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Thursday 2 April was World Autism Day 

President Obama didn’t forget World Autism Awareness Day and his office sent out this message

 Hello,

Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy,
advised me to send you the following attachments.

Thank you for all that you do,

Matt Tranchin
The White House
Office of Public Liaison

March 30, 2009

It is with profound commitment to Americans with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), their families, and their communities that I join in celebrating World Autism Day.  We celebrate the contributions of individuals with autism, their families and self advocates across the World.

We must build a world free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination.  Policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and we must ensure that everyone has the chance to live independently as full citizens in their communities.  For too long, the needs of people and families living with autism have gone unrecognized and underappreciated.  That is why my Administration supports increased funding for autism research, treatment, screenings, public awareness, and services for ASD.  We must also remember that children with autism become adults with autism who deserve our support, our respect and the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

            As we celebrate World Autism Day, let us recommit ourselves to this cause and to the responsibility we have to support those with ASD and their families. 

Barack Obama
 

In New Zealand an update to the ASD Guideline was sent out

Information backgrounder for
Altogether Autism

New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline and World Autism Awareness Day (2 April)

Purpose: Information for World Autism Awareness Day. To be distributed to sector networks

Helping make sense of a complex world.

About the guideline

·         The guideline is a single, credible source of overseas and

New Zealand evidence, experience and practice in recognising and treating Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), supporting children and adults with ASD, teaching children and young adults with ASD, employing people with ASD, and living well with ASD.

·         We expect the information in the guideline will help improve the advice, support, services and care for people with ASD, and their families/whānau. We expect to see health professionals, educators, policy advisers and employers using the guideline to inform their decisions about care and interventions. We hope parents and individuals with ASD will also use the information in the guideline to seek the best advice, support and care available.

·         The guideline was developed collaboratively with input from international and

New Zealand researchers and experts, adults and teenagers with ASD, parents of children with ASD, and medical, educational and community providers.

·         One guideline; whole person; whole of life; everyone’s responsibility.

The guideline is one of the first of its kind in the world covering the whole person through their lifetime. Other countries are looking to us as a model.

About ASD

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a life-long developmental disability that can affect the way a person communicates and interacts socially with other people. It is thought to affect more than 40,000 New Zealanders. People with ASD often use apparently rigid rules to make sense of the world. These rules are logical to the person with ASD, but may conflict with common social conventions and interactions.

ASD has been described as a ‘hidden’ disability that affects every aspect of a person’s day-to-day life, including how well they are included socially. Each person with ASD has a unique range of abilities and needs. The form and severity and impact of ASD can vary, depending on the context and the person’s emotional state. However, everyone who has ASD shares some difficulty in making sense of their world, including:

§         understanding and using verbal and non-verbal communication

§         understanding social behaviour, which affects their ability to interact with other people

§         thinking and behaving flexibly – their approaches may be interpreted as restricted, obsessive or repetitive.

Some people with ASD need significant support with everyday tasks, while others need limited support. Families/whānau may experience high levels of stress in caring for children with ASD who can have communication and behaviour challenges. Despite the challenges experienced by people with ASD and their families/whānau, they can, and do, make a valuable contribution to society.

Since its first description over 50 years ago, ASD has been the subject of intense research and a great deal more is now understood about the condition, although there is no known ‘cure’.

The human stories behind ASD

“Mum knew I was different from the day I was born. I never learnt to crawl and began walking at 22 months of age. Many sounds and most unfamiliar things terrified me.

I could only focus on one thing at once which meant I could not multi-task. My mental processing speeds tended to be slower. When a change occurred in my routines or in my environment, I could not cope. I hated touching sticky substances and still do. So I was the child at playcentre who wouldn’t touch the finger paints! However, I soon began showing above average ability in reading and writing.

Now most of these features, together with many others, were long lasting well into adulthood. However, at the time when I was born 52 years ago, there was nobody around who could put these clues together. I ended up in a psychiatric hospital, once for 8 months, but still without the correct assessment of my symptoms being made. In fact, some incorrect diagnoses were made, for example atypical schizophrenia. This scenario is still going on for some other adults in

New Zealand who have undiagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder.”

