ASPERGER’S

SYNDROME
Vicente V. Panganiban
WHICH IS WHICH...
BASICS OF ASPERGERS (DSM IV
TR)
DSM-IV DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR ASPERGER'S DISORDER
A. Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as
manifested by at least two of the following:

(1) marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors

such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and
gestures to regulate social interaction

(2) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to

developmental level

(3) a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests,

or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing,
bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people)

(4) lack of social or emotional reciprocity

BASICS OF ASPERGERS (DSM IV
TR)
DSM-IV DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR ASPERGER'S DISORDER

B. Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of

behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at
least one of the following:
(1) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped
and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in
intensity or focus

(2) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional

routines or rituals

(3) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or

finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)

(4) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

BASICS OF ASPERGERS (DSM IV
TR)
DSM-IV DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR
ASPERGER'S DISORDER

C.The disturbance causes clinically significant

impairment in social, occupational, or other
important areas of functioning.

D.There is no clinically significant general

delay in language (e.g., single words used by
age 2 years, communicative phrases used by
age 3 years).
BASICS OF ASPERGERS (DSM IV
TR)
DSM-IV DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR ASPERGER'S
DISORDER

E. There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive

development or in the development of age-
appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior
(other than in social interaction), and curiosity
about the environment
in childhood.

F. Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive

Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia.
 ASPERGER’S DISCOVERY
 Named after the Austrian pediatrician Hans
Asperger (1906–1980), Asperger syndrome is
a relatively new diagnosis in the field of
autism.

 As a child, Asperger appears to have

exhibited some features of the very
condition named after him, such as
remoteness and talent in language;
photographs taken during his seminal work
show that he had an earnest face with an
intense gaze.
 ASPERGER’S DISCOVERY

 In 1944, Asperger described four children in

his practice who had difficulty in integrating
themselves socially. The children lacked
nonverbal communication skills, failed to
demonstrate empathy with their peers, and
were physically clumsy.

 Asperger called the condition "autistic

psychopathy" and described it as primarily
marked by social isolation.
 ASPERGER’S DISCOVERY

 Asperger also called his young patients "little

professors", and believed some would be capable of
exceptional achievement and original thought later
in life. His paper was published during wartime and
in German, so it was not widely read elsewhere.

 Lorna Wing popularized the term Asperger

syndrome in the English-speaking medical
community in her 1981 publication of a series of
case studies of children showing similar symptoms,
and Uta Frith translated Asperger's paper to English
in 1991.
 ASPERGER’S DISCOVERY

 Sets of diagnostic criteria were outlined by Gillberg

and Gillberg in 1989 and by Szatmari et al. in the
same year.

 AS became a standard diagnosis in 1992, when it

was included in the tenth edition of the World
Health Organization's diagnostic manual,
International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10); in
1994, it was added to the fourth edition of the
American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic
reference, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).
 WHAT WE OUGHT TO KNOW...
 The lack of demonstrated empathy is possibly the
most dysfunctional aspect of 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, and
impaired nonverbal behaviors in areas such as eye
contact, facial expression, posture, and gesture.
WHAT WE OUGHT TO KNOW...
 People with Asperger syndrome often display
behavior, interests, and activities that are
restricted and repetitive and are sometimes
abnormally intense or focused. They may
stick to inflexible routines, move in
stereotyped and repetitive ways, or
preoccupy themselves with parts of objects.
WHAT WE OUGHT TO KNOW...
 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.
ASPERGER’S TRIVIA
 What is the usual IQ range of people with
Asperger's Syndrome?

100+. People with Asperger's Syndrome have

as a characteristic an IQ from what is
considered normal (IQ 100,) to very high
quotients of 130+.
ASPERGER’S TRIVIA

 What was the first name of the doctor who found out
about the condition?

Hans. Hans Asperger was an Austrian psychiatrist and was

also a well respected pediatrician. Mr. Asperger called his
younger patients diagnosed with the condition "little
professors." Asperger's Syndrome was only recorded in 1994 in
the,'Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -
4th Edition,." This means that many people born before that
date were not diagnosed with the condition and were seen as
nothing more than very intelligent people with a touch of
eccentricity. Famous people suspected as having the
condition include Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates as well as
Albert Einstein, the world famous physicist.
 ASPERGER’S TRIVIA

 Which of these is a trait shown by many people with Asperger's?

Limited though intense interests. People with Asperger's have a

limited number of interests and hobbies, but study and participate
in those specific activities intensely, sometimes to the detriment of
ALL other activities. Many of the subjects that fascinate people
with Asperger's are unusual to say the least. They include topics
such as memorising lists of Malaysian foreign ministers from
independence up to and including the present. (You can imagine
the face of a parent when their 7 year old child comes to them and
regurgitates those sort of facts.)
 ASPERGER’S TRIVIA
 Which of the following may cause anxiety and distress
to a person with Asperger's?

Change of routine. Routine is much liked amongst people

with Asperger's and a break in that routine can become a
problem. There are no links between anxiety levels
amongst the Asperger's community and unhygienic people.
Some sufferers may have motor defects and appear clumsy
and may therefore dislike exercise and, finally, solitude is
something that is craved and is more likely to comfort
people with Asperger's than be a cause of distress.
ASPERGER’S TRIVIA
 Which of the following traits do the majority of people with
Asperger's Syndrome also have?

Hyperlexia is a condition which has two main characteristics.

Firstly, children with hyperlexia have a precocious vocabulary
which grows into a vocabulary far superior to the normal
adult. Secondly, and also the disadvantage relating to
hyperlexia, is the below-normal ability to comprehend the
nuances and verbal aspects of their language. People with
hyperlexia can learn to recite the alphabet shortly after their
first birthday, read individual words by the age of 2 and have
the amazing ability to read sentences and paragraphs by the
age of 3. Though the majority of people with AS have
hyperlexia, the other three answers are possibilities, as due to
other circumstances, illiteracy and dyslexia are both plausible
as well as the possibility of having normal literacy traits.
ASPERGER’S TRIVIA
 Which of the following traits do the majority of people with
Asperger's Syndrome also have?

Hyperlexia is a condition which has two main characteristics. Firstly,

children with hyperlexia have a precocious vocabulary which grows into
a vocabulary far superior to the normal adult. Secondly, and also the
disadvantage relating to hyperlexia, is the below-normal ability to
comprehend the nuances and verbal aspects of their language. People
with hyperlexia can learn to recite the alphabet shortly after their first
birthday, read individual words by the age of 2 and have the amazing
ability to read sentences and paragraphs by the age of 3. Though the
majority of people with AS have hyperlexia, the other three answers
are possibilities, as due to other circumstances, illiteracy and dyslexia
are both plausible as well as the possibility of having normal literacy
traits.
ASPERGER’S TRIVIA
 People with Asperger's Syndrome are generally
hypersensitive to touch, smells, sounds, tastes
and light.

Sometimes this oversensitivity can result in

conditions such as hyperacusis, (though this is
rare,) which causes the sufferer to be
oversensitive to some to all frequencies of sound.
Other incidents of oversensitivity includes people
with Asperger's eating only certain foods due to
their dislike of certain food textures.
ASPERGER’S TRIVIA
 In the past, children with Asperger's Syndrome have
been misdiagnosed as having attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder or ADHD.

As well as the misdiagnosis of ADHD, Asperger sufferers

have also been told that they have had oppositional defiant
disorder, antisocial personality disorder, Tourette's
syndrome and many others. It is possible that a person can
have Asperger's and another condition concurrently such as
dysgraphia, the difficulty and in extreme cases the inability
to produce legible handwriting.
ASPERGER’S TRIVIA

 Which of the following is a noticeable trait regarding the voice

of a person with Asperger's?
Monotony. Another trait of Asperger's is the monotony of a
person's voice. It usually lacks enthusiasm and emotion and is
usually repetitive. This is not to say that a dramatic voice is
never seen amongst the Asperger's community but it is not as
common as a monotonous voice.

 People suffering from Asperger's Syndrome are prone to

depression.
Depression has been linked to Asperger's Syndrome and in fact,
many people have been misdiagnosed and told that they had
been suffering from bipolar disorder.
Satoshi Tajiri
born on August 28, 1965)
is a Japanese electronic game designer and the creator of
Pocket Monsters, better known as Pokémon. Tajiri went to
work for Nintendo and spent the next six years working on
Pokémon. He became friends with Shigeru Miyamoto, the
creator of Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Pikmin, and Donkey
Kong, who also became a mentor to Tajiri. Satoshi Tajiri has
allegedly been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. He has
been described by Nintendo officials as exceedingly creative
but "reclusive" and "eccentric

Gary Mckinnon
(February 10, 1966)
is a Scottish hacker facing extradition to the United
States on charges of perpetrating what one US
prosecutor claims is the "biggest military computer
hack of all time" McKinnon had been diagnosed with
Asperger's syndrome. His diagnosis was made in August
2008 by the Cambridge University psychologist Prof
Simon Baron-Cohen. The computer networks he is
accused of hacking include networks owned by NASA,
the US Army, US Navy, Department of Defense, and
the US Air Force.