What is Asperger's Syndrome?

Answer 1

Asperger's Syndrome (aka Asperger's disorder or AS) is a developmental disorder commonly referred to as a mild form of autism.

Basically, the person who has Asperger's is almost normal, but has different manifestations in different people. I know a person with Asperger's who can learn a new language very quickly (very smart with languages), but cannot interact well with people and often says things without thinking.

Someone who has Asperger's syndrome might display the following characteristics:

-- Seems rude, unsocial, weird, not nice, mean, etc;

-- Is not always clean, yet has clean and organized areas and/or items;

-- Is obsessive with interests -- and these interests are not common to many other people who do not have the condition;

-- Is not good at explaining things;

-- Does not seem interested in another person's interests or thoughts, but will talk obsessively, at length, and in detail about his or her own.

-- Intelligence is very high in certain subjects such as sciences or trivia, but not so with subjects like sports, mostly because of the large involvement of people.

-- Is no better than fair with people, especially people he or she does not know well enough, and is usually poor.

-- Does not like to be touched; this could be in certain areas or the whole body in general.

-- Does not understand basic social functioning; how to be with people; what not to say, when, why, or the like. He or she will say things like, "You look really fat today," and not realize that saying that will hurt another person. He or she tends not to understand this, and it will need to be explained to him or her factually and logically, not emotionally. This is because the person will often have problems with understanding emotions, even his or her own.

In addition, Asperger's syndrome is characterized by concrete and literal thinking; obsession with certain topics; excellent memories, and being "eccentric." These individuals are considered high-functioning and are capable of holding a job and of living independently.

NOTE ON STATEMENTS ABOVE:

Asperger's Syndrome is a pervasivedevelopmental disorder. Some cases are associated with a genetic disorder. It is now believed that all cases have a genetic component.

Although it is often described as a "mild form of autism," the use of "mild" is inaccurate. It is a higher-functioning autism spectrum disorder, which means people with Asperger's Syndrome have greater ability to function in society, which in turn means it often takes much longer before they are diagnosed correctly and makes it more likely they can hide more of their differences. As with autism, Asperger's Syndrome can range from mild to severe.

They do not always have clean, organized areas, but they usually know exactly where everything is.

The obsessive interests can be ones that are common to other people, but to them it is more that it is their life rather than a hobby. When it is a more common interest, it can take longer before the condition is diagnosed, because it does not seem out of the ordinary to other people.

They have average to above average intelligence. It is not necessarily that they have high intelligence in fields like science or trivia, but more often that they have an excellent memory for facts, which includes sports. They might know all the statistics related to a given sport, or even the entire rule-book for the sport, but avoid ever actually attending or playing the game because of the people. They also tend to have good analytical skills. Of course, they can be geniuses with amazing talents in certain fields, too; it was for this last reason that Dr. Hans Asperger, the Austrian child psychologist who first observed it in some of his younger patients and hence after whom it has been named, called those with the condition "little professors."

It is not necessarily that they dislike being touched; in fact, many like certain types of physical contact. However, they usually do not want to be touched by people they do not know well. They may hate light touches, but love a heavier touch. They may be oversensitive to touches on certain parts of their bodies. Temple Grandin, who herself has an autism-spectrum disorder, invented a squeezing machine that she first used on beef-cattle to calm them down. When this device is used on humans, it offers what is called "deep-pressure therapy," for it provides the pressure that some people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome find very relaxing. Others prefer to sleep under heavy blankets.