Asperger Syndrome (by Mark Huttenlocker)

Asperger syndrome (AS), also referred to as Asperger's, is a developmental disorder characterized by deficiencies in social and communication skills. The exact cause of Asperger's is unknown and the prevalence is not firmly established, due partly to the use of differing sets of diagnostic criteria.

Asperger's is often not identified in early childhood, and many individuals do not receive diagnosis until after puberty or when they are adults.

Teens with Asperger's are usually aware of their differences and recognize when they need support from family. There are instances where teens do not know they have Asperger's personalities until they are having difficulties with relationships in adult life.

Asperger's is a condition in which there is:

1. Impairment in social interaction

2. The presence of restricted, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors and interests

3. Significant impairment in important areas of functioning

4. No significant delay in language

5. No significant delay in cognitive development, self-help skills, or adaptive behaviors (other than social interaction)

6. The symptoms must not be better accounted for by another specific pervasive developmental disorder or schizophrenia

Asperger's is characterized by:

1. Limited interests or preoccupation with a subject to the exclusion of other activities

2. Repetitive behaviors or rituals

3. Peculiarities in speech and language

4. Socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior and interpersonal interaction

5. Problems with nonverbal communication

6. Clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements

Most adolescents with moderate to severe Asperger's will show little or no interest in others. They may seem to be totally unaware of their peers' presence, or they may appear indifferent when peers try to interact.

Some youngsters with Asperger's get very nervous just with the thought of approaching others and may choose to avoid it at all costs. Their avoidance may appear as if they are not interested in others.
Yet some adolescents with Asperger's will not avoid interacting with others. They are eager to communicate, though, often in a clumsy, in-your-face way.

Children with Asperger's are often the target of bullying at school due to their "strange" behavior, language, interests, and impaired ability to interact in socially expected ways to nonverbal cues, particularly in interpersonal conflict. Children with Asperger's may be extremely literal and may have difficulty interpreting and responding to sarcasm or banter.

Most children with Asperger's want to be social, but fail to socialize successfully, which can lead to later withdrawal and asocial behavior, especially in adolescence. Teens with Asperger's often get along a lot better with those considerably older or younger than them, rather than those their own age.

A child with Asperger's might be regarded by teachers as a "problem child" or a "poor performer." The child's extremely low tolerance for "ordinary" and "mediocre" tasks (e.g., homework) can easily become frustrating. A teacher may consider the child arrogant, spiteful, and insubordinate. This misunderstanding, in combination with the child's anxieties, can result in problematic behavior (e.g., violent and angry outbursts, withdrawal).

Although there is no single feature that all teens with Asperger's share, difficulties with social behavior are nearly universal and are one of the most important defining criteria. Teens with Asperger's have difficulty empathizing with others (i.e., putting themselves in someone else's shoes), and may lack the ability to communicate their own emotional state, resulting in well-meaning remarks that may offend, or finding it hard to know what is "acceptable".

Teens with Asperger's may have trouble understanding the emotions of other people (e.g., messages conveyed by facial expression, eye contact and body language). Thus, teens with Asperger's might be seen as egotistical, selfish or uncaring. In most cases, these are unfair labels because they are neurologically unable to understand other people's emotional states. They are usually surprised, upset or remorseful when told that their actions are hurtful or inappropriate.

Individuals with Asperger's do NOT lack emotions. However, the concrete nature of emotional attachments they have (i.e., to objects rather than to people) often seems curious or can even be a cause of concern to people who do not share their perspective.

Teens with Asperger's may have little patience for things outside their narrow interests. In school, they may be perceived as highly intelligent underachievers or overachievers, clearly capable of outperforming their peers in their field of interest, yet persistently unmotivated to do regular homework assignments.

Some children with Asperger's experience varying degrees of sensory overload and are extremely sensitive to touch, smells, sounds, tastes and sights. Sensory overload may exacerbate problems faced by such children at school, where levels of noise in the classroom can become intolerable for them. A child with Asperger's can become distracted, agitated, or even aggressive if unwanted touch, sounds, smells, etc. persist.

Treatment for Asperger's consists of therapies that apply behavior management strategies and address poor communication skills, obsessive or repetitive routines, and physical clumsiness.

