Asperger Society Goes Global

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) May 26, 2009 -- Peter Batten recently received the Winston Churchill Award in Australia for his work with children who have Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), a mild form of Autism that impairs social development. Mr. Batten, a former business executive, now teaches a class for children with AS in Canberra. The award allowed him to travel to the United States and the United Kingdom to visit AS programs in those countries. Among those Mr. Batten included in his application was Isaac Kight, President of the Asperger Society.

When he arrived in Silicon Valley Mr. Batten met with Mr. Kight and several others in the Asperger’s field. Isaac Kight is a Special Education Advocate and Asperger Syndrome Education Specialist who has worked with children and parents for over a decade. Mr. Kight also has a background as a businessman having managed several real estate companies. In addition to advocating for parents professionally and training educators about Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), Isaac also helps businesses to develop AS friendly policies, add social skills classes to their ongoing training programs, and create support mechanisms for individuals with AS and social deficits.
Isaac Kight has created innovative ways to teach social skills through drama, art, music, and social studies classes. One such method has the students conduct a social cognitive analysis of a popular cartoon, thus engaging their interests in the process. Unlike programs that seek to teach children a social curriculum Mr. Kight’s approach has the children learn social skills while enjoying a team building activity. “It motivates them to learn when social skills are not just another academic subject,” he commented.

When asked how he came to work in the Asperger’s field he replied: “I began by working with my younger brother when he was diagnosed many years ago. He was very smart but seemed socially naive in the extreme. As a businessman I simply applied my problem solving skills and began teaching him the social skills that he lacked, I also volunteered in his special education class to help him apply these skills.” Soon parents of other students were asking Mr. Kight to teach their children and to represent them in their special education disputes. “It wasn’t long before I was investing too much time in Asperger’s to do my job. You can’t manage a company in absentia.” Isaac left his management career and dedicated his professional efforts toward helping children with AS. Mr. Kight and Mr. Batten have much in common and in sharing their knowledge feel a great partnership is in the making. “I came all this way to meet Isaac,” Mr. Batten commented “it has been well worth the journey.”

Mr. Batten was particularly impressed by the mentoring approach promoted by the Asperger Society. He observed in his classroom that older children with AS could help younger children by passing on cognitively learned and applied social skills. The Asperger Society Mentoring Program has been in development for several years and its implementation awaits the results of a fundraising campaign. “Unfortunately, there is not much grant money out there for Asperger’s,” Mr. Kight pointed out. “Most of the public and private grants are focused on lower functioning Autism where the children are more significantly impaired.”
The unique and innovative Asperger Society mentoring program seeks to pair successful adults with Asperger’s Syndrome, and other individuals who are trained in the Asperger’s perspective, with children who need help with their social development. “They are the only people in the world who are trying to do this, its incredible,” Mr. Batten observed. Mentoring sessions take place in the real world environment, at a baseball game for example, and thus have many advantages over the clinical and classroom social learning environments.

In addition to meeting with the Asperger Society, Mr. Batten met with Ed Phipps Program Coordinator and founder of the Newton Program. Mr. Phipps has over thirty years of experience working with children on the Autism Spectrum. Ed has developed an educational environment that is built around the needs of children with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS). “When I started the Newton Program five years ago I had one student. Now we have nearly forty students in four classrooms,” Ed commented matter-of-factly.
Ed Phipps has trained other teachers and aides as the program has grown. In addition to Ed’s expertise, the Newton Program is also innovative in that it has a staff member who is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS).

Paul Bondonno M.S. Psych, was diagnosed at the age of twenty after many other diagnoses failed to explain his social challenges. Mr. Bondonno has dedicated himself to helping children who face the same challenges that he has struggled with for many years. Paul is currently a counseling intern and hopes to have his counseling license soon. “When people meet me they think I am really weird,” Paul observed dejectedly. “If they cannot learn to understand and accept me as I am then they have no place working in the Asperger’s field.” Mr. Bondonno noted that he is open to social feedback and does his best to accommodate the needs of others. “It has been a bumpy road, I struggle everyday just to behave in a way that comes naturally to most people.”

Mr. Bondonno has adapted several new ways to teach social skills by means of interactive games that teach team work and interpersonal cooperation, developmental areas where children with AS are usually deficient. Along with Isaac, Paul also helped to modify sports so that they teach social skills and as well as improved motor coordination. Paul makes a significant effort to follow the childrens’ interests so he can better communicate with them. “It helps when I can teach them a social rule using an example from a cartoon or movie they like. It makes the social skills easier to learn and keeps the students interested.” Paul also works with the Asperger Society as Special Advisor to the Mentoring Program. Isaac and Paul co-developed the mentoring concept in 2004 after meeting at a local parent support group.
The Asperger Society is on the web at www.AspergerSociety.com. Isaac Kight also has a blog he hopes will help parents who are struggling to understand the special education system at www.AspergersAdvocacy.Blogspot.com. If you are interested in donating to the Asperger Society, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, please make out a check to the “Asperger Society” and mail it to PO Box 110115 Campbell, CA 95011-0115, or email ikight@aspergersociety.com for more information.

More information can be found online at http://www.aspergersadvocacy.blogspot.com

Asperger s Syndrome     Ed Phipps     Isaac Kight     Peter Batten     social skills     special education