Asperger's Syndrome

[BubbleBerry Tea]

Let me start this off by saying that I'm neurotypical. I've never formally studied Asperger's. I am not an expert in any way on this subject. That said, I do know a thing or two, but my information is no substitution for a psychologist or an Aspergic person.

If you are a psychologist or someone with Asperger's, feel free to correct me if I say something incorrect or if you feel there could be a better way to say it.

Contents
Definitions
What is Asperger's Syndrome?
What are the symptoms?
What should I do if I meet someone with Asperger's?
Resources  

[BubbleBerry Tea]

Definitions

ASD - Autism Spectrum Disorder
Asperger's Syndrome - a high-functioning type of autism
Aspie - short for "person with Asperger's"
Neurotypical - a person without autism/a way to describe a person without autism (nitpick: it actually started out this way, then grew to mean any person without atypical neurology. For the purposes of this thread, please assume it means "a person without autism." )
NT - short for "neurotypical"  

[BubbleBerry Tea]

What is Asperger's Syndrome?

Asperger's Syndrome is a type of high-functioning autism, falling under the "autism spectrum" umbrella in the DSM-V, which was released in May of 2013.

Asperger's Syndrome (and autism in general) is often portrayed in the media as a person who is socially awkward (possibly not talking at all, bad at eye contact, and generally a loner) and incredibly intelligent. While there are plenty of cases where this is the case, it's far from the whole story.

Asperger's was named for Hans Asperger, an Austrian scientist who worked with children who exhibited signs that they were different from their peers.

Here's a link to the Wikipedia entry on Asperger's if you'd like to know more.  

[BubbleBerry Tea]

What are the Symptoms?

Common symptoms include (but are not limited to):
- Difficulty in social situations
- Anxiety over social interaction or changes
- A motor tick (an involuntary action such as hand-flapping)
- A verbal tick (an involuntary sound using the voice)
- Intense fascinations for one or two things that lasts a long time (years, decades)
- Intense fascinations for several different things, each lasting a shorter period of time (days, weeks)
- Trouble reading facial expressions of others
- Trouble understanding tones of voice of others
- Trouble expressing the "correct" emotion at the proper time*
*Example: an Aspie may tell you your cat died while smiling and sounding cheerful. He or she is not trying to be mean, but may be having trouble expressing sadness in a way that a neurotypical person would understand.
- Trouble with keeping eye contact
- Rambling on about something that bores you while being unable to realize that you're uninterested (the thought process has been explained as something like, "Batteries are so interesting to me! Surely they're interesting to this person, too! I'll tell him all about batteries!" That, paired with difficulty reading faces and tone of voice, can make it hard for an autistic person to know when a neurotypical person is no longer interested.)
- Walking away in the middle of a conversation (The person is probably not trying to be rude, but may think that you're finished talking or that whatever you're currently talking about is not important.)

For more information, here's a link to the Wikipedia page.  

[BubbleBerry Tea]

What should I do if I meet someone with Asperger's?

Say hello. razz

Conversation between an Aspergic person and a neurotypical person can be difficult at first, especially if you've never met an autistic person before. Even if you have met an Aspie or two, keep in mind that each one is a little different from the last. There's a saying: "If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism."

The best rules I can give you would be:

1. Be polite: don't point out anything the Aspergic person does that seems odd to you. Aspies often have a hard time in social situations, and it can be very stressful to talk to a new person at all. Pointing out something that makes him or her different could just add to that stress, because many Aspergic people want to be socially accepted, just like many neurotypical people do.

2. Be patient: don't feel insulted if he or she looks elsewhere or walks away from you in the middle of the conversation. If he or she wants to talk about something that bores you, wait until an acceptable moment to suggest that you talk about something else. On that note...

3. Be blunt (but still polite!): Since Aspies often have a hard time reading facial expression and understanding tone of voice, they might not know if your mood has changed or if you are ready to leave the conversation. If he or she says something that upsets you, plainly state, "It makes me a little upset that you said that. Could you please not say it to me anymore?" If you need to leave the conversation or simply want to leave the conversation, say so. "It's been nice talking to you, but I have to go now," or "It's been nice talking to you, but I'm going to go do something else now." The response will change from person to person, but many of them will understand you best this way.

4. ABOVE ALL, keep in mind that this person is the only person who is exactly like this. While the above tips can help in a lot of situations with a lot of autistic people, they are not foolproof.  

[BubbleBerry Tea]

Resources

http://www.wrongplanet.net/ - an autism community that has a forum where autistic people can talk to each other. If you're an Aspie, this seems like a good resource for you. If you're a neurotypical, giving a few threads a quick read could help you to understand a little better.

The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome by Tony Attwood - Tony Attwood is an expert on the subject of Asperger's.

TV Tropes' Useful Notes on Asperger's Syndrome - as odd as it sounds, I actually found this pretty informative while still being easy to understand.