aspergers syndrome
Real or not? Dr. Marguerite Dalton March 2012
ASD / Asperger’s syndrome Spectrum of disorders ? Disorder for life?
Historical Kanner 1943 – “early infantile autism” Hans Asperger- Austrian Psychiatrist- 1944
“autistic psychopathy” – now termed Asperger’s syndromesimilarities – argument still continues as to whether they are separate entities
Differences
Motor development Autistic ( Kanner) – good fine motor but poor gross
motor
Asperger – poor gross and fine motor – diagnostic?
Speech Autistic – delayed or non-verbal Asperger’s - may appear normal initially – “talk like
little adults”
Age of presentation Autistic – early childhood / infancy Asperger’s – early/late childhood
Severity of impairment Autistic - more severe Asperger’s - less severe
Intelligence Initial descriptions suggest Autistic lower but not
necessarily accepted now.
Similarities
Restricted or fixed interests Repetitive or stereotype behaviour Repetitive speech or echolalia Hypo or hyper sensitivity to sensory input Problems with social – emotional reciprocity Problems with non-verbal communication Problems developing and maintaining relationships
appropriate to normal developmental level
DSM IV – Autism and Aspergers separate categories V - under same category as general consensus is that
they are ends of the same spectrum , similar symptomatology , varying in severity.
Does it matter? Labelling - what is in a name? Funding Coding Research
Associations Learning difficulties Epilepsy Sleep disturbance Gut problems Fragile X Prematurity Trisomy 21 Tuberous Sclerosis
Life long diagnosis? Personality or condition?
Genetics Will this be the answer?
ASD / Asperger’s syndrome Spectrum of disorders ? Disorder for life?
Historical Kanner 1943 – “early infantile autism” Hans Asperger- Austrian Psychiatrist- 1944
“autistic psychopathy” – now termed Asperger’s syndromesimilarities – argument still continues as to whether they are separate entities
Differences
Motor development Autistic ( Kanner) – good fine motor but poor gross
motor
Asperger – poor gross and fine motor – diagnostic?
Speech Autistic – delayed or non-verbal Asperger’s - may appear normal initially – “talk like
little adults”
Age of presentation Autistic – early childhood / infancy Asperger’s – early/late childhood
Severity of impairment Autistic - more severe Asperger’s - less severe
Intelligence Initial descriptions suggest Autistic lower but not
necessarily accepted now.
Similarities
Restricted or fixed interests Repetitive or stereotype behaviour Repetitive speech or echolalia Hypo or hyper sensitivity to sensory input Problems with social – emotional reciprocity Problems with non-verbal communication Problems developing and maintaining relationships
appropriate to normal developmental level
DSM IV – Autism and Aspergers separate categories V - under same category as general consensus is that
they are ends of the same spectrum , similar symptomatology , varying in severity.
Does it matter? Labelling - what is in a name? Funding Coding Research
Associations Learning difficulties Epilepsy Sleep disturbance Gut problems Fragile X Prematurity Trisomy 21 Tuberous Sclerosis
Life long diagnosis? Personality or condition?
Genetics Will this be the answer?
