Hypocrisy86
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Characteristics
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 activities and interests, and by no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or general delay in language.<sup id="cite_ref-BehaveNet_12-0" class="reference">[13]</sup> Intense preoccupation with a narrow subject, one-sided verbosity, restricted prosody and intonation, and motor clumsiness are typical of the condition, but are not required for diagnosis.<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-2" class="reference">[3]</sup>
Social interaction
The lack of demonstrated empathy is possibly the most dysfunctional aspect of Asperger syndrome.<sup id="cite_ref-Baskin_1-1" class="reference">[2]</sup> Individuals with AS experience difficulties in basic elements of social interaction, which may include a failure to develop friendships or enjoy spontaneous interests or achievements with others, a lack of social or emotional reciprocity, and impaired nonverbal behaviors such as eye contact, facial expression, posture, and gesture.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-1" class="reference">[1]</sup>
Unlike those with autism, people with AS are not usually withdrawn around others; they approach others, even if awkwardly, for example by engaging in a one-sided, long-winded speech about a favorite topic while being oblivious to the listener's feelings or reactions, such as signs of boredom or haste to leave.<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-3" class="reference">[3]</sup> This social awkwardness has been called "active but odd".<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-4" class="reference">[3]</sup> This failure to react appropriately to social interaction may appear as disregard for other people's feelings, and may come across as insensitive. The cognitive ability of children with AS often lets them articulate social norms in a laboratory context,<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-2" class="reference">[1]</sup> where they may be able to show a theoretical understanding of other people’s emotions; they typically have difficulty acting on this knowledge in fluid, real-life situations, however.<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-5" class="reference">[3]</sup> People with AS may analyze and distill their observation of social interaction into rigid behavioral guidelines and apply these rules in awkward ways—such as forced eye contact—resulting in demeanor that appears rigid or socially naïve. Childhood desires for companionship can be numbed through a history of failed social encounters.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-3" class="reference">[1]</sup>
The hypothesis that individuals with AS are predisposed to violent or criminal behavior has been investigated and found to be unsupported by data.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-4" class="reference">[1]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference">[14]</sup> More evidence suggests children with AS are victims rather than victimizers.<sup id="cite_ref-Tsatsanis_14-0" class="reference">[15]</sup>
Restricted and repetitive interests and behavior
Those with AS often display intense interests, such as this boy's fascination with molecular structure.
People with Asperger syndrome display behavior, interests, and activities that are restricted and repetitive and are sometimes abnormally intense or focused. They may stick to inflexible routines or rituals, move in stereotyped and repetitive ways, or preoccupy themselves with parts of objects.<sup id="cite_ref-BehaveNet_12-1" class="reference">[13]</sup>
Pursuit of specific and narrow areas of interest is one of the most striking features of AS.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-5" class="reference">[1]</sup> Individuals with AS may collect volumes of detailed information on a relatively narrow topic such as dinosaurs or deep fat fryers, without necessarily having genuine understanding of the broader topic.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-6" class="reference">[1]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-6" class="reference">[3]</sup> For example, a child might memorize camera model numbers while caring little about photography.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-7" class="reference">[1]</sup> This behavior is usually apparent by grade school, typically age 5 or 6 in the U.S.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-8" class="reference">[1]</sup> Although these special interests may change from time to time, they typically become more unusual and narrowly focused, and often dominate social interaction so much that the entire family may become immersed. Because topics such as dinosaurs often capture the interest of children, this symptom may go unrecognized.<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-7" class="reference">[3]</sup>
Stereotyped and repetitive motor behaviors are a core part of the diagnosis of AS and other ASDs.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference">[16]</sup> They include hand movements such as flapping or twisting, and complex whole-body movements.<sup id="cite_ref-BehaveNet_12-2" class="reference">[13]</sup> These are typically repeated in longer bursts and look more voluntary or ritualistic than tics, which are usually faster, less rhythmical and less often symmetrical.<sup id="cite_ref-RapinTS_16-0" class="reference">[17]</sup>
Speech and language
Although children with Asperger syndrome acquire language skills without significant general delay, and the speech of those with AS typically lacks significant abnormalities, language acquisition and use is often atypical.<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-8" class="reference">[3]</sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-9" class="reference">[1]</sup>
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 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 monitor 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.<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-9" class="reference">[3]</sup>
