Do Asperger's people live a typical adulthood?

Question

I've been reading some accounts of Asperger's syndrome, and it sounds like they are describing one of my fiance's relatives. Do Asperger's people live typical adult lives such as holding a job, getting married, living on their own, etc.....? This relative is in his mid twenties and lives at home, with not much prospect of a job in the future, and no interaction with people. He spends most of his time reading or watching the same re-runs of movies over and over again on a VCR. I've read that Asperger's people usually have difficulty with social interaction. Is it logical to assume that he will be a loner for most, if not all of his life? Do Asperger's people get married and have typical relationships? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The problem with Asperger's syndrome is that it is both overdiagnosed and underdiagnosed. Many of the symptoms of this syndrome are shared with a number of common, treatable psychiatric disorders. The label used to be reserved for people who show these psychological symptoms in combination with certain neurological markers like clumsiness, monotone voicing and pedantic speech, and other symptoms like repetitive movements and other autistic symptoms.

Now the term has expanded to include people without these neurological symptoms. And the problem is, many people without Asperger's syndrome also have some of these problems. And sometimes labelling someone with Asperger's syndrome will tell the person that there's nothing they can do about their problems, so they won't try to improve anything. And sadly, some of these falsely labelled "Asperger" patients have no problems that aren't reversible, they're just convinced that this is the case.

People who get chronically depressed as a child and quit talking and trying to make friends may not develop social skills like everyone else, for instance. And this may persist into adulthood. As a matter of fact, a previously functional adult who gets depressed and shuts out the world may over time lose his ability to socialize and function normally (brain atrophy occurs when you stop living a social life). So jumping to conclusions about Asperger's syndrome isn't always a good idea. To get a better clue as to whether Asperger's may be involved, the psychiatrist/psychologist will usually interview the parents as to what the guy was like as a young child and if he had difficulties empathizing and understanding the emotions of others, one of the core symptoms of Asperger's. Patient's medical and psychological histories need to be evaluated.

And Asperger's syndrome in its milder forms is often very manageable. And social skills can be learned as well, it simply requires special training. Many Asperger's patients have very high IQ's (even into the genius range) and excel in certain fields where they feel most comfortable working. Bill Gates has even been suspected of having it.

The hardest part is the interpersonal relationships, as far as I understand. You can read the diagnostic criteria here:
http://www.aspergers.com/aspcrit.htm

Because these symptoms can apply to many people without Asperger's, it's the number of symptoms, the severity of the symptoms, and whether or not there is any other explanation for the symptoms medically or psychologically that would suggest Asperger's Syndrome.

For instance, all of the folowing symptoms can be found in lots of people who have a chronic problem with major depressive disorder:

(1) marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction
(2) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
(3) 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)
(4) lack of social or emotional reciprocity

So if you yourself as a functional person shut out the world for a couple years, and stayed inside all day, slept all day, and watched television and cut out other people, you too would very likely start showing many of the Asperger's type symptoms.

So, who knows. It's much more easy to diagnose in children than adults, which is why a psychiatrist will focus on asking about early childhood symptoms.

Regardless if he has Asperger's or not, if all he does is sit in his home and do nothing all the time, he'll continue to get worse and will never get better. "Rehabilitation" may be necessary. In other words, he'd need to force himself out into the world with support from others, and possibly medication, and then slowly and gradually over time he would consistently improve.

One test that may make Asperger's less likely is how he reacts when he starts to reach drunkenness. Do many of his symptoms disappear and he suddenly open ups, becomes social, etc? If so, this highly suggests long term depression that's caused disability instead of Aspgerger's, and this is reversible over the longterm with rehabilitation.

You need to talk to other family members, and his family needs to convince him to seek the proper treatment and to start "trying" and "doing things" like a normal human being.

Answer 2

My daughter has asperger's and I'm not sure she will ever be able to live independently. She is now 25 and occasionally takes college courses. Her job is watching a mentally challenged boy (oh the jokes there). She has a boyfriend (who is "normal") and I think she will be at home until she marries him. This is much to my chagrin, I might add. She doesn't seem very motivated to be independent.

Answer 3

My cousin, who's almost 30, has Aspergers. He's very nice, extremely intelligent, and has an interesting sense of humor, but he's very sensitive. He gets very anxious easily, doesn't relate well to people, is obsessive with his interest in dinosaurs, and acts young for his age. He still lives with his parents, just got his first job at Rite Aid, and gets upset and hides during social events. However, I'm a special ed. teacher, and have done some research on many cases where aspies have undergone cognitive behavioral therapy, and learned how to cope. Some cases grow up to be just fine, others not so much. It varies.

Answer 4

Your friend may not have Asperger's - your friend maybe a loner or down and depressed - AS is hard to recognized it takes a Pro to recognize it and in answer to your question the answers Yes with a little bit of understanding.