Can Ecstasy Help Treat Autism?

"Many people who suffer from autism have reported lasting improvements after taking MDMA or “ecstasy,” and clinical research into MDMA as a possible treatment for this perplexing medical disorder is now on the horizon."

http://santacruz.patch.com/articles/can-ecstasy-help-to-treat-autism

http://santacruz.patch.com/articles/maps-begins-new-medical-mdma-ptsd-study

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ecstasy-triumphs-over-agony

Job possibilities according to Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin, a person with high-functioning autism, wrote a letter suggesting some poor job possibilities and good possibilities for people with autism or Asperger's Syndrome entitled "Choosing the Right Job for People with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome". Grandin's list serves as a good guideline for job possibilities and considerations. She suggests avoiding jobs that put significant demands on short-term working memory because that is a limitation for people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome. She advises choosing jobs that make use of the excellent long-term memory that they have.

She divides jobs into four categories with her reasoning for why the job is either a good choice or a bad one.

Bad Jobs:

Air traffic controller - Information overload and stress

She also lists cashier as a bad choice because of the short-term memory requirement, but some people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome disagree about cashier being a bad choice, since cash registers do the calculations for making change, now. However, they do say that it could be a problem if you must interact with too many people.

Good Jobs for Visual Thinkers:

Computer programming - Wide-open field with many jobs available especially in industrial automation, software design, business computers, communications and network systems
Equipment designing - Many industries, often a person starts as a draftsman and then moves into designing factory equipment

Most people with autism or Asperger's Syndrome, and the people who know them, believe that computer programming and other computer-related or Internet-related jobs are good choices. Grandin views herself as a visual thinker, so the jobs she lists in this category are probably ones she could more easily visualize herself performing successfully.

Good Jobs for Non-Visual Thinkers:

Accounting - Get very good in a specialized field such as income taxes

For jobs in this category, she is focusing on people who are good at math or facts. She also suggests that computer programming can be a good job for non-visual thinkers.

Good Jobs for Non-Verbal or Low-Verbal People:

Restocking shelves - In many types of stores

There are not as many employment options for non-verbal and low-verbal people. However, one of the choices she mentions is data entry, which can be a higher-paying job, especially if the person can perform it in specialized fields, such as medical insurance coding.

The list of job possibilities for people with autism or Asperger's Syndrome should not be limited to the ones Grandin suggests, but many people with autism or Asperger's Syndrome or who have family members with those conditions think it is relatively accurate and would be useful for considering jobs for adults with autism and Asperger's Syndrome. Since each person with autism or Asperger's Syndrome has different levels of strengths and weaknesses, a job that would work for one might be too stressful for another. Also, consider the special interests of the person and how they might be used in a job.

Characteristics of Aspergers

Asperger's syndrome is a neurological disorder where there are differences in the development of the brain. It is a mild form of Autism that is often overlooked. It is an autism spectrum disorder. It ranges all the way from a child who remains non-verbal for the rest of his life, with a lot of handicaps, up to geniuses. Unlike children with autism, children with Aspergers retain their early language skills

They have difficulties understanding subtleties of communicating through:
1) Eye contact
2) Body language
3) Facial expressions

Characteristics of Aspergers:
-Finds social situations confusing
-Finds it hard to make small talk
-Social isolation and intense concern for privacy
-Constant anxiety about performance and acceptance, despite recognition and commendation
-Have a hard time showing empathy towards others
-Finds it hard to understand what others are thinking/feeling
-People often say he/she is rude even when this was not intended
-Have difficulty making friends
-Difficulty judging others’ personal space
-Difficulty in accepting compliments
-Literal thinker
-Literal interpretation of instructions (failure to read between the lines)
-Interpreting words and phrases literally
-Have sensory issues. This can occur with one or more of the five senses (sight, taste, touch, smell or sound). They may over- or under-react to a sensation as well
-Rage, tantrum, shutdown, self-isolating reactions appearing “out of nowhere”
-Problems with non-verbal communication and clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements
-Have normal to above average intelligence
-Good at picking up details and facts
The most distinguishing symptom of Aspergers is a child’s obsessive interest in a single object or topic to the exclusion of any other.
Children with Aspergers want to know everything about their topic of interest and their conversations with others will be about little else.
-Their expertise, high level of vocabulary, and formal speech patterns make them appear professional
-Rigidity, repetitious behaviors, and obsessions
-Children with Asperger's usually have a history of developmental delays in motor skills such as pedaling a bike, catching a ball, or climbing outdoor play equipment
-They are often awkward and poorly coordinated with a walk that can appear bouncy

Insults/rant

Today, I came across a young girl with autism's youtube. ( http://www.youtube.com/user/Nichole337#p/u/0/91NK8rT0HnE ) I find her to be very inspirational and I think she has a beautiful personality. When I watched the video below, it made me cry, because I empathized with her and thought about how all of the negative comments she received must have made her feel. This girl is incredibly strong and it makes me so happy to see the large amount of support she is getting from fellow youtubers.

