What to study to help ASers??

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Hi all, I'm trying to figure out what I should study and how.

I'm already doing natural therapies/health science as a degree course, but I have enough time that I can fit in some extra papers and I want to specialise somehow, tying in the natural therapies, in helping people with AS. Them and their families and everything - I just feel so bad for all the people I see who freak out at the thought that their child has this diagnosis and suddenly they get so disillusioned with things; "My child won't even have friends, they'll never be able to do anything, they won't be able to get a job, they can't do sports, they can't be normal, oh woe woe woe!". So many times I hear this and I just want to shout at them - Yes you can! Yes, you CAN do all these things - just because you have AS doesn't mean you can't do anything, it doesn't mean you won't have friends or you won't go out or you won't leave home or you won't end up extremely well qualified and with a great job and family and everything else. If anything it will make you stronger! I want to take this and to somehow get into lecturing on AS, perhaps writing some books... somehow using my talents to show these people that it doesn't have to be so bad, and if you know what you're dealing with you can cope without a problem.

So what do I need to study to do that? Do you need a full degree in psychology, or just a few papers (as I'm doing a health science anyway)? Anyone know anything about it? Thought this might be a good place to ask... any advice welcome.

Hi,

Yes I have had similar thoughts often. I have considered studying counselling, or perhaps go to university and study Autism and AS, I guess that would be included under psychology?

Perhaps you could take up a couple of psychology papers, or talk to the Psychology department head and see what papers they have that deals with AS.

C
...

What has probably helped my son the most in his almost 3 years on this planet is occupational therapy. He's really developed a sense of where his body is in space, and stops running into things and falling down so often. The brushing has helped him deal with physical sensations a lot better, and he actually ASKS for hugs now! Part of his therapy also involved eating, and he actually has tried peas and plain chicken in the last 2 weeks, which is 2 foods more than he ever ate before. If there were more occupational therapists in this world who knew what AS kids needed to deal with everyday life, I'd be really happy about that.

Psychology

My vote is for occupational therapy as well. I think that OT was a big part of my son's functioning level being so high as a teenager. We actually went back to some of those old OT things when he hit puberty and they helped immensely. I say that OT and music/art therapy are very helpful in helping kids on the spectrum.

I think my biggest worry is that I don't sit well with the lectures and big classes style of university. So whatever I do, it needs to be something I can cope with without getting bogged down and stressed, because the moment that happens is the moment I switch off and fail. So I'm not keen on doing another full degree.

What I'm hoping to do is to utilise my journalistic skills to somehow lecture from an Asperger's point of view. My mum works in the field and asked me last night if I could please go and have a coffee with a lady she knows who is having trouble understanding her AS son, and to just explain how I see the world and why things that are so simple and logical to me may not be to her, so she can understand that her boy doesn't have some huge disability; he just sees things differently. She then suggested perhaps doing that as a career, as I am functioning independently and normally - nobody knows I have AS unless I tell them - as they could all benefit so much from hearing from the horse's mouth ('scuse that horrible phrase) exactly why the children they're working with do things the way they do.

So that's more where I see myself as being able to help - to just explain Asperger's on an NT level to those working with the children themselves exactly what it means and what the world is like, and why we do things the way we do, so that those people can then take that understanding into their jobs and help the kids deal with it better. Perhaps even extending that to showing the younger ones that it doesn't have to be some awful, crippling, nasty affliction as it so often described - that if you use it to your advantage and to bring out the best in you, it can be an amazing gift rather than a curse. It breaks my heart to see so much disillusionment and misunderstand around what should be a great thing.

Any ideas?

Are you musically inclined at all?

If so, I'd go for music therapy. Music has proven to distinctly help a large percentage of those on the spectrum who have experienced it as therapy.

I'm getting my master's in it.

Something I found interesting while doing a design project for people with Aspergers was sensory rooms (also known as 'SNOEZELEN' ). They can be found in hospitals, specialised medical centres, etc, and are basically immersive spaces using lights, sounds, smells, touch to encourage interaction, an escape from stress, and lower sensitivity in a safe and fun way. Apparently they're really successful and a lot of kids with AS love them, but there doesn't seem to be enough of the spaces around the world.

Just thought it might be something interesting for you to look into. I'd love one of these spaces and have often thought of one day building my own. Nothing like this exists in Australia.

I am musically inclined (one of my 'things'), but I don't really want to use that... I just want to be able to explain things from my perspective to the people who do the helping. So effectively helping the helpers. Just don't know what I would have to do to do that.

If you're already studying natural therapies then looking at food intolerances and chemical sensitivites might be nice. There aren't enough people who understand food intolerances, and many of us seem to have them.

While studying all that, another thing you should definitely study is WP and the horror stories of misdiagnosis, misunderstanding, assumptions made by shrinks and parents, schools that treated kids like ret*ds because they thought AS was retardation, etc. You never learn any of this in any book any professional or parent or AS person that I know of has written so far, I don't think.