ASPERGER SYNDROME: FACTS, SYMPTOMS AND CAUSES

There has been a consistent clamour these days for information and research regarding individuals afflicted with certain diseases and disorders. One clear reason being is that disorders are not only particularly disabling with children born with such diseases alone but equally debilitating for parents and the community as well.

One intriguing illness that concerns most parents today is the increasing number of children diagnosed with a host of neurobiological disorders called Pervasive Developmental Disorder and one which attracts greater attention are children afflicted with Asperger's Syndrome.

We may not consider a Asperger Syndrome as a disease but for purpose of rhetorical ease and comprehension, we can use such word to describe the many delimiting psychological and biological behaviors unique toAsperger individuals.

History and Facts

Asperger's Syndrome is a severe neuropsychological-neurobiological disorder named after the German physician Hans Asperger who in 1944 published papers describing such features among the several boys in Vienna.

He introduced the term Autistic Psychopathy that was later termed Asperger's syndrome in honor of his work in describing such features exhibited by children with this condition.

The disease is characterized by any of the following features:

· Marked incapacity to successfully involve themselves in social activities such as gaming
· Resist change by preferring sameness, thus, are apt to indulging to obsessive, repetitive behavioral pattern or routines
· Most are withdrawn from society, meaning, they prefer to be alone and enjoy without the company of others or may use others as objects of their own game
· Inability to comprehend non-verbal cues such as a range of body movements, eye and facial expression to communicate mood and feelings as a tool for social interaction.
· Unexplained dislike for specific food, objects, texture or sound which no one else is able to recognize
· Stereotyped motor activities as in clapping for no apparent reason, jumping twisting
· Echolalic: pathological tendency to repeat anything that was said
· Lacking reciprocity for a particular interaction

These and other symptoms not mentioned above are also exhibited by children diagnosed with Autism but what sets Asperger patients from the rest of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders is that, no significant clinical delays in language acquisition were identified and individuals, most often than not, maintained a normal mental IQ.

QUEST FOR CURE For Asperger's Syndrome

Many people who exhibit extraordinary competencies in language, music or mathematics or any combination of these, are often diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.

There have been several cases of Asperger's syndrome sufferers who usually tend to demonstrate high-functioning ability in the areas described above. The development of these "islets of competencies" are probably brought about by the unstable neurological function which works in favour of aggressive accumulation and the integration of learned skills and facts.

Many Asperger sufferers are considered to be "talking encyclopaedias" They usually possess a high-degree of intellectual proficiency in areas such as music, rhetoric, astrophysical, logical-mathematical domain language as in the case of hyperlexia, an extraordinarily ability to learn the rudiments of a language at an early age and skilfully use it to come up with a certain intelligible statement. In essence they are walking fountains of knowledge.

There is just no cure for AS, nor single treatment is available for all range of severity, but current therapeutic treatment offers some degree of help for these people and do assist them to integrate into society as much as they are able.

Treatments for Asperger's Syndrome vary for every individual, because each individual person who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome displays unique idiosyncratic behaviours which are usually exclusive to them.

Unfortunately due to the generic symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome, (they can vary a great deal), many patients suffering from Asperger's syndrome are misdiagnosed and commenced on an incorrect or inappropriate pharmaceutical program.

For this reason, intensive research and the community's concerted action are called for to effectively find a reasonable solution to the many issues affecting our society today and avert dangers that may detrimentally affect our children's future.