Could It Be Asperger's Syndrome?
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Your Little Professor
Resources and academic programs for children with Asperger's Syndrome
Talisman Camps
Talisman summer programs offer camps for children ages 6 to 17 and young adults 18-21 with LD, ADD and ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome, and high functioning autism. Talisman has been offering such experiences since 1980 and is ACA accredited.
Camp Huntington
Locate within the Catskills in New York, Camp Huntington is a co-ed, residential, seven-week camp program for children and young adults with Learning and Developmental Disabilities, Attention Deficit and Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorders (ADD / ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorders, Asperger's Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disabilities (PDD), and other special needs
For a child with Asperger's Syndrome, social activities that are part of daily living can feel like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole: no matter how hard he tries to fit in, it just doesn't seem to work.
Asperger's Syndrome (AS) is a neurobiological condition classified as one of the "autism spectrum disorders." Those with AS have normal or even superior intelligence, but they have great deficiencies in social and communication skills, trouble with transition or change, and sometimes aggressive behavior or anger management issues.
While most of us make and keep friends by interacting with others in age-appropriate ways, picking up on social cues (such as respecting social distance or reading facial expressions that reflect emotions), using social banter, and easily falling into the give-and-take of conversation, those with AS fail to read social cues, have no clue how to start up a conversation, often talk incessantly about a narrow (and sometimes age-inappropriate) field of topics, and have trouble taking turns listening and speaking.
Those with AS cannot achieve total independence or use their strengths successfully until they can behave in ways defined by society as socially acceptable. The good news is that someone with AS can learn social skills in much the same way that you and I might learn a foreign language or how to play a musical instrument—with good instruction and lots of practice.
One promising therapeutic intervention for teaching social and communication skills to kids with AS is equine therapy. Equine therapy is a type of animal assisted therapy (AAT), a field of mental health that recognizes the bond between animals and humans and the potential for growth that can occur when a relationship is formed between the two species.
Working with an animal such as a horse offers the child with AS a safe, non-judgmental and tolerant relationship in which to practice both verbal and non-verbal communication skills. Communication is power when a command such as "Giddyup!" or "Giddup!" makes the horse go and "Whoa!" or "Ho!" makes it stop.
The Asperger's child can also learn to recognize the impact of his own behavior on others while working with a horse. If he yells at a horse, the animal won't come near him. If he speaks gently, it will.
During equine therapy, a licensed mental health professional will use the structured activity, whether feeding, grooming, haltering or even riding the horse to help the child to meet specific goals. The child may be asked to interpret how the animal is feeling by observing non-verbal cues, or to practice taking turns talking and listening while having a conversation with the therapist about the activity. He may join a group of other children at the stable to discuss various aspects of horsemanship, practicing communication skills and age-appropriate topics of conversation.
In a challenging world, the Asperger's kid with horsemanship skills will have new (and age-appropriate) topics of conversation, new communication and social skills to apply to human relationships, and of course, a new friend in a therapy horse.