aspergers presentation

Post Reply New Topic

next week im doing a short powerpoint presentation on aspergers (the basics) any advice or improvement would be appreciated, the words in brackets is what i will say and not be on the slides, also i do NOT speak on behalf of everyone with aspergers.

Slide 1-
Asperger’s syndrome
What is it?
(Asperger syndrome is a type of autism, it’s a condition that Effects how people make sense of the world, processes info and relates to other people, the causes are unknown but research show
That it runs in families.)

History
(The condition was founded by a psychologist named Hans Asperger in 1944, he
Notice a pattern in 4 kid’s behaviours. A lack of empathy, little ability to form friendships,
One-sided conversation, intense absorption in a special interest, and clumsy movements.
However his work didn’t gain recognition until the 1990s.)

Slide 2-
Difficulties
Social communication
(We find it difficult to express ourselves and dissuss our emotions socially and have Difficulties understanding gestures, facial expressions or tone of voice Have difficulty understanding jokes sarcasm and metaphors and be very literal in what we say.)

Social interaction
(Lots of us want to be sociable but find it hard to make and keep friends
Which makes us anxious, and we don't learn the unwritten social rules that most people pick up on
For e.g. we may start a topic inappropriate for conversation find other people unpredictable and confusing become withdrawn and seem uninterested in other people, appearing almost aloof
Behave in what may seem an inappropriate manner.)

Social imagination
(we do have imagination in another sense of the word but find it hard to understand how people feel or there action thus making it hard to put themselves in other people shoes.)

Slide 3-
Characteristics
Love of routines
(to make sense of the world we have certain ways of doing things which we insist upon, we often do things in a certain order but if that routine is interrupted by anyone or anything we get anxious or upset and can sometimes result in a meltdown but this is rare.)

Special interests
(we may develop an intense interest in a hobby or collecting, sometimes obsessive, this can be lifelong or it can be like me and jump from one to another now your probably thinking what the difference is between my hobbies (NT) and yours, well with us we feel we HAVE to do it
And I don’t mean once every two days or two weeks I mean where it takes up a lot of time
When we talk about these interests to people it can sometimes dominate the conversation and makes it one sided and get to the point where we are talking at you rather than to you. Young aspies don’t realise that people may not be interested but older aspies understand this and will try not to talk about them.)

Honesty,
(aspies gain a reputation of being too honest while other people may see this as
Admirable our honesty can be brutal though this is not intended, for instance
If asked a question we would give a honest answer but he/she may find it upsetting
and take it as an insult though we can't see this we just see it as being honest But that doesn’t mean we can’t lie there are some aspies that lie all the time Just so that they can fit in)

Intense focus
(Despite being easily distracted we can stay focused on 1 thing for hours on end Though this is usually the special interest.)

Taking things personally
(we tend to take things literally because we don’t Get jokes and sarcasm although we understand it better with age kids We take it personal)

Hates change
(Cause the world is confusing to us and have routines sudden change Gets us extremely anxious and upset.)

Slide 4-
Senses
(People with autism in general have under or over sensitive senses
Sound taste touch for me)

Sight
(for under-sensitive
Objects can appear to be dark or lose some of its features and Have poor depth perception so for kids there’s a problem with Throwing and catching.

For over-sensitive lights can be too bright)

Sound
(Sound is the most common for over or under sensitive senses
Under-sensitive
May not notice certain sounds and enjoy noisy places

Over-sensitive
Certain sounds can be irritating, sometimes painful Thus not being able to block them out making difficulties concentrating, sometimes you can get an extreme response (usually from kids) out of certain sounds that other people wouldn’t notice or
Unaffected by.)

Smell
(Some people may dislike certain smells deodorant for instance while others have no sense of smell whatsoever)

Touch
(Over-sensitive
personally I don’t like being touched at all, touch to us can be very uncomfortable sometimes painful so some of us try to avoid it, like hugging for instance also we wear certain types of clothing cause certain types of textures can be very uncomfortable sometimes painful)

(Under-sensitive
May have a high pain threshold and may enjoy touching thing, like Lennie from of mice and men for instance)

Taste
(Some people may just like to eat plain food while others may like To eat lots of different foods with different flavors)

Slide 5-
misconceptions
"aspies have no empathy or emotions"
(This couldn’t be anymore false, recent studies show that we do have
Understand empathy were just bad at recognising it in other people,
We do have emotions and they can be intense and overwhelming sometimes,
My own belief is that we feel more than nt's.)

