Diversity Within a Preschool - Children With Asperger's Syndrome

Asperger's syndrome also known as A.S is a form of autism. Autism is a disorder of development that affects social and communication skills. Autism is not just one specific disorder but occurs in a variety of forms and degrees. The term Autistic Spectrum Disorder is often used to describe the whole range. On this spectrum comes the condition A.S. A.S is found among all races, nationalities and social classes; the name comes from a man named Hans Asperger who was an Austrian physician who first described the syndrome in 1944.

A.S has a pattern that includes:

Lack of empathy not understanding social cures and others feelings
Little ability to form friendship
One sided conversations
Intense absorption in a special interest, which may leave no space for more an age appropriate, common interests
"clumsy" movements in both their articulation and gross motor behaviour
A love of routine, unexpected change in routine can be upsetting
Repetitive activities, children with A.S may spin and watch spinning objects for long periods of time
Sensitive to sensory touch, light and noise

People with A.S perceive the world differently from everybody else. They find the rest of us strange and baffling.

The way children with A.S perceive the world makes sense to them and they cannot change the way they think or act. They can however find help to adapt in ways they won't cause conflict and confusion with others, who may not understand or tolerate A.S behaviours. Children with A.S look normal and often have average or above average intelligence, but for some reason are not able to understand and relate to other people at a level one would expect for their age. It can be hard for parents, teachers and peers to understand why these children have a lack of desire to interact with peers or inability to understand simple or social cues. They can be assumed to be selfish, where as they are actually would just rather play by themselves with a special interest of their own. Children with A.S do not take much notice of the reaction of the people listening to them and may talk on regardless of the listener's interest and may appear insensitive to their feelings. When A.S children are listening to others, jokes, exaggerated language and metaphors can cause confusion: for example a person with A.S may be frightened at statements like "she bit my head off" and take it quite literally.

The child with A.S does not see themselves as a member of a particular group; they follow their own interest rather than that of the other children in the class or playground which can lead to total social isolation.

The causes of Aspergers syndrome are still being investigated. It is believed that not one single cause can affect the pattern of behaviours that children with A.S present with. But there is strong evidence to suggest that A.S can be caused by a variety of physical factors, all of which affect the brain development. A.S sometimes can be assumed to be due to an emotional deprivation because of their social inadequacies, but this is untrue. A.S is a developmentally disability affecting the brain and there is no cure, but with appropriate education and support children affected with A.S develop into competent adults who can overcome social situations and expectations of others.

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