My 25 year old daughter was diagnosed with Asperger's

Good afternoon. I am sorry I missed you on line. Yes, even we have to do stuff like grocery shopping each week.... My name is ***** ***** I have been serving individuals with Aspgergers Disorder and their families for over twenty seven years, back to when it was diagnosed as some form of childhood schizophrenia. I have two masters degrees, one in Special Education and the other as a Kennedy Scholar in Individual and Social Rehabilitation. I very much would like to assist you.

You did not mention your daughter ever trying self induced relaxation through controlled breathing and muscle relaxation up to self-hypnosis. These tend to work extremely well with individuals with Aspergers Disorder as it is quite literally blocking out the world for awhile and pulling inwards. It comes more naturally than it would to a non-Asperger diagnosed person.

I have done this for two decades, and have found that after just three sessions, the vast majority of people, even children, are able to reduce their heart rate by 30-40%. Aspiration decreases, and from a qualitative standpoint, most have said consistently "I can think better. I can do that (to something they had just stated that they could not), that they just felt better, and that it felt good". The goal for me was always to create an association of something that is in the memory and quite visual of relaxation, and a small "trigger" to create a relaxation response. Normally it is making an "O" with the forefinger and the end of the thumb, a position that does not occur naturally in other situations.

I now have former students or people that I have served who have been doing this for twenty years, and although they may supplement this with some small amount of medication during transitions, we tested the medications during "non-transition time", found out what worked, and were therefore ready for predictable spikes in anxiety.

I have consistently found that most antidepressant or anti anxiety medication for ADD/ADHD or other does not impact these individuals in an entirely positive manner, and can be quite unpredictable. Your daughter's metabolism is different from another female her age without Aspergers, and as such, the medications most often do not impact the anxiety and clarity of thinking as much as one might hope.

For many individuals, they fond that the medication of choice was actually Zoloft, an antidepressant but that had a primary action of reduction of anxiety on individuals with an autism spectrum disorder. Ten of fifteen years later, these children who were primarily on homebound education are still doing well with regard to clarity of thinking and anxiety, and still practice the relaxation techniques.

You mentioned someone who sounds as if he/she might be less "medication oriented" and participate in other therapeutic techniques. If so, please do print this and ask if the person has ever done this kind of work, or if someone can be recommended. I cannot promise a cure, however I do have confidence that it will give your daughter comfort, and will act very quickly. If needed, you can ask this person to contact me, and I will provide and outline of the exercises, which are incremental, to do.

I do understand the need for medication, and am not "anti meds" in any way, however when I witnessed every child who had a bad moment getting on a line in school for pills, I started to question whatever happened to therapies that had worked and be prescribed for an entire generation prior to Prozac. It is at least worth a try, and if your daughter needs some sort of supplement, perhaps they will look more for one that will not be quite as untested as some of the medications you mentioned. I am concerned about those as young people with AD have a higher propensity for suicidal ideation, and it is a known side effect that those meds can cause an increase in these. I don't like the risk involved.

I hope this has been helpful. If so, you accepting this response would be greatly appreciated as it supports the work I do. Again, if you think this might be something your daughter might want to try, please let her read this and she of course can ask me any questions as well.

All the best, ***** ***** would love to hear of how this goes for your daughter.

Sincerely,

Dan

PS: I live in the US Virgin Islands, and there are yearly many people brought here for coral grafting and to support the increase that is occurring in out sea turtle population. Being underwater is a wonderful work environment for those who live with Aspergers. Just a suggestion in terms of finding the program on line, and watching for when they do their annual hiring.