Autism Awareness month begins with Asperger’s..

This post is copied from Aspergia.com and is the first in a month long series of posts regarding Autism and Autism Awareness. Thank you all for reading!

What is Asperger’s Syndrome?

This website moves away from the traditional definitions of Asperger’s, but if you’re coming to it “cold” with no previous knowledge, this page is for you.

Asperger’s Syndrome was named after Dr Hans Asperger, a Viennese paediatrician who described it in a 1944 paper. It remained mostly unknown to the English speaking world, until it was picked up by Lorna Wing in an influential review and series of case reports in 1981. “Asperger’s Syndrome” was made “official” in 1994 when it was included in the DSM manual used by psychologists to classify mental conditions.

Current thinking places Asperger’s Syndrome on the “autistic spectrum”, usually referring to it as a form of “high functioning autism” (HFA). It is believed that Individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome tend to have an IQ ranging from average to genius, and there is much speculation that the likes of Albert Einstein and many other philosophers, scientists and genius musicians were “Aspergians” (as we call them on this site). Individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome tend to develop excellent speech and language capabilities, but they do differ from the norm in various other ways.

The main characteristics of an Aspergian are often (but not always) a deep focus on a specialist subject or area (or consecutive areas), a difficulty in understanding human interactions and human social codes (almost like being an alien trying to understand a strange species) and thus also a difficulty with changing environments which need to be learned and adjusted to. Aspergians tend to have a normal to high intelligence, often coupled with a special skill or ability (e.g. extraordinary mathematical or linguistic abilities). In addition People with “Asperger’s Syndrome” are sometimes hypersensitive to various stimuli such as light, noise and pain, and their motor skills may be less developed than the norm (e.g. they tend to play less sports). Many of them are partially face-blind (have a problem remembering faces), and are often clumsy. They have to invest a lot of energy in understanding interactions, and would often need to consciously plan their social behaviour in advance, including when they walk down a busy pedestrian road, and have to avoid running into people. That intuition – the innate ability to translate human body-language and non-verbal cues is something they often lack. Aspergians often describe their experience as that of “being on the wrong planet”. They have to learn how humans interact and simulate it; it doesn’t come naturally to them.

Asperger¹s Syndrome is characterised by a neurobiological difference to the norm, which means Aspergians process information differently. This is an important point to understand. Asperger’s Syndrome is not a mental illness or a disorder, it is simply a neurological variation to the norm. It is inherited genetically, and very often you will find it running through families. Thus it is a genetic mutation that persists through generations. This is why this site also refers to it as the Aspergian Mutation (AM). A variation of human genes.

Although interest in Asperger’s Syndrome is rising, it is still a relatively new field, and one of the main roles of this site is to make sure it is not pigeonholed by default as solely in the realm of mental health profession.

If you are an Aspergian or think you are one, you are encouraged to read as much as possible about Asperger’s Syndrome, but not to allow the terminology used by scholars to cloud your judgement. If you encounter terms such as “severe developmental disorder”, “condition” and “disability”, don’t be discouraged. What you make of your life is down to you, and not the prejudices of others. And there is a sweet satisfaction is achievement despite and against all odds.