Normally when people attack others it's just insecurities within themselves, especially when they attack others that are content and happy with who they are. These people believe that it will make them feel better if they put someone else down, or that by insulting another other person it will take attention off of themselves. Sometimes people who are angry insult other people because they are not mature enough to think of a different way to handle their anger except to try to start a fight or to try to make the other person feel bad. Other reasons could include boredom, desire to be funny, genuine or learned hatred of another person or culture. Insults can also be used as a form of control, whether it is to control another person, to control a conversation. Insulting outbursts are often used by people who are angry that their lives are out of control in other ways.

The best way to handle an insult is to ignore it, because what the immature person wants is to make you upset. If you cannot ignore the insult, you can say something like, "Mature people don't have to insult each other to communicate," and walk away. Walking away is always best because the immature person is not going to change and suddenly stop acting immature. If the person insulting you is someone you want to keep as a friend, you should say something like, "That really hurts my feelings when you say something like that. Can we talk without insults?" This lets the person know that they need to change their behavior, and if they are friends, they will want to change and mature. If you're being harassed and physically abused by others, you need to speak up, tell someone about it, and try to get help. No one should tolerate or allow such a thing to happen to them. Asking for help is never a bad thing, so people need to be sure that they have a strong support system.

Learning and working

People with Asperger Syndrome like to stay occupied which can be quite challenging because when interacting with others, people with Asperger's often go off on tangents while discussing their favorite topic(s) of interest to the point of boring others to death. It can also create problems with keeping a job unless the the job just happens to be in the field that the individual has a passion for. Those with Asperger's love a challenge when it comes to learning and working. They often need to learn in more visual ways.  People with Asperger's are logical thinkers and a lot of people find it easy to learn info about their interests and yet difficult to learn things they're not interested in. For the most part, they seem to be brilliant and are able to retain information better than most people I know. Sometimes they can be creative in the arts too. My friend Carrie loves to express herself through writing. She feels that people understand her much better or connect with her easier when she writes because, "my writing is straightforward and friendly in style for the most part. I'm often told that I come across way different in person than by what first impression was formed with someone initially via my writing, given they hadn't met me before in person." She recently discovered that she has Asperger's but only told me about it last night when I mentioned my blog to her.

In general, careers where the person can work alone are sometimes better, or where the structure of the job is rule-based and predictable; or where they can help others. These can include home-based business and computer programmer. Analytical type jobs are also good, such as mathematician and engineer. Even when the job might otherwise be too stressful, if it is related to one of the individual's special interest areas, that can be enough to make him or her able to handle it. Also, people with Asperger's seem less likely to get bored with repetition since they tend to find comfort in routines, so they can be better able to handle repetitive jobs that require attention to detail.Because of their interest in fairness and justice, lawyer or police officer works for some. Because of their desire to help people, medical researcher or pathologist can work well. Telephone order taking or survey taking can work for some because they have scripts and do not require face-to-face interaction. Because of the intense focus on a few special interests, they might pursue an interest as far as a PhD and become a professor. They often feel more comfortable with animals, so might find a job that involves more animals than people. People with Asperger's are more likely to be bullied or taken advantage of in the workplace. Some of them assume that whatever the supervisor tells them is true, so they do not question it, which makes it very easy for a supervisor to abuse them. It is beneficial for them to know the basics of employment law, so that if a supervisor tells them something different, they know better. It is beneficial for the person with Asperger's Syndrome to have someone to go to for advice and answers if he or she thinks something at work does not seem right.

The Social Navigator

http://www.socialnavigatorapp.com/social_navigator.php
(Click on this link)

Teach Skills. Reduce Meltdowns. Change Attitudes. Train the Brain.

"The Social Navigator is a revolutionary social skills app developed to assist children with social and behavioral challenges in adapting their behavior and developing life-long social skills.

The Social Navigator allows the user to quickly enter the dynamics of their current social situation and instantly generates corresponding strategies and recommendations, so that the child can get their needs met in a socially acceptable manner.

Designed to be both a behavior management device and a teaching tool, The Social Navigator can be used anytime a child is becoming agitated or when their behavior begins to conflict with others. It can also be used to prepare a child for an upcoming event or to review a past problematic situation."

