Re: Re: OT - it was paint that killed my dog

[Guest guest]

Hmmm....teaching about empathy. Can your son label emotions -- that is to say, if you are angry, can he say that you are angry if you asked him what he thinks you're feeling? If he can, that's a step. Our son's SLP worked on labeling emotions with him last year, and now he can label common ones just fine...he just can't explain why he or someone else feels a certain way. So, that's what we're working on this year.

I have two sons on the Spectrum -- one (the aforementioned son) with Asperger's and ADHD, and another with moderate Autism. The one with moderate Autism cannot label emotions yet. In fact, when I'm angry, he will sometimes laugh -- which doesn't help me to not feel angry anymore! But, if I look and sound very angry, he gets it. If I look and sound very happy, he gets that too.

My Asperger's son seems to show a great deal of empathy. His teachers have even observed this. They have told me that he seems acutely aware of students who are sad or upset. He will ask them what's wrong and try to help them feel better. My son with moderate Autism, well, his sense of emotional reception is a little different, but it's there. For instance, there is, unfortunately, a lot of tension among people at family gatherings...which is why he hates them (honestly, I'm with him on that one!). But his only mechanism of acknowledging it is to scream and cry. Not very effective at conveying exactly what he's perceiving, but hey, it gets us out of the situation! -- "Sorry, have to leave...AJ's freaking out."

Social skills training has helped our Asperger's son out quite a bit. They actually do it in a group setting at school once a week, and during the summer, he's taking a social skills class at one of the local therapy places. There might be some software or books that might be able to help -- especially software. I've seen some that deal with this issue on www.autismcoach.com. The folks running the site are on vacation until early August, but orders can still be placed -- they just won't be shipped until the week of August 7th.

Your concern about him admitting to something he didn't do is a very valid one. Have you read the book "The Asperger Parent" by Cohen? I think it's applicable to anyone with a child on the Spectrum. It has a whole chapter on this issue. I'm sure it's available in local libraries, so it might be worth it to check out. If your son receives SLP services in school, perhaps you could ask for the labeling of emotions and the "why" of these emotions to be addressed on his IEP. I asked for that for my son, they're working on it with us, and he is making improvements.

Just some thoughts.

--Suzanne