QUESTION: What are good resources for learning about teens and young adults on the autism spectrum?

 

ANSWER: When we talk or write about autism, it’s often about identifying children on the autism spectrum when they are pre-schoolers or helping children connect with the support services they need in elementary school. Thankfully, there are good, new resources for parents, relatives, friends and teachers of youth and young adults who are facing the challenges of being on the autism spectrum and many of them are at the Parenting Resource Center Specialty Library.

“Autism As Context Blindness” by Peter Vermeulen, PHD connects what scientists have learned about what is happening in the brains of individuals on the autism spectrum to what parents and teachers need to know to teach and support them effectively.

Those of us with typically developing brains are fortunate to be able to naturally decipher (de-code) the context of situations.

For instance, the simple action of raising a hand can mean several different things, depending on the context. A hand raised during a meeting to ask a question means a different thing than a hand waved in a greeting or a hand held palm up to take a pledge.

Without context much of our human behavior would be unclear, strange or outright ridiculous, which is the world individuals on the autism spectrum often struggle with constantly because their brains do not process context like the typical brain.

“Unintentional Humor: Celebrating the Literal Mind” inspired by Brent Anderson, a young man on the autism spectrum, illustrated with cartoons by Lewis and Bednorz, is a delightful book with graphics that represent how Brent mentally “sees,” and therefore interprets, the common idioms and metaphors of the English language, such as baseball bat, playing music by ear, and computer mouse. Brent shares that he became known as the “Little Dictator” because of how he literally interpreted the teacher’s instructions to the class.

When the teacher would say, “Let’s turn off our computers and come back to our desks,” Brent often took it upon himself to turn off all the computers, even when his classmates were still using them. Even when he got into trouble because of this kind of behavior, his reply was always the same, “The teacher said so …”

Check out the Parenting Resource Center Specialty Library (105 First Street SE, Austin) for other resources about the autism spectrum. “Trainman” is about gaining acceptance and friends through the intense special interests of a child on the autism spectrum.

You can also find Autism Asperger’s Digest magazines with articles on sensory-friendly learning at home and planning a party for ASD spectrum kids.