10 Asperger's Symptoms

This is an interesting video but I need to say that these symptoms are not universal. This is what this young man experiences but another person may have different experiences.

What On Earth is Going On? - Autism Infographic

Created by www.RomanticFrugalMom.com for www.ThrivingWithAutism.com

Autism and Emotion

I was once told by a well meaning lady that it must be tough to have children that I cannot connect with emotionally. I was really taken off guard as that is not my experience.

More conversation revealed that her only encounter with autism was a young neighbour who seemed completely unemotional and lost in his own world. This is another example of, "If you have met one person with autism, you have met one person with autism."

I am sure that there are people with autism who have difficulty expressing emotion. My children are not like that. My children love to hug and kiss. They show affection in other ways, such as sitting with us or putting an arm on our arms and so on. My son has even verbally (even though he is considered nonverbal) told me he loves me.

Our son has issues with running away. At one school, one of the kids in his class got hurt. Logan intended to use this as a distraction to escape the school (he was successful). However, before he took off, he went to his fellow student to make sure she was okay. He cared.

When people are upset, both of our children empathize with this by demonstrating their own sadness. Our daughter loves nothing more than hearing other people laugh with joy. She gets right in there and laughs with them.

Sure, some people with autism demonstrate emotion differently than some people who are neuro-typical. But please do not assume that all people with autism are unemotional.

Autism and the Church

What Nonverbal Does Not Mean

Two of my children are considered nonverbal. I find that there is a lot of confusion as to what that means. Some think it means the same as being mute. In this post I hope to clarify what nonverbal means by looking at what it is not.

• Nonverbal does not mean that the child is unintelligent. It is possible for a nonverbal child to have average or above average intelligence.
• Nonverbal does not mean that the child is illiterate. Our son can read books and do searches on the computer.
• Nonverbal does not mean the child is without words. Our children are nonverbal but can make basic requests with words.
• Nonverbal does not mean a child cannot speak in sentences. Our son can speak in perfect sentences but chooses not to 99% of the time.

In the end, nonverbal simply means that the person does not use spoken, conversational language as their primary means of communication.

What a Visit With Our Children With Autism Looks Like

We have two children with autism, both on the severe side, both considered nonverbal. They live in a group home together with two other children. We try to have them over for a visit every week.

This is what an average visit looks like.

• I show up at the group home. Abby is usually watching out the window beside the door and so she sees me right away. She grins and does wild hand gestures. Logan hugs me and says, "Hi Dad."
• We get into the car and Logan says to me, "Turn up music please." He doesn't seem to care what kind of music, but when I am driving it is classic rock.
• We arrive home and Logan and Abby run into the house. I am working on getting them to close the car doors first. It is coming along.
• They immediately head for the television. We have often watched DVDs but Abby has been frequently changing movies soon after they start and so we have switched to Netflix.
• We then sit down to a Veggie Tales marathon. Our three younger children claim they hate Veggies Tales, as they are too old for that now, but they are glued to the screen while Logan and Abby are here.
• There are frequent interceptions of mostly Abby (but sometimes Logan) as they try to find food in the kitchen. Neither of them ever feel full so we have to be careful and only do controlled snacks.
• Logan grabs his superhero books and reads them while watching TV.
• Abby starts grabbing toys, books, DVDs and anything else to create a display on top of Faith's bed.
• There is a lot of hugging, laughing and smiling.
• Both Logan and Abby tell me, "No thank you!" when I try to sing.
• Then they get picked up to go back to their group home. But not before we get a hug and kiss from our children.

That is what a typical visit looks like and it always gives us great joy.

Do Adults With Autism Lack Empathy?