Group items tagged

Title: Help With Autism, Asperger's, & Related Disorders Author: Barry K. Morris Date Published: 2008 Why Relevant and Summary: Does a nice job in explaining autism, Asperger's, and related disorders. It identifies means for classification and diagnosis, associated characteristics and tendencies; what to expect from someone with one of these diseases. How This Influenced My Thinking: Educated me about autism, Asperger's, and related disorders... helped me to see from another perspective life with this kind of disorder. Credibility of Source: Pretty credible and valuable.

Title: My Autism and Me Author: "tordajav" Date Published: Nov. 12, 2011 Why relevant and summary: This is a great short video/ documentary narrated by a young girl diagnosed with Asperger's named Rosie. She is very knowledgeable and gives a beautiful perspective. 

Title: Empathy, Mindblindness, and Theory of Mind Author: Lynne Soraya Date Published: May 19, 2008 Why Relevant and Summary: An excellent overview of Theory of mind. The article also explains how researchers test for theory of mind. It links theory of mind to the concept of Empathy, and explores whether people with Asperger's lack empathy or simply the ability to read social cues. Several excellent links, quotes, and a diagram explaining how the topic is researched. How This Influenced My Thinking: I know of several families that have children diagnosed with Asperger's. The article raises the possibility that those children with Asperger's could benefit from learning how to read social cues, and that their ability to empathize could be fine. Better interpretation of social cues would help them with their theory of mind regarding how others feel. Credibility of Source: Comes from a published magazine, Psychology Today. Likely to be fairly credible.

Title: Suicidal Thoughts More Common in Kids With Autism: Study Date: 3/21/2013 Author: Amy Norton Why relevant and summary: This article reports on the findings of a scientific study published on the "Research in Autism Spectrum disorders" journal, that children on the spectrum have a higher chance of contemplating or thinking about suicide than their typical peers. This is especially pronounced in those families where the mothers are depressed as well and bulling happens in school. The author reports on both sides which support and are against such findings. How has this changed my thinking: As a mother of a child on the spectrum I am really concerned and interested in finding out how this disorder will affect him, as he grows and what can i do to help. Source credibility: This article was published on an online news magazine and reports findings published in an academic journal.