ASK's Articles and Blog on Autism

The adolescent years can be difficult for children with Aspergers, and middle school can be particularly challenging. Many adolescents have difficulty with socialization issues during the preteen and teen years, but for those children diagnosed with Aspergers, these issues are often magnified. While in elementary school, these children usually had a predictable routine, with many of them staying in one classroom throughout the day except for physical education

and art or music. Because children with autism usually thrive on routine, the elementary school years may go quite smoothly.

Middle school is often a big adjustment for any student because of the onset of puberty as well as the multitude of changes throughout each day. They have to adjust to juggling class schedules, lockers, a variety of teachers, and other issues. The routines of walking in lines and sitting with the class during lunch are left behind once they exit those elementary school doors for the last time.

The once quiet lunch room they may have experienced in the lower grades is replaced with what may seem like chaos and noise to children with autism. Crowded halls filled with students racing from their lockers to the next class can be overwhelming. When you combine these challenges with peer pressure and social problems, like ridicule and bullying, a child with Aspergers may feel overwhelmed and have a difficult time coping from one day to the next.

Common Misconceptions

Hopefully, educators are well acquainted with the issues surrounding the behavior of a child diagnosed with Aspergers, and middle school teachers should be especially vigilant in watching out for problems concerning these children. There are several common misconceptions associated with Aspergers Syndrome.

• Children with Aspergers are sometimes perceived as having low intelligence, when in fact, they are often extremely bright, especially in particular areas.
• Children with Aspergers may seem rude and obnoxious, when in actuality they are often just being honest. One of their areas of difficulty is often knowing how to use tact when talking to someone else.
• They may have a large vocabulary, but they may have problems with reading comprehension.
• They may seem to ignore certain instructions, when in reality they don’t do well with a variety of instructions given at one time.
• They may appear to ignore others simply because they have difficulty making eye contact, but for the most part, they have heard what was said.

School Strategies

Children with Aspergers may be socially immature, and this can often set them up for ridicule and bullying. Educators must pay special attention to what is going on in middle school environment to protect and encourage these children on a day to day basis. Some common middle school strategies include the following:

• Create as much structure as possible for the child with Aspergers.
• Communicate frequently with other teachers and the child’s parents about any problems and progress the child is experiencing.
• Help the child stay organized with assignment notebooks, graphic organizers, weekly calendars, etc.
• Give directions clearly, using visual and verbal clues.
• Understand that children with Aspergers may have physical difficulties as well.
• Because children with Aspergers may take medicine during the day, teachers need to understand that certain behaviors may be more prevalent as the medicine wears off each day.

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Finally, recognize that each day is a challenge for any adolescent but particularly for those children who have Aspergers Syndrome. Consistent communication and daily monitoring can make all the difference in the life of a middle school child with this condition.

Born with a mild-to-moderate case of cerebral palsy, Tony Bartoli encountered a lot of bullying while in school. As an adult, Bartoli wanted to change how kids with differences, including disabities, get treated at school, so in 2004 he started traveling across the country to help raise awareness about the seriousness of bullying.

Bullied at School
Bartoli was bullied in school from fourth to ninth grade.

“They (the bullies) made me a target because of my cerebral palsy,” he explains.

Bullying incidents started off as verbal, with name calling. One favorite of the bullies was “No-Good Wimpier.” As ridiculous as the moniker may sound, the words stung.

Bullying Gets Physical
Bartoli progressed into middle school, and the bullying turned physical. Incidents included being shoved in the hallway, or thumped on the back of the head while he was riding the school bus.

The bullying increased in frequency, sometimes as often as four days out of five. The bullying made Bartoli feel isolated, and he increasingly kept to himself.

Some of his classmates noticed the bullying and reported the incidents to teachers, who in return reported the incidents to the principal. The principal sat down with Bartoli and the bullies, but Bartoli noted such meetings only temporarily reduced the amount of bullying.

Finally, the bullying stopped in the ninth grade after some of Bartoli’s peers started sticking up for him.

Students with Disabilities Bullied Often
Bullies prey on individuals with differences, making students with disabilities especially vulnerable to bullies. In his travels, Bartoli has encountered many students with disabilities who have been bullied, including students with Down syndrome, autism, multiple sclerosis, and cerebral palsy.

Bullying will continue to be a problem until people talk about the issue. Bartoli explains part of the problem involves “not knowing how deeply it (bullying) affects others.”

Anti-Bully Strategies
During our interview, Bartoli shared some strategies to help prevent bullying from occurring:

• Learned Comeback. A learned comeback involves standing up for you. For instance, if you find yourself in a bullied situation, state strongly “Stop this bullying! I’m a student just like you and I don’t have to deal with this!” before leaving the scene.

