This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Autistic psychopathy

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Asperger's Syndrome (AS) or Asperger's Disorder is a neurobiological disorder named for a Viennese physician, Hans Asperger, who described the syndrome in a 1944 paper

In a patient list of 5000, there is estimated to be between 18 and 24 people who have AS (1).

  • individuals with AS can exhibit a variety of characteristics and the disorder can range from mild to severe
    • persons with AS show marked deficiencies in social skills, have difficulties with transitions or changes and prefer sameness
      • often have obsessive routines and may be preoccupied with a particular subject of interest
      • have a great deal of difficulty reading nonverbal cues (body language) and very often the individual with AS has difficulty determining proper body space.
    • people with AS have a normal IQ and many individuals (although not all), exhibit exceptional skill or talent in a specific area.
    • although vocabularies may be extraordinarily rich, persons with AS can be extremely literal and have difficulty using language in a social context
    • presently described as an autism spectrum disorder
      • some clinicians feel that AS is the same as High Functioning Autism (HFA), while others feel that it is better described as a Nonverbal Learning Disability (NLD)
      • AS shares many of the characteristics of PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder; Not otherwise specified), HFA, and NLD
        • for example, it is not at all uncommon for a child who was initially diagnosed with attentiondeficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to be re-diagnosed with AS. In addition, some individuals who were originally diagnosed with HFA or PDD-NOS are now being given the AS diagnosis and many individuals have a dual diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome and HFA

DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria Asperger's Disorder

  • A. Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:
    • marked impairments in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction
    • failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
    • a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g. by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people)
    • lack of social or emotional reciprocity
  • B. Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:
    • encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
    • apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
    • stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
    • persistent preoccupation with parts of objects
  • C. The disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning
  • D. There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years)
  • E. T

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.