Asperger syndrome

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Asperger syndrome is a term that is used when a person has a hard time communicating with other people in the usual way.

When people talk they use body language and other non-verbal communication, and words often have more than one meaning. A person with Asperger syndrome has a hard time understanding these non-verbal forms of communication and other meanings of words, and they only understand what the word means like from a dictionary. People with Asperger syndrome do not know how to understand irony, sarcasm, and slang uses of words as well as what facial expressions mean. They also do not know how to socialise with other people and can be shy.

People with Asperger syndrome are just as smart as everyone else and it is not a mental illness.

Doctors see Asperger syndrome as a mild form of autism. It is sometimes called "high-functioning autism". This means somebody with autism who looks like they do not have autism, but their brains still works differently than that of other people.

There are actually a lot of different conditions that are related to autism, but we give them all the same name. We call this range of conditions an "autistic spectrum".

People with Asperger syndrome can have a hard time. People who are grown up with Asperger syndrome look and act just like everyone else and you probably will not notice them.

Doctors often make mistakes about whether someone has Asperger syndrome, and they often believe by mistake that the person has schizophrenia, ADHD, Tourette syndrome, or mental retardation instead.

The part of the brain that has to do with relating in a social way to others also controls the traits of body movement such as balance. Because of this, a person with Asperger syndrome may also have trouble doing things that involve body movements, such as sports. They may walk or act in a clumsy way. They may also have nervous habits (nervous tics).

People with Asperger syndrome tend to be better than most people at things like math, writing, and computer programming. These things need a person to be able to use clear meanings of words and precise language, which people with Asperger syndrome are very good at. Many people with Asperger syndrome are much better at writing than they are at talking with somebody in person. They are also very good at having special interests, and noticing details that other people usually miss.

1 History of Asperger syndrome
2 Signs of Asperger syndrome
3 Online tests for Asperger
4 External links

[edit] History of Asperger syndrome

A man called Hans Asperger knew some children that were different from other children in the 1940's. He called them "little professors" because he thought that they were so smart. He wrote a book about these children.

In the 1980's a lady called Dr. Lorna Wing made up the name "Asperger syndrome" for people with high-functioning autism because she liked the book that Hans Asperger wrote.

[edit] Signs of Asperger syndrome

Special interests/hobbies such as computers, math, science
Have a lot of trouble making friends
Don't like changes in school, work, home life
Like to be alone more than with lots of people
Can be more often bullied in school
Learns to read very early (called hyperlexia)
Might be clumsy when walking and playing sports
Might have trouble understanding someone who uses puns or does not say something literally