• Stay in a Group. Groups work to prevent bullying, which often happens in community areas (locker room, lunch room, hallways) at school. “Bullies look for targets who are alone,” Bartoli says. By staying in a group, you help reduce the chance of being bullied.

• Become Involved. Throughout our interview, Bartoli couldn’t stress enough the importance of bystander involvement in bullying. When other students get involved and stand up for the rights of others, the power of intimidation gets taken away from bullies.

Bartoli emphasizes to students who are being bullied that the bullying shouldn’t last. If you are on the receiving end of bullying, take action! Check out Tony Baroli’s website. If you, or somebody you know, is experiencing problems with bullying, Bartoli welcomes emails at tonyb4hope@yahoo.com.

Bullying is a spectrum of aggressive and intentional behaviors that result in an intimidating imbalance of power. Rarely an isolated event, many victims experience bullying repeatedly. Physical acts of harm, like kicking, punching, and shoving, are just one form of bullying. Name-calling is a form of verbal bullying. Social exclusion of the victim is emotional bullying.

Research shows that children with disabilities are more likely to be bullied than their peers. Once overlooked as a typical challenge of childhood, professionals have begun to recognize the debilitating effects of bullying. Educators, parents, and advocates have united to develop anti-bullying philosophies and policies aimed to prevent school bullying and promote the positive social inclusion of all children.

Children with Disabilities: Bullies or Victims?
Children with visible and invisible disabilities are significantly more likely than their peers to be the victims of bullying behavior. The type of bullying experienced often differs according to the child’s disability.

Children with visible conditions, like cerebral palsy and spina bifida, are more likely to be called names or aggressively excluded from social activities. Children with learning disabilities report higher rates of teasing and physically abusive victimization. Obesity has also been linked to higher rates of bullying. Overweight girls are especially vulnerable to physical forms of bullying.

Children with special needs are not exclusively victims of bullying. Research suggests that children with ADHD are more likely to demonstrate bullying behavior than their typical peers. Impulsivity and a lower tolerance for frustration are characteristics of this disorder that are also associated with bullying. Peer relationships are often extremely difficult and complex for children with ADHD. They need support and supervision to practice healthy social interactions with others. Whether victim or perpetrator, school bullying impedes learning and stunts the development of a healthy self-esteem.

Bullying at Home
Children with disabilities are not only at a greater risk to endure bullying at school, but many also face victimization at home. Cyberbullying and excessive aggression from siblings have become newly addressed areas of concern for researchers interested in bullying. Cyberbullying is defined as the use of technology, including cell phones and the Internet, to harass, stalk, and humiliate another person. Children with developmental disabilities who spend large amounts of time on the computer are especially at risk to be victimized by online bullies.

Sibling rivalry can also escalate into a more severe form of teasing and intimidation. Approximately 30 percent of children and adolescents report experiencing abuse from siblings that has crossed the line. Because typical sibling rivalry has been associated with positive social gains in negotiating and conflict resolution skills, parents are often rightfully hesitant to intervene.

How can parents differentiate bullying from potentially beneficial sibling rivalry? Bullying differs from rivalry because one child remains in control. Bullying is persistent and the perpetrator intends to do harm. If parents observe signs of bullying behavior from their children, they should intervene immediately.

What Can Parents Do?
• Learn to recognize the signs of bullying. Children who are bullied and those that bully are equally in need of support and guidance from caring adults. Watch children for bruises, changes in moods, eating habits, and sleeping patterns.

• Implement “The Stop Rule” in your home. If one child has had enough of rough verbal or physical play, he or she can say, “Stop!” to immediately end the activity. Children on both sides benefit from this simple act of social skills development and assertiveness training.

• Instill confidence and pride in your child’s abilities and disabilities. Children with special needs who have developed a sense of pride in their differences are less likely to be victimized by bullies and will respond more effectively when faced with social pressures.

• Communicate with all parties involved. If you believe your child may be the victim or the instigator of bullying, contact teachers, principals, and other parents of children who are involved. Put your concerns in writing.

• Review the anti-bullying policy of your child’s school. If there is not one in place, advocate for the adoption of guidelines to address this serious impediment to learning. Ensure the policy considers all forms of bullying.

• Request an Individualized Education Program (IEP) team meeting if you believe bullying of your child is based on his or her disability and is interfering with learning. This form of severe intentional harm is considered “disability harassment” under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Disability harassment is illegal.

• Seek support. Bullying is a serious and harmful aspect of childhood. Adding shame to the equation, however, only further stigmatizes the children involved. Talk with your children and other parents about bullying. Avoid labeling and model calm, rational, and assertive behavior for your children to observe.

by ~themontyfreak

I have always felt that I was different. Different in the way I think, the way I feel, and the way I act. My life has been a roller coaster, having the anticipation as I climb the hill and having the rush of adrenaline as I race down. There have been times where I have been so stressed that the world seemed to have ended and other times where I have been so calm that the world seemed to have escaped from me. This has been my life; but there is more to it than just that. Throughout my life there has been affection and there has been rejection. Bliss and despair have contrasted themselves so divinely. These memories have both haunted me and delighted me in every sense. And in my short eighteen years I have witnessed many things; some of which no one should ever go through. 

