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Back in 1980, American psychotherapist David Burns published a book which has remained a therapy standard since. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy was an instant bestseller. The book details the relationship between thoughts and mood, and offers research-based exercises for taking control of “automatic thoughts”, and as a result, mood.

Burns identified ten common cognitive distortions, exaggerated and irrational thoughts, which can negatively affect mood. They are extremely common, and identifying them in yourself can serve as the first step in changing them.

Look over the following list and see if any of these distortions are habits of yours.

1. ALL-OR-NOTHING THINKING: You see things in black and white categories. If your performance falls short of perfect, you see yourself as a total failure.

2. OVERGENERALIZATION: You see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.

3. MENTAL FILTER: You pick out a single negative detail and dwell on it exclusively so that your vision of all reality becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that discolors the entire beaker of water.

4. DISQUALIFYING THE POSITIVE: You reject positive experiences by insisting they “don’t count” for some reason or other. In this way you can maintain a negative belief that is contradicted by your everyday experiences.

5. JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS: You make a negative interpretation even though there are no definite facts that convincingly support your conclusions.

a. Mind Reading. You arbitrarily conclude that someone is reacting negatively to you, and you don’t bother to check this out.

b. The Fortune Teller Error. You anticipate that things will turn out badly, and you feel convinced that your prediction is an already established fact.

6. MAGNIFICATION (CATASTROPHIZING) OR MINIMIZATION: You exaggerate the importance of things (such as your goof-up or someone else’s achievement). Or you inappropriately shrink things until they appear tiny (your own desirable qualities or the other fellow’s imperfections). This is also called the “binocular trick.”

7. EMOTIONAL REASONING: You assume that your negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are: “I feel it, therefore it must be true.”

8. SHOULD STATEMENTS: You try to motivate yourself with shoulds and shouldn’ts, as if you had to be whipped and punished before you could be expected to do anything. “Musts” and “oughts” are also offenders. The emotional consequence is guilt. When you direct should statements toward others, you feel anger, frustration, and resentment.

9. LABELING AND MISLABELING: This is an extreme form of over-generalization. Instead of describing your error, you attach a negative label to yourself: “I’m a loser.” When someone else’s behavior rubs you the wrong way, you attach a negative label to him: “He’s a damn louse.” Mislabeling involves describing an event with language that is highly colored and emotionally loaded.

10. PERSONALIZATION: You see yourself as the cause of some negative event which in fact you were not primarily responsible for.

Cognitive distortions are characteristic of depression and anxiety. Adults with Asperger’s are especially vulnerable to adopting distorted patterns of thinking. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a modality of psychotherapy which aims to challenge and change distortions, is the most researched and common form of therapy used to help people with Asperger’s change the way they think about themselves. Often adults on the spectrum, when confronted with the illogical nature of some of these automatic thoughts, are eager to change them to adopt a more reality-based perspective.

If you find yourself engaging in distorted thinking, you can begin to replace the illogical thoughts with more accurate (and often forgiving!) thoughts right away. Remember, cognitive distortions which leave you holding the short end of the stick can feel like a form of perfectionism. But they can often hold you back from enjoying life, feeling confident and reaching potential.

Cary Terra, M.A., LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist practicing in Seattle, Washington. She provides psychotherapy and coaching for adults with Asperger’s and their partners and families.

For more information, visit http://www.terratherapy.org or follow Cary’s Asperger’s blog at http://aspiestrategy.blogspot.com

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There are five distinct types of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) that are considered to be related to Autism because of the neuro development portions that have been identified under the Autism Spectrum. They are Autism Disorder, Aspergers Syndrome, Retts Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDDNOS).

Each of the five disorders are classified as pervasive in nature rather than Specific Development Disorders (SDD) because they are characterized by multiple disabilities in a variety of areas rather than focused on one particular issue. Lets take a brief look at each of the five types of Autism on an individual level. While many of the characteristics may be similar, the differences are distinct enough for them to fall under different categories.