Jen Birch,

Auckland

“After many years of not being able to have children, we followed the path of adoption and we were ever so lucky to adopt Elliot right from birth. He’s just such a joy, he’s just all that we longed for. We love him dearly. And even if he is autistic, it just doesn’t matter at all, he’s our boy, he’s fabulous.

Elliot’s 14. He’s pretty much non-verbal. He would be classed as severe autism, but his amazing skill of memory and retention of skills just surprises us all the time. He has learnt through therapy programmes how to read, his alphabet, colours, numbers, shapes but his verbal expression is pretty low. He can make his needs met. He can ask for a juice or sandwich, but he couldn’t tell me what he’s done today.”

Wendy Duff,

Auckland

“I’m one of the lucky parents in the autism community. I had a supportive family. No-one took my child off me and placed him in an institution and told me to forget about him. No-one told me he couldn’t attend their school. No-one asked me to pay for a teacher aide. And neither was he asked to leave school because they didn’t understand autism. No-one said his behaviour was ‘too difficult for respite care’. No-one said he was too disabled for a job, for independent living, to be treated as a human being with feelings, hopes and dreams. No-one said it was all my fault.”

Hilary Stace,

Wellington

“A lot of us do notice a lot of detail. That is a typical feature of ASD, and sometimes those details of course are important to be noticed. That makes us very precise workers, for instance, in certain jobs when an eye for detail is required.”

Jen Birch,

Auckland

“Ah, things I’m great at. I love – I mean I can write formally very well. So, for example, that’s extremely useful when you’re writing formal pieces of writing like submissions, where there’s a certain style. The other thing that I feel I’m good at is things like you know chairing meetings. You know, I’m chairing two or three groups now. And one of the things I’d say about that is that I think having ASD’s a real advantage in those situations because I think there are certain skills that a Chair needs in terms of keeping order, in terms of making sure that people have a chance to have a contribution, but do that in a very structured way.”

Matt Frost,

Wellington

About the guideline

·         One guideline; whole person; whole of life; everyone’s responsibility.

·         The guideline helps make sense of a complex world.

·         The guideline is a single, credible source of overseas and

New Zealand evidence, experience and practice in diagnosing and treating ASD, supporting children and adults with ASD, teaching children and young adults with ASD, employing people with ASD, and living well with ASD.

·         We expect that the information in the guideline will help improve the advice, support, services and care for people with ASD, and their families.

·         The guideline was put together with input from international and

New Zealand researchers and experts, individuals with ASD, parents of children with ASD, and medical, educational and community providers.

·         Know what’s in it, use it, promote it, quote it, and expect to be asked by your clients how your advice matches with what’s in the guideline.

What the Guideline tells us about effective interventions for children and young people with ASD

“No one model has been shown to meet the needs of all children and young people with ASD. All the models have something to offer in certain situations. The skill of the professional is knowing when to use which model to meet the needs of particular children, situations and skills.” (NZ ASD Guideline, page 90).

The characteristics of effective interventions have been identified as:

·        making the earliest possible start to intervention

·        individualising services for children and families and whānau

·        providing systematic ‘planful’ teaching

·        providing a curriculum to meet the need of the young child with ASD

·        intensity of engagement  of the child

·        sustainable family involvement

·        structured environments

·        developmentally appropriate practices

·        intervention in natural environments and with access to typically developing children

(NZ ASD Guideline, pages 91 – 93).

What happens next – promoting the guideline and implementing the recommendations

The Ministries of Health and Education are committed to implementing the NZ ASD Guideline – we know this will take time but we are in this for the long haul. Implementing the recommendations in the NZ ASD Guideline is everyone’s responsibility.

Following the launch of the NZ ASD Guideline, 11,000 copies of the NZ ASD Guideline publications have been distributed, and health, education and disability groups have met to consider the implications of the Guideline for their work.

The NZ Guidelines Group (NZGG) has been contracted to manage the technical implementation of the Guideline, using the implementation funding provided to the Ministry of Health. NZGG has established an Implementation Advisory Group, which includes leading representation by people with ASD, parents of people with ASD, and from across health, mental health, disability and education services. The group is chaired by Matt Frost, who identifies as being a person with ASD, and has provided invaluable advice on priorities for implementing the Guideline.

The leadership and commitment shown by people with ASD at the launch of the Guideline continues and is invaluable in guiding the work programmes of the Ministries of Health and Education.

