Aspergers Syndrome

[Nicholas]

Asperger Syndrome or (Asperger's Disorder) is a neurobiological disorder named for a Viennese physician, Hans Asperger, who in 1944 published a paper which described a pattern of behaviors in several young boys who had normal intelligence and language development, but who also exhibited autistic-like behaviors and marked deficiencies in social and communication skills. In spite of the publication of his paper in the 1940's, it wasn't until 1994 that Asperger Syndrome was added to the DSM IV and only in the past few years has AS been recognized by professionals and parents.

Individuals with AS can exhibit a variety of characteristics and the disorder can range from mild to severe. Persons with AS show marked deficiencies in social skills, have difficulties with transitions or changes and prefer sameness. They often have obsessive routines and may be preoccupied with a particular subject of interest. They have a great deal of difficulty reading nonverbal cues (body language) and very often the individual with AS has difficulty determining proper body space. Often overly sensitive to sounds, tastes, smells, and sights, the person with AS may prefer soft clothing, certain foods, and be bothered by sounds or lights no one else seems to hear or see. It's important to remember that the person with AS perceives the world very differently. Therefore, many behaviors that seem odd or unusual are due to those neurological differences and not the result of intentional rudeness or bad behavior, and most certainly not the result of "improper parenting".

By definition, those with AS have a normal IQ and many individuals (although not all), exhibit exceptional skill or talent in a specific area. Because of their high degree of functionality and their naiveté, those with AS are often viewed as eccentric or odd and can easily become victims of teasing and bullying. While language development seems, on the surface, normal, individuals with AS often have deficits in pragmatics and prosody. Vocabularies may be extraordinarily rich and some children sound like "little professors." However, persons with AS can be extremely literal and have difficulty using language in a social context.

Source: http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/

I personally think that this syndrome is very interesting (take a while guess as to why :wink: ) but I was wondering what the rest of you think of this?

[Barry Desborough]

Did you spot this thread?

http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52418

Barry

[Peter Kirby]

I have a younger stepbrother who has been diagnosed with Aspergers. Among other things, he hides his medicines, and he always seems to be playing video games, never leaving the house. Aspergers always seems to be discussed in the context of children, particularly around 8-18. What about cases of adults with aspergers? Or can it be "cured"?

best,
Peter Kirby

[wfaber]

Never cured. Just have to work harder at functioning in society. It can be done. Ever hear of Einstein?

[Peter Kirby]

Never cured. Just have to work harder at functioning in society. It can be done. Ever hear of Einstein?

Yes, I've heard of Einstein. Was he diagnosed with something? Aspergers? By whom?

best,
Peter Kirby

[learning]

I heard Einstein had dyslexia. That a teacher told his mother, when he was young, that he was 'addled' whatever that meant. Eistein's mother took him out of that school and had him learn violin.

[wfaber]

Yes, I've heard of Einstein. Was he diagnosed with something? Aspergers? By whom?

best,
Peter Kirby

He never spoke until age three, a classic sign of autism. And he had an amazing ability to visualize the physical universe in a way nobody else was ever able to, without being taught it. I'm not aware that he was actually diagnosed, but some of the characteristics were there.

Psychologists are still debating on what the difference is between the two, if any. But autism tends to be more associated with lower IQ. Einstein didnt fit that criteria. Besides, AS wasn't even acknowledged until the DSM-IV came out, I think sometime around 1994. I could be wrong about that date.

Hans Asperger did his research back in the 1940s, and published his report in German. It never got translated until the 1970s. Meanwhile there were people living with unusual abilities in some areas while suffering severe social difficulties in other areas.

There are other historical figures who had unusual talents, but had emotional or social difficulty. Who knows? Vincent Van Gogh? Leonardo Da Vinci?

There is also high functioning autism. But is that different from AS? There is debate over that also. And a latent form, in which a child learns speech, then loses the ability to talk until he reaches about three years old.

[Nicholas]

There is also high functioning autism. But is that different from AS? There is debate over that also. And a latent form, in which a child learns speech, then loses the ability to talk until he reaches about three years old.

If I remember correctly it is considered a form of high functioning autism because most of those it affects have average or above average IQs.

[Iktovian]

t edison's schoolteacher said he was addled, and his mother took him out of school likewise.

yeah and kirby, if you as, or an IQ over 40, you wouldn't ask if it could be cured.
who else would look at einstein's head and say "can you fix it?"

[theseed]

I have a younger stepbrother who has been diagnosed with Aspergers. Among other things, he hides his medicines, and he always seems to be playing video games, never leaving the house. Aspergers always seems to be discussed in the context of children, particularly around 8-18. What about cases of adults with aspergers? Or can it be "cured"?

best,
Peter Kirby
It is a childhood/developmental disorder and probably has to be diagnosed before age 18, just like MR.

