Little Known Tips To Empower Aspergers Children, Students, and Partners

Philip Wylie, my Aspergian colleague, challenges non-autistic parents, educators, and partners to think about Apergers autism as a different culture.  As non-autistics, we need autistics to guide us in learning how to empower our children, students, and partners.

Philp Wylie is going to be one of our guides today.

I’m excited today to share part two of my interview (you can listen to part 1 here) with Philip Wylie, author of Very Late Diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome,  Psychobiography of a Systemiser, and The Nine Degrees of Autism.

An Aspergers Autism Perspective: Philip Wylie’s Tips to Empower Autistic Children, Students, and Partners

Disclosure: Philip graciously provided the following tips from his interview notes.  Thanks, Philip!

General Tips To Remember

* Every person on the planet has a life purpose and can contribute something positive to humanity

* Never lie to autistic people because although we may appear stupid we will know whether you are lying to us

Tips For Parents

* Try to consider autism as a ‘different culture’ rather than a disease

* Consider the social model of autism rather than the medical model

* Accept and respect your son or daughter always and treat as an equal

* Never try to coerce him or her into doing something they don’t want to do

* Since autism is primarily inherited genetically, consider the possibility that

* you may be on the autism spectrum

* Encourage physical exercise and contact with nature

* Protect him or her from bullies, abusers, psychopaths etc who prey on AS

* Avoid blame and regret always

Tips for Educators and Therapists

* Never coerce him or her into doing anything against their will

* The best panacea is love and dependable financial support alongside

* cardiovascular exercise (running for me)

* Don’t forget that autistic people process info much slower than NTs so we need more time to adjust / change

* Encourage parents in denial to take responsibility and to evaluate themselves

* Focus on gifts, strengths and passions rather than impairments, disorders and deficits

* Remember that every being on this planet has a purpose and something to offer; also degrees of success need to be evaluated alongside the cards that each individual is dealt in life. And nobody should be made to feel bad about themselves because society wants everyone to behave in a uniform manner.

Tips For Relationship Partners

* Always be direct in communications

* Never tell lies because people on the spectrum are often highly intuitive

* Always be tolerant, accepting and available

* Don’t patronize because people with HFA are usually highly intelligent

* If you need emotional support and you are not receiving it, ASK!

Links and Resources