In November 2008, Cabinet approved the joint Health-Education Guideline Implementation Plan. Since then, the focus has been on scaling up existing, proven programmes while also preparing for new services. Work is well advanced on: developing a handbook on assessment and diagnosis for health and education professionals; on designing ASD-specific parent education; designing ASD-specific respite services and exploring the feasibility of ASD-specific behaviour support services.

Regular updates on implementing the NZ ASD Guideline are provided at http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/disability-keyprojects-asd-guideline-updates

About World Autism Awareness Day

It is estimated that around 35 million people worldwide have ASD. In December 2007 the United Nations passed a resolution to make April 2 every year World Autism Awareness Day.  The intention is to increase awareness of autism and the importance of early diagnosis and treatment.

Contacts

For health and disability-related queries

Lester Mundell

Chief Advisor (Disability Services) & Director IDCC&R

Health & Disability National Services Directorate

Ministry of Health

lester_mundell@moh.govt.nz

Phone: 04 496 2371

Pat Tuohy

Chief Advisor – Child and Youth Health

Ministry of Health

pat_tuohy@moh.govt.nz

Phone: 04 496 2373; 021 313124

For education-related queries

Joanna Curzon

Team Leader Research

Professional Practice

Ministry of Education

joanna.curzon@minedu.govt.nz

Phone: 04 463 8260; 027-432 2571

Organisations representing people with autism and their families

Autism

New Zealand

Phone 0800 AUTISM (288 476), or (03) 339 2627

Altogether Autism

0800 ASD INFO / 0800 273 463

The Ministry of Health sent out an ASD newsletter

http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/pagesmh/8594/$File/asd-newsletter-mar09.pdf

Autism Spectrum Disorder March 2009

It is a year since the launch of the NZ Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Guideline. Significant

progress has been made to meet Richard Belton’s (CEO of Autism New Zealand) challenge to

‘make a difference’ to all those who attended the launch of the Guideline. Richard proposed we

meet to review progress within a year.

This newsletter brings together information about the progress being made to improve autism

services for people in New Zealand from some of the key groups who have been involved, and

their updates or links to updates are included in this newsletter.

These groups include:

1) Ministry of Health

2) Ministry of Education

3) New Zealand Guidelines Group and the Implementation Advisory Group

4) Altogether Autism

5) Autism New Zealand

1) News from the Ministry of Health

ï‚· Cabinet approved the ASD implementation plan and the Ministries of Health and Education

have been working with the New Zealand Guidelines Group (NZGG) to purchase services to

meet the requirements of the implementation plan within the broad priorities set by the

Implementation Advisory Group (IAG).

ï‚· We are pleased to announce that the Ministry of Health has made progress against the

implementation plan in the key areas for development. The key four areas include;

1) Assessment and Diagnosis

2) Support to strengthen families

3) Interventions (including early intervention and behaviour support to strengthen

families, and transitions)

4) Respite

Improving co-ordination and developing the workforce flows through all of the above priorities.

The Technical Implementation Group, led by the New Zealand Guidelines Group have been

contracted to support the implementation process in three key areas. These are:

i. Working with the Implementation Advisory Group

ii. The Living Guideline

iii. Contributing to the management of the Implementation Plan

Working with the implementation advisory group

The Ministries of Health and Education continue to appreciate the work of the Implementation

Advisory Group. Leadership from across the ASD sector was visible at the launch of the NZ

(ASD) Guideline and the strength of this commitment has continued throughout.

The Living Guideline

ï‚· Living Guideline

The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education have appointed the New Zealand Guidelines

Group (NZGG) to help implement the recommendations in the guideline. Part of NZGG’s work

Disability Support Services

includes putting in place a process for updating areas of the guideline which are no longer

current. This process is called a “Living Guideline Process”.

NZGG will get support by establishing a Living Guideline Working Group who will give advice on

which areas of the guideline are no longer current. Any changes will be based on changes in

evidence, as published in research literature.

Implementation Plan

This newsletter will highlight activities to date under the heading of the first phase of service

development planned to implement this funding. This phase is called ‘Scaling up existing, proven

programmes and services’.

