Posts Tagged ‘possiblity of Aspergers’

There are several behaviors that jump out of this video.  The first thing is this child’s overall knowledge of specific subjects.  Most two year old’s do not know what a rectangle is or be able to recognize the number 20.  Individuals with Aspergers tend to learn everything there is to know about a subject and can recite it on command.  One of the other behaviors that stands out is the excessive amount of movement after each answer which I would like to discuss further.

Many children with Aspergers are misdiagnosed as having ADHD with no investigation by medical professionals of the possibility of Aspergers.  In the case of my own son, he was treated for ADHD for years before anyone mentioned Aspergers.  As seen in the video, there tends to be added movements that will be intermingled with the giving of information.  Autism is known at the disorder with “hand flapping” and “spinning”.  While individuals with Aspergers may not “flap” or “spin”,  they may wave their arms, cheer loudly, jump in place, or do other large muscle movements.

One of the other major characteristics of Aspergers in this video is the lack of eye contact and the lack of interpersonal actions.  The child in the video prefers to look at the symbols rather than his Mother’s face and he never goes to his Mom for a hug or touch for congratulations when he gets the information correct.   Individuals with Aspergers prefer the interaction to be factual (getting shapes correct) rather than emotional ( a touch or a hug).  ”Aspies” are thought to be cold and heartless when in fact they simply function in information rather than emotion.

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