Hi there,

It’s me – your child’s new teacher.

Just wanted to say hello with the new school year upon us.

I know you may be a bit worried and asking yourself . .

New teacher – what’s she gonna be like?

Will she take the time to listen and learn about my child?

To understand about Asperger’s and what this means in the class room?

So here’s the thing.

I’m a teacher. I want to help kids learn. That’s why I got into this job in the first place.

But I’ll be the first to admit – it can be a bit overwhelming.

Bigger class sizes. More and more paperwork and bureaucracy, every single year.

It’s a job for me just to keep up.

So I just don’t have a lot of spare time to start researching about ASD and specialist approaches.

I need your help.

Help me to help your child.

Come and say hello – introduce yourself and your kid.

Don’t bombard me with a ton of info. as I won’t take it all in. Just a few words will do.

Then drop me an email with a short ‘pen picture’ of him. (The most important things I need to know to give him the best school year possible).

I honestly do want to help – just give me the right information in advance. But please make it short and to the point.

And I’ll do my best to give your child a good year.

In fact I’ve even been getting up to speed myself by reading Dave Angel’s fr-ee ‘Back to School’ Q&A mini-course. It’s got some

helpful tips and if you’re interested you can get it too at clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Kdjaj&m=3gxgbmy0G1JlRMX&b=K8BaqdBBLHTcyzY7mdRkfw

clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Kdjaj&m=3gxgbmy0G1JlRMX&b=yXXuVDf.CINWNh84EX1coA

To a good school year,

Terri the Teacher

Last week I shared some views on anti-anxiety meds.

A topic of interest – judging by the number of replies.

One mom (Aleha) shared a great tale of listening to your child when it comes to meds. She told me:

“I really liked your discussion on anxiety meds. My son is 21. He was prescribed an anti anxiety med. to take the edge off his anxieties.

He was on it for about a year when his psychiatrist suggested he should try going off it.

I was surprised and impressed by my son’s response.

In the beginning he hated taking medication but when she suggested he go off he was adamant and said he needed it and it makes him feel better.

My suggestion for parents out there is listen to your child.”

Absolutely.

Not saying med’s is or isn’t the answer for your child – that’s an individual thing. BUT it’s essential for your teen or adult to be involved in planning.

They know what’s going on.

How they feel . . .

Any side effects . . .

What good (or bad) it’s doing . . .

Should be central to any discussion. Along with your input. Your research on the med’s involved (easy to Google – just ensure you use reputable mental health sites).

And the doctor’s opinion (you MUST have this!)

And talking of discussions . . . we have a whole lot of them in The Parenting Asperger’s Community support group. Covering most of

the parenting topics you could imagine (from a-z and back again). If you want join our conversation – the webpage is:

clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Kdjaj&m=3VyiPeXYb1JlRMX&b=nOU.V1Do1rGBE52LkwJU7w

To better understanding,

Dave Angel

One thing which affects your child’s chances of making friends is how they appear.

Do they appear friendly, open and approachable?

Do they look uncomfortable and ‘closed off’?

This could be a factor making it tough for your child to make friendships.

If so . . . here’s some short advice from experienced school psychologist. In my interview with her, I asked:

“How do you teach children to appear friendly?”

Joan’s reply:

“We try to help them be more aware of how they appear to other people.

That if they’re not really looking in the other person’s direction, or seeming to be paying attention to what the other

person’s saying, maybe that other person will think they’re unfriendly.

And then we practice ways of looking friendly. Which would be:

• Looking in their direction

• Asking a question about what they’re talking about

• Staying close by instead of wandering of (which sometimes they tend to do, just sort of wander around when they’re talking).

And so we practice those things.

We spend a lot of time when we’re together, just maybe putting some things on our shoulders so, say, when I’m talking and they need to look at me, they just

look at my shoulder, the thing like a real stuffed animal sitting on my shoulder or something. We also use little eye stickers that we put on our foreheads, which

is funny, and then they look at those. So they don’t really look at the rest of my face, they focus on my forehead. And they can do that and I ask them just to

glance at me when they can.

Shows interest and friendliness.

So we try and breakdown some of those specific skills that will help them to appear friendly like where they stand, where they’re looking, a comment they

could make. And, that seems to help a lot.”

This is a great way to help younger kids crack the code for school friendships. And the principles are helpful for older children too. Would you like lots more school survival

tips like these? Well, this is just a small extract from my interview with Joan Nash. You can find the whole interview (plus 5 more interviews with experts on Asperger’s

and schooling) in the Asperger’s School Stress Buster Package. For full details go to:

clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Kdjaj&m=3cyiSEnMM1JlRMX&b=pPgtOMrRwNpwyojOpZeZfQ

To making friends,

Dave Angel

Last week ‘Atypical’ aired on Netflix (a comedy series about a teen with ASD).

I’ve been away so not had chance to check it out yet. However you can’t escape the feedback online.

Some love it.

Some hate it.

But one really good thing to come out of it already is the question:

“Why is there no actor with ASD in the series?”

Always been the same with the likes of Parenthood, Scorpion, IT Crowd, Big Bang, Adam, Rain Man . . . (all directly, or indirectly, referencing life with ASD).

Never an actor with autism.

This needs to S.T.O.P.

Talented performers on the spectrum out there no doubt. From Hollywood stars like Daryl Hannah and Dan Aykroyd to local artists in theater and the like.

‘Tis about time methinks. So I hope more than anything this latest piece of TV moves that agenda forward.

Real representation by Real actors.

And keeping it real is one of the reasons I have always enjoyed a variety of writers on the spectrum here at Parenting Asperger’s. Contributing to the website,

Facebook group and Aspirations newsletter.

Because who better to share with parents what real life is like for people on the spectrum?

Explaining the world from the aspie angle is crucial.

First hand. Day to day ‘in the trenches’ knowledge.

And if you’d like to tap into this knowledge from our real life ASD experts, to help you understand your child even more – then we’re here for you. On a monthly basis

(in the newsletter) and daily basis (in the Facebook support group). Interested? You can join us at:

clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Kdjaj&m=3lfHlweAZ1JlRMX&b=8PHGBTo7y1Q1xLjiyAqsww

To better representation,

Dave Angel

When I interviewed veteran teacher and author, of “Teaching Children with Autism …”, Dr. Christy Magneson, I asked her to give me her 3 best tips for parents of children with Asperger’s in school.

Here’s what she shared:

Tip #1 – Trust Yourself

“Parents know their children better than anyone else, better than even somebody like me.

I have studied these kids all these years and I think I know them, but I don’t know them as well as you might if you are the parent of a person with Asperger’s.

So, first thing, trust yourself.

If your child doesn’t want to go to school, there’s a reason. You need to investigate that.You need to trust your instinct.”

Tip #2 – Advocate

“You need to be an advocate.

And I don’t mean that to say you should be aggressive. But I think you may need to be assertive.

So, for example, you have a brand new teacher that’s working with your child.

Let’s help them along. Let’s not be aggressive. Let’s be patient. But let them know what your child is like, what he needs or she needs, and how that best can occur.“

Tip #3 – Keep on running

“This is a marathon.

It is for all of us who are parents, but please be patient and take steps rather than giant leaps to get your child to where he or she needs to be.”

I hope these 3 short tips were helpful. If you’d like even more tips – I’ve put together my recent School Parenting Q&A emails into a short free mini-course. You can get it at:

clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Kdjaj&m=3hX2R2DTT1JlRMX&b=3cFPkinmBKEam9M1fyWZwA

To school success,

Dave Angel

PS Inside the fr-ee mini-course is:

• ORGANIZATION – “What has worked for other parents?”

• MIDDLE SCHOOL – “Tips for first day success?”

• BULLIES – “How to avoid being bullied at high school?”

• NEW SCHOOL – “How can I help my son be ok with changing schools?”

• MORNING ROUTINE – “I struggle with getting him to take a shower & go to school on a daily basis , what can I do?”

• KICKED OUT OF LESSONS – “My son gets sent out of class for being “disruptive”, how to approach the school?”

• FITTING IN – “How can my son make friends in class?”

• HOMEWORK – “My son struggles with homework – WHY?”

• HIGH SCHOOL – “Help! How can I prepare my teen?”

To get your fr-ee mini-course:

clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Kdjaj&m=3hX2R2DTT1JlRMX&b=3cFPkinmBKEam9M1fyWZwA