Planning is in progress to implement the second and third phases of the implementation plan in

the following areas. These include;

 Bringing on stream new initiatives and embarking on ‘investment’ activities

 Delivering on the ‘investment’ activities, consolidating initiatives and incorporating measures

to provide for sustainability

Scaling up existing, proven programmes and services

1) Assessment and Diagnosis

ï‚· Development of ASD Recognition, Referral and Diagnosis Handbook

The New Zealand Guidelines Group is developing a resource that focuses on recognition,

referral and diagnosis of ASD. This resource will target a wide range of both specialist and

generalist professionals and address all age groups. The delivery of the content of these

resources is the 30 June 2009.

ï‚· Autism Spectrum Disorder Training package for Specialists

A complementary resource is being developed by the Werry Centre for Child and Adolescent

Mental Health (“the Werry Centre”) which will target specialists in both health and education

sectors, will focus on 0-18 age group, and will include training on ongoing support and

management of people with ASD (ie beyond initial diagnosis). They are well underway to

completing a training package that includes assessment and diagnosis of ASD, treatment of

ASD and clinical team leadership.

The training tool-kit is intended to inform specialists working in ASD, particularly child and

adolescent psychiatrists, paediatricians, and clinical psychologists and educational psychologists

about latest evidence as per the NZ ASD Guideline. The final draft is due to the Ministry of

Health by 31 March 2009.

ï‚· Autism New Zealand contract for resources for Home and Community Support Providers

The Ministry of Health, through Disability Support Services (DSS) has contracted Autism New

Zealand to scope, plan, and develop the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) specific resources for

ASD Home and Community Support Providers. Home and Community Support Providers

contracted by the Ministry of Health, Disability Services, provide home based care and support

to people with disabilities including those with ASD under the age of 65.

ï‚· Needs Assessment Service Co-ordination (NASC) ASD Service Enhancement Programme

The Association of Needs Assessment and Service Coordination Agencies New Zealand

(NASCA NZ) has started managing 4 discrete projects within the ASD NASC Work programme.

The four specific projects aim to support and improve the efficiency, effectiveness and quality

delivery of NASC organisations and, ultimately, improved support outcomes for people with ASD

and their families, whanau, aiga and carers, as well as the community whom NASCs serve.

NASCA NZ is contracted to four individual projects to complete the following activities:

The four specific projects are;

i. Review/revision of core NASC Standards, Protocols, Guidelines and Practice Resources

ii. Development of a guideline specifically for Ministry contracted NASC to guide all aspects

of their contracted and professional work with people with ASD and their families,

whanau, aiga and carers

iii. New resources and tools required to deliver NASC services based on the Development

of ASD Specific Guideline for NASC and revised NASC Standards/Guidelines

iv. Explore, propose for implementation, and evaluate innovative options to establish a

NASC ASD coordination function to service Ministry of Health NASC throughout New

Zealand.

For any further information please contact Adri Isbister at 0800 008 011

The diagram below visually depicts the range of work presently contracted to increase skills in

recognition diagnosis and assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

2 0 0 8 / 2 0 0 9

ASD Projects related to resource development and co-ordination roles within

Implementation Plan

Werry Centre Resources assessment and diagnosis for specialists (0 – 19 years)

NZ Guidelines Resource for allied health primary care on assessment & diagnosis

Group Resources assessment and diagnosis for specialists (Adults)

Autism New

Zealand

Scope, plan, and develop the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) specific

resources for ASD Service and Home and Community Support Providers.

Review core NASC Standards and Protocols

Develop ASD specific Guideline for NASC

Develop NASC resources

NASCA

Development of a NASC ASD Coordination function

2) Support to strengthen families

ï‚· SPELL evaluation

One part of the implementation plan is to evaluate the SPELL training programme that is

provided by Autism NZ. SPELL training gives families and carers the opportunity to further

develop their understanding of ASD. Kiwikiwi Research and Evaluation Services have nearly

completed this evaluation that is to be presented to the Ministry of Health and the final draft will

be delivered in April 2009.

ï‚· Bright Sparks

Following the evaluation of Bright Sparks; an Auckland community-based recreational based

programme for children with ASD, the Ministry has contributed to one-off funding to respond to

recommendations contained within the report.

