Asperger’s syndrome treatment

Early and regular treatment can help your child cope with the symptoms related to
Asperger’s syndrome. It can prepare him or her for adult life. Treatment usually
includes a mix of speech, physical, occupational, and cognitive behavioral therapy
(CBT). The therapy team will decide how often it needs to work with your child.
Therapy sessions might look like this:

 Social skills and speech therapy: Your child may speak well.

However, he or she may need to learn important conversation skills.
Those skills include learning to take turns while talking, making eye
contact with the person he or she is speaking to, showing interest in
what the person says, and learning to talk about a variety of topics, not
obsessing over one topic. The therapist also might teach appropriate
playtime skills, such as taking turns, following rules, and learning to
cope with one’s feelings around others.
 Physical therapy: Some people diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome
may appear clumsy. A physical therapist works to develop a person’s
core body strength. This will help with running, jumping, pedaling a
bike, walking up and down stairs, and other physical movement
activities.
 Occupational therapy: An occupational therapist helps people with
Asperger’s syndrome with their fine motor skills (anything requiring the
use of their hands). They also work to help your child cope with sensory
issues. A person diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome may be sensitive
to certain sensory experiences. This might include noise, touch, smell,
or visual stimuli. It might include certain materials, such as modeling
clay, chalk, sand, and water. It could include sensory issues related to
eating different types of food textures and types. Your child’s therapist
 also will work on hand-eye coordination and teach your child to feed
him or herself appropriately. Before your child starts school, an
occupational therapist will develop your child’s pre-writing hand
strength. Once your child enters school, the therapist will help him or
her develop handwriting skills.
 Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
teaches people with Asperger’s syndrome how to act socially and cope
with their emotions. It teaches important skills such as controlling
impulses, fears, anxiety, obsessions, interrupting, and tantrums. It’s
different for every person, based on his or her needs.
 Medicine: There is no medicine to treat Asperger’s syndrome. Most
medicines treat the anxiety, depression, or inability to focus often
related to Asperger’s syndrome. Commonly prescribed medicines for
anxiety and depression include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
(SSRIs), antipsychotic medicine, and stimulant medicines.
Don’t ignore your child’s early social and communication delays. Asperger’s
syndrome behaviors will not improve on their own without therapy. As your child
progresses through school, therapy may change to reflect your child’s needs at the
time. More importantly, ask your therapists how to apply the therapy at home.
Children do best when therapy is the same at school and home.

Therapy is not a one-time treatment. Repetitive therapy helps your child develop a
desired behavior. Children should not be punished for undesired behavior. Instead,
therapists use incentives and rewards (giving your child extra free time, a healthy
snack, or something that is important to them) to encourage appropriate behavior.
As we have seen previously, ASD symptoms and causes can vary from person to
person, and so do the treatments. Because each case is different, treatment plans
must be built according to each child’s needs.