Aspergers Syndrome – Rethinking the Glass House Rule

1. Building Your Future Intensive Training Aspergers Syndrome – Rethinking the Glass House Rule

2. Complexity Perhaps student profiles and behaviors are becoming more complex… The Real Question… What is your professional and ethical responsibility?

3. Understanding Asperger - Research Break in the brain Cannot figure it out Cognitive ability does not = social skill development Not holding back on social skills Activity: Conversation without looking at the person’s eyes

4. Aspergers – Seeking guidance from someone who probably knows what to do is usually not a first or even a second thought. The student with Aspergers might be sitting next to someone who could obviously help but appears blinkered and determined to solve the problem by himself. Atwood, 2007

5. Fat lady in the grocery store Student with Aspergers remarks in his usual tone of voice and volume, “That lady is fat and needs to go on a diet” The child’s opinion is that she should be grateful for the observation and advice, the likelihood that his mother will be embarrassed or the woman would be offended at such a rude comment is not part of the thinking process. Atwood, 2007

6. “People expect cognition and social functioning to be equally developed. When kids with Asperger’s Syndrome experience difficulty they [public] wrongly assume it is deliberate misconduct.”(A. Klin and F. Volkmar, 1997)

7. Progression of Etiological Theories BRAIN research . . . Looking at brain differences Cerebrum Limbic System Corpus Collosum Amygdala Cerebellum

9. Purkinje Neurons

10. Limbic System

12. Amygdala-Brain’s Fear Center November 22, 2006: Study (Davidson, Univ. of Wisconsin) confirms reduced size of amygdala in most socially withdrawn individuals with ASD. Starts hyperactive and enlarged Shrinks over time (toxic adaptation) which correlates with length of eye contact and general fear of, withdrawal from, people.

13. Amygdala, Cont. Small amygdala: significantly slower in identification of happy, angry, sad facial expressions. Spent least amount of time looking at eyes relative to other facial regions. Smallest amygdala: 40% longer to recognize emotional expressions. Largest amygdala: looked at eyes 4 times longer than smaller amydgalae.

15. Cerebrum (Cerebral Cortex)

16. Corpus Collosum

17. Neurons Mirror Neurons: A study by UCLA neuroscientists (Dapretto et al) featuring functional MRI suggests that mirror neurons help people understand the intentions of others – a key component to social interaction. Faulty? Not cued into them? Cell-Adhesion Molecules: Help brain cells connect (Hakonarson, 2009, Center for Applied Genomics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)

18. Yawning Study Current results suggest that contagious yawning is impaired in ASD, which may relate to their impairment in empathy. It supports the claim that contagious yawning is based on the capacity for empathy. Senju, et al, 2007

19. Cognitive development typically ranges from average to very superior IQ. Difficulties may include: Difficulty shifting attention Difficulty processing two cognitive tasks simultaneously Generalizing information Retrieving information on demand Developing problem-specific solutions Difficulty with sense of time Cognitive Differences

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21. Attention • Studies have suggested at least 75% of children with Aspergers also have a profile indicative of ADHD. • Difficulty with four aspects of attention: • Ability to sustain attention • Attention to relevant information • Shifting attention • Storing/encoding information (episodic vs. semantic memory) Attwood, 2007

22. Elementary: Difficulty with: Inhibition (age 8) working memory using new strategies Middle School and older: Additional difficulties with: organization and planning self-reflection and self-monitoring (mental conversations) time management and prioritizing understanding abstract concepts weak central coherence Executive FunctioningResearch confirms that some children, but especially adolescents and adults with AS, have impaired executive functioning. Attwood, 2007

25. Things to think about • One guy vs. “thousands/billions” • Neurons • Inefficient, slow retrieval • Misfilings • Shredder • Can’t “forget” any information • Can’t differentiate between important & non-important information • Microphone • Isn’t used much (visual stronger than auditory) • Uses the big computer screen • Memory storage—no sound • Power Cords • Brain Bacteria • Interferes with storage of information • Different Levels of Storage • Daydreaming (processing?)

26. Activity: Executive Functioning O T T F F S S

27. Cognitive Inflexibility • Difficulty with change • Insistence on sameness • Rule-governed • Routines/rituals • Concrete thinking • Difficulty letting go of thought and ideas • Over-focus on details (weak central coherence)

28. Create rigid rule structures to make order in ambiguity Playing with toys for young children and the child molester “NO LEFT TURNS!” Men go to bars and women are maids “Jocks”, “People that don’t make good decisions” and “friends” Pass four red cars and it’s a good day Blue gel pen = good assignment Grocery Store Scenario Exchanging Christmas presents

29. How do you navigate cultural expectations? • Taarof (Iranian Politeness) • How would you handle the picture problem? • What about the ice issue? • Would you know what to do?

