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Asperger Overview
Asperger Syndrome (AS), called Asperger disorder in the DSM-IV-TR, is
similar to autism, except that individuals with AS do not demonstrate
the severe impairments in speech and language evident in those with
autism (APA, 2000). That is, they generally speak in one-word utterances
by age 2 and phrases by age 3, but they do have socio-communicative
impairments. In addition, individuals with AS are rarely also diagnosed
with mental retardation. Impairments characteristic of AS fall within
two categories: (a) social skills and (b) repetitive, restrictive, and
stereotyped behavior. Each of these areas will be discussed briefly.
Social
Skills
Social skill
impairment is the primary area of deficit in individuals with AS (APA,
2000). The social skill criteria for AS is the same as for children
with autism, although they may manifest themselves differently. Deficits
are found in at least two of the following areas:
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As in autism, children with AS may have deficits or differences in
nonverbal communication skills, such as use of eye contact, body language,
gestures, and facial expressions (APA, 2000). Janzen (2003) has noted
that individuals with AS frequently have difficulty using and interpreting
communication that involves nonverbal cues or paralanguage. They take
others’ speech literally and have difficulty interpreting tone
of voice (e.g., sarcasm, humor) and body language (e.g., facial expressions
of boredom or confusion), often mistakenly basing their understanding
solely on the words spoken.
| Jiro told his teacher how well he had done on
an earth science exam. Pleasantly surprised the teacher responded,
“No way! Get outta here!” Interpreting her words literally,
Jiro immediately left the room. |
- They often do not build relationships with others
their age to the extent expected based on level of development (APA,
2000). Many individuals with AS desire socialization, but have difficulties
understanding social situations (Janzen, 2003). Specifically, they
may not comprehend others’ points –of –view, and
find it difficult to determine social responses to fit a wide variety
of situations (Myles & Simpson, 2002).
- They rarely share attention with others, such as by
showing something, pointing, or pointing out interests or accomplishments
(APA, 2000; Janzen, 2003).
- They do not demonstrate social reciprocity (APA, 2000).
That is, students with AS may learn to initiate greetings and conversations,
but lack the ability to extend such interactions (Myles & Simpson,
2002). They may conduct one-sided conversations, monopolizing or failing
to contribute to conversational turn-taking (Myles & Southwick,
1999). Young children with AS often seem uninterested in or unable
to participate in play with peers (Attwood, 1998). They tend to boss
other children around or get angry when the others do not play according
to their rules.
| Delta is an 18-year-old with Asperger Syndrome.
She attends general education classes, and has some special education
support to help her organize her homework folder at the end and
beginning of the day. Unlike individuals with PDD-NOS or autism,
Delta’s language seemed to develop normally quantitatively.
However, as she got older, some unusual qualitative differences
in socio-communicative skills were noticed. For example, while Delta
has a vocabulary and the sentence syntax appropriate for her age,
she does not demonstrate the same give-and-take conversational skills
as her peers. For example, recently, in her math class, after the
teacher passed out the results of a test, she looked at the paper
belonging to the boy next to her and said, “I got a 98 and
you only got a 75.” In addition, while at lunch recently,
she spoke non-stop to the girl sitting near, listing the entire
casts of popular movies, and failing to give her classmate a chance
to speak. She never noticed the bored expression on her classmate’s
face. As a result of these and other social skill deficits, none
of her classmates invites her out or chooses to sit with her at
lunch although Delta says she wants friends. |
A related aspect of social skills impairment in ASD is
a difficulty with theory of mind, or the ability to put oneself into
someone else’s shoes and imagine what that other person may be
thinking and feeling. For information on this deficit, visit the module
on Theory of Mind in autism.
In addition, please visit the Social
Interventions modules for strategies to address social skill deficits.
Repetitive, Restrictive, and Stereotyped
Behavior
As in autism, restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped
behavior may be exhibited in at least one of the following ways in individuals
with AS (APA, 2000):
- They may have an unusually strong or focused interest
or fixation. Myles and Simpson (2002) have noted that in those with
AS, these interests may seem similar to those of same-age peers, but
differ in intensity, extent of knowledge, or interest in the topic
to the exclusion of other interests.
- They may be overly drawn to routines and rituals,
and be unable or unwilling to be flexible in adhering to these routines
(APA, 2000).
- They may demonstrate repetitive complex body or other
motor movements, such as spinning, rocking, or finger flicking. However,
this is thought to occur less often in those with AS compared to those
with autism.
- They may show intense interest in parts of objects,
as opposed to using the entire toy or object.
| Jessie is a bright fifth-grader with AS. Cognitively,
he is far beyond his peers. However, his teacher reports that he
rarely completes or turns in work that is not related to his special
interests in American colonial history and European geography. In
fact, these interests are so all-encompassing for Jessie that he
rarely willingly takes part in conversations with his classmates
unless they involve those topics. While he does engage in self-stimulatory
behaviors, particularly finger movements, he has been taught to
make those look more “typical,” so that now he frequently
fingers small items such as key chains. |
PDD-NOS Overview
Children are
diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorders, not otherwise specified
(PDD-NOS) when they do not meet enough of the criteria for specific
ASD, but demonstrate some similarities to others on the autism spectrum
(APA, 2000). Thus, these children are an especially heterogeneous group.
| Armando is 7-year-old with PDD-NOS, who spends
part of his school day in a self-contained special education classroom
and part of his day in the general education setting. He speaks
most often in three-word phrases or more and uses a few communicative
purposes, but these are limited when compared to his peers. During
a recent observation in his home, Armando spontaneously asked his
momr, “Teddy bear cookies, please.” He also greeted
a visitor by saying, “Hi, I Mando,” when his mom asked,
“what do you say?” However, he rarely shares enjoyment
or spontaneously initiates conversations with others. Occasionally,
Armando repeats out-of-context phrases from favorite videos, such
as, “Uh oh! The cow is loose!” which he was observed
to repeat about a dozen times within 10 minutes, always with the
same intonation pattern as the original video. |
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