Classic Autism, commonly called Autism, is also sometimes called Kanners Syndrome after the Psychiatrist Leo Kanner. He studied 11 children at John Hopkins University from 1932 to 1943. He wrote about the common elements found in these children including a lack of emotion, repetitive actions, and problems with their speech formation, their ability to manipulate various objects, learning difficulties, and their levels of intelligence. His studies lead to many others wanting to learn more about the disorder.

Aspergers Syndrome is named after its founder, Hans Asperger. His studies took place in Vienna in 1944. He discovered many individuals had the problems with social skills and repetitive patterns but they did not have trouble with learning or their cognitive abilities. They also portrayed some very exceptional talents or abilities that were considered to be very remarkable. Albert Einstein is a very famous individual who had Aspergers Syndrome.

Dr. Andrease Rett documented what is known As Retts Syndrome while in Australia in 1965. This is classified as a neuro developmental degenerative disorder. It only affects girls and the degeneration results in them being completely dependent on others for all of their needs. They have some of the symptoms of Autism but they also suffer from muscle lose. Girls with Retts Syndrome often have very small hands and feet.

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD) is also called Hellers Syndrome after the teacher Theodore Heller. He first described the disorder in 1908. The characteristics include the child having a normal pattern of development but then has a regression of skill as they get older.

Any type of neuro disability that doesnt fall into the above categories is classified as PDDNOS. While individuals in this particular category experience very mild symptoms they suffer greatly in the area of social interactions. The proper diagnosis is necessary so that the proper therapies and techniques can be properly introduced.

By: Caleb Liu

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How do you identify a person that has or may have Asperger’s Syndrome (AS)? A person with Asperger’s Syndrome has very limited interests and those things they are interested in they are obsessive about spending a lot of time with the item of interest and less time on other things. You may notice repetitive routines or rituals being carried out by the individual with AS. The individual with AS also may show peculiarities in their speech, language, or the way they speak. You may notice that the person with AS will speak in monotones, and without reflection. They experience difficulties in non-verbal communication. They tend to take everything literally. They have difficulty making eye contact and may use inappropriate facial expressions. Physically they may have awkward walking or uncoordinated motor movements that make them look clumsy. Children with Asperger’s Syndrome have a history of being delayed in achieving basic motor skills such as climbing on play equipment, riding a bike or catching and throwing a ball. They walk with an awkward gait that may be described as bouncy or stiff.

Parents typically start to notice that there is something out of place with their child’s behavior and communication skills at around 3 years of age especially if they attend preschool where there is the opportunity to observe their child with other preschool-aged children. The clumsiness and awkward walking is usually the first sign of Asperger’s Syndrome.

Perhaps the most distinctive sign of Asperger’s Syndrome is the inability of the child to communicate effectively with others. The child may have odd behaviors such as repetitive hand movements such as flapping of hands. They can become obsessive over one particular subject, and can even be called eccentric in behavior. They usually command a large vocabulary at a very young age. When they speak their voice is usually of one tone such as a monotone, thy lack rhythm to their speech, and they may have an odd inflection, speak loudly or at inappropriate times. Children with Asperger Syndrome desire to make friends and to “belong” to society but lack the social skills to be able to be a part of social gatherings. Children with AS are often teased by the class bully for being different.

Many children with Asperger’s Syndrome are active socially in early childhood and then develop anxiety or depression in young adulthood. They may also have other conditions along with the AS that attribute to the inability to socialize. Other conditions that may develop and co-exist with AS include ADHD, tic disorders such as Tourette syndrome, anxiety disorders, OCD, depression, and bipolar disorder.

There is no known cause for Asperger’s Syndrome. There are however several theories ranging from heredity, fetal abnormalities in the first 8 weeks of development, creating brain abnormalities. Some say a virus causes it just before or right after birth. When there is no known cause, the “face of Asperger’s Syndrome” could belong to anyone.

By Raymond Le Blanc. If you want to know more about Autism Spectrum Disorders please visit http://aspergers-autism.com

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Autism and Aspergers syndrome are referred to as autism spectrum disorders (ASD. Not forms of mental illness, they are disorders with a bioneurological basis. Aspergers syndrome is sometimes called more advanced autism, inferring that the Aspergers patient has fewer challenges that the autistic patient. However, there are some very definite differences between the two conditions.

