Asperger Syndrome
Previously considered a condition within intellectual disabilities, Asperger syndrome (AS) is now classified as a neurological impairment.
While individuals with AS typically have average or above-average intelligence, some may experience specific intellectual or learning difficulties.
At its core Asperger Syndrome is a developmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour and interests.
Despite falling in the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) it differs from other similar disorders being distinguished by normal language and intelligence.
Although not required for diagnosis, physical clumsiness and unusual use of language are common. Symptoms usually begin before two years old and can last for a person’s entire life.
This is what you need to know:
What Are You Looking For?
1. About Asperger Syndrome
2. Classification
3. Characteristics
i. Social Interaction
II. Speech and Language
III. Motor and Sensory Perception
4. Causes
5. Diagnosis
6. Management
i. Medications
7. Prognosis
1. About Asperger Syndrome
Asperger syndrome (AS) is a developmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour and interests.
It is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and differs from other disorders by relatively normal language and intelligence. Although not required for diagnosis, physical clumsiness and unusual use of language are common. Symptoms usually begin before two years old and can last for a person’s entire life.
The exact cause of Asperger’s is unknown. While there is likely a genetic basis it has not been determined. Environmental factors are also believed to play a role. There is no single treatment, and the effectiveness of particular interventions is supported by only limited data.
Treatment is aimed at improving poor communication skills; obsessive or repetitive routines and physical clumsiness.
Treatment efforts include: social skills training; cognitive behavioural therapy; physical therapy; speech therapy; parenting training and medications for associated problems such as depression or anxiety. Most children improve as they grow up, but social and communication difficulties may persist.
Most children improve as they grow up, but social and communication difficulties may persist, but social and communication difficulties may persist. Some researchers and people on the autism spectrum have advocated a shift in attitudes toward the view that autism spectrum disorder is a difference, rather than a disease that must be treated or cured. In 2013, Asperger’s was estimated to affect 31 million people globally , but the percentage of people affected is not firmly established.
2. Classification
The extent of the overlap between AS and high-functioning autism (HFA—autism unaccompanied by intellectual disability) is unclear. The ASD classification is to some extent an artifact of how autism was discovered, and may not reflect the true nature of the spectrum, methodological problems have beset Asperger syndrome as a valid diagnosis from the outset.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Asperger syndrome (AS) as one of the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), which are a spectrum of psychological conditions that are characterized by abnormalities of social interaction and communication that pervade the individual’s functioning, and by restricted and repetitive interests and behaviour.
3. Characteristics
As a pervasive developmental disorder, Asperger syndrome is distinguished by a pattern of symptoms rather than a single symptom. It is characterized by qualitative impairment in social interaction, by stereotyped and restricted patterns of behaviour, activities and interests, and by no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or general delay in language. Intense preoccupation with a narrow subject, one-sided verbosity, restricted prosody, and physical clumsiness are typical of the condition, but are not required for diagnosis.
i. Social interaction
Asperger syndrome and interpersonal relationships
A lack of demonstrated empathy has an impact on aspects of communal living for persons with Asperger syndrome. Individuals with AS experience difficulties in basic elements of social interaction, which may include a failure to develop friendships or to seek shared enjoyments or achievements with others (for example, showing others objects of interest), a lack of social or emotional reciprocity (social “games” give-and-take mechanic), and impaired nonverbal behaviours in areas such as eye contact, facial expression, posture, and gesture.
People with AS may not be as withdrawn around others, compared with those with other, more debilitating forms of autism; they approach others, even if awkwardly.
For example, a person with AS may engage in a one-sided, long-winded speech about a favorite topic, while misunderstanding or not recognizing the listener’s feelings or reactions, such as a wish to change the topic of talk or end the interaction. This social awkwardness has been called “active but odd”.
ii. Speech and Language
Although individuals with Asperger syndrome acquire language skills without significant general delay and their speech typically lacks significant abnormalities, language acquisition and use is often atypical. Abnormalities include verbosity, abrupt transitions, literal interpretations and miscomprehension of nuance, use of metaphor meaningful only to the speaker, auditory perception deficits, unusually pedantic, formal or idiosyncratic speech, and oddities in loudness, pitch, intonation, prosody, and rhythm. Echolalia has also been observed in individuals with AS.
Three aspects of communication patterns are of clinical interest: poor prosody, tangential and circumstantial speech, and marked verbosity. Although inflection and intonation may be less rigid or monotonic than in classic autism, people with AS often have a limited range of intonation: speech may be unusually fast, jerky or loud.

Speech may convey a sense of incoherence; the conversational style often includes monologues about topics that bore the listener, fails to provide context for comments, or fails to suppress internal thoughts. Individuals with AS may fail to detect whether the listener is interested or engaged in the conversation. The speaker’s conclusion or point may never be made, and attempts by the listener to elaborate on the speech’s content or logic, or to shift to related topics, are often unsuccessful.
iii. Motor and sensory perception
Individuals with Asperger syndrome may have signs or symptoms that are independent of the diagnosis, but can affect the individual or the family. These include differences in perception and problems with motor skills, sleep, and emotions.
Individuals with AS often have excellent auditory and visual perception. Children with ASD often demonstrate enhanced perception of small changes in patterns such as arrangements of objects or well-known images; typically this is domain-specific and involves processing of fine-grained features.