[Cynic Sage]

If it weren't for us Aspie's, nothing would ever get done, people would just go about chatting and "socializing" all the time. :lol:

But seriously, anybody here read anything by Jim Sinclair (http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/). I really like his article "Don't Mourn for Us (http://web.syr.edu/%7Ejisincla/dontmourn.htm)"




Parents often report that learning their child is autistic was the most traumatic thing that ever happened to them. Non-autistic people see autism as a great tragedy, and parents experience continuing disappointment and grief at all stages of the child's and family's life cycle.
But this grief does not stem from the child's autism in itself. It is grief over the loss of the normal child the parents had hoped and expected to have. Parents' attitudes and expectations, and the discrepancies between what parents expect of children at a particular age and their own child's actual development, cause more stress and anguish than the practical complexities of life with an autistic person. Some amount of grief is natural as parents adjust to the fact that an event and a relationship they've been looking forward to isn't going to materialize. But this grief over a fantasized normal child needs to be separated from the parents' perceptions of the child they do have: the autistic child who needs the support of adult caretakers and who can form very meaningful relationships with those caretakers if given the opportunity. Continuing focus on the child's autism as a source of grief is damaging for both the parents and the child, and precludes the development of an accepting and authentic relationship between them. For their own sake and for the sake of their children, I urge parents to make radical changes in their perceptions of what autism means.








I invite you to look at our autism, and look at your grief, from our perspective:Autism is not an appendage
Autism isn't something a person has, or a "shell" that a person is trapped inside. There's no normal child hidden behind the autism. Autism is a way of being. It is pervasive; it colors every experience, every sensation, perception, thought, emotion, and encounter, every aspect of existence. It is not possible to separate the autism from the person--and if it were possible, the person you'd have left would not be the same person you started with. This is important, so take a moment to consider it: Autism is a way of being. It is not possible to separate the person from the autism.




Therefore, when parents say,





"I wish my child did not have autism,"what they're really saying is,
"I wish the autistic child I have did not exist, and I had a different (non-autistic) child instead."Read that again. This is what we hear when you mourn over our existence. This is what we hear when you pray for a cure. This is what we know, when you tell us of your fondest hopes and dreams for us: that your greatest wish is that one day we will cease to be, and strangers you can love will move in behind our faces.
...

[Cynic Sage]

I personally think that this syndrome is very interesting (take a while guess as to why :wink: ) but I was wondering what the rest of you think of this?

Let me guess, you're an Aspie.

[theseed]

Johnny EC, it probably would have been better to just have posted the link, and save some memory space for the server and time for us dialup users. Then again, people are more likely to read it.

[Cynic Sage]

Johnny EC, it probably would have been better to just have posted the link, and save some memory space for the server and time for us dialup users. Then again, people are more likely to read it.

I just edited my last post and cut some of it off, hope that helps.:tongue:

[theseed]

Has anybody heard of Childhood Disingrative Disorder? It is a mentally dehabiltating disorder where a child begins with normal development, but then begins to regress intellectually, essentially their IQ's drop. It is associated with AS.

I onced worked at a psych. hospital and this little girl with AS had signs of CDD, and the Dr. was convinced that is what she had. There are only few hundred cases in the US, it is extremely rare.

[Blackstar]

Did you spot this thread?

http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52418

Barry

I posted on that thread about my son...I think he has a bit of this but when I saw about getting him dx they acted like it would be the worse thing ever and to wait on it...and also said most AS people you could tell right off the bat...that IF he had it, it was very mild...they seem to think alot of it is due to his anxiety....but how does anxiety cause senitivity to clothes and light (sometimes) and wanting things like the TV turned up so loud to drown out outside noises? Not too mention the other things I listed on that other thread...too tired to retype it all...sorry.

He is much easier to live with now that he doesn't freak out over change as much or something being different....but we still go around and around about what something, an item, animal, whatever, is called...I tend to use the wrong names apparently alot. Like calling a toad a frog then get letured on the difference... :ahem:

Instead of arguing with him now, I just say, you know what I meant..

Which he does...

God bless

[Cynic Sage]

He is much easier to live with now that he doesn't freak out over change as much or something being different....but we still go around and around about what something, an item, animal, whatever, is called...I tend to use the wrong names apparently alot. Like calling a toad a frog then get letured on the difference... :ahem:

Instead of arguing with him now, I just say, you know what I meant..

Which he does...

God bless

Yeah, I do. When I was young I was REALLY into Bats, always reading all sorts of books about 'em. One time, in elementary school we were supposed to bring a plushie in for a "class mascot election". I brought in a rubber Bat that I had personally stuffed with cotton balls. :lol: