Behavior of a 5-year-old

From: Xiuwen Wu
Email: joyxiuwen@yahoo.com
Date: May 23, 2006

Comments

Hi Mary Louise,

Nice to be able to talk to you here!

I recently encountered a child and his mother. This child is suspected as having Asperger's. He is a very bright child with great memory and vocabulary. However, he has difficulty in areas of personal distance, showing interest in other's sharings in circle time, disrupting teacher, and following directions. One incidence told to me was he run after another boy in the playground trying to show his affection and ending up hugging the boy's back. This child had curiosities for things such as how envelop can be sealed by licking it wet with lips. He would repeatedly talk about this but he had trouble following other's questioning and topics. He would be seen standing on a row of chairs that adults would sit on later for a meeting. His mother would run to him telling him not to stand on these chairs. He showed some sort of trouble looking people in the face. He used to deny misbehaviors by denying his identify as that person and by saying "I am not Johnny (pseudoname)" when he was reprimanded for misbehavior. Now with some intervention, he improved a little.

Could you please recommend some strategies that would work with a child like Johnny? Would you also have some sort of software tools that would help train him in social skills?

Thank you! I appreciate your help!

Xiuwen