Asperger syndrome: an update

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the history and clinical features of Asperger syndrome, and considers guidelines for clinical assessment and treatment. A review of issues related to external validity is provided, which points out the limitations of current research, and lists several potentially beneficial areas of investigation into the nosologic status of the condition. It concludes with a discussion of the unequivocal need of individuals with severe social disabilities for comprehensive and adequate educational services and other treatments irrespective of the fact that the validity and the utility of this specific diagnostic concept is far from resolved.

Asperger Syndrome in Children

“…Those with Asperger syndrome “may be able to describe correctly, in a cognitive and often formalistic fashion, other people's emotions, expected intentions and social conventions; yet, they are unable to act upon this knowledge in an intuitive, and spontaneous fashion, thus losing the tempo of the interaction” (Klin, 2003, p. 104). These children are inclined to engage in long‐winded, often one‐sided, and sometimes incoherent, although grammatically correct, speech (Klin).…”

“…Clinical assessment is more effectively accomplished by an interdisciplinary team and should include a developmental and health history, an assessment of communication and psychology, and a diagnostic exam that should be able to rule out differential diagnoses (Klin, 2003). Treatment methods are more beneficial if they are multimodal and strategies vary for children of different ages.…”

“…Several studies have attempted to validate Asperger syndrome as a distinct diagnosis from that of autism without mental retardation (Klin, 2003). Eisenmajer et al (1996) noted three major differences: (a) there is no communication and imagination impairment criteria for Asperger syndrome, (b) people with Asperger syndrome do not suffer from a significant delay in language, and (c) children with Asperger syndrome do not have a clinically significant delay in development of cognition or age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior, and curiosity about the environment.…”

“…It is generally believed to have genetic causes combined with environmental factors. Asperger (1944) noticed a familial nature of the characteristics, with a primarily male pattern of transmission, as he often noted the traits in the fathers of the children he observed and is typically seen in a male‐to‐female ratio of 4:1 (Klin, 2003; Wing & Potter, 2002). Multiple genes have been linked to Asperger syndrome in children.…”

Autism spectrum disorders

“…In 1944, an Austrian pediatrician, Hans Asperger, independently described another group of children with similar behaviors, but with milder severity and higher intellectual abilities. Since then, his name has become attached to a higher functioning form of autism, Asperger syndrome 2. It was not until the 1980s that the term pervasive developmental disorders was first used.…”