A Tale of Travis

by Donna Horstmann

I am a speech-language pathologist and have a 5 yr.-old boy on my caseload who I suspect may have Asperger's Syndrome. Travis demonstrates a very good (if not advanced) vocabulary for his age, but uses the words in inappropriate and often bizarre ways. Travis is in our Prekindergarten class, which is mostly typically-developing children who may have mild articulation or language delays, or come from lower middle-class families (not poor, but "getting by"). One of the red flags that jumped out at me when I first evaluated Travis was his incontingent responses on "Wh" questions. (He had just turned four years old at the time).

For example, if I would ask him a "who" question, he might respond as if I had asked him a "what" question. Often he would simply repeat my question back to me, as if he knew it was his turn to respond, but he didn't quite know the answer. Disruptions in routine frustrate him, and can often ruin an otherwise "good" day.

If I to go to get him for Speech and he knows it is not his turn, he will be resistant to me. He gets his feelings hurt very easily if other children don't make the effort to sit by him, or if he sees somebody he considers to be his good buddy playing with somebody else. He may comment "Craig doesn't love me." Yesterday, he was resisting going to Speech class, and when I said "Travis, I need you to come with me now," he said "No, you don't need me, you don't need me." He repeated that several times on the way to my room. He rambled on about complete unrelated things, and used some "name-calling" in the process. His food preferences are very narrow (pizza for lunch every day, pop-tarts for breakfast). During Prekindergarten, he will only have orange drink, and refuses to try any new food. His ability to recall new semantic information is very good.

For instance, I can read him a book he has never seen or heard before, and ask him character's names, etc., and he excels. When I get to the "why" questions, he falls apart a bit. These tend to be the questions where he will become echolalic. Travis will be old enough for Kindergarten next year, and the PreK teacher and I are concerned about his progress in a regular education classroom, although his strengths are so numerous, we can't imagine him in a Special Ed. classroom.

I would appreciate any input on other children with Asperger's and how they have coped in a regular ed. classroom, and any suggestions on classroom management for these children.

aspergers@mcint.com