Asbergers Syndrome

Asbergers Syndrome can be difficult to diagnose as there are no blood or physical tests for the disorder, but rather diagnosis is done based on behavior. Aspergers is a member of the Autism Spectrum Disorder and is sometimes referred to as ‘high functioning Autism’ because the symptoms are not as severe and so those with Aspergers can function much better than those with full Autism.

There are three main areas of symptoms to be considered for a diagnoses of Asbergers.

1. Lacking in Social Interaction

2. Lack in Communication Skills

3. Repetitive Patterns of Behavior and/or Obsessive Behavior

Asbergers Symptoms will vary from person to person and so not all sufferers will display all of the symptoms and those symptoms present will also vary in severity.

1. Lacking In Social Interaction

Many Aspergers sufferers will find it difficult to interact with other people of the same age group. They will often find it difficult to hold eye contact and will not show a lot of body language. As well as not showing a lot of body language or expression, they also find it difficult to interpret other people’s body language and facial expressions. As a result, an Asperger sufferer will often take matters much more seriously than they are and may not understand jokes and can sometimes be insulted or upset by them.

Asperger sufferers will also appear to lack empathy and will look at life from a tunnel vision view. They see life from their own perspective and find it difficult to see situations from the perspective of another person. They can often be seen as selfish because of this, but it is something that just cannot be helped.

2. Lack In Communication Skills

Although many Asperger sufferers will have a good range of language, they often talk in the same tone or pitch and as a result it can sometimes be difficult to read their meaning. Some sufferers will also have repetitive speech patterns.

A lot of Aspergers just find it hard to communicate in general and as a result may seem shy or reserved. Often they will prefer to sit and play or study something they are interested in rather than join in with a group conversation.

3. Repetitive Patterns of Behavior and/or Obsessive Behavior

This is one of the common Autistic behaviors, where a sufferer will develop repetitive behaviors. This, like the other symptoms, will vary from person to person and can include behaviors such as repetitive hand flapping, repetitive speech or repetitive routines.

Many Asbergers like to stick to specific routines and can become quite upset if that routine is disrupted.

Obsessive behaviors are also quite common and can also vary in severity from one person to another. Obsessive behaviors may include things like a person being obsessed with a toy or activity, like trains for example, and they will only want to talk about that one thing regardless of whether anyone else is interested in it or not. This one obsession will consume all of their focus and they are not easily removed from it.

Conclusion

As Asbergers sufferers can often appear to be perfectly normal in many ways, it can be difficult to get a diagnosis as some of the symptoms can be quite normal, or close to normal. A person will need to show symptoms from all groups to get an actual diagnosis.

With some people the symptoms can be quite severe and they can often be diagnosed quite quickly and obviously. As a parent, if you think that your child’s behavior goes a bit beyond normal behaviors and suspect that he or she may have a disorder such as Aspergers then it is important to consult a professional and get a diagnosis. The earlier that you can find out what causes your child’s behavior, the earlier you can learn the best ways to deal with it.

Click here to learn more about helping a child with Aspergers

Comments are closed.