"Does that mean you're a geniuses and good at maths/computer etc"
(I wish that were true but it isn’t but I get where the
Misconception comes from though, special interests do make us
Good at something, but what you’re actually thinking of is a savant.)

"All people with autism can’t start & sustain friendships or relationships"
(Well sure it’s harder for us but we can have successful friendships and
Relationships, I can think of a few people who have.)

"All adults with autism prefer their own company and don’t want any friends"
(it is true that some of us prefer to be alone but there are quite a few
People that want friends and relationships just as much as nt's)

"All aspies are alike"
(Wrong, anyone can have this disorder and there all different, it can be from the quiet person to the class clown)

Slide 6-
Diagnosis
(I’m not qualified to say how a diagnosis works but i will say is that
If you decided to research this in depth later and think you or
Someone else has this, then please don’t take one of these
rubbish online quiz’s, a lot of people take those then go around saying they have Asperger’s
When they don’t, it’s very easy fit yourself in any box, go to your GP
Tell then everything and let the experts decide.)

Also birth defects can cause Aspergers, I was premature 3 months and had a couple of brain bleeds. This likely was the cause of my autism.

It is not a bad start. Adding anecdotes to the things you can personally attest to and removing the things that you can't will make for a better presentation and give the audience a clearer picture into the subject being discussed. You will also feel more comfortable with the material and it won't be as awkward to present.

I've been taught that when giving a presentation that you should assume that the audience first wants to know what it is your presenting (you cover that in slide 1 & 2)

Next tell them why you are talking about it. You might use your "misconceptions" slide for this purpose. Also informing them (if they don't already know it) that you have been diagnosed with Aspergers would be good at this point.

Next tell them how it affects you. Using visual cues from slides to demonstrate and personal stories. Speak only to what you have knowledge of. If you plan it out well you won't even have to say you have no knowledge or aren't qualified to give an answer. The audience will be engaged in what you are telling them and ask questions specific to you and your experiences/knowledge of it.

Finally have a conclusion where you repeat what you have covered. It may seem redundant, but it will give the audience a chance to digest the information presented and formulate questions that are relevant to what you presented. Hitting the points of your presentation when you repeat, which should be what you wanted them to learn about Aspergers, not literally repeating everything. In your conclusion you can suggest methods and resources that should be utilized when suspecting someone may fit the criteria. Having a slide that lists locations or Drs familiar with autism would be more productive and help your audience in the right direction.

Above all find pictures that demonstrate your points, visual cues such as pictures can help liven up your words and drive a clearer point home especially if they depict what you are talking about.

Also it's a good idea to make index cards that have the points you are trying to make with each slide so you can remember where you are going with it and the specific reasons you chose to show it. There's also an average of 1 minute/ slide rule. (People tend to have a short attention span keeping it flowing helps keep them interested).

Good luck, you are off to a decent start.

This sounds like a great start. It’s hard to give feedback without understanding:
- Who your audience is?
- What their expectation is (from viewing your presentation)

I would say something about the DSM because even though the ICD-10 still lists Aspergers many UK psychs are diagnosing ASD in because it is expected the ICD-11 will also drop Aspergers.

As someone who thinks they might be an aspie and is just starting to research and looking to get diagnosed I still struggle to understand the technical difference between the term ASD and aspergers.... But I think explaining that in the presentation might be too complex for people who have no knowledge or interest in the area?

I like the basic outline of the presentation but is it possible to put a more positive emphasis on certain aspects. Maybe give some examples of areas in life where people with asperger's excel. If I were doing the presentation (and the idea terrifies me) I would try and keep it quite personal, using any anecdotes I may have, as I think people relate better to a personal touch and will gain a greater understanding.

Also as kicker says: always introduce the subject, tell them why you are talking about the subject, talk about the subject and have a conclusion where you briefly summarize everything you just said! Then maybe have a minute or two at the end for any questions they might have.