Autism and Aspergers syndrome both involve problems with mental processes. Children with either disorder tend to be inflexible with regard to daily routine, their likes and dislikes, the way things are done, etc. They share a similar impairment in decoding language and fail to grasp metaphoric speech, taking everything literally.

There are differences between autism and Aspergers syndrome, though. The two conditions appear to have some overlap.

Lets start with autism. The ritualistic nature of many behaviors, as well as lack of most social interaction, makes the autistic child stand out as being different from quite an early age, usually by the age of three. Autism is regarded as being a lifelong condition, one that requires an intensive regimen of behavioral modification, dietary analysis, and sometimes drug therapy in the form of anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medication.

Autisms most striking symptom is an extreme lack of communication and social skills arising from rigid mental thought processes. This rigidity makes learning very difficult for most autistic people in general, but there are variations due to the complex genetics involved with the disorder.

Aspergers syndrome, on the other hand, usually is not as dramatic in its manifestations. Those children with Aspergers syndrome may appear to be merely very shy or slightly odd, lost in their own private little worlds. At the primary-school level, they may have some difficulties making friends, but they do make them. A diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome, therefore, may not be made until the child is quite a bit older and fails to mature socially in the same way as his peers. In essence, the Aspergers child fails to recognize important social cues.

Determining if the child has autism or Aspergers syndrome requires some travel though the gray areas of diagnosis. Aspergers is different from having a more advanced variety of autism. Autistic children are nearly lacking in social and communications skills in general. Aspergers children have the social and communication skills, but at an incomplete level.

While very similar in manifestation, a diagnosis of either autism or Aspergers syndrome requires professional assessment.

There are many more resources and information about autism signs, symptoms, treatments, and cutting edge medical research in, Autism: Everything Parents And Caregivers Should Know About The Disorder

By: TheProblemSolver

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Autism is a highly variable chronic brain development disorder that begins very early in life. Most patients start developing the classical symptoms of autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) at the age of six months, with most patients beginning to have more pronounced symptoms between the ages two and three, and progress until adulthood without remission. These symptoms, which include impaired speech development, communication, and social interaction, repetitive and restrictive interests and behaviors, are the hallmarks of autistic behaviors.

As is already apparent, there are three dimensions to autistic behaviors- social development, communication, and repetitive behavior.

Impaired social development separates autism and ASDs from other developmental disorders, whether physical or cognitive, and from normal children. One mark of autism is a child’s decreased ability to react to social stimuli or the nuances of communication. They also have poor eye contact and may have difficulty understanding the concept of taking turns. Because autistic children also have little to no social understanding, they are more spontaneous when interacting with other people.

They also have lessened ability to understand social communication, conventions, and social understanding; they also score poorly in tests of identifying faces as well as recognition of emotions. They, however, have the capacity to become attached to their primary caregivers and develop bonds with a small number of friends. For them, quality counts more than quantity.

Autistic behaviors may also extend to violence and aggression. Although conclusive evidence are yet to be established, different studies suggest that violent and aggressive behaviors are not exclusive to autistic and ASD patients. More often than not, these are displayed by patients who have psycho-pathological disorders.

Often when they communicate, autistic children tend to use non-verbal languages and touches more than words and phrases. This is because the majority of them, with the exclusion of those patients who have higher mental development, failed to develop natural speech. The onset of common speech milestones is limited as shown by the delay in babbling, ability to form and combine jargons, and ability to use vocabulary properly.

In fact, the majority of them are stuck with unusual gestures and vocal patterns. As the condition worsens, patients become less responsive and unable to share their experiences and emotions. The use of reverse pronouns (a language abnormality that is marked by one’s reference of oneself as “she”, “he”, “you” and proper names) and echolalia (a symptom common among patients of ASDs that involves the repetition of another person’s vocalization) also become more evident, and so does failure to develop joint attention properly (the process that uses nonverbal means such as pointing to direct another person’s attention to a stimulus or object). Their impairments often give them their characteristic autistic behaviors.

