Asperger's Syndrome

Tues 7-10pm

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my family for giving me the inspiration for this topic. My brother was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome a few years ago and researching this in greater depth has made us grow closer as we further understand the disease. I would also like to thank my Life Span Human Growth and Development Professor, Linda Downing-Adkinson, for providing this assignment. It has been very interesting and rewarding researching my topic this semester.

ABSTRACT

You always hear Asperger’s syndrome being compared to autism, but I wasn’t sure what the difference was.  It is often difficult to diagnose and I wanted to further research as to why this was as well. With the help of a few sources and a lot of reading, I was able to get a better understanding of the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of this disease.

They may seem like you and me at first glance. They don’t appear to have any major physical or facial features that are different from ours. They have no physical limitation, disability or handicaps. They have the same five senses that all normal, healthy humans possess. They’re IQ is normal or even above average. Their speech milestones as kids are normal respectively to ours. They aren’t very sociable, so maybe they are just shy. But how can you really tell if someone has Asperger’s syndrome?

LITERATURE REVIEW

        Asperger’s syndrome is a relatively new diagnosis in the field of autism.  It is part of a larger category called Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) or Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). It was named in honor of Austrian psychiatrist and pediatrician, Hans Asperger. Lorna Wing, an English psychiatrist, popularized the term “Asperger’s Syndrome” in a 1981 publication. The first book in English was written in 1991 and formally recognized in diagnostic manuals later in the 1990’s. What distinguishes Asperger's Disorder from autism are the less severe symptoms and the absence of language delays. It is often described as individuals with a dash of autism. So in short, they are higher functioning. (R. Kaan Ozbayrak, 2012)

Asperger’s is often misdiagnosed and overlooked as someone who is awkward or shy. But it goes beyond that. Parents often begin to notice symptoms in their child when they start preschool. Learning how to socially interact with their peers is a challenge to say the least. They lack those inborn social skills that come natural to most of us. For instance, it can be difficult for them to read body language.  Children with Asperger’s are virtually incapable of reading common facial expressions such as happy, sad, angry, upset, surprised, or excited. They may also fail to recognize tone of voice that can alter the normal meaning of words. So the child may not understand jokes or even take a sarcastic comment literally. Their speech often reflects this, lacking tone or pitches themselves. They may also struggle with initiating and maintaining conversations. They tend to focus on one or few interests of their own that they are knowledgeable about and lack enthusiasm about much else. Other symptoms include appearance of lack of empathy, avoiding eye contact or staring at others, and dislike to changes in routine. (Healthwise, 2010)

        When diagnosing a child with Asperger’s, you must keep in mind that they may not have every single symptom as described above. They also must have more than just one or two to fit the criteria. Formal diagnosis of the mental disorder relies on description on what is observable and is included in

LITERATURE REVIEW

the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). The purpose of this manual is to set agreed upon criteria for mental disorders that aids in correctly diagnosing patients.  Those criteria include the following: 1) Qualitative impairment in social interaction. 2) Repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. 3) The disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. 4) There is no clinically significant general delay in language (single words used by age 2, communicative phrases used by age 3). 5) There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood. 6) Criteria are not met for another specific PDD or Schizophrenia. It classifies Asperger’s as a separate disorder from autism; however, there are still many professionals who consider Asperger's Disorder a less severe form of autism. Another way to diagnose AS is using Gillberg’s criteria for Asperger’s Disorder which is similar to that of the DSM-IV. Referral to specialists such as pediatricians, neurologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists is beneficial.