Asperger's Syndrome

Asperger's Syndrome

Introduction

People who suffer from Asperger's Syndrome usually have difficulty interacting in social circles. And lack sound non-verbal communication skills. In the United States, every eighty-eighth child born suffers from Asperger's syndrome while more than one percent of the overall population between the ages of 3 and 17 has been diagnosed with an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). This brings the total number of Americans suffering from ASD to an alarming 1.5 million. Over the years, numerous studies have been carried out on the disorder and researchers have been able to identify the underlying symptoms of the disorder. This has helped them significantly in accurately diagnosing patients suffering from Asperger's Syndrome. The purpose of this research paper is to assess the developmental disorder and review the modes of diagnosis and treatment that are used by doctors. For this purpose, the paper, will review three recently published articles that discuss the latest developments on Asperger's Syndrome.

Thesis Statement

In spite of the long history and alarming growth rate of Asperger's syndrome in the United States, recent developments in the field of medical science have enabled medical practitioners to accurately diagnose and treat the disorder.

Discussion

Asperger's syndrome is classified as an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). It is commonly characterized by a marked difficulty in interaction within social circles. In addition, patients suffering from Asperser's Syndrome also suffer from poor nonverbal communication skills and it is also common for them to have repetitive and restricted behavioral patterns and interests (Ozonoff et al., 2002). The main reason why experts have classified Asperger's syndrome as being different from other developmental disorders is that in this particular disorder, the patient is able to relatively preserve cognitive and linguistic development. Patients suffering from Asperger's Syndrome usually complain of poor physical clumsiness, fatigue, lethargy and odd use of language.

“Understanding Asperger's Syndrome/Disorder - Parent Guide” by Anonymous

This particular article describes the numerous symptoms that help doctors in identifying the developmental disorder in patients. According to the article, the most distinguishing symptom of Asperger's Syndrome is the obsessive interest or fixation of a child in a single object or topic to the exclusion of any other. It cites how some patients suffering from the disorder have become fixated with vacuum cleaners at a very young age because of their natural interest and, as a result, become experts on them. The article also explains how patients with the disorder crave to know everything about their topic of interest so that their conversations typically revolve around the same subject and nothing else. Doctors mark these odd behavioral patterns as the leading symptoms when diagnosing the disorder.

Apart from this, the article also cites how patients with Asperger's Syndrome collect a lot of credible information relating to the subject of their interest. It explains that it is very common for patients to talk about (and mostly have extended conversations on) the subject of their interest. When diagnosing a patient with Asperger's Syndrome, the article states that it is common for doctors to analyze the speech of the patient ...