Currently, the most effective treatment involves a combination of psychotherapy, special education, behavior modification, and support for families. Some children with Asperger's Disorder will also benefit from medication.

A typical treatment program generally includes:

· Social skills training, to teach the skills to more successfully interact with others

· Cognitive behavioral therapy to help in better managing emotions that may be explosive or anxious, and to cut back on obsessive interests and repetitive routines

· Medication for co-existing conditions such as depression and anxiety

· Occupational or physical therapy to assist with poor motor coordination

· Speech therapy to help with the trouble of the "give and take" in normal conversation

· Parent training and support, to teach parents behavioral techniques to use at home

Children with Asperger's can learn to manage their differences, but they may continue to find social situations and personal relationships challenging. Many adults with Asperger's are able to work successfully in mainstream jobs, although they may continue to need encouragement and moral support to maintain an independent life.

Teens with Asperger's report a feeling of being unwillingly detached from the world around them. As an adult, they may have difficulty with getting married due to poor social skills.

On the other hand, some adults with Asperger's do get married, get graduate degrees, become wealthy, and hold jobs. The intense focus and tendency to work things out logically often grants those people with Asperger's a high level of ability in their field of interest. When these special interests coincide with a materially or socially useful task, the person with Asperger's often can lead a profitable life. For example, the child obsessed with a particular computer game may grow up to be an accomplished computer programmer.

The outcome for children with Asperger's Disorder is generally more promising than for those with autism. Due to their higher level of intellectual functioning, many of these children successfully finish high school and attend college. Although problems with social interaction and awareness persist, they can also develop lasting relationships with family and friends.
Mark Huttenlocker, M.A. is a family therapist who works with parents of strong-willed, out-of-control teens and preteens. If your child is out-of-control and you're at your wits end, then feel free to use Mark as your own personal parent-coach. Get permanent solutions to your child's behavior problems within 15 seconds from now by visiting his website: http://www.MyOutOfControlTeen.com

A Message from Mark-

"Dear Parents: For many years now I've been running a very successful "off-line" parent program, but I wanted to take it a step further. I wanted to reach out to parents worldwide and help them discover that there really is light at the end of the tunnel. That's when I came up with "Online" Parent Support (OPS). Since its launch in 2004, OPS has overwhelmed users and success rates have been phenomenal."

Asperger's Syndrome- Is There Real Cure For It? (by Rachel Evans)

If you know of a child who is having a greater degree of language impairment than other children or has diminished communication skills and also exhibits a restrictive pattern of thought and behavior, he may have Asperger’s syndrome. This condition is more or less similar to that of classic autism. The main difference between autism and Asperger’s syndrome is that the child suffering from Asperger’s syndrome retains his early language skills.

The peculiar symptom of Asperger’s syndrome is a child’s obsessive interest in a single object or topic to the exclusion of any other. The child suffering from Asperger’s syndrome wants to know all about this one topic.

Sometimes their speech patterns and vocabulary may resemble that of a little professor. Other Asperger’s symptoms include the inability to interact successfully with peers, clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements, repetitive routines or rituals, socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior, and last, but not least, problems with non-verbal communication.

Asperger’s syndrome sufferers find difficulty mingling with the general public. Even if they converse with others, they exhibit inappropriate and eccentric behavior. The Asperger’s syndrome patient may always want to talk about his singular interest.

Developmental delays in motor skills such as catching a ball, climbing outdoor play equipment or pedaling a bike may also appear in the child with Asperger’s syndrome. Children with Asperger’s syndrome often show a stilted or bouncy walk, which appears awkward.

The therapy for the Asperger’s syndrome mainly concentrates on three-core symptoms: physical clumsiness, obsessive or repetitive routines, and poor communication skills. It is unfortunate that there is no single treatment for the children suffering from the entire three-core symptoms. But professionals do agree that the syndrome can be cured when the intervention is carried out at the earliest possible time.

The treatment package of Asperger’s syndrome for children involves medication for co-existing conditions, cognitive behavioral therapy, and social skills training. The Asperger’s syndrome treatment mainly helps to build on the child’s interests, teaches the task as a series of simple steps and offers a predictable schedule.

