What is Asperger's disease?

Question

A woman who was suppose to do daycare for me called and told me she had to close her daycare because her sone has it or developed it or whatever, and all the kids would not be good for him.

Can someone explain it to me in laymens terms.. thanks

Thank you everyone for your answers. I had never heard of it before so I was just curious. I appriciate you all educating me! Thanks!

Answer 1

Two of my sons have Asperger's Syndrome. It's not a disease.

Asperger's Syndrome is very high functioning austism. People who have Asperger's (also called Aspie's or AS) are generally socially clumsy or inhibited or immature for their age.

Aspies tend to be obsessed with one or two things that interest them and not much else. For example, my son Ken is fascinated with electronics. He can tell you how to build a diode, but getting him to remember to bathe can be a real chore.

Asperger's generally affects far more boys than girls, the reason for this is unknown. Also, kids with Asperger's are NOT mentally retarded in any way, in fact, quite the opposite, on IQ tests, these kids score in genius levels. Example, my boys have IQs of 153 and 147 respectively.

Social interaction is very difficult for kids with Asperger's. They tend to bore other kids because of their single minded obsessions, and thus get picked on a lot. They also get easily bored or frustrated with other kids because they cannot understand why the other kids could care less about the difference between the wing design on one sort of plane versus another.

Also, people with AS have a hard time understanding body language and facial expressions. This makes it difficult for them to realize that other people want to end a conversational topic, or have a turn to talk, or whatever.

Your day care provider is probably following the advice of her son's autism specialist in trying to create as stress free an environment as possible for her son to be in. He probably comes home from school completely emotionally overloaded and walking into a house full of yet more children probably overwhelms him to the point that he can't do much of anything but sit there staring at the wall, entering what in our house we call "shut down" mode.

I hope this helps you understand Asperger's a little bit more. If not, you can get more information at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger's_syndrome

Answer 2

Of course we can be Aspies. It's not a "disease" though. Asperger's is just a different way of thinking and functioning. That doesn't make it a disease. Some people think of Asperger's as a gift. :) From the info that you've given, it's hard to make a judgment, but the things that you've listed could be related to Asperger's. Asperger's is very hard to diagnose, particuarly in women and girls, as there is still little known about how it affects women/girls. My suggestion would be to visit a psychologist who is trained in Autism spectrum related syndromes. Good-luck. :)

Answer 3

What Is Aspergers Disease

Answer 4

Asperger Syndrome falls into a group of neurological conditions that recognize yourtself, to certain extents depending on the person in language and communication skills as well as recurring or limited patterns of deliberation and conduct. The group it falls under is called autism spectrum disorder, making asperger syndrome (AS) a developmental disorder. Obviously it is a developmental disorder being that the language and communication skills of a person can be prolonged or pertain certain conditions. This syndrome that affects children really has a negative effect on them; they are isolated because of their poor social skills and narrow interests. The main symptom for Asperger Syndrome is the child’s compulsive interest in a particular object or topic – excluding any other topic. The topic that a child becomes obsessive with is the only thing they want to discuss and know everything about. Other characteristics of Asperger Syndrome in children are elevated levels of vocabulary, proper speech patterns, recurring habits or rituals, peculiarities in speech and words, socially and expressively improper behavior and the failure to cooperate successfully with peers, troubles with non-verbal communication; and uncoordinated motor actions.

Answer 5

I have worked at an IFDD (basically a place where developmentally disabled clients lived. This was in San Diego and the building housed mildly to severe disable clients. One young man in his teenage years was very much into self stimulation to the point of ignoring others. He also verbalized certain sounds while he flapped his hands. I discovered that if I took a book and asked him to help me by telling me what was in the book he would agree. I then opend the book well in front of him for about 5 seconds. He could thn repeat verbatum the content of the page.

Answer 6

It's a form of autisum. My grandson has been diagnosed with it.
They have some social problems but are usually very bright. Look it up as I did, you'll feel better knowing it's not contagious.

Answer 7

Asperger's Syndrome is a neurobiological disorder which is classified as one of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). It is characterized by significant impairment in social interaction, as well as the development of repetitive and restricted fields of interest, activities and interests.

While there are some similarities with Autism, people with Asperger's usually have average to above average IQ, and do not demonstrate clinically significant delays in language or self help skills.

While they may have an extremely good command of language and have a very rich vocabulary, they are unable to use language appropriately in a social context and often speak in a monotone, with little nuance and inflection in their voice.

Children with Asperger's may or may not seek out social interaction, but always have difficulty in interpreting and learning the skills of social and emotional interaction with others, leading to significant impairment in relationships and peer interaction.

Although parents often notice problems at an early age, diagnosis is usually made during preschool age or later. While both boys and girls can have Asperger's, the syndrome is more common in boys.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) lists the following symptoms for diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome (p77)

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 levels
A lack of spontaneity in 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. There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood

F. Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia

Answer 8

This is a mild form of autism.