Aspergers syndrome
Alternative Names
Asperger's syndrome, Asperger disorder (ASD)What is Aspergers syndrome
Asperger’s syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), characterized by problems in interaction with people. It has connections with linguistic and cognitive development. Asperger’s syndrome is named in the memory of the Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger who worked on the problem of children lacking nonverbal communication skills, demonstrated limited empathy with their peers and were physically clumsy.
Signs and symptoms
The symptoms of this disease include:
- engaging in one-sided, long-winded conversations, without noticing if the listener is listening or trying to change the subject
- displaying unusual nonverbal communication, such as lack of eye contact, few facial expressions or awkward body postures and gestures
- showing an intense obsession with one or two specific, narrow subjects, such as baseball statistics, train schedules, weather or snakes
- appearing not to understand, empathize with or be sensitive to others' feelings
- having a hard time "reading" other people or understanding humor
- speaking in a voice that is monotonous, rigid or unusually fast
- moving clumsily, with poor coordination
Possible complications
Asperger’s syndrome can cause the following complications:
- psychosis
- mood problems
- depression
- anxiety
- psychosocial difficulties
What causes
It is not clear what can cause the disease but the possible reasons include:
- changes in certain genes
- changes in the structure of the brain
Prevention
You cannot do much to prevent this disease because it is still not investigated properly. Some scientists suggest protecting the fetus against oxygen deprivation during childbirth.
Treatment
It is important to discuss the treatment with the doctor.
The most common therapies include:
- efforts to reduce overstimulation or overload of sensory input
- supporting executive function skills by provision of an environment that is predictable, structured, and organized
- organization skills training
- speech/language therapy that addresses the ambiguous use of language and the use of language in social settings
- social skills training programs, including training in the awareness of social cognition, use of gestures and facial expressions and conversational language
- adaptive skills or life-skills training
- educational supports such as assistance with organization, note-taking, allowing oral rather than written testing, use of scripts, and assistance with reading comprehension and subtlety of language use
- self-advocacy training
There are some medications that may be effective in the treatment of Asperger’s syndrome:
- aripiprazole (Abilify)
- guanfacine (Intuniv)
- selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
- risperidone (Risperdal)
- olanzapine (Zyprexa)
- naltrexone (Revia)
