High Functioning Autism

I suggest looking at Grandin.com for information. Temple Grandin is a great sceitist and an interesting example of a very high functioning person with autism who actually uses the condtion to her advantage.

I second that. Temple Grandin is an amazing person and the one who made me understand what autism actually is.

ETA: You might also talk to Tallymark who posted about familiarity with autism in the specialty thread: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=913416&postcount=310

One of our cadets has slight autism. I'm not sure if that's the same. He's a bit slow but otherwise intelligent, capable and functional.

His brother, on the other hand, is fully autistic and quite the handful.

One thing I've found interesting is how several autism societies have asked police officers to donate their old, used and out of date vests to families with an autistic member. Somehow they refurbish them to create what I've heard referred to as a 'cocoon' and this stricture is supposed to help the autistic individual. I then saw a news story of a lady who is now functional but she created something similiar but it was a place where she could lay down and be folded into a rig tightly, and she claimed this helped her. Though as a child she was very autistic, she now runs her own ranch and business and seems to be dealing with the world pretty well. According to the story at least. Rabe...

Road, my daughter has Asperger's. You can PM me if it's of any help to you.

Road, I was about to make the same offer as Jenan; I also have a daughter with Asperger's.

You can find some information here:

http://www.autism-india.org/dec98.html

It's the newsletter of Action for Autism, an organization working with autistic children.

Sury

Rabe said:

One thing I've found interesting is how several autism societies have asked police officers to donate their old, used and out of date vests to families with an autistic member. Somehow they refurbish them to create what I've heard referred to as a 'cocoon' and this stricture is supposed to help the autistic individual. I then saw a news story of a lady who is now functional but she created something similiar but it was a place where she could lay down and be folded into a rig tightly, and she claimed this helped her.

Click to expand...

I've read about Temple Grandin doing this, and about her reminiscences of a large aunt who would hug her as a child with the same effect. I think that the squeezing effect is reassuring. I've always wondered if it's like he effect that swadling has on a baby--restraining their movements helps to reassure and calm them.

I'd say the most important aspects of creating a character with autism is to start with "differential diagnosis" - know what autism isn't - since it's such a varied and complex disorder. Autism is a part of the spectrum of diagnoses known as pervasive developmental disorder (many publications like Time and Wired will get this wrong, incorrectly stating that PDD is a form of autism). Also, high-functioning autism is distinguished from Asperger's Syndrome (Know any really nerdy, socially inept CPAs or engineers? There's a good glimpse of Asperger's.) Most importantly, high-functioning autism is not not NOT Dustin Hoffman from "Rain Man." That is a stereotype derived from a form of PDD known as "Savant Syndrome."

Individuals with high-functioning autism vary quite considerably. Some experience a good deal of difficulty with academics, while others are quite good at one or more areas. With autism, unlike Asperger's, individual's social deficits can rise quite beyond mere social ineptness or a lack of empathy. I have one teen on my case load who simply doesn't understand why it isn't acceptable for him to steal money from his parents or siblings or beat up his sister when he's angry. He doesn't get why he has to adhere to schedules, go to school, or clean himself, or why there are negative consequences for these things. However, just because someone has socially avoidant behavior doesn't mean they have autism!

Social and emotional connections simply don't particularly happen for a lot of these kids. While some might be completely detached from schedules, others might be rigidly dependent on them (not Adrian Monk OCD). Transitions, such as from a favorite activity to going home, can be hard. Asking one of these individuals why something is happening, or what they should do if something occurs, typically garners a rote or very literal response. Many have difficulty with their receptive or expressive language, or with complex themes. Some display "stimming" behaviors (rocking, head-banging, fluttering pieces of paper), but typically I've seen that more often with lower-functioning individuals.

There are some very interesting new facts being discovered these days. For example, many individuals with autism have either severe sensory deficits (hence stimming or needing deep-pressure to calm, for example), or highly sensory sensitive (such as to the flickers in halogen lightbulbs). Many have vision problems or severe allergies to things like wheat, gluten, soy, and so on. Most interesting for me, since I work primarily with teens and young adults with autism, is seeing the increasing incidence of comorbid mental health diagnoses. The majority of my high-functioning clients with autism have some sort of personality or mood disorder. Most common are depression (either bipolar with manic episodes or with psychotic features), schizoaffective disorder (sort of like a mood disorder but with more pronounced schizoid symptoms) and schizophrenia. Interestingly enough, I have one consumer who appears to have histrionic disorder (though I believe she was misdiagnosed and most likely has Asperger's, not autism).

For the single best portrayal of an individual with autism in fiction, read Mark Haddon's "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime." Bryna Siegel's "The World of the Autistic Child" is a very good resource. You might also want to get your hands on a DSM (preferably IV-TR; that's the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). All of these are available at your local bookstore, or should be.

[I am a social worker for California's regional center system, serving children and adults with developmental delays. Prior to that, I was a special education teacher. I currently have several individuals with high-functioning autism on my caseload.]

High functioning autism/Asperger's

I also have a son with Asperger's who is away at university. I'd be happy to answer any questions, as would my son. We have a website together www.autismsite.ca that I think might provide some of the info you're seeking. It also has extensive, categorized links that may help you. I'm a special education and autism consultant and did my Master's thesis on long-term outlooks of young people with high functioning autism.

Sharon A. Mitchell
www.autismsite.ca
[email protected]

Autism

I just had another thought.

There are a couple of easy-reading books that might help you. The first is by Mark Haddon and called,The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. It's about a 14 year old boy, fairly seriously affected by autism, yet very bright in some areas. He reacts to world and makes choices that make sense from an autism perspective. It's an entertaining read and made the NYT Bestseller list.

The 2nd book is by Luke Jackson, who was 13 when he wrote it. He has Asperger's and writes on behalf of himself, his little brother with severe autism and a 2nd brother with ADHD. It's called, Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome.

Another good author who talks about what it feels like is Donna Williams in Somebody, Somewhere.

Sharon A. Mitchell
www.autismsite.ca