Understanding autism and Asperger’s

Two community education courses at Waikato University are aiming to help people understand more about autism and Asperger’s syndrome.

Ministry of Education psychologist Dr Thomas Antony will run courses early this year on Autism Spectrum Disorders and Asperger’s syndrome.

Autism is defined as developmental disability which has traits that include lack of eye contact, repetition of words or phrases, unmotivated tantrums and not being able to communicate properly.

Asperger’s involves problems with social interaction and repeated behaviour, interests or activities.

Dr Antony will run the courses during February, March and April, through the University of Waikato’s Continuing Education department.

The two-hour courses over four nights are designed for parents, people who work with children, or those who want to understand more about the disorders and learn some strategies.

Dr Antony said because Asperger’s was milder than autism, children were often not diagnosed until they were 10-12 when social problems became more apparent.

“Most of these children have been able to manage without many noticeable problems, but their quality of life will be inferior and they will have problems socialising.”

He said the courses would help people understand the disorders and to look for crucial signs. Although formal diagnosis was done by professionals, parents and teachers should be part of that process as trained observers, he said.

Asperger’s could also be mistaken for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Disorder, mood disorders or giftedness, and close observation by professionals was the only method of proper diagnosis, Dr Antony said.

“If children are diagnosed or at least identified early during their pre-school/primary school years, they can be taught to socialise better,” Dr Antony said.

“Some of these children will have difficulty understanding and following even the basic things that other children can grasp naturally or intuitively. But parents can teach many of the simple strategies to compensate these social difficulties.”

Asperger’s syndrome was recognised as a distinct disorder only recently – in 1994 – by the American Psychiatric Association. Autism Spectrum Disorders are the fastest growing developmental disability, and are thought to affect more than 40,000 NZers, Dr Antony said.

He said it was thought there were many people with undiagnosed Asperger’s from all walks of life. However they could often learn social coping strategies even later in life.

Some people are diagnosed in their 40s and 50s and might have spent most of their lives in a social shell without realising why they were different.

Some Asperger’s have creative and special abilities including Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, actors, film makers, philosophers and writers.

An Understanding of Autism runs on 24th February and 3rd, 10th and 17th March, 2009, from 7.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. at the University of Waikato’s Ruakura Satellite Campus, 21 Ruakura Road, Hamilton.

An Understanding of Asperger’s runs on 24th and 31st March and 7th and 14th April, 2009, also at the satellite campus from 7.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m.

The courses cost $45.

For more information phone 0800 to enrol (0800 863 6765) or visit www.conted.
waikato.ac.nz