This course is designed to help you enhance your relationships with individuals affected by Asperger Syndrome. You will understand the characteristics of the condition, how it is diagnosed, and the challenges it presents to individuals and families in their personal, school and working lives. You will also learn how you can provide support and build on the strengths of those living with the condition.
The Asperger Awareness Diploma Course will guide you through a history of the awareness of the syndrome and how perceptions have changed, how it is defined, and what differentiates it from other autistic spectrum disorders. You will learn how it is diagnosed, how gender determines presentation of the condition, and the myths and fallacies about Asperger.
The course looks at the academic and professional lives of those with Aspergers – explaining the implications from their perspective, in school, university, and working environments. Also covered are issues such as behavioural, learning and organisational difficulties, bullying, and inclusion. You will also learn how to get the best from a person with Asperger in the workplace.
The course goes further into the complications that can arise as a result of living with Asperger Syndrome, which include an increased likelihood of suffering from mental health problems and feeling these differently than neurotypical people. The course explores how people with Asperger are affected by anxiety, sensory overload, anger, OCD and PTSD, as well as looking at other common conditions of the syndrome such as Sensory Processing Disorder, intrusive negative thoughts, elective mutism, and issues with anger.
Relationships within families and between couples can be difficult but living with Asperger can make things harder. The course looks at the problems those with Asperger can face in beginning and maintaining relationships and the issues of intimacy that can occur.
Until recently Asperger had been considered a predominantly male concern, with the condition in females being a rarity. The Asperger Awareness Course considers the theory of genetic protection and the role of evolutionary psychology in the underdiagnoses of Asperger in females. The course also looks at the differences in male and female social skills and the links between Asperger and perfectionism and eating disorders in young women.
You will also explore the ways that you can take what you have learnt from the course and apply it in real-life, be it in your own family, work or educational and caring institutes. As Asperger Syndrome is often first noticed in school, you will be guided through strategies for intervention in this setting and how to improve the quality of life for the families it affects. You will also learn more about how you can build on the strengths of employees or colleagues living with the condition.
