Asperger's Syndrome

The definition of "Asperger's Syndrome" takes its name from that of the Austrian doctor Hans Asperger who first identified, studied and described in 1938 a group of children with particular behaviors in social interaction, communication skills and interests. This classification has then been more clarified and described over time, in particular by Prof. Tony Attwood, Australian psychologist considered to date the leading international expert on the subject.

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Aspie characteristics carry typical but heterogeneous traits: for some it can be identified an inappropriate social interaction, poor ability to create and maintain friendships, narrow interests, hypersensory or, less frequently, hyposensory. For others, sociality is possible but very tiring, there are small daily routines such as always eating the same breakfast or always making the same way to go to work, there is a tendency to grasp things too literally. These characteristics may be associated with others such as body movements that may appear clumsy or uncoordinated, or a great emotional sensitivity or the tendency to notice details that are not relevant to others. There are other typical characteristics of this functioning, with a great diversity in their expression, and for this reason it is important to contact specialized centers to obtain a reliable diagnostic evaluation.

Asperger's Syndrome in Children

Aspie kids and teens can have  important difficulties in expressing one's moods, in recognizing the feelings of others and in reading the meanings of communication, which is interpreted in a literal way and devoid of pragmatic and social aspects, while ignoring non-verbal language and context. Among the most evident behaviors, there is a poor ability to relate in an age-appropriate way to the surrounding world, to respect social rules, to make or maintain friendships. There may be a difficulty in body movements, so much so as to appear bizarre and strange, an absorbing and almost exclusive interest in topics, activities, games that may be bizarre or irrelevant to age or excessively intense, an altered response to sensoriality (e.g. discomfort for certain noises or lights or fabrics, poor or increased response to pain, etc.).

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Asperger's syndrome in adults

In adults, Asperger's functioning is even more complicated to diagnose, as it can often be easily confused with other behavioral and psychiatric disorders . In order to establish their presence or not, today we use specific tests and questionnaires recognized internationally. The most frequent signs to recognize this type of functioning are: difficulties in social adaptation and in relationships with people with a tendency to isolation, particularly intense specific interests and a difficulty in adapting to changes, obsessive and often explosive behaviors, evident anxiety with strong crisis, significant problems in the management of hypersensory with possible repercussions on the quality of sleep and nutrition.

Women with Asperger's Syndrome

In recent times, the problem of Aspie women is emerging with great importance, often not correctly diagnosed or diagnosed in old age . Their profile is characterized by a greater social openness, intense interests in themes such as people, animals, art and literature, which are socially accepted themes and therefore do not stand out for bizarre as it happens instead for typically male ones (universe and aliens, geography, astronomy, trains, etc.). They then frequently exhibit “tomboy” or vice versa “extremely feminine” behaviors, according to extreme and poorly modulated profiles. Asperger women are also often more aware of their relationship difficulties than men and are able to adapt to their context , implementing a mode of social interaction that is defined as "chameleonic" : they learn to behave as expected of them in different contexts experiences that they experience throughout their life. They then usually have fewer problematic behaviors than men, and this helps them to blend into the social context without clearly emerging. Unfortunately, however, their inner suffering is great, so much so that they often suffer from important disorders such as depression, anxiety crises, social phobia. Precisely for this reason it is easy for them to receive other types of diagnoses during their life, such as: anxiety and mood disorders, eating disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia. This does not mean that these diagnoses are necessarily incorrect, but they certainly are not complete and do not completely frame the problem . On the other hand, it is essential to receive a correct diagnosis in order to understand one's own difficulties in the right perspective and therefore to be able to implement interventions that are really effective but above all to have the opportunity to know each other better and therefore to accept one's own functioning more.

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To learn more about the female profile of Asperger's syndrome, consult the articles of our BLOG !

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