Asperger’s syndrome is a autism spectrum disorder. It prevents sufferers from being able to socialize and communicate with others. Children who suffer from Asperger’s are usually awkward in social situations and become completely absorbed by specific activities. There is no cure for this disorder but physical therapy may help children who have poor motor coordination or sensory integration problems.
Symptoms
Symptoms include lack of eye contact, limited facial expressions, awkward body postures and gestures, inability to empathize with other’s feelings, speaking in a monotonous tone, poor coordination, one-sided conversations, obsession with one or two topics and difficulty understanding humor. You should seek medical advice if you think your child may have Asperger’s Syndrome.
Treatment
Although there is no cure for core aspects of Asperger’s Syndrome, therapies that help with behavior management and social skills adaptation can be beneficial. Communication skills training, social skills training, physical therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy may all be combined with medication to help enable a child with Asperger’s syndrome to grow into a happy and healthy adult.
Gross Motor Therapy
Some children with Asperger’s syndrome have poor gross motor coordination. This means that she may have difficulty performing activities that use large muscle groups such as walking, running, kicking and throwing a ball and maintaining upper body support. Physical therapy can help by assessing and evaluating the your child’s ability and offering a program of exercise that can help her to improve skills such as core stabilization, walking, reaching, throwing and kicking by using aquatic therapy, weight and resistance training, functional activities and balametrics.
Sensory Integration Therapy
Sensory integration is the process in which the brain organizes information about out bodies and their sensory input from the environment. Sensory integration is essential for learning behavior. Children with Asperger’s syndrome often have sensory integration problems such as being extremely (or extremely under sensitive) to touch, poor coordination and poor organization skills.
Sensory integration therapy presents a range of fun activities by means of which children can improve these skills. Activities may include crawling through tunnels, spinning on a chair, hitting a swinging ball or dancing.
