Asperger syndrome

People with Asperger syndrome often have very special interests; this boy likes to study molecular structures

Asperger syndrome (often - incorrectly - Asperger's syndrome) affects the way in which a person understands other people, talks with other people, and acts with other people. A person who has Asperger syndrome may not fit in well with other people, and may be seen as strange. Asperger syndrome is a developmental disorder, not a mental illness. Most adults with Asperger syndrome can learn how to make friends, do useful work and live successful lives. Asperger syndrome is considered to be at the highest functioning end of the Autism spectrum disorders. Both sexes can have Asperger syndrome, although it is more common in males.

Causes and treatment

Asperger syndrome begins in early childhood. No one knows exactly what causes it, but it is thought to have a genetic cause. The part of the brain which controls a person's "social behavior" (understanding and communicating with other people) may grow or function differently in a person with Asperger syndrome. Another part of the brain that may be different is the part that controls some body movement such as balance. A person with this condition may walk or act in a clumsy way and have trouble doing body actions such as sports. They may also do physical actions repetitively, such as rocking, flapping their hands, or tapping their feet. The condition seems to run in families. Parents who have Asperger syndrome often have children who have it or another kind of autism.

Asperger syndrome cannot be found by testing blood or looking at someone's body. A medical doctor needs to talk with the person and other people who know him or her well, to watch how the person moves and behaves, and to learn about the person's past. Sometimes a doctor believes by mistake that the person has schizophrenia, ADHD or mental retardation instead. Tourette syndrome with "tics" (repetitive, uncontrolled actions like twitching, blinking, coughing) sometimes comes with Asperger syndrome. Many people with Asperger syndrome also have ADHD.

People who have Asperger syndrome have normal or high intelligence. As children, they may need special help at home and school to learn social behavior. The syndrome cannot be made better by taking medicine. (People who have this condition are sometimes given medicine to help them with depression, which is often experienced by people with the syndrome.)

People with Asperger syndrome can have a hard time "fitting in" with other people. Adults who have it usually learn enough "coping skills" to act in a way that seems normal, but often with a few differences. Most people with the syndrome can communicate clearly with friends and family. They may have more difficulty in communicating with new people.

Signs and symptoms

A "syndrome" is a pattern of signs and symptoms that doctors can see in many different people. Here is a list of symptoms of Asperger syndrome. Not every person with Asperger syndrome has every symptom.

People with Asperger syndrome:

• may be sensitive to touch or loud noise
• may be clumsy when walking or playing sports
• may have trouble understanding other people's emotions
• may have trouble recognizing facial expressions
• may have trouble understanding when someone is joking or using language that is not accurate in meaning
• may often have a loud voice, a very quiet voice, or a voice that does not express emotion (a "monotonous" voice)
• often do not like changes in school, work, and home life routines
• may learn to speak very early or very late
• often learn to read very early or very late
• may have trouble making friends
• may have trouble understanding what other people are thinking
• are often bullied in school
• as children, might look shorter and younger than the average for their age
• often have extremely good memory
• often have a strong interest or hobby such as a computer game, sport statistics, or a TV show
• may have difficulty understanding or not be interested in pretend play
• may move in repetitive ways

Effects of difficulties in communication

When people talk to each other, they use spoken words to communicate. They also use the sound of their voice and "non-verbal communication" such as facial expression, hand movements, and "body language" to give meaning to what they say. This means that while people are talking, they are also looking for signs in the other person's face and the movement of their body to tell how they are feeling and whether they mean exactly the same as their words are saying. When people talk, they use "non-verbal communication" to add more information to their words. People who have trouble with understanding non-verbal communication, like people with Asperger syndrome, will miss this extra information.

People with Asperger syndrome:

• may have difficulty reading the sound of people's voices.
• may become confused if a person's body language and words don't say the same thing.
• may try to do exactly what someone else's words say. So if someone says "Grab your partner for the next dance", then they will really grab a dancer, instead of understanding that the sentence means, "Ask someone politely to dance with you."
• may not know that another person is upset or annoyed, until the other person shows it clearly.
• may not understand that when someone frowns at them it means "You are saying or doing the wrong thing and you should stop now!".
• may not know if a person is joking. They have difficulty understanding irony, sarcasm, and slang.
• may not understand the interests of other people or why other people do the things that they do.
• may like doing or saying the same thing over and over again. Other people can find this annoying.
• may not know, unless they are told, when other people want them to stop talking about their interests.
• may feel lonely and unwanted.

Asperger syndrome is sometimes called "wrong planet" syndrome because people with Asperger syndrome often feel that they are quite normal but are living in a world full of aliens. For a person with Asperger syndrome, having Asperger syndrome is normal, because they have had it all their life.

Talents

People with Asperger syndrome often:

• like to act in a way that is sensible
• see and remember the details of things that other people miss
• are very good at remembering rules, laws, systems and important facts. This talent is useful in many types of work
• are better at writing than at talking to people, because they are careful to choose words that mean exactly what they want to say
• do well at maths, computer programming and science
• do well at drawing, painting, photography, acting or music
• have a special interest that they become experts in
• enjoy doing the same thing many times over, which some people find boring. Many people with Asperger Syndrome are good at practicing scales on the piano, at adding up long sums, and at searching through books and papers to find information and mistakes
• Some people with AS can mimic voices if they are scripted, even just slightly.

History

In the 1940s, a doctor named Hans Asperger studied some children that were different from most other children that he knew, but were like each other. He called them "little professors" because he thought that they were interesting and wrote a book about them. Dr. Asperger thought his "little professors" had a different sort of personality.

In the 1980s Dr. Lorna Wing made up the name "Asperger syndrome" for people with high-functioning autism after research into Hans Asperger's work.

In 1994 Asperger syndrome was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).

Dr. Tony Attwood, Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen and Dr. Uta Frith are three of the current leading authorities on Asperger syndrome.

Notable people with Asperger syndrome

notable people who are known to have, or are suspected to have Asperger syndrome

• Michael Jackson
• Albert Einstein
• Bill Gates
• Alan Turing
• Isaac Newton
• Jane Austen
• Henry Ford
• Bob Dylan

Other websites

• Spectrumville: A Forum for People on the Autism Spectrum
• WebMD Reference pages for Asperger syndrome
• Neurodiversity website History and information on people with Asperger syndrome
• Wrong Planet designed for individuals (and parents / professionals of those) with Autism, Asperger Syndrome, ADHD, PDDs, and other neurological differences.
• Aspies Central A friendly community for Asperger, Autism & other associates even for those not on the spectrum.