So ... what exactly IS Asperger Syndrome?

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01 Dec 2011, 8:30 am

What is it classified as? A mental illness, a learning disability, or something else?
I've read various things online but I can't seem to find a straight answer.
What do you say to people/put down on forms?



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01 Dec 2011, 8:32 am

Asperger's syndrome is classified as a developmental disorder.



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01 Dec 2011, 9:18 am

It's a developmental disorder although the ICD-10 and the Mental Health Act (here in the UK) include it under mental and behavioural disorders, which is slightly confusing.


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01 Dec 2011, 9:26 am

Yes. AS is a pervasive developmental disorder, a form of autism. It comes from your brain having developed differently from before you were born, though the differences may not be apparent until you're in a situation that demands those skills that are difficult for you to learn.

Because this is a developmental disorder, someone with AS has a healthy autistic brain, not a damaged or diseased normal one; and the treatment for autism, including AS, consists of therapy meant to teach useful skills that will help you get along in the world.


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01 Dec 2011, 9:37 am

Asperger's syndrome: a clinical account by Lorna Wing

Nothing has really changed since that paper first came out.



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01 Dec 2011, 9:53 am

Well I know its referred to as a developmental disorder....which kinda makes sense, but also seems a bit off because it seems like it could imply that people with AS develop slower and I have always been under the impression I just developed differently I don't feel like my social skills and such match up with a younger NT.

But otherwise I guess it could just mean different development rather than slow development.


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01 Dec 2011, 10:17 am

Looking at just the diagnostic criteria it appears to be being socially awkward and obsessed with stuff to the point where it affects functioning. The technical term for what it is is a Pervasive Developmental Disorder.


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01 Dec 2011, 11:29 am

Based on my own research, the most accurate general description is "Developmental Disorders". However, there is a very real medical component to these spectrum conditions. Many of us have muscle motor control issues; many of us have very real sensitivity issues to sound, touch, visual stimulation, etc.; there appear to be some neurological factors involved, and I have recently come across an article about lung issues that I believe relate to me. Many of us also have intestinal problems, including me. I also have many of the other problems listed above. These are all medical issues, so simply labelling spectrum conditions as "Developmental Disorders" is a somewhat misleading catch phrase, although this is a part of spectrum conditions. I believe the social and communications problems associated with spectrum disorders are neurological in basis, so there again it is medical in nature.

I think those who also have scitzophrenea (sorry, don't know correct spelling) or other such problems, in addition to spectrum disorders, have mental health issues, but those are also medical in nature. So, any way you look at it, these are all medical related. Unfortunately, you can't just take a course of pills, and get all better, but at least we are not freaks. Strange and different, but not freaks.

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01 Dec 2011, 11:37 am

It's also a neurodevelopment disorder.



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01 Dec 2011, 4:18 pm

I have called AS all sorts of things, but I have never, ever called it a disease or a mental illness.


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01 Dec 2011, 4:29 pm

Sweetleaf wrote:
it seems like it could imply that people with AS develop slower


This is actually the case for me. At age 53, I am for more socially adept than at age 40, 40 more so than 30, 30 more than 20 and so forth.

But it has taken a very long time to get where I think a "normal" person arrives at by early adulthood.

I think it is both slower development as well as different. Also, depending on a number of issues, I think there is a ceiling to some things. I'll only get to a certain level and stop developing, never actually catching up.


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01 Dec 2011, 4:32 pm

AS is a developmental disorder and it's not a mental illness that needs to be cured.


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02 Dec 2011, 10:44 am

wavefreak58 wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
it seems like it could imply that people with AS develop slower


This is actually the case for me. At age 53, I am for more socially adept than at age 40, 40 more so than 30, 30 more than 20 and so forth.

But it has taken a very long time to get where I think a "normal" person arrives at by early adulthood.

I think it is both slower development as well as different. Also, depending on a number of issues, I think there is a ceiling to some things. I'll only get to a certain level and stop developing, never actually catching up.


Alright that makes sense and everyone is a bit different, but for me I don't really feel like thats the case I feel more like I have developed just as quickly as anyone else, but differently. I mean there are some things I guess I could say seem a little below were it should be for my age like I am a bit immature about some things. But for the most part i just feel different not delayed.

like I do not function like a normal person younger than myself......and I doubt when I'm 30 I will function like a 22 year old I will function like me at the age of 30. basically I wont function as a normal person of any age if that makes any sense.


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02 Dec 2011, 11:17 am

I'd say its a development difference resulting in an inability to put up with NT life



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02 Dec 2011, 1:14 pm

Sweetleaf wrote:
Well I know its referred to as a developmental disorder....which kinda makes sense, but also seems a bit off because it seems like it could imply that people with AS develop slower and I have always been under the impression I just developed differently I don't feel like my social skills and such match up with a younger NT.

But otherwise I guess it could just mean different development rather than slow development.
It does. "Developmental delay" is the specific term for slower development, and occurs in preemies, children in poor environments, children who have chronic illness, and those who will eventually be diagnosed with intellectual disability.

Autism is not the same thing as developmental delay, though. Developmental delay includes the assumption that you are pretty much on the typical schedule; only you are going along that path more slowly, so that at age four, you may have the same skills as a typical three-year-old, or at age twelve, you may be able to accomplish tasks that are possible for an eight-year-old. Autism isn't like that; you can't put an autistic person anywhere on the typical schedule, either ahead or behind. An autistic person will develop skills in an atypical manner--he may learn them "out of order", like learning to read before he learns to talk; or he may have one skill far ahead of the other, like being able to solve long-division problems but not kick a ball. He may learn things very quickly, just "getting it" in a day, or stay at a developmental plateau for ages, or even lose skills, especially under stress.

That atypical development is true of all autistic people, including both highly independent, self-supporting people and those who need 24/7 care. That's why I am a bit leery of labeling someone with autism as also having intellectual disability, because even though he may be far behind the neurotypicals on all areas of development, his development still isn't on the same schedule and can't really be compared to the development of a non-autistic person with intellectual disability.


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02 Dec 2011, 1:37 pm

Callista wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
Well I know its referred to as a developmental disorder....which kinda makes sense, but also seems a bit off because it seems like it could imply that people with AS develop slower and I have always been under the impression I just developed differently I don't feel like my social skills and such match up with a younger NT.

But otherwise I guess it could just mean different development rather than slow development.

It does. "Developmental delay" is the specific term for slower development, and occurs in preemies, children in poor environments, children who have chronic illness, and those who will eventually be diagnosed with intellectual disability.

Autism is not the same thing as developmental delay, though. Developmental delay includes the assumption that you are pretty much on the typical schedule; only you are going along that path more slowly, so that at age four, you may have the same skills as a typical three-year-old, or at age twelve, you may be able to accomplish tasks that are possible for an eight-year-old. Autism isn't like that; you can't put an autistic person anywhere on the typical schedule, either ahead or behind. An autistic person will develop skills in an atypical manner--he may learn them "out of order", like learning to read before he learns to talk; or he may have one skill far ahead of the other, like being able to solve long-division problems but not kick a ball. He may learn things very quickly, just "getting it" in a day, or stay at a developmental plateau for ages, or even lose skills, especially under stress.

That atypical development is true of all autistic people, including both highly independent, self-supporting people and those who need 24/7 care. That's why I am a bit leery of labeling someone with autism as also having intellectual disability, because even though he may be far behind the neurotypicals on all areas of development, his development still isn't on the same schedule and can't really be compared to the development of a non-autistic person with intellectual disability.


That is a better description of what I was trying to say.....but it would seem some people are under the impression having autism just means you develeop slower, which I disagree with.


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