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3 Stages of Social Betterment of Mild Autism Spectrum Disorder and Asperger Syndrome
Treatments for borderline autism or Asperger syndrome have been very limited compared to ones available for severe autism. Cognitive behavioral therapy may be applied, but it isn’t easy to achieve social development with this method. Cognitive behavioral therapies aim to repeatedly teach social rules on how the child should behave in a specific space. The elimination of problem behaviors and adherence to social rules is mistakenly considered betterment. Such behaviors are reproduced under very limited conditions. If the environment changes, the child cannot adapt and continues with a mechanical response, revealing their unskilledness and lack of genuine understanding.
However, children with a mild autism spectrum disorder or Asperger syndrome will experience swift betterment if they follow the Dr. Tomato protocol. This process develops as the social development stage of school-aged children. In other words, they will build the fundamental abilities to develop social skills on their own; thus the ability to make friends appropriately, show deep empathy with others, and continue conversations with others. Parents raising a child with borderline autism or Asperger syndrome should understand the following three stages of improvement.
Understanding 3 development stages of Asperger syndrome betterment
3 stages of Asperger syndrome improvement with the Dr. Tomato Protocol
01
Sensoryreadjustment
02
Social cognitive development
03
Development of independent social learning abilities
1. Sensory readjustment (average treatment time 6 months)
Asperger syndrome, although slight, also involves brain stem and sagittal damage. The abnormalities are caused by sensory processing disorder attributable to damage to the brain stem and hypothalamus, resulting in the instability of the autonomic nervous system. Therefore, restoring sensory processing abilities and stabilizing the autonomic nervous system to ensure independent social development is the first prerequisite. This process is referred to as the sensory readjustment stage in the Dr. Tomato protocol, which typically takes six months.
Over the sensory readjustment period, the child stabilizes eye contact and adjusts auditory concentration to continue a conversation. Also, tactile defense and physical control are stabilized to correct abnormal behaviors and movements. The child will better understand and be interested in people by doing so.
In addition, as the instability of the autonomic nervous system is improved, the child escapes from chronic anxiety, sleep disturbance, and attention deficit. In particular, recovering from psychological disorders is essential for promoting spontaneousness in social development. No cognitive behavioral therapies or educational therapies are effective without sensory readjustment. However, the Dr. Tomato protocol solves the fundamental problem and makes it possible to overcome Asperger syndrome.
2. Social cognitive development (average treatment period 1-2 years)
Even if successfully readjusting sensation (sensory ability), children with Asperger syndrome will not develop sociality in one day. Now they can make a correct sensory response to new experiences; hence they are just ready for further social development. But the experience of erroneous, immature social performance driven by Asperger syndrome still remains. Thus, they will continue making errors based on varying social exchange abilities attributable to their experience and memories.
But they are different now. They have the ability to independently correct errors in new experiences. In this stage, they actively experience errors and correct their behaviors to develop social cognitive skills. The Dr. Tomato protocol refers to this period as social cognitive development.
The most potent force that develops cognitive ability is positively experiencing and reflecting on errors. The absolute necessity here is a friendly and gentle conversation, guidance from parents and family members, and, if possible, the help of caring friends. Through the cognitive development period, the child will self-reflect on immature social behaviors, correct their own behavior, enhance adaptability, and develop sophisticated social skills.
As a result, the child will have the ability to make back and forth conversations with a variety of people. The child will talk with people more and have deeper conversations, thus, deeper relationships. In addition, the child will be interested in diverse social groups and seek various interactions. Over time, the child’s immatureness in social interactions (depending on the context of what they learn) will be removed; hence their autistic tendencies will be eliminated.
3. Development of independent social learning abilities (average treatment period 1-2 years)
Going through social cognitive development, children with Asperger syndrome begin to develop the ability to adapt to new social environments on their own without the help of others. In other words, they can predict what they will face and decide their own behavior in new settings without help from parents or friends. And if they encounter an error, they can revise plans and act on new strategies, i.e., strategic correction. In this stage, they develop cognitive abilities to reason about the future in new environments and recognize and correct their issues/problems.
Now, they develop the ability to establish social behavioral strategies to adapt to new environments without trial and error. In other words, they build creative social leadership to analyze the future by themselves and therefore plan their actions. In the end, completing social development should mean more than just getting along well with friends. The ultimate goal should be to grow them as persons who can exert social leadership with their abilities and talents.
Patient conversation and help from family members and friends are essential until they develop social skills independently. With the help of family and friends, they overcome Asperger syndrome and grow as persons who display social leadership.