Conversely, compared with individuals with high-functioning autism, individuals with AS have deficits in some tasks involving visual-spatial perception, auditory perception, or visual memory.
Many accounts of individuals with AS and ASD report other unusual sensory and perceptual skills and experiences. They may be unusually sensitive or insensitive to sound, light, and other stimuli; these sensory responses are found in other developmental disorders and are not specific to AS or to ASD. There is little support for increased fight-or-flight response or failure of habituation in autism; there is more evidence of decreased responsiveness to sensory stimuli, although several studies show no differences.
4. Causes
Evidence for a genetic link is the tendency for AS to run in families and an observed higher incidence of family members who have behavioural symptoms similar to AS but in a more limited form (for example, slight difficulties with social interaction, language, or reading).
Most research suggests that all autism spectrum disorders have shared genetic mechanisms, but AS may have a stronger genetic component than autism.
There is probably a common group of genes where particular alleles render an individual vulnerable to developing AS.
If this is the case, the particular combination of alleles would determine the severity and symptoms for each individual with AS.
A few ASD cases have been linked to exposure to teratogens (agents that cause birth defects) during the first eight weeks from conception. Although this does not exclude the possibility that ASD can be initiated or affected later, it is strong evidence that it arises very early in development. Many environmental factors have been hypothesized to act after birth, but none has been confirmed by scientific investigation.
5. Diagnosis
Standard diagnostic criteria require impairment in social interaction and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour, activities and interests, without significant delay in language or cognitive development. Unlike the international standard, the DSM-IV-TR criteria also required significant impairment in day-to-day functioning.
Diagnosis is most commonly made between the ages of four and eleven. A comprehensive assessment involves a multidisciplinary team that observes across multiple settings, and includes neurological and genetic assessment as well as tests for cognition, psychomotor function, verbal and nonverbal strengths and weaknesses, style of learning, and skills for Delayed or mistaken diagnosis can be traumatic for individuals and families; for example, misdiagnosis can lead to medications that worsen behavior. Many children with AS are initially misdiagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis may be problems. The cost and difficulty of screening and assessment can delay diagnosis.
Conversely, the increasing popularity of drug treatment options and the expansion of benefits has motivated providers to overdiagnose ASD. There are indications AS has been diagnosed more frequently in recent years, partly as a residual diagnosis for children of normal intelligence who are not autistic but have social difficulties.
6. Management

Asperger syndrome treatment attempts to manage distressing symptoms and to teach age-appropriate social, communication and vocational skills that are not naturally acquired during development, with intervention tailored to the needs of the individual based on multidisciplinary assessment. Although progress has been made, data supporting the efficacy of particular interventions are limited.
The ideal treatment for AS coordinates therapies that address core symptoms of the disorder, including poor communication skills and obsessive or repetitive routines. While most professionals agree that the earlier the intervention, the better, there is no single best treatment package. AS treatment resembles that of other high-functioning ASDs, except that it takes into account the linguistic capabilities, verbal strengths, and nonverbal vulnerabilities of individuals with AS.
A typical program generally includes:
i. Medications
No medications directly treat the core symptoms of AS.
Although research into the efficacy of pharmaceutical intervention for AS is limited, Medication can be effective in combination with behavioural interventions and environmental accommodations in treating comorbid symptoms such as anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, inattention and aggression.
The atypical antipsychotic medications risperidone and olanzapine have been shown to reduce the associated symptoms of AS; risperidone can reduce repetitive and self-injurious behaviors, aggressive outbursts and impulsivity, and improve stereotypical patterns of behavior and social relatedness. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, and sertraline have been effective in treating restricted and repetitive interests and behaviors.
7. Prognosis
There is some evidence that children with AS may see a lessening of symptoms; up to 20% of children may no longer meet the diagnostic criteria as adults, although social and communication difficulties may persist. Individuals with AS appear to have normal life expectancy, but have an increased prevalence of comorbid psychiatric conditions, such as major depressive disorder and anxiety disorder that may significantly affect prognosis.
Although social impairment may be lifelong, the outcome is generally more positive than with individuals with lower functioning autism spectrum disorders, for example, ASD symptoms are more likely to diminish with time in children with AS or HFA. Most students with AS/HFA have average mathematical ability and test slightly worse in mathematics than in general intelligence, but some are gifted in mathematics and AS has not prevented some adults from major accomplishments
Although many attend regular education classes, some children with AS may utilize special education services because of their social and behavioral difficulties. Adolescents with AS may exhibit ongoing difficulty with self care or organization, and disturbances in social and romantic relationships. Despite high cognitive potential, most young adults with AS remain at home, yet some do marry and work independently
People identifying with Asperger syndrome may refer to themselves in casual conversation as aspies.
The Internet has allowed individuals with AS to communicate with each other in a way that was not previously possible because of their rarity and geographic dispersal. A subculture of aspies has formed. Internet sites like Wrong Planet have made it easier for individuals to connect.
Autistic people have advocated a shift in perception of autism spectrum disorders as complex syndromes rather than diseases that must be cured.
Proponents of this view reject the notion that there is an “ideal” brain configuration and that any deviation from the norm is pathological; they promote tolerance for what they call neurodiversity. These views are the basis for the autistic rights and autistic pride movements.
There is a contrast between the attitude of adults with self-identified AS, who typically do not want to be cured and are proud of their identity, and parents of children with AS, who typically seek assistance and a cure for their children.