30. Cognitive Strengths • Processing whole chunks of information quickly • Good rote memory • Good long-term memory • Process visual information meaningfully • Understand and use context-free information and rules

31. Learning Characteristics of ASD Uneven skill development Tends to resist change in learning environment Difficulty generalizing skills/information Difficulty with abstract concepts Relies on cues and learned routines May tend to function more reliably with consistency and structure within activities and environments

32. Learning Characteristics of ASD Organizational issues Focus on unimportant information Difficulties processing multiple sensory input under certain conditions Difficulty seeing the “big picture” Over-selectivity Good long-term and rote memory Prefers sequences and routines May demonstrate desirable persistence with a task if motivated Tendency toward literalness – difficulty with multiple meaning words

33. My Response… The most powerful idea that strikes me after hearing this clip is… 3 things that I will accept in students with Aspergers and no longer try to change…

34. Theory of Mind (ToM) means the ability to recognize and understand thoughts, beliefs, desires and intentions of other people in order to make sense of their behaviour and predict what they are going to do. (Atwood, The Complete Guide to Aspergers Syndrome, 2007)

35. Theory of Mind: Perspective Taking and Reciprocity • “Mind reading” ability is located in the orbito-frontal cortex-superior temportal sulcus-amygdala area of the brain. • Winning/losing concept difficult • Difficult to engage in manipulation • Difficult to engage in lying

36. The ability to understand the value of deception and recognize when it might be expected occurs later in the development of the student with Aspergers, sometimes as late as early teens. This can cause confusion to parents and teachers, as the previously honest, (perhaps to a fault) child recognizes that one can deceive people and avoid anticipated consequences. However the type of deception can be immature and the deceit easily identified by an adult. Atwood, 2007 Maturation

37. Travis and Lying Travis is 18 Years Old Drives and attends a typical high school Driving to school his check engine light came on Communicated in the best way he knew how Did not get any response Got a response…Is this Lying

38. Background Information Staff explained…they could not believe what Travis said anymore…He was constantly lying. Used white board…invited Travis into the meeting Put the word liar on the white board Travis said – “Everyone thinks I am a Liar” What was discovered by the facilitator and staff?

39. Travis’s Take on Things • “Telling the truth is not good enough for the people” • Translation – I need help and the staff does not help me • “The wrecker is better because my car blew up” • Translation – Ms. Black responded to the wrecker is coming because my car blew up but did not respond to my check engine light coming on

40. Time for a Change Most people with ASD will not wait until (the typical population - staff) perceives or does not perceive the situation as important as they do Most people with ASD are perceiving the problem right in front of them(right or wrong) a catastrophe Adults around students with ASD are saying words like “relax”…”not a big deal”… “we’ll get to that later” That does not work for this population. Students with ASD Want to - Solve the Problem

41. J.Janzen, Understanding the Nature of Autism

42. J.Janzen, Understanding the Nature of Autism

43. Maturation • Lying and Asperger Syndrome • Due to the impaired or delayed ToM abilities, the person with Aspergers may not realize that the other person is likely to be more offended by the lie than by any apparent misdemeanor • He may consider that a lie can be a way of avoiding consequences or a quick solution to a social problem • Maintaining self esteem should he have an arrogant self image whereby the making of mistakes is unthinkable. Atwood, 2007

44. Typical children, especially after the age of five years, are remarkably astute at perceiving and understanding social cues that indicate thoughts and feelings. (Michelle Garcia, 11-08) Parents nor educators teach these skills Parent and educators only notice when these skills are not present The lack of these skills makes students and adults uncomfortable Zero productive social skills curriculum developed

45. It is as though their mind prioritizes social cues above other information in their environment and they have a mental theory as to what the social cues mean and how to respond. (Michelle Garcia, 11-08) Minds of typically developing students work differently Lack of the prioritization of social skills Lack of a mental theory Eric example Resulting response? How does this manifest in a student you know?

46. This ability dominates the perception of typical people to such a degree that we become anthropomorphic and project human social behaviour on animals and even objects. (Michelle Garcia, 11-08) Anthropomorphic - Attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena. Factual or predictable information dominates the Asperger’s Population

47. S.A.T. Study – Aspergers Significant differences Typical Chasing, entrapping, and playing Frightened, elated or frustrated Aspergers: Different terms to explain movement of shapes Bouncing or oscillating vs. bravery or elation Narratives – shorter with less elaborate plots Fewer, more simplistic personality attributions Focus on physical aspects of objects

48. Attribution Theory • Every day we must guess how people will act, often from small shreds of evidence. • We do this through a form of social cognition called attribution. • As we observe others, we make inferences about them. We attribute people’s behavior to various causes. • Whether we are right or wrong about the causes of their behavior, our conclusions affect how WE act.

49. Attribution • In 2005, in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, many celebrities went to New Orleans to help hurricane victims. As you watched these events, did you: Attribute the celebrities’ actions to selfless concern for the suffering in New Orleans? OR Were the celebrities motivated by a selfish desire to hog the limelight?

50. Attribution Theory Two people enter a restaurant and order different meals. Nell tastes her food, then salts it. Bert salts his food before he tastes it. How would you explain their behavior? Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior: Twelfth Edition, 2010 Cengage Learning, Inc.