7 Year Old White Male -Aspergers
Jacob presents as a 7 year-old boy, diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) and Sensory Integration Disorder. He has a very high IQ, enjoys music, art and watching movies and/or TV shows which he would imitate precisely from beginning to end. His mother is concerned because the school psychologist seems to be at wits end trying to provide behavioral intervention strategies to use with Jacob. She has sought my help in aiding the school psychologist as well as meeting with Jacob for outpatient therapy. Individuals with Asperger’s generally have normal intelligence and normal early language acquisition. However, they show difficulties with social interactions and non-verbal communications. They may also show perseverative or repetitive behaviors. The lack of demonstrated empathy is possibly the most dysfunctional aspect of Asperger syndrome. Individuals with AS experience difficulties in basic elements of social interaction, which may include a failure to develop friendships or to seek shared enjoyments or achievements with others (for example, showing others objects of interest), a lack of social or emotional reciprocity, and impaired nonverbal behaviors in areas such as eye contact, facial expression, posture, and gesture. Jacob has a hard time adjusting to his new classroom routines and frequent behavioral outbursts are noted. He frequently hits other children and/or teachers, yells out in the classroom, leaves his seat, crawls around on the floor and also leaves the classroom and/or circle time. He also frequently covers his ears. Without appropriately developed social cognition, individuals have difficulty forming social relationships with others and this is evidenced by poor social behavior (Baron-Cohen, 2000).To people who interact with individuals with autism it appears that social cognition is impaired, while individuals with the disorder often report that their perception causes them the most difficulties. His mother reports he is affectionate at home