by Lacy Enderson

Created on: May 26, 2008   Last Updated: May 28, 2008

From day one there was a noticeable difference in Sadie; she had a strange fascination with noses. She could not fall asleep without a nose in her hand. Having raised three children of my own and teaching pre-schoolers for over 10 years, it was obvious; Sadie was definitely different.

Over the past few years there has been a rapidly growing diagnosis of autism. Reading through literature, I learned about high functioning autism or aspergers syndrome. Fascinated by Sadie's behavior, I read all of the information I could find on aspergers syndrome and the different ends of the autism spectrum. It didn't take long to convince myself that Sadie suffered from high functioning autism or what is better known as aspergers syndrome.

Keeping a journal of Sadie's behaviors helped tremendously when the school district was called in for an evaluation. I was able to share with them what I knew about some of Sadie's behavior. I needed help remembering because most of Sadie's symptoms had already been outgrown; the parroting, dislike for bright red items, fear of the blender and the vacuum cleaner, playing for hours all by herself doing the same activity over and over again had all disappeared. Whenever she went on trips, if the driver did not take the same route as the time before, Sadie would scream thinking she was going someplace else. Sadie hated change.

It wasn't until Sadie turned four that she developed a huge interest in ponies and the color green. It seemed innocent at first but later became such an obsession that her parents started to worry. Because there isn't a cure for aspergers syndrome the doctor recommended that Sadie be weaned, not off of ponies, but onto other interests. She was told the other children didn't want to play with friends who always wanted to play horse, or in Sadie's case, galloped around like a horse.

One of the symptoms of aspergers syndrome is a high fascination with some object or interest. When dealing with a special interest never try to undermine or lessen the importance of it. A person with aspergers syndrome requires something of importance to take their minds off their deficiency. Knowing all they can about their interest gives them a sense of value. The special object is somewhat of a security blanket. If you try to take it away you will only cause more harm than good. And the person with aspergers syndrome will just acquire another interest.

Sadie has a hard time making friends. One symptom of autistic aspergers syndrome is a social disorder. Those who suffer from aspergers syndrome want friends just like other children, but don't know how to go about getting them. Teaching a child how to communicate properly with other children, greatly enhances their future ability to deal with grownups. What seems easy to us is never easy for them. Aspergers children tend to push, kick, pinch and bite in an attempt to play, not understanding that these attempts are non effective.

Those with aspergers syndrome are at a greater advantage than those with autism. One of the symptoms of high functioning autism is greater intelligence. Many kids with aspergers syndrome grow up to be engineers and scientists. Helping children cope in a world that they experience differently will go along way in helping them function later on. Our job is not to make them conform to our world; they are not like us. Our job is to learn to understand and accept them.

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