Asperger’s Disease

Asperger’s Syndrome is often noted as a “high functioning” Autism Spectrum Disorder and frequently goes undiagnosed. However, Asperger’s Syndrome can appear in a variety of manners and intensities.

An obsessive interest in a single object or topic (to the exclusion of all others) is an early symptom in children with Asperger’s Syndrome. Children with Asperger’s will seek information about their areas of interest and find little stimulation in conversations with others about anything else. They often appear ahead of their peers in educational settings- readily offering their expertise (especially about their topic of fixation), showing high levels of vocabulary and abnormally formal speech patterns.

Adolescents with Asperger’s Syndrome often experience social isolation. Typically, this is due to a poor understanding of social codes and their hyper fixation on narrow interests. When they reach out to peers, they have difficulty making casual conversation. They may appear to others as inappropriate or eccentric. In addition to an inability to successfully interact with peers, repetitive routines and rituals, oddities in speech or language patterns, and clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements are characteristics that set adolescents with Asperger’s Syndrome apart from others in their age group.

What causes Asperger’s Disease? While the exact cause is not known, Asperger’s Syndrome is attributed to genetics, abnormalities in brain function, and prenatal complications. It is more common among men and those born to older parents.

While there is no cure for Asperger’s Syndrome, there are therapies that can be used to improve the symptoms of Asperger’s. These therapies often focus on allowing the person with Asperger’s Syndrome to better regulate their emotions and impulses. Other therapeutic approaches aid the person with Asperger’s Syndrome to gain and hone strategies to better engage with their peers and avoid social isolation. In recent years, a growing awareness of environmental triggers has led to the development of trigger avoidance therapeutic approaches, designed to ideally proactively alleviate symptoms before onset.

There is no medication approved to treat Asperger’s Syndrome at this time. However, certain psychiatric drugs can aid in controlling the secondary symptoms of Asperger’s. Anxiety, hyperactivity, and depression are examples of secondary symptoms that may be managed by psychiatric intervention. Antipsychotics, stimulants, and antidepressants may be a vital part of a person with Asperger’s symptom alleviation regimen. Beyond the addition of psychiatric medication, the elimination of environmental triggers, including Mercury, pesticides, gluten and casein, and organic pollutants may lead to better symptom management.

Along with psychiatric medications and eliminating environmental triggers to manage secondary symptoms, there are a variety of other treatment options for a person with Asperger’s Syndrome. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (also known as CBT) can be used to help a person with Asperger’s syndrome to better regulate their emotions and impulses in the moment. CBT encourages individuals to evaluate their own perceptions and alter specific behaviors.

Another method of alleviating the symptoms of Asperger’s is social skills training and sensory integration. Therapists use social skills training to help individuals to learn to interact with peers. Most people with Asperger’s do not have problems with verbal communication, rather they may not be able to express their thoughts and feelings appropriately, or recognize the thoughts and feelings of others. Social skills training can help people with Asperger’s recognize their own emotional cues, as well as decode the gestures and figures of speech other use to express their emotions. In addition to social skills training, sensory integration can aid people with Asperger’s to stabilize their senses. They may work with occupational therapy to improve balance, hand-eye coordination, and response to sounds of touch. If a person with Asperger’s is better able to control their senses, they will be better able to regulate their movements and emotional reactions toward them.

At AC Cares, we can assist the family in dealing with Asperger’s Disease in many ways. These would include the following: