Autism

Asperger Syndrome: What is it?

In 1944, an Austrian pediatrician named Hans Asperger observed four children in his practice who had difficulty interacting socially.  Although they appeared normal, the children lacked nonverbal communication skills, failed to demonstrate empathy with each other, and were physically clumsy.  Their way of speaking was either incoherent or overly formal, and their compulsive interest in a single topic dominated their conversations.    Dr. Asperger called the condition “autistic psychopathy” and described it as a personality disorder primarily marked by social isolation. Asperger’s observations, published in Germany, were not widely known until 1981, when an English doctor named Lorna Wing published a series of case studies of children showing similar symptoms, which she called “Asperger’s” syndrome.  Wing’s writings were widely published and popularized.  AS became a distinct disease in 1992 when it was included in the tenth published edition of the World Health Organization’s diagnostic manual. Today Asperger syndrome (AS) is a developmental disorder that is characterized by:

• limited interests or an unusual preoccupation with a particular subject to the exclusion of other activities such as repetitive routines or rituals,

• peculiarities in speech and language, such as speaking in an overly formal manner or in a monotone or taking figures of speech literally,

• socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior and the inability to interact with peers,

• clumsy and uncoordinated movements and problems with non-verbal communication, including the restricted use of gestures, facial expressions or even a gaze.

Scientist have further discovered that AS is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), one of a distinct group of neurological conditions characterized by a greater or lesser degree of impairment in language and communication skills, as well as repetitive or restrictive...