see them with luckly eyes to see the best of them.