Asperger's Syndrome

The Asperger's syndrome, an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a disorder in which the patient has problems in interacting with people. His behavior patterns are repetitive or stereotypes. Physical clumsiness is another behavioral characteristic of a person with this syndrome. However, it is different from disorders like dyslexia. The Asperger's syndrome was named after Hans Asperger, an Austrian pediatrician in 1944. The Asperger's syndrome though, was standardized as a separate diagnosis method, there is still a doubt about, it being different from the high-functioning autism (HFA). The exact cause behind this syndrome is not yet known; however, as per the research and studies carried out, genetic inheritance might be one of them.

Behavioral Characteristics
The Asperger's syndrome doesn't show a peculiar symptom. It is displayed or exhibited in the form of a range or pattern of behaviors. While interacting in the society, the patients lack in developing friendship and social reciprocity. Their body language shows impairment in posture, gesture, facial expression and eye contact. Unlike the autistic people who avoid interacting in the society, those having the Asperger's syndrome do interact with people, but in an awkward manner. While communicating they lack the quality known as 'empathy'. They may continue speaking without checking whether the listener is interested in their speech or not.

Repetitive behavior and interest in 'narrow topics' is another characteristic shown by the people with Asperger's syndrome. A 'narrow topic' can be an area of interest of the patient or just any other thing to which he gives excessive attention. The behavior can be summarized as the inability of seeing things with a broad view or perspective.

Learning a language is not a problem for these people and it doesn't require undue time. However, they show some abnormalities while speaking. Some of these abnormalities are abrupt transitions, mis comprehension of nuance and verbosity - use of words in excess.

Possible Causes
Genetic inheritance is considered to be one of the reasons in the development of the Asperger's syndrome in an individual; though, no particular gene has been found responsible for this syndrome. Many factors are considered to be responsible for autistic behavior. Asperger's syndrome has a genetic component that is far stronger than other autistic disorders. As opposed to the spectrum of autistic disorders, Asperger's syndrome stands out in a manner, that the development of the brain is altered soon after conception.

Diagnosing Asperger's Syndrome
To know whether a person suffers from Asperger's syndrome, his social behavior, body language and speech are checked. If the person shows impairment in his social behavior along with repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior the person might be suffering from Asperger's syndrome. Generally diagnosis is done between 7 to 11 years of age. It is difficult to detect the syndrome in adults.

Treatment
While treating Asperger's syndrome, the patient's communication skill improve. They also learn some vocational skills. It helps the patient learn things that were left out or skipped during his early phase of learning. The activities described above helps reduce the stress of the patient. Very little data is available on the effectiveness or efficacy of the treatment given to the patients. A standard program to treat the Asperger's syndrome, however, includes the following activities.

• Training the patients to improve their interpersonal skills.
• The 'Cognitive Behavior Therapy' to deal with disorders related to anxiety, repetitive behavior and obsessive interests is used.
• For major disorders such as depression, the patient is given medication.
• Physical therapy helps the patients in attaining 'motor co-ordination' and 'sensory integration'.
• Speech therapy plays an important role in helping the patient develop communication skills.

Parents can play a crucial role in motivating and supporting the child suffering from Asperger's syndrome. A good support system at home itself, will ease the process of transition for the child from the home environment to social life. It is important that self esteem of the child grows day-by-day. Apart from the therapies and techniques used to treat or manage this syndrome, the patient needs a lot of mental support, care and love.