? about Autism

[luvnmy2bys]

I have an eleven year son who has an autistic child on his baseball team this year. My son is extremely sensitive to others and has taken this child under his wing as his new buddy. He has asked me for an explanation on what austism is and I was wondering where the best information on the internet or otherwise so that I can explain this to my son. Jonathan has Aspergers and as far as I can tell very high functioning. He does have difficulty with change(such as playing at an away game, away from home field. Forgot glove at home and did not want to use another glove., etc). I just want to be as informative as possible so that my son can understand his new friend.

Thanks
luvnmy2bys

 

[mcco5543]

Your very best bet is to go to your local barnes and noble and get a book for kids on autism/aspergers syndrome.

Does your son's friend talk about his asperger syndrome?
Could your son just ask his friend? Or could you ask the mother for the best way to explain it? Or does the family seem really private about it. If the family seems open. I say just ask! (This is coming from a wheelchair user, and I much prefer people just ask about my disability, but my family and I are very open about it).

There are some great books out there. Also for a basic explanation I would go to www.webmd.com or www.medlineplus.com and type in "Aspergers" for a basic explanation.


Congradulations for being the type of parent who doesn't shy away from addressing disabilities. I wish there were more parents out there like you.

One word of caution, just make sure your son is not being friends with this kid becuase he feels bad for his differences, that only ends in pain for both parties.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I'm the mom of an 11 year old boy with Asperger's. I always appreciate it when other parents ask me how to explain the condition to their own kids. Just make sure you approach the mom in a very positive way ("My son is really enjoying playing with Jonathan. He's been asking me about Asperger's and Autism and I want to make sure I explain it to him correctly. What would you suggest I tell him?") I think the mom would be really happy that you asked. A few moms have told me their kids have become more sensitive to others from knowing my son. It's gratfiying to hear when kids are truly concerned about understanding him. I would say go ahead and approach the mom in a very positive way.

(I had a mom from my younger son's baseball team approach me last week. She said her 2 boys were wondering about my older son and she wanted to to know how to explain it to them. It would have been fine if she had stopped right there but she continued with, "They said they were glad he's not their brother." I don't blame them for saying that...they're kids. But did the mom really have to say that to me? )

 

[KathyRN137]

Sometimes it's best to keep it simple.

When my daughter wanted to know what was wrong with her little brother, I just told her, "His brain doesn't work the way yours and mine does". It's also important for smaller kids to know that they can't "catch" autism.

I posted on another thread that Nickelodeon is doing a Nick News special tonight at 8:30 pm EST. The program is directed at kids. If you and your son watch it, it may give him some answers.

He sounds like a fine young man!

Kathy

 

[irish_trip_mom]

I have 5 year old triplets, two who are ASD (but at very different levels of the spectrum.) I also explain it as DS2's brain works differently and it is difficult for him to say what he wants to.

DS1 couldn't understand why he had autism like DS2. I told him that their brains worked differently than mine, Daddy's and DD's. His reply was "oh, is that why I am so much smarter than all of you?!" (He's right, he is!)