Hi John and Kelly,
"Bad" behaviour is often confused with and
mistaken for many behaviour disorders. It would not be
appropriate for me to work with you without professional
agreement if you feel that this is his real problem but parents
who come to me have often explored many such avenues in the past
and careful questioning will usually tell me whether the problem
is likely to be interactionally based (i.e. "bad" behaviour) or
not.
I don't think you are right when you say
"I suspect that the way we handle his behaviour may be
different if he has Aspergers Syndrome"
to my knowledge there are no other ways of handling any child
that has any condition (even the worst cases of autism) - once
the professionals have prescribed or discounted drugs that does
not involve careful behaviour management techniques.
To help you make a distinction between behaviour that may be
associated with Aspergers and behaviour that could be
interactionally based I have made some comments, in brackets, to
the list of the symptoms of Aspergers.
1. Lack of empathy. They do not seem to
take the other person's feelings into account. They may appear
rude or insensitive, or selfish.
[ This is also one of the main things I look for as indicating
interactionally based "bad" behaviour ]
2. Naiveté. While they
may seem rude, they are often unaware of how this affects other
people.
[hurting without the intension to hurt is not in the "normal
range"' of bad behaviour but hurting out of spitefulness, wanting
to hurt, especially hurting when being punished or told-off, or
when the child is not getting its own way are typical "bad"
behaviour]
3. They are more likely to
be teased or picked on.
[Being picked on is less usual, but problems
making or keeping friends is again typical of a child with
interactional behaviour problems i.e. "bad" behaviour]
4. Odd way of talking, odd
body posture. Many individuals with Asperger disorder will talk
in a monotone, robotic way, or may use a "sing-song" tone of
voice that does not vary with the meaning of what they say. They
may walk or stand in unusual ways.
[If he does this then his
problem is NOT just bad behaviour]
5. Clumsiness. This often
goes along with Asperger disorder but it is not
specific.
[many children are clumsy this would not be so significant
unless your child is very clumsy or if it were linked to
the symptom above]
6. Poor nonverbal skills.
This may go along with clumsiness. In Asperger disorder,
individuals often have good vocabulary and grammar knowledge, but
do poorly with mechanical skills, puzzles, or "visualizing"
things.
[This may be significant and can be tested for, but
occasionally this might be confused with the child's inability
to settle which can be behaviourally based.]
7. Poor eye contact.
Individuals with Asperger disorder frequently have to be prompted
to look at people. This seems different from shyness. Shy
individuals use their eye contact appropriately when they do use
it. People with Asperger disorder seem unaware of how to use eye
contact. It as if they "forget" to look at someone when they are
talking to them.
[Many children do this when they are being told off -
and cover their ears - this is normal with bad behaviour.
However if he does it at other times this may be very
significant.]
8. Restricted or eccentric
interests. These interests are usually more complex than those of
children with autism, but still would be considered odd for a
child, or excessive. For example, they may be interested in
unusual collections. They may have only a few topics of
conversation. While they may be "experts" on these topics, they
are not interested in what the other person has to say, or may be
very repetitive in the way they talk about their
interests.
[This could well be significant. This is not the same as the
child trying to "butt into" your conversations without waiting -
as this is often interactionally based. ]
9. Unusual responses to
sensations. The term "sensory integration disorder" is confusing
to most people. What we can observe is that some individuals act
like they respond differently to noise, touch, texture, movement,
light, and smell. They may be unusually bothered by certain
textures of clothing, may get upset if served the "wrong" brand
of food, or may cover their ears because of some noises but not
others.
[It is Very significant if he has this. But it is
possible for parents to "legitimise" and therefore encourage
eccentric behaviour by helping the child to accomplish it. If
he over-reacts if he does not get his own way - this is typical
of bad behaviour]
10. Impairment or handicap.
Symptoms of Asperger disorder have to be severe enough to cause
significant impairment in every day life. Simple examples would
include having to attend a special education class, inability to
participate in community activities without extra support,
serious problems with behaviour (such as disruptive or aggressive
behaviour), or serious impact on family life.
[This
last "disruptive or aggressive behaviour, or serious impact on
family life" is also the main criteria for the need for
behavioural help. It is even more likely that the problem is
one of "behaviour management" rather than Aspergers if your son
functions well, fairly normally, in any situation outside the
home where he has to interact with others. If he can do this,
say, for periods at school, or when he is with grandparents or
other relatives, when he is with a child minder, or at an after
school club etc, then this tells you that his problem is
"situation specific".
What this means is that the behaviour is far more pronounced or
specific to particular places, or with particular people (i.e.
the parents) which in turn, in my view, clearly means that the
child is far LESS LIKELY to have any internal problem
like Aspergers
In fact behaviour being "situation specific", in my view, rules
out, or puts in doubt either
- the diagnoses of
a more serious condition itself or
- the diagnosed
condition being the main cause of the problem behaviour at
home
11. Pragmatic language
impairment. This could include difficulty with eye contact,
greeting, holding conversations, adjusting what you see based on
different situations, or even recognizing what situation you are
in (formal, informal, casual, intimate).
[Significant if he has this -
but do not confuse this with his inability to understand why he
should not do something or his use of irrational arguments or
temper to make his point - these are typical "bad
behaviours".]
12. Semantic impairment.
The term "semantics" has to do with the meaning of language,
which is often different from the "literal" meaning of words.
Typical problems include not getting jokes, taking speech
literally (not understanding figures of speech), or insistence on
following literal rules.
[Not understanding simple jokes is significant. Taking speech
literally is also significant but should not be confused with the
child's deliberately taking what you say literally when they know
full well what you really mean. Also many children are not good
at accepting jokes at their own expense.]
I hope this helps. All the best for the future.
Warwick Dyer
Behaviour Change Consultancy
|
|