My life was just beginning, I was in preschool, and I considered everyone to be my friend. I was naïve; but so were my classmates. No one was quick to judge and everyone seemed to care. But as my preschool life ended and I was sent off to grade school, my spirit started to change. After that point, I didn’t really have any close friends. I was a loner, independent in my school work and in my social life, whether I wanted to be or not. People may have avoided me because I was different, or maybe because I couldn’t look them in the eye, and it seemed like whenever I started getting into a relationship with someone, my family would move. When I became a second grader, my family moved into the house that we have lived in since. That was the point where I learned how cruel people can be.

Then eventually middle school came. In middle school there were communities, each a separate group, a separate clan. If, by chance, someone was not a part of a particular clan, that person would be unknown by them, but hated just the same. Because of this, every day was an eternity for me. Everyone was changing around me, and I was finally exposed to the bona fide cruelty that can be harbored in people’s hearts. Judgment came and I was alone, singled out because I was alien to others, some even called me by that name. But middle school came and went; the clans were broken up, and life went on.

Now that I have completed three semesters in college, one of which occurred while I was in high school, my life is being transformed. All around me, things have been changing, and there are new things to experience. There is still disgust for those who stray from the norm. But despite that fact, my familiarity with being face to face with this kind of shunning has made me no longer afraid of what people think about me. I always speak my mind, about injustices, about my beliefs, and about my intimacy with life, not worrying about being judged or about being hated; I just want to be me. I am passionately pursuing and anticipating my future as forensic anthropologist. I see my dream becoming a reality and I am running head first, running towards my future knowing that I have become a better person, and I have become that person by being me.

 
Despite some of the hardships I have experienced with my peers and at home, I have made great strides academically. I proved I can succeed in college while in high school and continue to prove my abilities as a student and as an individual in a society where there is a stigma against what I am and not who I am. I desire to advocate for myself and continue advocating, and advocate for others who are like me even when faced by much adversary. I will keep fighting and I hope one day my determination will be more powerful than those against us and we will bring to light that diversity strengthens the group; united we are strong.

Some people may believe that I cannot be successful in life because of what I am, without thinking about who I am. Growing up with Asperger’s Syndrome has been rough. When I was diagnosed in the fall of 2007, all of the pieces finally came together. I hope that through this scholarship, I can further my education and in turn, educate people about what life is like behind the veil of Autism. I desire to convey that those of us with Autism Spectrum Disorders are not a ‘one size fits all’ kind of thing; they are all as different and unique as I am. Many people try to understand what I go through, or what others who are under the veil experience, but, in the words of Emerson “To be great is to be misunderstood” and that rings true in every part of my soul.

Infants exposed to the highest levels of thimerosal, a mercury-laden preservative that used to be found in many vaccines, were no more likely to develop autism than infants exposed to only a little thimerosal, new research finds.

The study offers more reassurance to parents who worry that vaccination raises their children’s risk for autism, the researchers said.

“Prenatal and early life exposure to ethylmercury from thimerosal in vaccines or immunoglobulin products does not increase a child’s risk of developing autism,” concluded senior study author Dr. Frank DeStefano, director of the immunization safety office at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study was released online Sept. 13 in advance of publication in the October print issue of Pediatrics.

Thimerosal has been used as a preservative in vaccines since the 1930s, according to background information in the article.

Concerns about the chemical began to crop up in 1999, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that because of the increased number of thimerosal-containing vaccines added to the infant vaccination schedule, infants may be exposed to too much mercury. Thimerosal used to be found in hepatitis B, Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type B) and DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) vaccines, among others.

During the ensuing years, the FDA worked with manufacturers to eliminate thimerosal from vaccines, according to the agency’s Web site. Today, thimerosal has been removed or reduced to trace amounts in all vaccines routinely recommended for children 6 years of age and younger, with the exception of inactivated seasonal flu vaccine, according to the FDA. Parents who are concerned about thimerosal can ask for a preservative-free version, DeStefano said.

And thimerosal wasn’t the only proposed autism-vaccine link. A 1998 paper in The Lancet suggested the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine might trigger autism. The journal later retracted the paper, and numerous studies have refuted any link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

In February of 2009, a U.S. federal court ruled that there was no scientific evidence linking vaccines to autism.

In the new study, researchers examined medical records and conducted interviews with the mothers of 256 children with an autism spectrum disorder and 752 children matched by birth year who did not have autism. The children were all members of three health care management organizations in California and Massachusetts.