Relationships

People with Asperger's usually have difficulties with social relationships. This is because they have trouble recognizing their own emotions and especially expressing them properly. This often causes anger tantrums for those with Asperger’s and miscommunications between them and others. The difficulties individuals with Asperger's face regarding social interaction are: difficulties understanding subtleties of communicating through eye contact, body language and facial expressions. Having no control over their environment can cause them great anxiety and depression. I guess you could say that Asperger’s is like social dyslexia. Social bonds and connections are difficult to form, especially early in life. Sometimes they want to socialize but just don't know how to do it. Often times, they are unable to understand the impact their own behavior has on other people's feelings. This makes relationships challenging for them, and it is one of the reasons why those with Asperger’s struggle so much in life.  Those with Asperger's are isolated because of their poor social skills and narrow interests. They may approach other people, but due to their behavior, having a normal conversation can be quite difficult for them. Sometimes this occurs simply because the person with Asperger’s only wants to talk about one particular interest that they have. In my boyfriend's case, his main topic of interest is politics. I don't think it's even possible for him to go a day without talking about it. Being so into politics is a good thing because he's very interested in what goes on in our world every day. In a way, I guess you could call him an "information junkie" because he spends a good portion of his free time looking up articles on CNN and various other news websites to dig up new information. The downside to this is that the politicial world often depresses him and leaves him feeling hopeless. Hopeless, about the future of humanity. He often sees humanity descending into madness, or a downward spiral, but sometimes he sees hope for us. Over time, those with Asperger's develop better social skills and learn how to deal with people better. This, of course, takes time and patience from both the individual with Asperger's and those who are trying to help and be their support system.

Dealing with anger

Anger is a feeling that everyone experiences all over the world. It stems from feeling out of place and being angry at one's circumstances in life. It's something that can also be difficult to control, especially when your emotions are pushed to the brink. Anger seems to be more common in those with Asperger's than the "average" person. Part of the problem is the fact that those with Asperger's are conflicted between the fact that they long for social interaction but are unable to be social or properly communicate with others in certain ways. They struggle with their anger as a result of confusion and frustration. The feeling of anger often becomes overwhelming, and can sometimes result with the individual trowing a tantrum the same way a child would. Those with Asperger's have difficulties when interpreting the meaning and intent behind someone's words and actions. This leads to a series of challenging social interactions, which tires and frustrates the individual. In order for someone to help an individual with Asperger's calm down, they would need to understand what's going on inside the individual or try to relate to them. Trying to help them calm down in a stressful situation and making them understand that their feelings are okay are both very helpful methods. I find that the way people to react to them when their angry really makes a difference. If someone raises their voice at the individual, then it won't work and they'll end up being even more angry. Yelling never helps. Now, if someone was to speak to them in a calm, collected and understanding voice and gives them a hug, sometimes this diffuses the situation. The way a person reacts to them has a lot of influence on how they feel and react to whatever is bothering them at the moment. It's also good to help the individual understand that their situation really isn't the end of the world, even when it seems like it is to them. Sometimes you just have to walk out the room to calm yourself down, since it may be difficult to be calm. Even changing the subject entirely may help and distract the individual from being upset. Teaching someone with Asperger's how to communicate is something that happens gradually instead of very quickly. Patience is key. Often times, those with Asperger's bottle up their feelings and when they express their anger, they go from "0-60" in seconds. It's helpful for them to find a healthy way to express their anger and let out all of their negative feelings. Activities such as walking, biking, using a punching bag, playing music, creating art, writing poetry, and ranting to a friend are all many helpful and beneficial ways to help someone with Asperger's "let go" of their anger and allow for them to calm down. As a person with Asperger's gets older, they will begin to mature and become more wise, and even deal with the way they handle their anger around others. This is something I've noticed among my older friends (they're in their upper 20's) who have Aspergers. Anger is not something one can really overcome, but it's definitely something that can get easier to deal with in time.