Although children suffering from Asperger’s syndrome can mange themselves with their disabilities, the personal relationships and social situations are challenging for them. In order to maintain an independent life, the Asperger’s syndrome sufferers require moral support and encouragement to work successfully in mainstream jobs.

Studies are on the way to discover the best treatment for Asperger’s syndrome, which includes the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify the abnormalities in the brain which causes malfunction of the same, which in turn result in Asperger’s syndrome. Clinical trials are being conducted to identify the effectiveness of an anti-depressant in Asperger’s syndrome individuals. Even the analysis of the DNA of the Asperger’s syndrome sufferers and their families may cause a break through in the treatment of the Asperger’s syndrome.

Rachel Evans also writes a FREE autism newsletter dedicated to identifying and maximizing the potential of sometone with autism. Free Autism Newsletter. To find out more information about autism and asperger syndrome.

DSM-IV For Asperger's Disorder Criteria Made Simple (by Cass Hope)

A. Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:

(1) marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviours such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction.

(2) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level.

(3) a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (eg., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people).

(4) lack of social or emotional reciprocity.

B. Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities as manifested by at least one of the following:

(1) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus.

(2) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, non-functional routines or rituals.

(3) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (eg.,hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)

(4) persistent preoccupation with parts or objects.

C. The disturbance causes clinically significant general delay in language (eg., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years).

D. There is no clinically delay in cognitive development or in the development of age- appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than social interaction) and curiosity about the environment in childhood.

E. Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia.

The above is the criteria that is given in the DISM IV which is what doctors use to diagnose Asperger’s Disorder and other related disorders. I’m going to give a more informal description in hopes that parents can more easily decide if they should seek help. Although you may feel certain that your child exhibits all symptoms of Asperger’s Syndrome only a doctor can actually give a diagnosis.

Asperger’s Disorder (also referred to as Asperger’s Syndrome) is often diagnosed when a child exhibits some of the characteristics of Autism but there is no delay in the development of language skills. Asperger’s kids often are very well spoken with large vocabularies.

One of the key characteristics of persons with Aspergers Disorder is their social impairment. They are unable to read social cues or body language. You could stare at the ceiling during the conversation and they would not catch on that you were not listening. There is also a problem understanding the give and take of a conversation. Asperger’s persons will talk at you not with you.

Many kids with Asperger’s Syndrome have few to no friends. This is not only because of their social impairment but also because of their very focused and narrow interests. They have no desire to talk about anything outside their own interest and are not interested in learning something new. Their interests are obsessive in nature.

Asperger’s kids need their lives to be routine and that routine must be adhered to. If there is a change especially a sudden one they are unable to cope. Spontaneity is not that that you find with persons suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome.

Asperger’s kids often perform repetitive physical movements. Examples are rocking back and forth even when standing and flapping of hands. They will mostly walk on their tip toes rather than flat foot. The repetitive movements are because these kids need self-stimulation (stimming as it is referred to). This can be turning a light switch on and off, flicking a pen or a form of visual stimulation is flicking something very close to their eyes. Whatever the movement it is a stimulation of one or more of their senses and can go on for hours on end.

The joke about giving your child a toy and them playing with the box, very well suits Asperger’s kids. They will become fixated on a part of an object and not the object in whole. If they were given a train set they may pick out a part of the tract rather than play with the entire train set. Sometimes the things they become fixated with can be very odd in nature, for example a shoe, a piece of clothing or a spoon.

Asperger’s kids can often come across as little professors they are so well spoken. Their language skills are developed at a very early age. Intelligence is rarely an attribute that is under developed in Asperger’s kids. This is definitely an asset and encouraging to parents. As children with Asperger’s Disorder mature their ability to control and manage the symptoms of their disorder improves greatly. With the new treatments available and if treated at an early age, these children can grow to lead very fulfilling and independent lives. Even though it is better at an early age you are never too old to seek help…everyone deserves quality of life.
Cass Hope is the Mother of a 13 year old child with Asperger's Syndrome. She is actively involved in programs to help increase public awareness of Asperger's Syndrome. For more information and the latest news on Asperger's and related disorders visit: http://www.aspergers-online.info