Asperger's Syndrome

By Kim and Karin

Asperger's Syndrome belongs to the autistic spectrum. It is not curable and approximately 0.5-2,0 % of the population have the syndrome. Bequeathing is probable because Asperger's Syndrome often appears in families with autistic backgrounds. A high testosterone mirrow in the uterus of the mother may cause the syndrome or autism. More boys than girls have the syndrome. In many cases the GP does not have specific knowledge to detect the syndrome. Therefore, many people have it without even knowing. Some famous people with Asperger's Syndrome are Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, Glenn Gloud, John Nash, Steve Case, Thelonious Monk, T. S. Eliot, Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson. Source: http://www.aspergia.de/

Children

Children with the Aperger's Syndrome show a special behaviour (compare the list of symptoms and troubles). They are clumsy at sports and cannot build up social contact. Their language is fully acquired but they may sound very naïve or exaggerated, sometimes pedantic or too formal. They tend to repeat a lot. Usually these children spend all their time on one favourite hobby and neglect other things. They have less or no friends as they lack empathy. Girls and boys who have got the Asperger's Syndrome show different behaviour. Girls are very shy and afraid of contact, less aggressive than boys and they can compensate their missing social behaviour more than boys.

Adults

Many adults with the Asperger's Syndrome have learned to deal with it and to hide many disturbances. Nevertheless, it is hard for them to get social contacts. Superficial conversations are very difficult and they cannot understand jokes or irony. They cannot interpret gestures, voices or other nonverbal signals. It is hard for them to make the correct decision when dealing with other people because many impressions must be assimilated at the same time.

Causes

Asperger's Syndrome is a neurological disturbance and has organic causes. The exact cause is not known, yet, but it is certainly not caused by wrong education, lacking care of parents, traumata, and so on. The three most probable causes are: genetic reasons development disturbance of the neural nets neuropsychological deficits

Symptoms and troubles

Their social behaviour: They have an impaired social behaviour They don't feel secure during conversations with others They don't have much empathy They can hardly make or keep in touch with other people They are extremely shy They can't interpret faces They avoid body contact They often have no friends They tend to be very honest Their special skills: They are usually interested in mathematics and science They are good at thinking logically Their disturbances: They can have motor disturbances, bipolar disturbances, traumatic stress disturbances, sensory integration disturbances, eating disturbances, coercive disturbances Other symptoms: They often have migraine They can be depressive They can get phobias They can have insomnia (sleeplessness) Special behaviour: They can develop Tics They need much routine and usually stick to strict time tables source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger-Syndrom