Further enhancements to the programme include a training programme for the induction and

ongoing development of staff, quality and programme documentation and increasing the access

of the programme to Maori and Pacific children and young people and their whanau and aiga.

The work will be completed by 30 June 2009.

 ‘tips for autism’

The Ministry of Health wishes to expand and enhance an existing, proven, professional learning

and development programme already supported and funded by the Ministry of Education – ‘tips

for autism’.

‘tips for autism’ is a course where a team of people dedicates four days to developing

interventions and plans to support their particular child with ASD. This programme is evidencebased,

not prescriptive, and is based on facilitated learning rather than lecturing. There is plenty

of opportunity for discussion and practical application of what is learned. Resource material is

available at different levels and individualised to meet the needs of different children’s strengths

and interests.

ï‚· ASD-specific parent education: jointly purchased by the Ministries of Health and Education

Evidence cited in the NZ ASD Guideline shows that parents highly value parent education

services. For nearly a decade, the Ministries of Health and Education have jointly contracted

Autism NZ to provide ASD-specific parent education, using the EarlyBird programme developed

in Britain. The ministries also funded an independent evaluation of EarlyBird. With the

information from the NZ ASD Guideline, the evaluation and the requirements on government

agencies to use open purchasing processes, the two ministries have sought proposals for the

next stage in providing ASD-specific parent education that is a good fit with New Zealand’s

unique culture and geography. The new purchasing processes are underway and the ministries

plan for the service(s) to be in place from 1 July 2009.

3) Interventions (including early intervention and behaviour support to strengthen

families, and transitions)

ï‚· Feasibility Study for ASD specific Behaviour Support Services

Bennett and Bijoux are contracted to determine the feasibility of providing ASD-specific

behaviour support services as they would apply in a New Zealand context. Bennett and Bijoux

are working with a Specialist Advisory Group to support them to complete this contract by the

end of June 2009.

ï‚· Auckland based Family and Whanau community outreach services

The Ministry of Health has tendered to provide this service on an ongoing basis. The service will

be provided for individuals (0-21 years) with ASD and their families and whanau. The purpose of

the service is to work alongside families to link with and access services and supports. The

service also aims to improve access by Mäori, Pacific and other cultural groups to ASD related

services.

The Service provided will be in addition to needs assessment and service co-ordination (NASC)

and the disability information and advisory services (DIAS). The key difference will be the

emphasis on getting involved as early as possible and a higher intensity of service provided e.g.

home visiting.

The Service will promote and actively encourage and facilitate cross sector and multi-disciplinary

collaboration with children and young people referred to the service and their families.

ï‚· Auckland based ASD specific communication and behaviour services

One of the proven services is communication and behaviour support services for people with

ASD. This service was piloted in the Auckland Region in 2005 and 2006 and evaluated by the

Donald Beasley Institute with positive outcomes. The Ministry has tendered to purchase the

service on an ongoing basis and contract negotiations are underway.

4) Respite

An investment of $1 million per annum over the next three years is allocated from ASD

implementation funding to contribute to the Ministry of Health requested proposals for new “out

of family” respite services. The Ministry has now signed contracts for the five following services:

i. Waikato service for people 17 years of age and over with an intellectual disability and/or

ASD – Spectrum Care Trust

ii. Bay of Plenty/Lakes (to be located in Tauranga) service for people 17 years of age and

over with an intellectual disability and/or ASD – Spectrum Care Trust

iii. Bay of Plenty/Lakes (to be located in Tauranga) service for people under 17 years of age

with an intellectual disability and/or ASD – The Open Home Foundation

iv. Hawke’s Bay service for people under 17 years of age with an intellectual disability

and/or ASD – The Open Home Foundation

v. Wellington service for people under 17 years of age with an intellectual disability and/or

ASD – The Open Home Foundation

These services are currently in set-up phase. The purchase proposal process is not complete

and contracts for the provision of other services may be signed in other areas in the future.

Respite continues to be an important area of priority.

ï‚· Develop other respite models

The New Zealand Guidelines Group is working with the Implementation Advisory Group to

deliver a report on the principles that should underpin ASD-specific respite models. This will be

followed up with a service specification and request for proposal for services that would meet

those principles.

