What Are The Symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome?

This article appears courtesy of Wikipedia.

The most common and important characteristics of Asperger's syndrome can be divided into several broad categories — social impairments, narrow but intense interests, and speech and language peculiarities. There are also other features commonly associated with this syndrome, but not always held to be necessary for diagnosis. It should be noted that this article reflects the thinking of certain researchers on what the most important characteristics of Asperger's are; the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, edition 4) criteria represent a slightly different view.


Social impairments

Though there is no single feature that all people with Asperger's syndrome share, difficulties with social behaviour are nearly universal and are perhaps the most important criteria that define the condition. People with Asperger's syndrome lack the natural ability to see the subtexts of social interaction and equally lack the ability to broadcast their own emotional state.

Non-autistics are able to gather a whole host of information about other people's cognitive and emotional states based on clues gleaned from the environment and the other person's facial expression and body language, but people with Asperger's syndrome have an impairment in this ability, sometimes referred to as mind-blindness. To be mind-blind is to find it difficult or even impossible to figure out things a person implies but does not say directly (more colloquially, to "read between the lines"). This is not because they cannot imagine the answer, but because they cannot choose among the possibilities — the mind-blind individual cannot reliably gather enough information to do so, or does not know how to interpret the information he or she does gather.

Along with this difficulty in "reading" the non-verbal communication of others, most individuals with Asperger's have difficulty expressing their own emotional state via body language, facial expression, and nuance in the way that most people do. Such people have emotional responses as strong as, or perhaps stronger than, most people, though what generates an emotional response might not always be the same; the difficulty is with expressing these feelings, though it sometimes comes across as lacking them. For example, many people with Asperger's syndrome have difficulty with eye contact. Some make very little eye contact because they find it overwhelming, while others have unmodulated, staring eye contact that can cause discomfort to other people. Similarly, the use of gestures may be almost nonexistent, or may seem exaggerated and differ from what would normally be considered appropriate for a situation.

It is worth noting that since it is classified as a spectrum disorder, some people with Asperger's syndrome are nearly normal in their ability to read and use facial expressions and other relatively subtle forms of communication. However this does not come naturally to most people with Asperger's syndrome. Such people must learn social skills intellectually, delaying social development.


Narrow, intense interests

Asperger's syndrome can involve an intense and obsessive level of focus on things of interest. For example, one person might be obsessed with 1950's professional wrestling, another with national anthems of African dictatorships, and another with building models out of matchsticks. Particularly common interests are means of transport (such as trains), computers, and dinosaurs. Sometimes these interests are lifelong; in other cases, they change at unpredictable intervals. In either case, there are normally one or two at any given time. In pursuit of these interests, the individual with Asperger's often manifests extremely sophisticated reason, an almost obsessive focus, and eidetic memory. Hans Asperger called his young patients "little professors", based on the fact that he thought his thirteen-year-old patients had as comprehensive and nuanced an understanding of their field of interest as university professors.

Some clinicians would not entirely agree with this description; Wing and Gillberg, for example, both argue that there is often more rote memorization than real understanding of these areas of interest, despite occasional appearances to the contrary. It may be worth pointing out, however, that such a limitation is not required for diagnosis, even under Gillberg's criteria.

People with Asperger's syndrome often have little patience for things outside these areas of interest. During the school years, many are perceived as highly intelligent underachievers, clearly capable of massively outperforming their peers in their field of interest yet seemingly impossible to motivate to do regular day-to-day homework assignments (sometimes even in their areas of interest). Additionally, in more serious cases, the combination of social impairments and intense interests can lead to peculiar behaviour, such as greeting a stranger by launching into a lengthy monologue about a special interest rather than by saying "hello" and introducing oneself.


Speech and language peculiarities

People with Asperger's syndrome are often noted for having a highly pedantic way of speaking, using language far more formal and structured than the situation would normally be thought to call for. A five-year-old child with this condition may regularly speak in language that could easily have come from a university textbook, especially on their special areas of interest.

Literal interpretation is another common, though not universal, hallmark of this condition. Attwood gives the example of a girl with Asperger's syndrome who answered the telephone one day and was asked "Is Paul there?". Though the Paul in question was in the house, he was not in the room with her, so after looking around to ascertain this, she simply said "no" and hung up. The person on the other end had to call back and explain to her that he meant for her to find him and get him to pick up the telephone (Attwood, 78).

Many people with Asperger's syndrome also make idiosyncratic use of words, including new coinages as well as unusual juxtapositions. This can develop into a rare gift for humour (especially puns, wordplay, doggerel, satire) or writing. (Another potential source of humour is the eventual realization that their literal interpretations can be used to amuse others.) Some are so proficient with written language as to qualify as hyperlexic. Researcher Tony Attwood refers to a particular child's skill at inventing expressions, e.g. "tidying down" (the opposite of tidying up) or "broken" (when referring to a baby brother who cannot walk or talk).

Other characteristics

Those affected by Asperger's may also manifest a range of other sensory, developmental, and physiological anomalies. It is common for Asperger's children to evidence a marked delay in the development of fine motor skills. They may display a distinctive "waddling" or "mincing" gait when they walk and may walk with their arms held out in an unusual manner. Compulsive finger, hand, or arm movements, such as flapping, are also observed.

In general, orderly things have appeal to individuals with Asperger's. Some researchers mention the imposition of rigid routines (on self or others) as a criterion for diagnosing this condition. It appears that changes to their routines cause inordinate levels of anxiety for at least some people with this condition.

Some people with Asperger's suffer from varying degrees of sensory overload, and may be pathologically sensitive to loud noises or strong smells or dislike being touched — for example, certain Asperger's children exhibit a strong dislike of having their head touched or their hair disturbed. Such sensory overload may exacerbate problems faced by Asperger's children at school, where levels of noise in the classroom can become intolerable for them. Some are also unable to block out certain repetitive stimuli, such as the constant ticking of a clock. Whereas most children will stop registering this sound after a short time and can only hear it if they consciously listen for it, the child with Asperger's can become distracted, agitated, or even (in rare cases) violent if the sound is not removed.

There seems to be a strong correlation between those with Asperger's syndrome or high functioning autism (HFA), and the INTP type of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Another theory states that Asperger's correlates to the INTJ personality type, whereas high functioning autism correlates to the INFJ personality type.

Further Reading:
Parenting Your Asperger Child : Individualized Solutions for Teaching Your Child Practical Skills [Amazon]