Researchers also gathered information about the manufacture and lot number of the vaccines that the children received, to determine how much thimerosal they were likely exposed to.

Children in the highest 10 percent of thimerosal exposure, either prenatally or between infancy and 20 months, were no more likely to have autism, an autism spectrum disorder or autism spectrum disorder with regression than children in the lowest 10 percent of exposure.

“This study adds to a large body of evidence indicating that early thimerosal exposure through vaccination does not cause autism,” said Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for a leading advocacy group, Autism Speaks. Dawson was not involved with the research.

She urged parents to have their children vaccinated.

“We encourage parents to have their children vaccinated and to establish a trusting relationship with their child’s pediatrician so they can discuss any concerns they have,” Dawson said.

Researchers are a step closer to understanding why autism spectrum disorder affects four times as many boys as girls.

A study led by a team of Toronto scientists has discovered that males who carry specific genetic alterations on their X-chromosome have an elevated risk for developing autism spectrum disorder, or ASD.

“The male gender bias in autism has intrigued us for years and now we have an indicator that starts to explain why this may be,” said co-principal investigator Stephen Scherer, director of the Centre for Applied Genomics at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.

The researchers, whose work is published this week in the journal Science Translational Medicine, found that about one per cent of boys with ASD had mutations related to the PTCHD1 gene on the X-chromosome.

“Hearing that it’s in one per cent doesn’t get a lot of people excited,” conceded Scherer. “But it gets geneticists really excited because there’s a lot of genes involved (in ASD).”

Boys inherit one X-chromosome from their mother and one Y-chromosome from their father, explained Scherer. “If a boy’s X-chromosome is missing the PTCHD1 gene or other nearby DNA sequences, they will be at high risk of developing ASD or intellectual disability.

“Girls are different in that, even if they are missing one PTCHD1 gene, by nature they always carry a second X-chromosome, shielding them from ASD. While these women are protected, autism could appear in future generations of boys in their families.”

Autism spectrum disorder affects an estimated one in every 165 children. The neurological disorder ranges in severity, but often includes problems communicating and interacting with others, unusual patterns of behaviour and intellectual disability.

An estimated 190,000 Canadians have ASD, which is on the rise worldwide, says Autism Society Canada.

The isolation of genetic alterations on the X-chromosome within a percentage of individuals with autism follows a number of recent genetic discoveries by Scherer and others that are moving science slowly but surely towards a better understanding of the causes of this baffling disorder.

To conduct this study, researchers analyzed the gene sequences of 2,000 individuals with ASD, along with others with an intellectual disability, and compared the results to DNA sequencing from thousands of healthy control subjects.

While the PTCHD1 mutation occurred in one per cent of males with ASD, it was not present in the DNA of thousands of healthy male controls – and sisters of males carrying the same mutation seemed unaffected by autism symptoms.

“The deletions and other mutations seem to be related only to disease in the boys,” said co-principal researcher John Vincent. “They have sisters who have the same mutation but are healthy.”

Vincent, head of the molecular neuropsychiatry and development lab at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, isn’t surprised to find another gene on the X-chromosome involved in autism.

“It’s another one in the list and I think it will be one of the most common ones, so parents will be able to have their children tested,” he said. “Particularly if they have a son affected, it will be important for them to know if it’s caused by a mutation at or around PTCHD1.”

“And if it is, they’ll know that future (male) children would be at risk.”

“There are lots of women in the population,” added Scherer, “who are carrying this (genetic variation) that are predisposed to having boys with autism.”

The scientists believe the PTCHD1 gene plays a role in a neurobiological pathway that delivers information to cells during brain development, and this specific mutation could disrupt crucial processes and contribute to the onset of autism, said Vincent.

Having a test for the altered DNA would mean children could be diagnosed at a younger age, allowing behavioural therapies to be started sooner, he said. “So the earlier you can catch it, the more effective the therapies can be.”

Calling the discovery “incredibly important,” Suzanne Lanthier of Autism Speaks said the research provides solid evidence about what’s behind ASD prevalence rates being skewed towards males.

“This is the first time we’re seeing some hard science findings to start to explain why boys are more affected than girls,” said Lanthier, executive director of the research fundraising organization and mother of an 11-year-old boy with ASD.

Asked if such genetic links to autism put an end to the contentious notion that childhood vaccines – in particular, the measles-mumps-rubella inoculation – may trigger autism, Lanthier responded that ASD is manifested in many ways “and it doesn’t lay to rest potential environmental causes.”

“And what the research is pointing to more and more is that there are some genetic underpinnings and in some cases environmental triggers that set off what we know genetically.”

“It certainly doesn’t mean that we should stop doing research on environmental causes. By no means.”