Autistics often display repetitive and restrictive behaviors. It is not uncommon for them to have compulsive behaviors, to be locked with stereotypy or forms of repetitive movements such as head rolling, and hand flapping, and to have resistance to change. They are also associated with ritualistic behaviors and limited focus and interest. These patients also have the tendency to hurt themselves, whether slightly or seriously.

I’d like to give you a FREE DVD (worth $97) on shaping your child’s autistic behaviors. Click here to claim your FREE DVD today! We only have 250 DVD available, so hurry and get your FREE DVD today and start understanding and helping your child!

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Recently a young mother wrote and said, My four and a half year old son has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS, and more recently, ODD, but his teacher and I think OCD is more fitting. He also shows some ADD behaviors. Confusing? Definitely. And with so many opinions out there, knowing how to best help such a four year old can be very hard. Here is what I wrote back.

Thank you for writing and for your positive feedback. Know I am so sorry it has taken me so long to reply, especially as it is for a little boy you write. In fact, my heart goes out to you. As you might imagine though, I am swamped with folks writing to me.

As for my thoughts, please know, whatever I will say is in no way intended to be heard as professional advice. More, it is simply the shared experiences of one human being with another.

As for your son, while I can see what might lead you to hypothesize those diagnoses, from everything you have described, my best guess is your son has a classic case of Asperger’s. Why? For one thing he makes what he learns more important than people. For another, what he learns is rigidly precise and cannot be deviated from. A quality he no doubt strives for in all his learning. And for another, when anyone does ask him to deviate from his official “right way,” he bluntly corrects them with no regard for the effect this correcting has on others.

Precision, then correction; in this order, are the two most basic qualities of the Asperger’s mind. And what happens to these folks when they are forced out of these two patterns is that they rapidly spiral out of control, first into a labyrinth of digressions (actually the correction phase gone terribly wrong), then into blunt outbursts (the only way AS folks have to break out of the digressions).

By the way, the digressions I have just mentioned can be mistakenly seen as a sign of having ADD. However, the ADD mind begins all learning situations already in these digressions, then into bluntness (the I am not interested in learning responses), while the Asperger’s mind only ends up there when there is no precise way to understand something they are trying to learn (AS kids love learning, at least about their special interests, e.g. the insect parts AND the insect song; a very typical cross sense AS trait; everything with the same overall title gets included in the same interest.)

Kids with Asperger’s and adults with Asperger’s also share another quality; throwing tantrums when being asked to change the official way things are done, arranged, managed, or learned. And while kids with OCD share some of this, they do not usually have the “special interest” thing; meaning, your son’s desire to learn in such fine detail. This quality; precisely learning about things, differs markedly from the OCD quality of precisely arranging things. This in fact would be enough for me to tend toward the AS diagnosis over and ADD or an OCD diagnosis.

As for the PDD-NOS, many adult AS clients also have these same odd features; ticks and so on. However, when combined into a comprehensive pattern, the AS fractal emerges as the clear diagnosis.

Finally, you might wonder why I focus so much on getting the right diagnosis. I do this as getting help early is one of the main factors in improving the outcome. I, myself, have AS and have managed to see past much of what I have described, but only because my “special interest” is human nature, a totally random but useful way out of the usual narrow focus.

As a child, I was very similar to how you describe your son.

As a man, who else would write thousands of pages on human nature simply to help folks.

Lincoln, Jefferson, DaVinci and Socrates definitely had AS. And while most folks with AS will not achieve anything like what these geniuses did, you son is way above average in intelligence. If you can develop in him an equal measure of creativity, then he may well turn out similarly.

Warmly,

Steven Paglierani is a writer, teacher, personality theorist, and therapist whose work on learning and human consciousness is read weekly by thousands all over the world. He is the author of Emergence Personality Theory, and his mission is to make the world better for children by restoring and deepening their love of learning.

