Autism Speaks
National Institute of Neurological Disorders: Asperger Fact Sheet
Kids Health
Autism Society of America
Center for the Study of Autism
Walk Now for Autism
Autism Speaks
What Kind of World Do You Want (music video)
the lowdown
Asperger Syndrome
Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder of development that lasts throughout a person's lifetime. Because persons with autism exhibit different symptoms or behaviors, ranging from mild to serious, autism is a "spectrum" disorder, or a group of disorders with a range of similar features. Children with autism have difficulty communicating and interacting with others. Many
individuals with autism seem to retreat into isolation, or fixate on a word, an object, or an activity. Sometimes symptoms are seen in infancy, while other children develop normally for a
year or more before they begin to slip into their own private world. At best, a high functioning person with autism may simply seem eccentric or a loner. -excerpt from Kintera.org
Because it affects each person differently and to varying degrees, autism is referred to as a spectrum disorder. A diagnosis can occur in people with high IQ’s or those with mental retardation; those who are quite chatty or nonverbal; people who are methodical or incredibly disorganized. Xavier has been diagnosed on the mild end of the spectrum with a disorder called: Asperger Syndrome.
Asperger Syndrome is marked by difficulties in communication and
social relating. People with Asperger’s can have difficulty making eye contact, connecting with others, and speaking with emotion. Those with Asperger’s can often become obsessed with one subject and gravitate towards that field for their profession. Known people with Asperger’s: Bill Gates and Temple Grandin.
Thank goodness for our dear friend Vicky Ferrara who tipped us off that there may be something wrong. She is the reason Xavier has been in speech therapy for over a year now and why we are on the path to getting Xavier the services he needs. Hindsight is 20/20 though. I wish our warning signs had come with bells and whistles so we could have helped him earlier, but such is life. For those of you who may see some unusual characteristics in your child and have speculated about autism, here are some of the warning signs
we noticed in Xavier: he had a major communication delay which we attributed to the fact that he was a boy, was learning 3 languages, moved 3 countries in 3 months, and Anouk came into the picture. Now we know better--we shouldn’t have explained anything away. In addition, Xavier has gone through phases of repetition or routine like lining up objects and being unsettled when someone moves them out of place; switching on and off the lights or becoming hyper-focused with a toy, a wheel, or running water. At other times it seemed as if his reactions to others were joyless. He has a difficult time making eye contact and reading others’ cues especially children his own age. If they don’t want to play with him or share, most kids can read a mean look or specific words that mean “stay away,” a child like Xavier struggles with this.
