Asperger’s syndrome is a form of autism. It’s often known simply as A.S. Autism is a disorder of development that affects social and communication skills. Autism does not describe one disorder in particular. It appears in numerous forms as well as to many levels. Autistic Spectrum Disorder is the term usually used to refer to the entire range. On this spectrum comes the condition A.S. A.S is found among all races, nationalities and social classes; the name comes from a man named Hans Asperger who was an Austrian physician who first described the syndrome in 1944.
A.S has a pattern that includes:
- Lack of empathy not understanding social cures and others feelings
- Little ability to form friendship
- One sided conversations
- So focused on their own personal specific interest that there is no space for common interests suitable to their age
- “clumsy” movements in both their articulation and gross motor behaviour
- A love of routine - they are often upset when their routine changes unexpectedly
- Repetitive activities - children with A.S may well spin or watch objects spinning for a long time
- Sensitive to sensory touch, light and noise
People with A.S perceive the world differently from everybody else. They find the rest of us strange and baffling. (Attwood. 1998 p.86)
The way children with A.S perceive the world makes sense to them and they cannot change the way they think or act. However, with assistance, they are able to adjust their behaviour so as not to cause conflict and confusion with other children. Other children usually do not understand or put up with A.S behaviour. Children with A.S look “normal” and often have average or above average intelligence, but for some reason are not able to understand and relate to other people at a level one would expect for their age. Parents, teachers and their peer group often can’t understand why these children don’t want to interact with peers, or why they don’t seem to understand basic social cues. They can be assumed to be selfish, where as they are actually would just rather play by themselves with a special interest of their own. Children with A.S do not take much notice of the reaction of the people listening to them and may talk on regardless of the listener’s interest and may appear insensitive to their feelings. When A.S children are listening to others, jokes, exaggerated language and metaphors can cause confusion: for example a person with A.S may be frightened at statements like “she bit my head off” and take it quite literally.
The child with A.S does not see themselves as a member of a particular group; they follow their own interest rather than that of the other children in the class or playground which can lead to total social isolation.
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