Author: Kathy Marshack

This Teleconference is only for Members of the private membership group, ASPERGER SYNDROME & RELATIONSHIPS: Life with an Adult on the Autism Spectrum. Click here for membership details and to register for this call.

Topic: TELECONFERENCE: Will Girls Scouts (or Boy Scouts) help our children in Neuro-diverse families?

Thursday, January 16th at 1:30 pm Pacific Time

Half of America’s women leaders — in any field — were Girl Scouts, according to Sylvia Acevedo, CEO of the Girl Scouts of America. I was startled to hear this fact on a radio interview this morning, with Ms. Acevedo. And it got me to thinking about a question that comes up frequently among our members. That is, they worry about how their children will survive being reared by an “Asperger” parent who lacks empathy.

With Mind Blindness ASD parents frequently make a number of parenting errors that affect our children’s self-esteem and their ability to advocate for themselves later in life. So the fact that Girl Scouts seems to address this issue caught my attention. Could the Girl Scouts (and Boy Scouts) give us a model to help our children in neuro-diverse families? Could these principles help the adults too?

I was a Girl Scout. Were you? I loved it. Could it be that Girl Scouts helped little Kathy make it into college and graduate school, and to eventually found our community for others who live with an adult on the Autism Spectrum?

Of course it is never this simple. There are many factors that lead to why some kids make it and others don’t. At the Teleconference this month, I hope you have other ideas of how to help your children respond to the challenges of having a parent on the Autism Spectrum. Some helicopter parenting is in order, but the bulk of growing up into a healthy adult is up to the child. The goal is to encourage them to find skills to take on the challenges of a neuro-diverse family — and never give up on yourself!

Please come to this teleconference to learn more about this confounding difference. Learn to stop accepting the booby prize in your relationship.

This teleconference is reserved for members of “ASPERGER SYNDROME & RELATIONSHIPS: Life with an Adult on the Autism Spectrum.” Please come prepared to protect your privacy and those on the call. I will send you reminders by email, so it is important to set your email to accept my emails. Otherwise you will miss this important call. Thank you.

This Video Conference is limited to twelve people, and is only for Members of the private membership group, ASPERGER SYNDROME & RELATIONSHIPS: Life with an Adult on the Autism Spectrum. Click here for membership details and to register for this call.

Topic: VIDEO CONFERENCE: Aggravated?

Tuesday, January 14th at 2:00 pm Pacific Time

Are you aggravated far more than you like to be? Does it feel unfair? I mean, after all, your “Aspies” have meltdowns that are full of anger and rage, whether they are simmering in silence, or out-loud yelling at you. Yet if you dare to express even the slightest aggravation about something unbelievable that they are doing, you are accused of “coming unglued.” If this is true for you, you need this video conference to manage the aggravation.

Tell me if you have had similar experiences to those below.

1. You and your “Aspie” visit the neighbors, but he fails to see that they have a custom of taking off their shoes at the front door. Instead he wipes his shoes on the little cotton rug inside the door, crumpling the rug in the process. Then he walks in, all smiles, and greets his neighbor by the wrong name. Grrr!
2. To save time, you ask your “Aspie” to run into Walgreens and buy one thing, while you herd the children into the grocery store, where you intend to buy several items. You agree to meet back at the car. Back at the car, he is no-where to be found — until you see him wandering around the parking lot in search of the car — because he can never remember where you parked. Grrr!
3. Your “Aspie” brings her laptop to your child’s soccer game, because the project is so important it just can’t wait. Then she takes a phone call mid game — and doesn’t excuse herself to make the call — but instead talks loudly on the phone for 20 minutes — disrupting the game and the other families. Grrr!
4. Everyone tells you how amazingly wonderful your “Aspie” is because he/she is charming and witty — even though your “Aspie” just let the door slam on you, while you were carrying cupcakes to the soccer awards banquet. Grrr!

Yikes! Even describing these moments makes me aggravated. However, I maintain that anger is a good thing. It is telling you that something important is out of alignment, and it’s time to fix it. Don’t fix them; that’s pointless. But helping to mediate your own anger over this stuff is so important to your mental health. Let’s use this video conference to talk about techniques to keep you going when you want to “strangle ‘em.”

Make sure you have a private place to talk, without interruption.  I will send you reminders of this Zoom conference, but if you don’t have your email set to receive the reminders, you may not notice. I would hate to have you miss the call, so make sure you’re able to get my messages.

This Video Conference is limited to twelve people, and is only for Members of the private membership group, ASPERGER SYNDROME & RELATIONSHIPS: Life with an Adult on the Autism Spectrum. Click here for membership details and to register for this call.

