Living With Asperger's Syndrome
Individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome often
have difficulties when it comes to change or when it is necessary
to transition from one thing to another. They may also have extreme
sensitivities to sights, smells, and sounds and tastes
There are certain characteristics or signs that someone may exhibit
if they have Asperger's Syndrome such as not being able to meet the
gaze of someone that they are greeting, having difficulty with
personal space recognition, demonstrating motor clumsiness and a
decreased ability to function in social situations. Individuals
with Asperger's Syndrome lack nonverbal communication skills, which
can affect work life, school performance and interpersonal
relationships.
Individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome often have difficulties
when it comes to change or when it is necessary to transition from
one thing to another. They may also have extreme sensitivities to
sights, smells, and sounds and tastes adding to the difficulties in
social situations in which these sensitivities could make it
difficult to participate.
Communication is difficult for the individual with this syndrome
because so much of what we express to one another is in the form of
nonverbal communication. How many times do we communicate with each
other with a smile, wink, and shrug of shoulders, facial
expressions or hand signals? Someone with Asperger’s Syndrome is
missing all of these nonverbal communications, which is like having
a conversation with someone and losing your hearing halfway through
the communication and being expected to know what was
discussed.
Individuals with Asperger's Syndrome often show a high level of
intelligence, have perseverative interests and shy away from
romantic relationships, and general social banter like that seen at
parties or around the office water cooler.
Individuals with Asperger's Syndrome typically have large
vocabularies. They also may have difficulties with lying. People
are seen to be boring, humorless and often accused of being too
literal.
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Sensitivities to light, sound and touch are quite common and can be disruptive. There are things that can be done to help deal with these sensitivities such as wearing protective glasses against harsh light, wearing ear plugs, and wearing soft fabric that is comforting.
Nonverbal communication is a part of the communication equation that is missing for someone with Asperger Syndrome.
Aspergers Symptoms
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When listening to someone who has Asperger's Syndrome his or her
tone of voice may appear to be monotonous and emotionless. They
will also miss facial expressions, or body gestures from those that
are listening to them so they are unaware of the fact that they are
perceived as being boring. It is easy for someone with this
syndrome to entirely misinterpret the meaning of a communication or
completely miss something that is being communicated to them.
Individuals who have Asperger's syndrome typically have
obsessive interest in things that have a great deal of detail and
their interests can be all-encompassing to the point of seeming
weird, nerdy or obsessive by others.
Sensory perceptions are usually different for those who have
Asperger's Syndrome for instance they may hear high-frequency
noises that others cannot hear. Hearing can also be distorted to
the point of not hearing correctly what is being said and
misinterpreting the words that were spoken. Visually sometimes it
is difficult to distinguish objects that are in front of them and
can be missed entirely by the person, this can make doing things
like math difficult.
Social relationships like having friends, and romantic partners
are difficult to foster because of their perseverative interests,
literal interpretations, and rigidity and conservative
personalities. Many individuals who have Asperger's Syndrome long
for the experience of friends and romantic relationships.
Many individuals also have other disorders such as
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder of the inattentive type,
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), social phobia, or avoidant
personality disorder and also suffer from depression.
Asperger's Syndrome
01/05/2012
Forum about teens with Asperger’s
Robin Lurie-Meyerkopf, associate director of the Asperger’s Association of New England, will talk about teenagers and the autism spectrum disorder from 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday at the Amesbury Public Library. Lurie-Meyerkopf has more than 20 years of teaching experience and has run social skills groups for children and adolescents with Asperger’s, ADHD, and nonverbal learning disorders. For more ...
Forum about teens with Asperger’s
01/09/2012
Asperger's group seeks to demystify diagnosis
AMESBURY — For those diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome at an early age, the teenage years can be especially challenging. The same goes for parents, teachers and anyone else who comes in contact with the neurological condition that affects the way sufferers socially interact with others.
Asperger's group seeks to demystify diagnosis
01/31/2012
One in 100 adults has autism with the condition much more likely to affect men
Experts say the disorder and similar conditions such as Asperger’s syndrome are far more widespread than previously thought.
One in 100 adults has autism with the condition much more likely to affect men
01/20/2012
Proposed changes to autism definition may mean new diagnoses for people with Asperger's
Proposed changes to American Psychological Association's diagnostic manual may stop skyrocketing autism rates, experts said
Proposed changes to autism definition may mean new diagnoses for people with Asperger's
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