You are probably familiar with the idea of intense interests. Whether it be weather or automobiles, your child with high-functioning autism/Asperger’s Syndrome has had an intense interest in some kind of subject. This behavior is natural because I too have had and still have intense interests in certain things. For example,Continue Reading

The latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM-V), published by American Psychiatric Association, was released in May 2013. As you probably already know, the DSM-V significantly revised the diagnostic category under which Aspergers and autistic disorder previously fell in the DSM-IV-TR. Specifically, in the DSM-IV-TR, Pervasive Developmental Disorders wasContinue Reading

My Autism experience began at the birth of my daughter. I was on my way to an OB/GYN appointment, an almost one hundred mile jaunt to the nearest city, when my water broke. They admitted me immediately and we had to be “Flight For Life’d” out to Denver where they hadContinue Reading

A Message to Fathers In this special edition of Top of the Spectrum News, Samuel Allen (diagnosed with Aspergers) addresses the fathers who are having a difficult time accepting their child’s diagnosis. This hits home for many as Sam speaks from the heart (he spoke while we let the camerasContinue Reading

The Autistic Mind is different in both function and anatomy. Understanding the function of the Autistic Brain may help you understand, or explain, the different behaviors exhibited by someone with Aspergers Syndrome. In this edition of Top of The Spectrum News doctors reveal studies proving the importance of therapy, explainingContinue Reading

Becoming a parent means that you have a lot of extra things to worry about. All kids are unique and need help in their own areas, but what happens when you find out that your child needs more help than most? What goes through your mind as a doctor tellsContinue Reading

Often in life things don’t go the way we want them to, whether it’s people who don’t cooperate or just objects, like printers that don’t work just when we really need them to print off an urgent document. When these obstacles seem unreasonable, or illogical, after several tries to makeContinue Reading

The dictionary definition for this emotional state is agitated, nervous or confused. You become this way by something that flusters you. In this case Roy has been presented with a list of powerful words. He thinks he should see some connection between them, but he can’t. So he’s just notContinue Reading

Learning with Less Stress and Anxiety Stress and anxiety create a negative situation, which makes learning difficult. In a traditional teaching situation the need for person-to-person interaction can be a cause of stress and anxiety. A child is unnecessarily burdened by the need to overcome this stress and anxiety beforeContinue Reading