Traveling

Those who have Asperger's experience a wide range of symptoms and behaviors that can affect the quality of their travel experiences. Many people with Asperger's take in every little bit of stimuli that their surroundings emit. So when an environment isn't familiar, it can be too overwhelming to handle. My boyfriend, David, has Asperger's and is a college student who will graduate from Hunter College in New York City. To get to school, he takes the Staten Island Rail Road, the ferry, and then the subway. Upon asking him about the first time he ever took the subway on his own, he described his experience as "hectic, confusing, and stressful." He also feared getting lost, and this worried him greatly. During the few times where he relied on others to get him to where he needed to be, his sense of inadequacy was heightened. David vowed to travel independently on the subways and buses to all the parts of the city no matter how scary that seemed, and no matter how lost he would get. Gathering up the courage to go up to complete strangers to ask them if he was on the right path to his destination, even if that meant doing so every other block along the way, is something David learned how to do. Doing this helps keep his sense of direction in check. For many people with Asperger's, going up to the locals to interact with is also a challenge, as they are not generally very sociable or willing to talk to strangers. One of the difficulties those with Asperger's face while traveling on the subway, the bus, or a train, is over-stimulation. They become hypersensitive to all the sounds around them and feel very uncomfortable being around many people at once. Dealing with such inescapable anxiety on a daily basis can be very stressful and overwhelming, but there are ways in which one with Asperger's can cope with this anxiety. Reading a book or magazine, texting, playing with a handheld game, and listening to music are a few of several activities that someone with Asperger's often engages in, in situations like this. David has learned how to deal with over-stimulation whenever he travels to college, but he still gets bothered by the people he encounters, and honestly I can't blame him. I would get mad too if I had to deal with rude people on a daily basis, but it's definitely harder for him. When I asked him what helps him cope with the stimuli, he said, "paying attention to the rythmic pattern in music, specifically psychedelic trance, helps calm my nerves because I am able to concentrate on counting beats instead of the situation." In order for one's aspirations to be realized, a person needs to take Asperger's by the horns and try to take control. Having Asperger's is just an obstacle. The key to overcoming obstacles is having a desire which is stronger than the reality of the obstacles.

Coping with sleeping problems

I've noticed a link between Asperger's and sleep disorders. Individuals with Asperger's seem to have more difficulty when it comes to sleep than the average person. Before a parent of a child with Asperger's chooses to take a course of action to help their child sleep better, they must keep in mind that sleep disorders affect a large portion of the human population and that sleep disorders should be ruled out. One question that a parent needs to think about is whether or not the child has sleep apnea or enlarged tonsils. Sleep Apnea can affect anyone at any age. Sleep Apnea is a disorder in which a person experiences pauses in breathing when the airway becomes obstructed during sleep. Some cases are very severe while others are mild, but either way it should still be looked into.

Children with Asperger's are much more sensitive to stimuli than most people. They are more sensitive to light, sounds, taste, smells, and tactile sensations. Their sensitivity sometimes interferes with their ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. A child's sense sense of temperature in his or her own room may affect their ability to sleep, and so might his or her pajamas. Maybe the child prefers a colder room. Maybe the child prefers to stick their feet outside of their blanket when they sleep. Usually children will need loosely-fitted pajamas that fit comfortably. Let's imagine it's 1:00am and all of a sudden a pet scratches at the door or makes noises. Or perhaps there is some running water. These noises may not affect the child's parents or anyone else in the house, but these noises are bound to affect the child and wake him or her up from sleep. Since children with Asperger's are sensitive to sound, the slightest noise can be disrupting to their sleep. A good solution for this is to play white noise while a child sleep. Soft music, TV, an air filter, a fan, or white noise machines are all methods that provide a consistent and comforting sound.

Establishing a consistent bedtime routine can provide a comforting, familiar pattern. A good bedtime routine can help teach a child to calm down, relax and get ready to sleep. Those with Asperger's often need routines; not just for when they sleep, so this is a beneficial method. Now, not all children will react well to routines. They might not want to go to sleep at that moment which will cause them to get upset. If a child with Asperger's is experiencing difficulties falling asleep or just flat out refuses to go to sleep, a good way to react to this would be to go back into the child’s room, briefly, and give the child a hug. Gently but firmly say, “it’s okay, it’s bedtime, you are okay” and then leave the room until the child falls asleep. Rubbing a child's head and using deep pressure exercises are also beneficial when trying to comfort a child when they are upset. Comforting stories before bedtime can lift a child's mood and make him or her more eager to dream about the wonderful story their parent told them about.

Melatonin is a natural substance that our bodies produce to help us sleep, but it can also be purchased from the store to act as a sleeping aid. Autistic children usually have lower than normal levels of Melatonin which may be the reason why many children on the Autistic Spectrum struggle with sleep. Generally, melatonin is consumed a half hour before bedtime but some people take it an hour or more before they plan on falling asleep. Melatonin is not expensive and can be easily purchased at a local pharmacy.


Sources and helpful links :

1) www.rainymood.com (This site works wonders for my boyfriend who has Asperger's. Its soothing sounds help him fall asleep to the sound of thunder and rain)

2) http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/aspergers-syndrome/DS00551/DSECTION=alternative-medicine

3) http://www.aane.org/asperger_resources/articles/children_parenting/sleep_problems_asperger.html

4) http://www.aspergerresources.com/sensory_sensitivity.html

5) http://www.bing.com/health/article/mayo-MADS00968/Obstructive-sleep-apnea?q=sleep+apnea&qpvt=sleep+apea

6) http://www.pandora.com (Another good site to find soothing music or any kind of music, really)