Child Checklist Of Characteristics: Fill & Download for Free

In early childhood, it is hard to get a differential diagnosis. ADHD, Aspergers, Tourette’s syndrome and OCD look very much the same. Sometimes a child may get a very different diagnosis from 2 or more doctors. As a child gets older, the same doctor may switch diagnoses. Some of this is caused by how the syndromes are identified; there are no blood tests, or other biological markers; the diagnosis is based on systematic observations and checklist.Despite the initial confusion, eventually the patterns become clearer and the diagnosis becomes more definitive.Asperger’s is on the autism spectrum. The latest diagnostic criteria include:Impaired communication: verbal and nonverbalRestricted repertoire of behaviors and activities, including stereotypical behaviors (hand flapping, twirling), and rigid routines and ritualsPoor social interactions/lack of social reciprocityADHD has three typesinattentive/distactibleimpulsivity/hyperactivitycombinedAlso ADHD is characterized by problems with executive functioning (organization of academics and life tasks), social immaturity and mood swings.Many people have a combination of characteristics which overlap. Usually the diagnosis will come down to which one is the biggest problem or conversely which one has best outcomes for quality of life. Some of the interventions, including medication, also overlap.

The sub-genre of High Fantasy is typically categorized & characterized after looking at some of the standout features of the piece. Be aware, many pieces of fiction can blend different sub-genres together, or fit one set of characteristics but not others. The lines between High Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, and Grimdark can get pretty blurry from time to time.I would say that the 5 most widely-recognized features of High Fantasy are:SettingCharactersStruggleLengthThemeSetting: in High Fantasy, the story will typically be set in a completely separate world, one easily identifiable as not our own. Whether that be a truly different planet with its own cosmology, or simply a lost time or place on our own planet, the most important thing to note is that the governing principles of reality, or "rules", of this world are obviously and, usually, drastically different from our own. These modified "rules" evidence themselves through the inclusion of magic, monsters, ghosts, different races of humanoids, etc. A perfect example of this would be the Land of Faerun, part of the Dungeons & Dragons universe. Tolkien's Middle-Earth is another good example; while the events of The Lord of the Rings and his other stories do, in fact, take place on Earth, they occur during a supposed "lost age" where the fundamental forces of nature did not behave as they do here and now.Characters: High Fantasy builds & utilizes it's characters differently than other forms of fiction, or even other sub-genres of fantasy fiction. Most often in High Fantasy (HF hereafter), the characters will be very archetypal. The best way I can think of to explain this is to look at your basic Roleplaying game player party. You have the rogue/theif/assassin, the warrior/barbarian/brute, the sage/wizard/cleric, etc. Each character in HF fits and fills a definite category. A perfect example would be Star Wars. You have the naive hero, Luke; the damsel in distress, Leia; the wise old man, Kenobi; the thief with a heart of gold, Han; the towering brute with a soft side, Chewie; the evil tyrant warlord, Vader; and the list goes on. The Princess Bride is another wonderful example of archetypal characters used to fill out an adventuring party. This is actually the reason why Dungeons & Dragons and other table-top RPG games use character classes the way they do: to mimic the narrative structure of stories in the genre they inhabit.Struggle: For any good story, be it Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, or anything else, there must be some form of struggle. That struggle need not be physical, but there must be something for someone to overcome. In HF, that struggle is almost always as simple as Good vs. Evil, and in most situations, it comes down to a climactic battle between the Chosen Champion and the Dark Warlord, or whatever other descriptors you want to use there. Fantasy stories, and HF in particular, have long been considered to follow in the footsteps of mythology; you will see a lot of similarities between Lord of the Rings and The Illiad & The Odyssey. As such, the traditional battle of Good vs. Evil is usually central to the plot of a HF story.Length: This one isn't necessarily the most well-defined. It's also the one that the majority of stories are probably more likely to break. Typically HF tells a sweeping, epic tale of grandiose proportions, and as such, usually takes the form of a series or saga. The Lord of the Rings, The Valdemar Series, The Belgariad & The Mallorean, The Dragonlance series, the Forgotten Realms books, the list just goes on and on of HF stories being told in lengthy series format. Rarely will you find a HF novel that is just a one-off (although they do exist: The Redemption of Althalus by David Eddings comes to mind). The reason for this goes back to the mythological beginnings of Fantasy, and to the settings these stories are told in. Most myths actually come from a vast collection of cultural stories, the plots and events of the various narratives weaving together over the course of years, decades, or even eons. And when you're telling the story of an entire world, it can take some time to explain exactly how the actions of Butch Deadlift, Champion of Princess Glorious, affected the populous of the entire kingdom, let alone the continent or the whole planet.Theme: A lot of people think that the story arc and theme of Fantasy literature or Fantasy film is simply Good Guy beats Bad Guy, The End. What they have actually identified is the struggle or obstacle to the plot. Most often, the theme is actually a coming-of-age type story, or Bildungsroman. The German word Bildungsroman actually means a novel detailing the personal journey and growth of an individual. The physical journey of the hero throughout the lands as he combats evil & experiences adventure are more often than used metaphorically to represent the personal, emotional, & spiritual journey that the protagonist is experiencing internally. HF many times will begin with a young, inexperienced hero, perhaps even a child, and follow that character through their adolescence until they have reached maturity, contrasting the person they were in the beginning of the story to the person they have now become.As I said before, this is by no means a hard-and-fast checklist of what must or must not be done to be considered High Fantasy. Many pieces of Fantasy literature blur the lines between multiple genres, and many sub-genres bud off of others, borrowing some things and innovating others. I hope this helps you to understand the basic building blocks of High Fantasy fiction, and to see how the various forms of Fiction complement and contrast.