Children with AS may have an unusually sophisticated vocabulary at a young age and have been colloquially called "little professors", but have difficulty understanding figurative language and tend to use language literally.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-10" class="reference">[1]</sup> Individuals with AS appear to have particular weaknesses in areas of nonliteral language that include humor, irony, and teasing. They usually understand the cognitive basis of humor but may not enjoy it due to lack of understanding of its intent.<sup id="cite_ref-Kasari_9-1" class="reference">[10]</sup>
Other
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.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference">[18]</sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference">[19]</sup> Conversely, compared to individuals with HFA, individuals with AS have deficits in some tasks involving visual-spatial perception, auditory perception, or visual memory.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-11" class="reference">[1]</sup> 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, touch, texture, taste, smell, pain, temperature, and other stimuli, and they may exhibit synesthesia, for example, a smell may trigger perception of color;<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference">[20]</sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference">[21]</sup>
Hans Asperger’s initial accounts<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-12" class="reference">[1]</sup> and other diagnostic schemes<sup id="cite_ref-EhlGill_21-0" class="reference">[22]</sup> include descriptions of motor clumsiness. Children with AS may be delayed in acquiring motor skills that require motor dexterity, such as bicycle riding or opening a jar, and may appear awkward or "uncomfortable in their own skin". They may be poorly coordinated, or have an odd or bouncy gait or posture, poor handwriting, or problems with visual-motor integration.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-13" class="reference">[1]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-10" class="reference">[3]</sup> They may show problems with proprioception (sensation of body position) on measures of apraxia (motor planning disorder), balance, tandem gait, and finger-thumb apposition. There is no evidence that these motor skills problems differentiate AS from other high-functioning ASDs.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-14" class="reference">[1]</sup>
Children with AS are more likely to have sleep problems, including difficulty in falling asleep, frequent nocturnal awakenings, and early morning awakenings.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference">[23]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-Tani_23-0" class="reference">[24]</sup> AS is also associated with high levels of alexithymia, which is difficulty in identifying and describing one's emotions.<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference">[25]</sup> Although AS, lower sleep quality, and alexithymia are associated, their causal relationship is unclear.<sup id="cite_ref-Tani_23-1" class="reference">[24]</sup>
from wikipedia.org
link to full info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome
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 activities and interests, and by no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or general delay in language.<sup id="cite_ref-BehaveNet_12-0" class="reference">[13]</sup> Intense preoccupation with a narrow subject, one-sided verbosity, restricted prosody and intonation, and motor clumsiness are typical of the condition, but are not required for diagnosis.<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-2" class="reference">[3]</sup>
Social interaction
The lack of demonstrated empathy is possibly the most dysfunctional aspect of Asperger syndrome.<sup id="cite_ref-Baskin_1-1" class="reference">[2]</sup> Individuals with AS experience difficulties in basic elements of social interaction, which may include a failure to develop friendships or enjoy spontaneous interests or achievements with others, a lack of social or emotional reciprocity, and impaired nonverbal behaviors such as eye contact, facial expression, posture, and gesture.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-1" class="reference">[1]</sup>
Unlike those with autism, people with AS are not usually withdrawn around others; they approach others, even if awkwardly, for example by engaging in a one-sided, long-winded speech about a favorite topic while being oblivious to the listener's feelings or reactions, such as signs of boredom or haste to leave.<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-3" class="reference">[3]</sup> This social awkwardness has been called "active but odd".<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-4" class="reference">[3]</sup> This failure to react appropriately to social interaction may appear as disregard for other people's feelings, and may come across as insensitive. The cognitive ability of children with AS often lets them articulate social norms in a laboratory context,<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-2" class="reference">[1]</sup> where they may be able to show a theoretical understanding of other people’s emotions; they typically have difficulty acting on this knowledge in fluid, real-life situations, however.<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-5" class="reference">[3]</sup> People with AS may analyze and distill their observation of social interaction into rigid behavioral guidelines and apply these rules in awkward ways—such as forced eye contact—resulting in demeanor that appears rigid or socially naïve. Childhood desires for companionship can be numbed through a history of failed social encounters.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-3" class="reference">[1]</sup>
The hypothesis that individuals with AS are predisposed to violent or criminal behavior has been investigated and found to be unsupported by data.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-4" class="reference">[1]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference">[14]</sup> More evidence suggests children with AS are victims rather than victimizers.<sup id="cite_ref-Tsatsanis_14-0" class="reference">[15]</sup>
Restricted and repetitive interests and behavior
Those with AS often display intense interests, such as this boy's fascination with molecular structure.
