Issues

I was reading an article about how hard it is to diagnose girls with Asberger's Syndrome because outwardly their symptoms may manifest themselves differently than Asberger's in boys. It was kind of an interesting article, although I have to admit that I didn't feel a strong personal tie to it. Oh, sure, my kids have their own issues -- Xav has the attention span of a gnat, and Gwen is so tense she could probably deflect bullets -- but Asberger's is not one of their problems.

Or so I thought ...

The article described one of the puzzles they use to diagnose Asberger's Syndrome. It goes something like this:

1. Sally walks into a room and puts her favorite marble into a basket, then leaves.

2. Anne walks into the room, takes the marble and puts it into a flower pot.

3. Sally returns. Where does she look for the marble?

This puzzle is sometimes done as a mini-role play. The theory is, a child with Asberger's Syndrome is more likely to fail this test (ie, choose the flower pot) than a child without, because a child with Asberger's is unable to see Sally's point of view independently of his/her own (ie, I know the marble is in the flowerpot, Sally should too.)

I was surprised that it could be this cut-and-dry, so I posed the puzzle to Xav (without the role-play). Xavier answered it correctly right away.

Then I posed it to Gwen. She listened to the puzzle, pondered it, then said uncertainly, "In the basket, right?"

"Right." Still, it gave me pause -- Gwen is a very smart kid, a little socially awkward, perhaps, but surely ... "Why did you think about it so long?"

"Well, I thought she would look in the basket right away," Gwen said, "but then I thought, 'This is too easy. It has to be a trick question.' Where did you get this riddle?"

"It comes from an article about girls with Asberger's --"

A panicked look crossed her face. "YOU THINK I HAVE ASBERGER'S SYNDROME????"

I gave a sigh of relief -- this is the Gwen I know. All is right in the world.


We just came back from visiting Adam's relatives in Durham. Our niece Piper is a cute little girl, and, as her parents describe her, "Very three." Most of the time she is very happy, but sometimes she gets upset about minor things (as three-year-olds are wont to do).

When she starts tearing up about something seemingly trivial (ie, like not getting the pink cup), one of her parents will suggest, exasperatedly, "Why don't you cry about it? That always makes things better."

"No, it doesn't!" Piper retorts, always smiling through her tears.

Ah, if only parenthood was always that simple.