I was diagnosed with autism as an adult. This is how I pursued it, in order of steps:So much research I thought my brain would explode.Online diagnostic tools, tests, checklists, ranging from extensive and serious to quick and dubious. I tried them all.Articles, professional opinions, definitions.Blogs by real life autistic people. This is what proved most helpful. I found that reading personal anecdotes and detailed first-person examples of the autistic experience made me feel understood in a way that was miraculous and uncanny.Talking about things with an autistic friend, comparing experiences, etc.I put things in writing. I found a massive checklist of characteristics for “women with Asperger’s” on the Everyday Aspergers blog. I copied and pasted the list into a document, color-coded my answers, and wrote descriptions and examples of each of the things I identified with. Most of the list was checked off.Extensive discussions with my therapist. Throughout this process, I started talking to my therapist about the possibility that I was autistic. It made a lot of sense to her. We continued to explore this and pretty much accept it over the next couple years. At this point, I still hadn’t sought official diagnosis. This questioning phase was the longest part for me, because I didn’t feel I needed an official determination. Also, to be perfectly honest, I hadn’t quite accepted myself. I had started to come out as autistic to select friends and family, but most people reacted negatively or completely dismissed me. In addition, I found myself having a negative/shame reaction to some of the autistic literature I read online. I am not proud of this fact but just being honest. A lot of the reason is that I kept reading a lot of things that were tailored toward children, and I felt a bit of defensiveness at the thought of being treated like a child. This is likely due to my history of being infantilized and not taken seriously. As a young adult, I wanted to espouse the whole “hey, I’m not a child!/I’m a serious, polished grown-up!/Don’t talk down to me like a kid or suggest toys to me!” thing. I wanted to find more adult resources.Questioning the questioning. Perhaps it was my own slight unacceptance of myself, or perhaps it was the revelation that I might have ADHD (which was a new thread I wanted to follow), but I started talking to my therapist about how I had no idea what, if anything, applied to me anymore. A lot of ADHD signs overlap with common Autism signs, and I started to get curious if maybe I wasn’t autistic after all.Referral for formal assessment. Finally, my therapist realized that I was at a place in my journey in which I would benefit from exploring all of this more deeply, this time with a specialist. She had a very solid recommendation for a colleague that was an autism and ADHD specialist who performed formal assessments in my general geographical vicinity. After extensive Googling of this person (and also because I highly trust my therapist), I decided I would like to pursue this.Setting an appointment with the specialist. I reached out to this specialist and inquired about cost, as that was definitely a huge factor for me. He told me his normal rate (super high and intimidating) but said he was also willing to slide a bit. By this point, we had already exchanged a few emails in which I’d told him more about me. He seemed genuinely interested in helping me get to the bottom of this and asked me what I could afford. I told him my maximum dollar amount (and apologized profusely that it was definitely less than what he deserved), and he graciously accepted. We set an appointment.Massive email vetting. I always prefer to get to know people via writing, as it is hard for me to open up verbally. Over the next several weeks, I sent lengthy emails about myself, and he responded to them very thoughtfully. This impressed me, since I’m used to getting the “um, please shut up” signs. This email vetting helped me become more comfortable with him, so that the first time I met him didn’t feel so sterile and scary.Appointment prep. Prior to the appointment, the specialist sent me intake and client info forms. I filled these forms out, using them as an opportunity to go into more detail about my autistic/ADHD signs.Assessment time. Assessment included a long-as-hell in-person appointment, many checklists, interview questions, emails, and even tests my friends had to take on behalf of me. The main formal tests administered for autism assessment were the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2) Adult Self Report and the SRS Observer Report. For ADHD, it was the Connors’ Adult Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scales (CAARS) Self Report and Observer Reports. We also had a group video/phone chat meeting with the specialist, my therapist, and myself. I believe my therapist and Joel also consulted amongst themselves, as I had previously signed release forms giving them permission to consult with one another about me. I appreciated this, because my therapist knows me really well, and I trusted her to fill in more blanks and give him further context.Diagnostic Impressions (aka “results”). About a month later, I received a 5-page written report with the specialist’s findings. Before the official report, he checked in with my therapist and I about his initial hunches. Basically, his response was “whoa hey, you're autistic as fuck, you glorious creature.” Ok, those weren’t his exact words, but he let me know very clearly that he strongly believed I was on the spectrum. My ADHD hunch wasn't wrong either though. To be specific, the findings he listed on the report were as follows:F84.0 Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 3, Requiring Substantial SupportF90.2 Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Combined PresentationAnd then two uncertain hypotheses that will need a closer look in the future (31.9 Unspecified Bipolar Disorder and R48.2 Ideomotor Apraxia).Recommendations. I was left with 6 major recommendations, including continued therapy, seeking services with my local regional center (for executive functioning assistance and other things), and several other things. One of his most steadfast, passionate recommendations was that I start embracing the Neurodiversity Paradigm, find self-empowerment, start being more open about my autism, and try to interact with more actually autistic community. His recommendations were spot on, and doing this last point has done wonders for my life.Bonus method: In order to be granted services from regional centers, they have to conduct extensive assessment on you first. Then, they determine if you qualify for their services. This is a great way (as in, non-expensive) to seek assessment, even if you aren’t granted services (not everyone gets them, because resources are limited). It takes a lot of patience to go through with that, though, and it was often highly triggering and taxing for me to go through that process. I encourage anyone doing this to try your best to push through it (and I don’t advocate pushing through most things; this is an exception, because it could potentially open up really helpful possibilities for autistic people in need of help).