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Asperger's Syndrome, also known as Asperger's Disorder or Autistic Psychopathy, is a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) characterized by severe and sustained impairment in social interaction, development of restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. These characteristics result in clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

In contrast to Autistic disorder (Autism), there are no clinically significant delays in language or cognition or self help skills or in adaptive behavior, other than social interaction.

Prevalence is limited but it appears to be more common in males. Onset is later than what is seen in Autism, or at least recognized later. A large number of children are diagnosed between the ages of 5 and 9. Motor delays, clumsiness, social interaction problems, and idiosyncratic behaviors are reported. Adults with Asperger's have trouble with empathy and modulation of social interaction - the disorder follows a continuous course and is usually lifelong.

Aspergers is not easily recognizable - in fact, many children are misdiagnosed with other neurological disorders such as Tourette's Syndrome or Autism. More frequently, children are misdiagnosed with Attention Deficit (and Hyperactivity) Disorders (ADD & ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

What do you think?



obtained from http://alum.wpi.edu/~trek/aspergers.html

I only retrieved a general definition from a web resource. I wasn't intending on trying to include everything. More to leave it open for other members to put in their input and experiances.

In truth my experiance with aspergers is non existant. Most of my focus has always been on the autistic side of things. So I would appreciate any input and information on this area.

I believe the lines between aspergers and autism are severely blurred, especially with the recent puch in the media towards autism awareness. I know many people believe that aspergers is just a very high functioning form of autism with no language delays. I'm not one to debate that point since I am uneducated in that department. However the two diagnosis do seem to ride in the same boat an awful lot.

I've heard one or two aspies speak on television about their symptoms and how they feel, and honestly I believe my son suffers from many of the same effects only he is unable to verbalize it.

Hi, I'm 20.



I can certainly say I've improved a lot in terms of social interaction since I was younger, but I've still got a ways to go. At this point, I can discern sarcasm, I pay a bit more attention to facial expressions now (still not much though), and I have a lot more friends now than I used to. What's getting me right now is a hurdle that a lot of young men have problems with anyway, the whole "how to talk to girls" thing. redface



I was exempt from pep rallies in high school because the noise was physically painful for me.



I have that, but it ties into my obsessive interests. Ask me anything about firearms, and I'll answer it with all kinds of statistical data. I can rattle off of the top of my head every variety of 7.62mm round ever used (7.62x54r, 7.62x51mm NATO, 7.62x39mm Soviet, and 7.62x25mm Tokarev), similar rounds (7.63x25mm Mauser, 7.65mm Automatic), the designations of their American designations (7.62x51mm NATO = .308 Winchester, while 7.63 Auto = .32 ACP), and a lot of common weapons that fire those rounds.



For some strange reason, I associate anything having to do with marijuana with the taste of chocolate milk. I don't know if this is actually synesthesia though.



Yeah, me too.



The only time I ever got that was when my friends and I took 25 Benadryl tabs. Not doing that ever again because that sucked. >_<

I was told that Asperger's is a form of Autism. I don't really know, or care much. They have a lot in common, so using autism to explain Asperger's can be helpful.

As for that last "misdiagnosed" section...

There is something called the "Syndrome Mix" where syndromes like Asperger's are often found WITH others, such as ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, OCD, etc.

Personally, I only have secondary ADHD, and extra traits of OCD with mine. :S

Loud noises bother me, especially sudden ones, but not as much as scratchy sounds. They make me want to tear/bite off my finger nails, and bite my fingers like crazy.

Music = colors for me.

I also think other weird things will colors that I have trouble explaining. :B

Yo, you're wrong actually. There are certain cues that would make treating a girl like a guy awkward. The only thing I can tell you is that you've got to get more confident, and I don't care how you do it, thats the only way to improve socially. If you want a girl as a friend you treat her kind of like a guy, and tease her occasionally, but not in any serious way. If you want a girl as something more than that though you gotta give them a hint of how you feel. Tell them you think they're kinda cute or something. Compliment them, it's harmless. You do that similar to how you would a friend. (ex. Jak: Hey John, that's a cool jacket you got on there! Where'd you get it from? John: Hey thanks dude! I got it from bluenotes). That's just using me as an example, but complimenting works really well with friends, family, and girl who you like (compliment them differently though). (ex. Jak: Hey, did I ever tell you how I lose myself in your eyes some days because of how pretty they are? Girl: Awww, thank you! <3). These are real examples of things I've done that work.

I know this is advice coming from another aspy, but I personally believe myself to be quite successful to the point where I forgot I even had AS in the first place. I remembered it recently because a friend of mine brought it up in conversation, not realizing I had it, and talked about it as being a strange disorder. I laughed, because it never even crossed his mind that I might have it. wink

Neat. I never knew that. I have mild ADHD on top of my AS. smile

Really? Hmm.. Thats good to know. Before I was diagnosed, I went to see a specialist and he thought I was depressed. He gave me prozac and it knocked me out. Obviously, I'm not depressed. For if I was depressed, prozac wouldnt make me tired. I went to another specialist and she knew off the bat what I have.