Awareness Ribbons

Autism, Asperger's Syndrome and Autistic Spectrum Disorders

This one hits kinda close to home, what with the Asperger's and all :/

I realise that Autism in itself is quite well recognised but not many understand the spectrum.

  Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them.

It is a spectrum condition, which means that, while all people with autism share certain difficulties, their condition will affect them in different ways. Some people with autism are able to live relatively independent lives but others may have accompanying learning disabilities and need a lifetime of specialist support. People with autism may also experience over or under-sensitivity to sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light or colours.

The characteristics of autism vary from one person to another but are generally divided into three main groups. These are:

Difficulty with social communication
Difficulty with social interaction
Difficulty with social imagination.

As soon as we meet a person we make judgements about them. From their facial expression, tone of voice and body language we can usually tell whether they are happy, angry or sad and respond accordingly.

People with Asperger syndrome can find it harder to read the signals that most of us take for granted. This means they find it more difficult to with others which can lead to high levels of anxiety and confusion.

While there are similarities with autism, people with Asperger syndrome have fewer problems with speaking and are often of average, or above average, intelligence. They do not usually have the accompanying learning disabilities associated with autism, but they may have specific learning difficulties. These may include dyslexia and dyspraxia or other conditions such as ADHD and epilepsy.

In my opinion the worst part about Asperger's, is the 'meltdown'.

A meltdown is a condition where the youngster with Aspergers or High Functioning Autism temporarily loses control due to emotional responses to environmental factors. It generally appears that the youngster has lost control over a single and specific issue, however this is very rarely the case. Usually, the problem is the accumulation of a number of irritations which could span a fairly long period of time, particularly given the strong long-term memory abilities of young people on the autism spectrum.

Aspergers kids don't tend to give a lot of clues that they are very irritated:
Often Aspergers child-grievances are aired as part of their normal conversation and may even be interpreted by NTs (i.e., neurotypicals, or people without Aspergers) as part of their standard whining.

Some things which annoy Aspergers kids would not be considered annoying to NTs, and this makes NTs less likely to pick up on a potential problem.

Their facial expressions very often will not convey the irritation.

Their vocal tones will often remain flat even when they are fairly annoyed.

The meltdown appears to most people as a temper tantrum. There are marked differences between adults and kids. Kids tend to flop onto the ground and shout, scream or cry. Quite often, they will display violent behavior such as hitting or kicking.
In adults, due to social pressures, violent behavior in public is less common. Shouting outbursts or emotional displays can occur though. More often, it leads to depression and the Aspergers man or woman simply retreats into themselves and abandons social contact.Some Aspergers kids describe the meltdown as a red or grey band across the eyes. There is a loss of control and a feeling of being a powerless observer outside the body. This can be dangerous as the Aspergers youngster may strike out, particularly if the instigator is nearby or if the "Aspie" is taunted during a meltdown. 

With the right support and encouragement, people with Asperger syndrome can lead full and independent lives.

Please suggest the next one! ~ Izzy