People with Asperger syndrome display behavior, interests, and activities that are restricted and repetitive and are sometimes abnormally intense or focused. They may stick to inflexible routines or rituals, move in stereotyped and repetitive ways, or preoccupy themselves with parts of objects.<sup id="cite_ref-BehaveNet_12-1" class="reference">[13]</sup>
Pursuit of specific and narrow areas of interest is one of the most striking features of AS.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-5" class="reference">[1]</sup> Individuals with AS may collect volumes of detailed information on a relatively narrow topic such as dinosaurs or deep fat fryers, without necessarily having genuine understanding of the broader topic.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-6" class="reference">[1]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-6" class="reference">[3]</sup> For example, a child might memorize camera model numbers while caring little about photography.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-7" class="reference">[1]</sup> This behavior is usually apparent by grade school, typically age 5 or 6 in the U.S.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-8" class="reference">[1]</sup> Although these special interests may change from time to time, they typically become more unusual and narrowly focused, and often dominate social interaction so much that the entire family may become immersed. Because topics such as dinosaurs often capture the interest of children, this symptom may go unrecognized.<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-7" class="reference">[3]</sup>
Stereotyped and repetitive motor behaviors are a core part of the diagnosis of AS and other ASDs.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference">[16]</sup> They include hand movements such as flapping or twisting, and complex whole-body movements.<sup id="cite_ref-BehaveNet_12-2" class="reference">[13]</sup> These are typically repeated in longer bursts and look more voluntary or ritualistic than tics, which are usually faster, less rhythmical and less often symmetrical.<sup id="cite_ref-RapinTS_16-0" class="reference">[17]</sup>
Speech and language
Although children with Asperger syndrome acquire language skills without significant general delay, and the speech of those with AS typically lacks significant abnormalities, language acquisition and use is often atypical.<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-8" class="reference">[3]</sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-9" class="reference">[1]</sup>
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 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 monitor 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.<sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-9" class="reference">[3]</sup>
Children with AS may have an unusually sophisticated vocabulary at a young age and have been colloquially called "little professors", but have difficulty understanding figurative language and tend to use language literally.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-10" class="reference">[1]</sup> Individuals with AS appear to have particular weaknesses in areas of nonliteral language that include humor, irony, and teasing. They usually understand the cognitive basis of humor but may not enjoy it due to lack of understanding of its intent.<sup id="cite_ref-Kasari_9-1" class="reference">[10]</sup>
Other
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.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference">[18]</sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference">[19]</sup> Conversely, compared to individuals with HFA, individuals with AS have deficits in some tasks involving visual-spatial perception, auditory perception, or visual memory.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-11" class="reference">[1]</sup> 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, touch, texture, taste, smell, pain, temperature, and other stimuli, and they may exhibit synesthesia, for example, a smell may trigger perception of color;<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference">[20]</sup> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference">[21]</sup>
Hans Asperger’s initial accounts<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-12" class="reference">[1]</sup> and other diagnostic schemes<sup id="cite_ref-EhlGill_21-0" class="reference">[22]</sup> include descriptions of motor clumsiness. Children with AS may be delayed in acquiring motor skills that require motor dexterity, such as bicycle riding or opening a jar, and may appear awkward or "uncomfortable in their own skin". They may be poorly coordinated, or have an odd or bouncy gait or posture, poor handwriting, or problems with visual-motor integration.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-13" class="reference">[1]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-Klin_2-10" class="reference">[3]</sup> They may show problems with proprioception (sensation of body position) on measures of apraxia (motor planning disorder), balance, tandem gait, and finger-thumb apposition. There is no evidence that these motor skills problems differentiate AS from other high-functioning ASDs.<sup id="cite_ref-McPartland_0-14" class="reference">[1]</sup>
Children with AS are more likely to have sleep problems, including difficulty in falling asleep, frequent nocturnal awakenings, and early morning awakenings.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference">[23]</sup><sup id="cite_ref-Tani_23-0" class="reference">[24]</sup> AS is also associated with high levels of alexithymia, which is difficulty in identifying and describing one's emotions.<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference">[25]</sup> Although AS, lower sleep quality, and alexithymia are associated, their causal relationship is unclear.<sup id="cite_ref-Tani_23-1" class="reference">[24]</sup>
from wikipedia.org
link to full info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome
