[Teacher317]

(also posted on the Rush thread)

I had one student whose parents and therapist were adamant about labelling with Asperger. He was an unmotivated C student, and didn't seem "different" at all. He was moderately unresponsive to social situations (not laughing when the class laughed, etc). That was about it. He had friends, and liked to laugh and talk with them privately.

Why that called for an entire battery of tests, specialists, and scholastic perks (tesing in separate room with a "helper", more time for tests, more time for homework, two periods per day with specialists, etc) was self-evident... the school got more money, the specialists justified their own existence (while the student body grew by over 200 over 5 years, we got only 1 new teacher position added... and 6 new specialists), and the mother (whom I would've had tested for Munchausen by Proxy, personally) had her hysteria assuaged (temporarily).

The child's grades did not imporove, he said he didn't want to be "different" and put in special classes, and the staff got more paperwork. *sigh*

[AntiGuv]

That is at best a tangential comment on Asperger's, if you get my meaning. It is a definitive comment on (a) this child & his family; (b) the contemporary school system...

[aimhigh]

Vitamin B-6 has a side effect of making people talkative. (in some cases very talkative.) It is also useful in some early cases of children with autism symptoms (my daughter).

[Blue_Ridge_Mtn_Geek]

Yes, institutions that are designed to "normalize" their inmates do have difficulty with those who don't fit their routine.

That's why we pulled our son from middle school and homeschooled him until he was ready for college. He graduated last year. I doubt if he'll ever fit into a conventional workplace (office or production facility), but he has marketable skills and is learning how to market them on his own. We're proud of his progress. Sorry to hear about your facilitiy.

Suggested readings:

http://www.cantrip.org/gatto.html

http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htmhtml

[Travis McGee]

I'm glad to see AS getting some attention, but this article is not a serious look at all of the manifestations of this disorder.

Nowhere does it mention the shattering meltdowns which can last for hours when the frustration explodes. Nowhere does it mention screaming, running away, tearing things up, extreme depression to the point of posting a danger to yourself. Nowhere does it mention extreme anger. This article makes AS almost sound like a fun little quirky minor disorder. It's NOT.

I can't help it if some parent played the system for a truly "just lazy" kid. That does NOT mean AS isn't a very real and very, very serious malady. Those of us who live with seriously afflicted AS kids know better. It turns families inside out, trying to cope. It can break up marriages, it can lead to things I don't even want to discuss on an open forum.

It's damn serious, and damn real.