He can be read or reached at his site, http://theEmergenceSite.com

For a more detailed version of my diagnostic criteria, you can find a more complete article on my site at: http://theemergencesite.com/Tech/TechIssues-Autism-OCD-Aspergers-ADD.htm

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There are five distinct types of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) that are considered to be related to Autism because of the neuro development portions that have been identified under the Autism Spectrum. They are Autism Disorder, Aspergers Syndrome, Retts Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDDNOS).

Each of the five disorders are classified as pervasive in nature rather than Specific Development Disorders (SDD) because they are characterized by multiple disabilities in a variety of areas rather than focused on one particular issue. Lets take a brief look at each of the five types of Autism on an individual level. While many of the characteristics may be similar, the differences are distinct enough for them to fall under different categories.

Classic Autism, commonly called Autism, is also sometimes called Kanners Syndrome after the Psychiatrist Leo Kanner. He studied 11 children at John Hopkins University from 1932 to 1943. He wrote about the common elements found in these children including a lack of emotion, repetitive actions, and problems with their speech formation, their ability to manipulate various objects, learning difficulties, and their levels of intelligence. His studies lead to many others wanting to learn more about the disorder.

Aspergers Syndrome is named after its founder, Hans Asperger. His studies took place in Vienna in 1944. He discovered many individuals had the problems with social skills and repetitive patterns but they did not have trouble with learning or their cognitive abilities. They also portrayed some very exceptional talents or abilities that were considered to be very remarkable. Albert Einstein is a very famous individual who had Aspergers Syndrome.

Dr. Andrease Rett documented what is known As Retts Syndrome while in Australia in 1965. This is classified as a neuro developmental degenerative disorder. It only affects girls and the degeneration results in them being completely dependent on others for all of their needs. They have some of the symptoms of Autism but they also suffer from muscle lose. Girls with Retts Syndrome often have very small hands and feet.

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD) is also called Hellers Syndrome after the teacher Theodore Heller. He first described the disorder in 1908. The characteristics include the child having a normal pattern of development but then has a regression of skill as they get older.

Any type of neuro disability that doesnt fall into the above categories is classified as PDDNOS. While individuals in this particular category experience very mild symptoms they suffer greatly in the area of social interactions. The proper diagnosis is necessary so that the proper therapies and techniques can be properly introduced.

By: Caleb Liu

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Aspergers Syndrome is a milder version of autistic ailment. Both disorders belong to a superior cluster of neurotic ailments known in the US as Pervasive Developmental Disorders, or PDD for short. The 2 most pervasive indications are deviant actions and self-imposed societal seclusion. There may be difficulty as well in speech and reaction actions. Your child may likewise be exclusively focused on a particular article of attention, like vehicles or heavenly bodies. This strong focusing of concern to the exclusion of everything else engender the social separation. Conversations are generally centered only on that subject also.

Professionals think that Aspergers and autism have deeper biological reasons, that are not certain yet on what such causes are. They do recognize that there are particular brain structure abnormalities, but do not recognize the causes they happen.

No exams have as at present been created to diagnose Aspergers but the indications may be:

- Significant faults in societal relations, as demonstrated by: incorrect reaction to peer influences, failure to learn by-age friends associations, non- participation in group actions, unable to give back socially and/or emotionally

- Repeated plans of actuation or interest, such as: abnormal level of concentration in one or two specific areas, performing strictly certain procedures of no use, cyclical actuations, such as hand or finger flailing, too much interest in parts of items such as toys, no significant deferral in vocalization, no substantial hindrance in cognitive growth or understanding of age-appropriate toiletry skills

If your youngster has one or more of the above characteristics, then your health professional may suspect Aspergers. Cure will center on idea transmission, aberrant repetitive actions and response ungainliness.

The method to total healing has not yet been made. However, by employing a blend of approaches that address the three core symptoms of the condition (low communication skills, fixated or repeated actions and motor awkwardness); you can help your kid lead a relatively ordinary existenceStill, in dealing with the major indications of the disorder, the Aspergers child may lead a almost – normal living

By: Chris Hanson

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