Asperger's Syndrome

Felt an impulse to post this after a wallpost on a friend's fb wall and a few interactions with some friends through fb messages.

I have no religion, but I believe things happen for their own reasons.

Through my 10 years of teaching, I encountered 2 students with autism, one diagnosed and undergone intervention, the other was just labelled as a special kid by the parents. No one in the school knew how to handle them properly. So when the course for Special Needs was offered, I signed up with a few colleagues and decided to specialise in autism. The course had 3 modules and it took me more than 3 yrs to complete it! Module 2 was deferred as my father-in-law passed away, while I postponed Module 3 as Gerrard was suspected of having HFMD. Module 3 is the life-changing module. That module specialises on the Special Needs area that we had enrolled. Through the course, I realised that Gerrard fits quite a number of the characteristics listed. Around the same time, the teacher in the childcare centre recommended for a developmental check as she commented that Gerrard was facing friendship problems because he couldn't communicate well.

When Liat brought Gerrard for a check in the polyclinic, the doctor just felt it was slow speech development. I do not blame the doctor. No doubt that the level of awareness has increased over the years, doctors who long graduated from medical schools are not proficient in this area. And not many can admit that they are not sure... Luckily Liat insisted for a referral letter to KKH. Then came the long wait. This is a clear sign that more and more special needs children are being diagnosed and yet the professional help that was required is lagging behind. Out of desperation, I even tried finding out about the private practitioners, but, GOSH!, the price difference with respect to the KKH is ridiculous! So, while waiting, I read up on my own. From the references recommended from the course and books recommended by friends, I gathered a clearer picture of what it is about.

Here's what I had taken from the info that KKH had given and some other sources, to create a little bit of awareness of what it is...

WHAT IS ASPERGER'S SYNDROME?

• Named after Hans Aspergers in 1944



• Life-long developmental disability (There is no cure. Intervention programmes only attempt to 'normalise' these kids.)



• Falls inAutistic Spectrum Disorder, with some calling it 'High Functioning Autism', while others felt it should be taken out of this family and be totally regarded as a behavioural problem.



• Key difficulties in communication, social interaction and restricted interests



• Usually diagnosed during the 24 month developmental check (Gerrard was diagnosed at age 4, which makes me filled with anguish at first, because that meant he missed the months of intervention possible for him.)

WHAT CAUSES AUTISM?

• Genes - usually from the father. (Some papers said MMR vaccines play a part. That doctor was charged of professional misconduct and struck off the register, as the data in his papers was manipulated, causing a MMR scare.)



• In families with 1 autistic child, the risk of having a 2nd child with the disorder is about 1 in 20. (Gerlyn's good with her social interactions, so no Asperger's. Gerry and Gervin, still have to watch)



• Abnormalities detected in several areas of the brain, which will result in several of the signs and symptoms. (It is said that kids with Asperger's are found to have exponential brain development during the infancy stage. Yes, Gerrard's head circumference is always 75th percentile, while he was only 50th percentile in terms of weight.)

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT GERRARD DISPLAYED? (This is not the full test. These are the things that I find Gerrard matches. There are some that he does not have. Long wait for the full battery of tests in KKH...)

1. Impairment of social communication

• Slow language development (By age 2, his speech is still quite limited. Now, he is seeing a speech therapist to work towards having a functional conversation.)



• May speak in formal or monotonal voice (He speaks in an American accent, which he picked up from the DVDs that he watched.)



• Usually talk 'at' others (This makes him appear tohave low EQ, care less of others' feelings.)



• May be able to express needs but may have difficulties expressing emotions or thoughts. (Mummy: How is school today? Gerrard: School is fun! Mummy: What did you do? Gerrard: .....)



• May have fascination with and excel in words, but may not use as a tool for social interaction. (He reads a lot and loves reading. But unable to carry outa conversation, or do a picture description.)

2. Impairment of social interaction

• May accept social contact, although may not initiate contact (Since young. Not playing with others.)



• Stilted and formal way of interaction as adults (He's acting very matured for a 5 year old. Cool, is what some others may describe him as.)

3. Impairment of Imagination

• Play tend to be copied, repetitive and stereotyped (The very 1st one was '噢！土豆！', Chinese of 'oh! toodles!' from Mickeymouse Clubhouse!)

4. Sensory Issues

• Intolerance to noise (Shavers, vaccum cleaners, rain...)



• Intolerance of certain textures (Sand and grass)



• Insensitivity to temperatures (He likes to wear jackets and refuses to take it off at times.)

5. Uneven patterns of intellectual functioning

• May have unique skills (At age 2, he was able to count to 100.)

I shared in my friend's fb wallpost, that the signs and symptoms could have long appeared since infancy. Just that, they are ignored or disregarded. Gerrard has been a compliant child. In fact, too good. When he was an infant, he did not cry when he pooed. There was once that his diaper was not changed for a very long time and he had a boil as a result. Babysitting him was easy. There was once that I brought him out the whole day for a Scrabble friendly match. He was really manageable.

I read much about the causes. Now, I have to focus on the remediation. Good thing is IQ is not impaired. It makes the journey less painful. In fact, Gerrard is very cheeky. Yesterday, He purposely constructed a 'naughty' sentence from the nouns and verbs that the therapist gave him: The cat is making a snowman. Then he went 'Oops! That's so wrong. Hmm.... Let's change this.' Then he went ahead to change it into a proper sentence. He kept on making mistakes, exclaimed and corrected his mistakes. Until the therapist realised that he had done it on purpose. When a 5 second completion rule was implemented, he got all his sentences correct on all the first attempts! Mind games, that he was playing!