Hello!

I am a behavior analyst and have encountered several ASD patients with high IQs, some language and other skills �holes� and very often extremes tantrums and aggression around flexibility. I have had succes working with them but I am always looking for more research. Is anyone aware of some prominent articles or useful books on gifted people specifically with autism?

Thanks!

No articles but here is what I did with my 2e child with autism and his inflexibility. Made things as predictable as possible as a baseline status quo....that allowed his fright or flight status to lower to a manageable anxiety level. Then slowly teach him how to handle life’s little unpredictabilities.

Taught him relaxation techniques and self talk.
Taught him about how things go according to plan and not according to plan and flexiblility using social stories.
I did a lot of talking out loud as I made mistakes and they weren’t the end of the world and fixed them or rolled with the punches.
Taught him how to follow a schedule and how to make adjustments and plan Bs to the schedule for things like bad weather, illness, and running out of supplies.

One social story I remember is about birthday parties and I did it on the fly in the car on the way to the party. One of the best ones I ever did.

The effort put into this does pay off in the long run. He is now 18 and only if you live with him would you ever suspect that he might possibly be on the spectrum. But he was always considered mild/Aspergers.

My favorite researcher is Amy Weatherby but her area of research isn’t this. She is into diagnosing and early intervention as early as possible. I did attend summer institutes that she hosted where I learned about social stories. You can find her on line at Autism Navigator.