2) Ministry of Education

As part of the Ministry of Education contribution to implementing the NZ ASD Guideline, a draft

education ASD Action Plan is being developed. The Plan responds to recommendation 6.24 in

the NZ ASD Guideline: “The development of a coordinated national plan for professional

learning and development should be undertaken. This should include standards for professional

learning and development and competencies for professional roles.” It also addresses Guideline

recommendations 6.6 – 6.7, 6.9 – 6.14, 6.16 – 6.23 and 6.27, as well as embarking on

developing the information and resources which need to accompany professional learning and

development.

The draft ASD Action Plan stresses the need for activities to be connected and coherent. It

affirms that everyone has a role to play in supporting children and young people with ASD to

learn, achieve and contribute to society, and outlines support for these roles. Over the next few

months, feedback on the draft Plan will be sought from people with ASD, parents, whānau and

other educators, including the Implementation Advisory Group. In the meantime, existing

commitments such as ‘tips for autism’ and the Early Intervention ASD Project continue to be

expanded to reach more young people, their families, whānau and wider support teams.

3) New Zealand Guidelines Group and the Implementation Advisory

Group

As written above, the New Zealand Guidelines Group (NZGG) and its consortium partners

(Matthew Frost and Acqumen Ltd) are reasonably involved in administering aspects of guideline

implementation. We:

ï‚· have administered a range of tender processes;

ï‚· are working on the assessment and diagnosis handbook (with an external reference

group and Tanya Breen and Richard Belton)

ï‚· are starting up the living guideline process (sponsored by the Ministry of Education)

ï‚· working with the Implementation Advisory Group to consider the principles to underpin

ASD-specific respite services and the feasibility of ASD-specific behaviour support

services (building off the work to be completed by Bennett and Bijoux Ltd).

For more information, please follow this link to a letter from the Chair of the Implementation

Advisory Group, Matt Frost.

http://www.nzgg.org.nz/download/files/ASDTechnicalInformationService-2.pdf

4) Altogether Autism

Altogether Autism is busy ensuring a comprehensive specialist information service is

being delivered nation wide. The first year of service delivery has bought its

challenges. Numbers accessing the service in many cases more than doubled. The

point of difference in this specialist information service is the access to a

professional expert group led by Tanya Breen. This ensures quality information and

specialist contribution to regional meetings and information on the web site.

LIFE Unlimited and Parent to Parent, the organisations partnered to provide the

information service Altogether Autism, have been strategically planning regarding

regional positions for Altogether Autism. It is the intention to look at re modelling

the regional service; an innovative approach to re modelling is being announced at

the end of March.

Some notices 

Just a few days left to apply for the job of CEO of Autism NZ.

 http://www.seek.co.nz/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=75&PageNumber=1&JobID=15116033

FUNRUN

The Canterbury Branch of Autism NZ has a fun run and awareness fundraiser on Saturday 3 May in Hagley Park. Details below

http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/funrun

HELP REQUIRED

Call for Research Participants for project on computer assisted learning with children with autism

Penny Tok (PhD student) together with her supervisor Dr Jason Low at Victoria University of Wellington will be conducting an innovative research that looks at the use of computers and how it can aid children’s learning and enhance their performance. 

Participants with autism aged between 6-15 years in the

Wellington region and beyond are needed starting end-April ‘09. Research sessions can be conducted at a location and time most convenient to the family. Parents can also sit in to observe the sessions if they choose to do so.

A summary of report findings and child performance together with a small token of appreciation will be provided to all participants.

Please help enhance

New Zealand’s understanding and awareness of autism by supporting research in autism.

Contact Penny at 021-2592073, (04) 472 1000 ext 8741 or penny.tok@vuw.ac.nz

And finally thanks to Alison Bradley for this link to research on stress and Aspergers  

If haven’t read latest research article below well worth reading

 

 New Theories of Autism, Asperger Syndrome

http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/04/02/new-theories-of-autism-asperger-syndrome/5122.html

“Cortisol, the body’s stress hormone, might be a key component to understanding Asperger Syndrome, according to researchers.” The researchers hope that by understanding the symptoms of AS as a stress response rather than a behavioral problem it could help carers and teachers develop strategies for avoiding situations that might cause distress in children with the condition…..

Alyson Bradley http://www.asplanet.info/
Asperger Parallel Planet – web site/forum]