Topic: VIDEO CONFERENCE: Aggravated?

Thursday, January 9th at 4:00 pm Pacific Time

Are you aggravated far more than you like to be? Does it feel unfair? I mean, after all, your “Aspies” have meltdowns that are full of anger and rage, whether they are simmering in silence, or out-loud yelling at you. Yet if you dare to express even the slightest aggravation about something unbelievable that they are doing, you are accused of “coming unglued.” If this is true for you, you need this video conference to manage the aggravation.

Tell me if you have had similar experiences to those below.

1. You and your “Aspie” visit the neighbors, but he fails to see that they have a custom of taking off their shoes at the front door. Instead he wipes his shoes on the little cotton rug inside the door, crumpling the rug in the process. Then he walks in, all smiles, and greets his neighbor by the wrong name. Grrr!
2. To save time, you ask your “Aspie” to run into Walgreens and buy one thing, while you herd the children into the grocery store, where you intend to buy several items. You agree to meet back at the car. Back at the car, he is no-where to be found — until you see him wandering around the parking lot in search of the car — because he can never remember where you parked. Grrr!
3. Your “Aspie” brings her laptop to your child’s soccer game, because the project is so important it just can’t wait. Then she takes a phone call mid game — and doesn’t excuse herself to make the call — but instead talks loudly on the phone for 20 minutes — disrupting the game and the other families. Grrr!
4. Everyone tells you how amazingly wonderful your “Aspie” is because he/she is charming and witty — even though your “Aspie” just let the door slam on you, while you were carrying cupcakes to the soccer awards banquet. Grrr!

Yikes! Even describing these moments makes me aggravated. However, I maintain that anger is a good thing. It is telling you that something important is out of alignment, and it’s time to fix it. Don’t fix them; that’s pointless. But helping to mediate your own anger over this stuff is so important to your mental health. Let’s use this video conference to talk about techniques to keep you going when you want to “strangle ‘em.”

Make sure you have a private place to talk, without interruption.  I will send you reminders of this Zoom conference, but if you don’t have your email set to receive the reminders, you may not notice. I would hate to have you miss the call, so make sure you’re able to get my messages.

This Video Conference is limited to twelve people, and is only for Members of the private membership group, ASPERGER SYNDROME & RELATIONSHIPS: Life with an Adult on the Autism Spectrum. Click here for membership details and to register for this call.

Topic: VIDEO CONFERENCE: Aggravated?

Tuesday, January 7th at 11:00 am Pacific Time

Are you aggravated far more than you like to be? Does it feel unfair? I mean, after all, your “Aspies” have meltdowns that are full of anger and rage, whether they are simmering in silence, or out-loud yelling at you. Yet if you dare to express even the slightest aggravation about something unbelievable that they are doing, you are accused of “coming unglued.” If this is true for you, you need this video conference to manage the aggravation.

Tell me if you have had similar experiences to those below.

1. You and your “Aspie” visit the neighbors, but he fails to see that they have a custom of taking off their shoes at the front door. Instead he wipes his shoes on the little cotton rug inside the door, crumpling the rug in the process. Then he walks in, all smiles, and greets his neighbor by the wrong name. Grrr!
2. To save time, you ask your “Aspie” to run into Walgreens and buy one thing, while you herd the children into the grocery store, where you intend to buy several items. You agree to meet back at the car. Back at the car, he is no-where to be found — until you see him wandering around the parking lot in search of the car — because he can never remember where you parked. Grrr!
3. Your “Aspie” brings her laptop to your child’s soccer game, because the project is so important it just can’t wait. Then she takes a phone call mid game — and doesn’t excuse herself to make the call — but instead talks loudly on the phone for 20 minutes — disrupting the game and the other families. Grrr!
4. Everyone tells you how amazingly wonderful your “Aspie” is because he/she is charming and witty — even though your “Aspie” just let the door slam on you, while you were carrying cupcakes to the soccer awards banquet. Grrr!

Yikes! Even describing these moments makes me aggravated. However, I maintain that anger is a good thing. It is telling you that something important is out of alignment, and it’s time to fix it. Don’t fix them; that’s pointless. But helping to mediate your own anger over this stuff is so important to your mental health. Let’s use this video conference to talk about techniques to keep you going when you want to “strangle ‘em.”

Make sure you have a private place to talk, without interruption.  I will send you reminders of this Zoom conference, but if you don’t have your email set to receive the reminders, you may not notice. I would hate to have you miss the call, so make sure you’re able to get my messages.