Talk to a Child With Asperger's Syndrome

Asperger’s Syndrome

Asperger’s Syndrome is a high functioning form of Autism. Children with Asperger’s have many social challenges including difficulty communicating, relating to others, and empathizing.

Mean What You Say

When having a conversation with a child with Asperger’s it is important to say exactly what you mean. Kids with Asperger’s have a difficult time picking up the social cues most of us are so accustom to we don’t even notice them. Such as, tone of voice, facial expressions or body language.

Frequently subtext like sarcasm and passive aggressive remarks go unnoticed and they will take what is said to them literally. Metaphor’s and analogies are wonderful ways to demonstrate a point when having a discussion with someone without Asperger’s but for these kids, it will make the conversation that much harder to follow.

Willing to Repeat

Children with Asperger’s often have a hard time focusing on what is being said to them. Their mind frequently wanders and it appears as though they are simply waiting to talk instead of actually listening to what is being said to them. It is really helpful to them when someone is willing to repeat instructions or requests worded in a slightly different way than the first time.

When they are asked if they understand what was said they will usually say yes in an attempt to end the conversation and move on to something they like. If you ask the child to tell you what they heard, you will find out whether they actually absorbed what was said to them or not.

Don’t Get Offended

Many kids with Asperger’s Syndrome have a distinct and very involved interest in one or two areas. Some examples include sports statistics, maps, cars etc. They spend a lot of time analyzing and learning about these areas of interest so it is very difficult for them to talk about anything else.

When someone is trying to have a conversation with them about another topic, they might interrupt to share some information about their area of expertise. If the topic at hand isn’t interesting to them or doesn’t directly involve something they want to do, they will abruptly switch the topic mid-sentence. This is offending to many people for obvious reasons and is perceived as simply inconsiderate.

It doesn’t occur to the child that they are being rude or hurting someone’s feeling by dismissing their thoughts or desires. They simply don’t give it much thought one way or the other.

source Hubpages.com