What is Asperger’s syndrome and can anything be done about it?

What is Asperger’s syndrome?

Asperger’s Syndrome is a congenital pervasive developmental disorder within the autism spectrum. The term autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is used collectively for pervasive developmental disorders, which include the diagnoses infantile autism, atypical autism and Asperger’s syndrome. This is done because research shows that it makes more sense to use the overall term coherently rather than separating the diagnoses. People with autism spectrum disorder have problems with social communication and interaction, intense and narrow interests, sensory hypersensitivity and special movements called mannerisms. The disorders typically appear at school age. 

How frequent is it?

The incidence of autism spectrum disorder is still under investigation, in one study the disorders have been found in 1.24% of children aged 7-9 and in another it has been found in 2.8% of young people aged 16. There are more men than women with autism spectrum disorder.  

What are the symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome?

Asperger’s syndrome is characterized by impaired social skills and special interests. Children with the syndrome do not have delayed language development or language comprehension. Symptoms can vary from person to person, age, in degrees and ways. Some of the symptoms children may experience are:

• Difficulty with social interaction: lacks understanding and application of social skills in interactions with other children, especially when it comes to nonverbal communication, body language, conversation/dialogue and emotional signals. They often do not want contact with others but the need for interaction may increase with age.
• Difficulty with unwritten rules: understanding and applying social norms, rules, and expectations in society and in different social situations. This can make them a target for teasing and bullying from other children.
• Impaired emotional intelligence and empathy: understanding and expressing emotions, and they may have difficulty showing empathy and understanding other people’s perspectives.
• Gifted: tend to have a special interest or focus on a particular subject and can often have a great deal of knowledge in that area. They may have formal and archaic language. They often have good memories and a keen eye for systems and details. 
• Lonely: difficulty building and maintaining social relationships with peers. 
• Monotonous, repetitive activities: tend to participate in and be absorbed in the same activities and may have a particular interest in a specific subject.

Adults may also have challenges with social interaction, such as maintaining eye contact, reading facial expressions, understanding body language, and initiating conversation. They may also experience rigidity, perfectionism, special interests, and sensory disturbances. 

What are the causes of Asperger’s syndrome?

Autism spectrum disorder is not caused by a specific cause. There are several different theories and research is still being done into the background of the disorders. What is now known is that there is a high heritability, 80-90%. It is believed to be due to an interaction between heredity and environment and to be a neurobiological developmental disorder in the fetal stage. 

How is Asperger’s syndrome treated? What is the outlook for the future?

Although the biological and psychological processes behind Asperger’s syndrome cannot be treated directly, quality of life can be improved if the diagnosis is made early and the child and family receive help from experts. It is important that the environment adapts to the child’s needs to help create the best conditions for their well-being. In addition, education and information are very important to increase self-understanding and increase knowledge among family and relatives so that they can more easily and better work together to deal with life with the disorder and solve problems it can cause. 

There is good experience with special education, parent counseling and conversation therapy. This helps to set clear frameworks, calm and clear structure in which people with these disorders thrive best. 

It is also important that they receive help to build their social skills through social training in group communities, where they gain a positive self-understanding and an experience of mastering social interaction. Vocational training is also used to give them independence and increase their ability to care for themselves. 

Developmental disorders are associated with an increased risk of comorbidity and sequelae, such as stress, anxiety, depression and ADHD/ADD. It is important to be aware of this, but also to try to prevent it by training in how to handle various stressors. Many people with developmental disorders have problems processing and sorting sensory input and lack overview, planning and nonverbal communication. Some of the sequelae can be treated with medical treatment. 

Osteopathy and Asperger’s Syndrome

Osteopathy cannot treat Asperger’s syndrome. However, Asperger’s syndrome can cause tension and unrest in the body’s nervous system, which we can often remedy.