6 tips to understand Asperger’s

Every time we have more testimonials of the experiences of people who were diagnosed as autistic.

Within this group, we differentiated those who they had accessed the language, that showed a high IQ -some to the point of being geniuses in some subject-, but who presented Serious problems in interpersonal or social relationships.

Historically there was talk of “empty fortresses”because the children were isolated from their entire environment, and the parents were also qualified as “father or mother refrigerator” to indicate the origin of the alleged disaffectivity of these children. They were the first intuitions about a child-youth world with new expressions.

When the passive subjects of those first diagnostic hypotheses spoke up, some of the clichés that had accompanied them throughout their lives were undone. And no, the fortress is not empty, it has a whole system of reasoning.

How does a person with Asperger feel?

They always feel “out of the loop”. They are puzzled by the ambiguous, ironic, implied language of gestures and words.

Thus, a self-exclusion and frustration what will come reinforced by the rejection of those around them. It is a seclusion in their internal system, not only as a refuge but as an attempt to integrate within them the unintelligible of the situations.

autistic asperger need to rationalize what happens as much as the air you breathe. He is a born and absolute rationalist. His ability or inability will be judged based on whether he achieves integrate the new and incomprehensible within its closed system and with complete consistency. However, not even the subject himself knows what the conditions for integration of the novelty in their schemes. Here’s the challenge.

There is also affectivity, and its curiosity into the cosmos of what they call neurotypicals, “normal” people, is insatiable

So what are the keys of understanding What are these guys offering?

How to adapt to a boy or girl with asperger?

The little ones always need to confirm, a thousand times, that the light turns on and off, the drawer goes in and out, and the door opens and closes. That is to say, They move in a binary system, of two possibilities, but that, unlike our current logic in which one is opposed to the other, or that one is good and the other is bad or incorrect, for them they are different but with the same positive value and they are part of a system that always works.

They check over and over again that there is no error. That is the general scheme of their behaviors.

Going endlessly in circles looking for their accuracy or incessantly flapping their hands when something excites or displeases them. They are not negative signsbut one more possibility, still-moved, within its dual contrast. In this way, the boy or the girl has neutralized social values ​​of what is appropriate or inappropriate that adults try to get them to record.

On the contrary, what is going to get them out of their boxes is that their mold does not work and that those around them do not understand how important it is that for themselves. Identified with this form of organization, if the mechanism fails, they are the ones who feel like failures, and they will reproach themselves, a thousand times, for not having controlled it.

The refuge in fictional universes

Another characteristic that stands out in this autistic children’s world is its fascination with the world of cartoons and everything that has to do with screens and flat images. in said comics the figures are two-dimensional and only the three-dimensional appears as an effect. Can one think that in their constitution as subjects this is the relationship they maintain with their bodies and those of others?

In animated movies, the characters suffer all kinds of odysseysbumps and fractures, and even die, only to wake up minutes later as if nothing had happened. When a little one hits the wall or assaults another, is he really being conscious? that damage is being inflicted or caused, or rather is it created with a drawing body?

It is not difficult to find children who have gotten into one or more of their favorite characters, reaching imitate the exact same timbre of voice, repeating monologues or dialogues over and over again with their heroes. It will not be easy, then, to become aware of a physical body that is governed by laws very different from those of the comics.

On the other hand, and in contrast to this sensitivity of prefixed grimaces in the drawings, their sensory perceptions of the external environment, noise, light, are multiplied exponentiallyto the point of becoming unbearable and desperately seeking to isolate themselves from them.

How does a person with Asperger syndrome learn?

The boys and girls, some already adults, have surpassed those first stages and have found formulas to communicate their experiences, and they know how to describe the way they access and engage the world.

In most of these cases it is found that they have a impressive memory capacity. Their head can encompass an entire musical score or entire scripts almost from a bird’s eye view, in the same way that they can retain thousands of combinations, be they economic or chess moves. They explain it by saying that it is as if they inscribed it as a wholesomething like a screenshot of the computer, which save that large amount of data synchronouslythat is, at the same time.

They tend to become experts in a topic that they master and about which they do not stop talking.

That would be its basic structure. But, How do they expand their knowledge? Well, opening another document with similar characteristics or trying to assimilate the new in a previous screenshot. The edges are expanded, but the system remains closed.

The role of feelings in this system

As an epilogue, we can recall the link between Asperger’s and German rationalism. he was the philosopher Immanuel Kant who tried, obsessed by the advances in physics, to establish a form of human behavior that would follow the characteristic guidelines of that science. For it, the subjects had to give up any kind of feeling or desire.

If a friend had to be betrayed, it was done, and that for the sake of following universal laws, that served for everyone and everything, of a rational morality. The affections, and what did not fit into a certain system, were not reliable and were always relegated to the background. The division was already served. Isn’t this what we find in asperger subjects?

Their emotions and misunderstandings are kept in that inner fortress until they can find a rational link that makes them understandable.

Connecting with people with Asperger: an understanding challenge that involves listening

Asperger’s syndrome can be interpreted as an effect of a specific era and of a discourse that, although it flows underground, can influence us all. We offer some keys so as not to get lost in the translation of this code.

Know how to interpret your codes

From the testimonies of autistic asperger that we currently have, the need for know their own systems to be able
communicate with them.

Many times your codes They do not go through words but through other types of expressionswhich can go from a language of drawings or lines to the world in which they have been interested.

Dinosaurs, sports, music, economics, movies… Areas of interest in which we will find the keys to their rationality and how to enter them.

Use appropriate examples

The introduction of vital relationships, both with his real body and with the outside world, will have to follow that detour of understanding through their characters or created universes. Only then can it be integrated and assimilated. Let’s give them many examples based on the material they handle.

Help them know how to protect themselves

They are boys and girls They are very exposed to bullying from a young age, but even more so in adolescence. The typical arrogance of non-autistic young people who feel already adults and independent leads them to not be able to stand in front of them anything or anyone that reminds them of their dependency and fragility and They attack those they believe to be the most vulnerable.

Explain that to them with your resources so that they do not feel discriminated against and find their forms of protection.

Avoid feeling guilty

It is important that parents do not feel guilty about what happens and that understand what role you are having in that cosmos of your child. If in the past all the blame was focused on the coldness of the parents, it was surely because the child projected his conflict that way.

Do not err in the diagnosis

Many of the diagnoses are related to a genetic or biological cause, due to supposed irritations in the brain. However, it is not clear if
what is considered the origin is but an effect of their difficulties in the acquisition and relationship with language and their surroundings.

This is much clearer in cases with Asperger syndrome, since they already have language and have a normal development and autonomy.

Do not rule out the use of therapy

If you need help, go to professionals and institutions that respect, understand and support the singularity of your son or daughter. Working in tandem with teachers, therapists or social workers to unravel the hidden codes of their behaviors can help them to know themselves and from there, promote their comprehensive development.

Do not abuse medication

If it is essential to medicate, try to do it punctually, at critical and overflowing moments, and that they are substances that do not strongly alter your brainsuch as antipsychotics.

If we collapse their brains With products that block their reasoning, we will have killed the scientist in each one of them and it will not be possible to know in which system they are moving. We will have accidentally broken the hope of connecting.

Persevere and don’t give up

Parents and professionals who seek means and do not give up often achieve understand each other, communicate and establish a real integration of their children.