ASPERGER'S SYNDROME

Asperger's Syndrome

Asperger's Syndrome

Introduction

Asperger's Disorder, better known as Asperger syndrome was first described in 1944 by Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger. . "Autistic psychopathy" He described it as a developmental disorder, which called in early 1943, Leo Kanner in the United States published his original account of "early infantile autism", and however, the two were not aware of other work. In Asperger's original description of psychopathy autistic children, all male with normal intelligence, showed a qualitative impairment in reciprocal social interaction and behavior quirks without delays in language development (Ryan, 1992).

Analysis

Asperger also noted that these children had poor coordination with motor clumsiness, and keen to memorize all the details of timetables of trains and buses in Vienna. In the description of early infantile autism Kanner, who described a triad of: (1) qualitative impairment in social interaction, (2) qualitative impairments in communication, and (3) the conduct Restricted repetitive and stereotyped interests and activities.

Following Kanner's description of early infantile autism, doctors noticed a greater number of children who shared similar characteristics, but do not have a proper test to be diagnosed with autistic disorder. In 1979, Wing and Gould proposed the term "autism spectrum disorder" to describe a group of children who present with the triad of impairments in two-way social interaction, communication and imaginative activities, but are not classified as autistic disorder.

Epidemiology

The information on the prevalence of Asperger disorder is limited, and although it seems more common in men, the prevalence rate may depend on the severity of the diagnostic criteria used for selecting cases. An epidemiological study found a prevalence of 3.6 per 1,000 children with a ration of male to female, however, when possible cases were included, the prevalence rate changed to 7.1 per 1,000 children with a helping of man a woman in a rigorous approach to diagnosis that indicated a rate of 1 in 10,000 patients with an obvious male predominance 9:1. Gillberg and Gillberg found Asperger syndrome to be five times as common as autism.

It is estimated that about 50% of children with Asperger disorder reach adulthood without having been evaluated, diagnosed or treated.

Etiology

Although the exact cause of Asperger's disorder is still undetermined, genetic, metabolic, infectious and peripheral factors have been suggested as possible causes. Available in family studies seem to show an increased frequency of Asperger disorder among relatives of people with the disease. Right brain dysfunction, structural brain abnormalities, and disturbances in the limbic system and the neurochemical dopamine and serotonin systems have also been implicated as a possible etiology of Asperger disorder

The differential diagnosis

The differential diagnosis of patients with Asperger disorder is sometimes complicated by the fact that they can co-exist with disorders such as Tourette's disorder [10] and other psychiatric conditions [10, 24] including hyperactivity disorder (attention-deficit ADHD), anxiety disorders, mood disorders, learning difficulties, motor clumsiness, antisocial behavior, and unusual social interactions.

Sometimes children with Asperger's disorder is first diagnosed as "aphasia" or "dysphasia" or "language disordered" because of their difficulty processing language in the same way as normal ...