Asperger's Hypothesis

Besides the poor communication skills and resulting in awkward social behavior of Asperger’s Syndrome, there are also the physical aspects. People with Asperger’s Syndrome have a heightened sensitivity to loud noises, lights, or even certain colors. For example, they may not be able to wear certain kinds of materials because the fabric will irritate the skin. Often, they have strong taste buds and are sensitive to different textures. Additionally, they may have a rigid walk or an odd posture. Likewise, motor coordination is usually lacking making simple tasks such as handwriting, opening a jar, or catching a ball a struggle. The lack of motor skills makes it difficult to play team

Case 5.1 involves the Miller family. Harold is a 4-year-old White and Jewish pre-school student. Harold’s father is an engineering professor and his mother is a stay-at-home. A recent evaluations show that Harold has Asperger’s Syndrome (Amatea, 2013).

Asperger’s syndrome is a condition that is on the autism spectrum. The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) uses three standard criteria to specify the severity of the condition. In John M. Mahoney’s article, he says that “The core symptoms of the disorder fall into two broad clusters: Criterion A describes qualitative impairment in social interaction; Criterion B contains examples of restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities” (3). Within these clusters, there are multiple ‘classes’ of behavior under criterion A and B.

The statistics and facts above have demonstrated that removing Asperger’s Disorder from the DSM-5, as a mental health diagnosis, negatively affects an entire population of people, referred to as Aspies. The underlying issue is the power the DSM-5 manual has on overall mental health to determine identities, diagnosis, treatment health and mental health services, educational services and more. One DSM change has power to affect an entire population of people with developmental disabilities. It is important to understand how this affects our society as a whole by examining how this problem affects family, religion, government, and economy.

Problems with social skills include difficulty interacting with others, are often awkward in social situations, and have difficulty starting and maintaining a conversation. Individuals with Asperger’s syndrome may develop odd, repetitive movements, such as hand twitching or finger twisting. They might also develop unusual rituals, such as getting dressed in a specific order, and are resistant to change the ritual. Some communication difficulties people with Asperger's syndrome may exhibit are, not being able to make eye contact when speaking with someone, trouble using facial expressions and gestures, and understanding body language. They also have a tendency to misunderstand language in context and are very literal in their use of language. Individuals could express limited range of interests; they could develop an almost obsessive interest in a few areas, such as weather, topics in school, or sports. Many individuals with Asperger's syndrome are exceedingly gifted or skilled in a particular area, such as history or science. The coordination of individuals with Asperger's syndrome may seem clumsy or awkward.

The prognosis for the individual with ASD is dependent on the severity of the disorder. In Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of ASD, the symptoms of shyness and impaired social interaction are present. However, in more

Asperger´s disorder is not a disease, but a developmental brain disorder. It is four times more prevalent in boys than in girls and it shows no racial, ethnic or social boundaries. Family income, lifestyle and educational levels do not affect the chance of Asperger´s disorder's occurrence. According to Hans Asperger:

Case 5.1 involves the Miller family. Harold is a 4-year-old White and Jewish pre-school student. Harold’s father is an engineering professor and his mother is a stay-at-home. A recent evaluation shows that Harold has Asperger’s Syndrome (Amatea, 2013). Due to the fact, the evaluation was very recent the Millers are in the shock and denial stage of family crisis.

Greenwell, B. (2004). The curious incidence of novels about Asperger's Syndrome. Children's Literature in Education, 35(3), 271-284.

The relationship between Asperger syndrome and autism has been a controversial topic in psychology. There is not a definite correlation which has been decided upon between the two and chiefly due to the fact that they are both overly similar. Concisely, psychologists seek to identify the main difference between them. In a simpler way, it is not yet clear whether autism and Asperger syndrome should be defined as independent (distinct) terms, or whether Asperger syndrome should be categorized under the wider realm of autism. In their researche, multiple scholars have come upon differing opinions and theories in support of their own perceptions of the two disorders which either agree or disagree at some point. Asperger syndrome is derived from Hans Asperger who is highly recognized for his efforts in defining the disease which many scholars had described as not diagnosable (Mayes, Calhoun & Crites, 2001).

Human beings face obstacles especially individuals with Asperger’s syndrome as they cope with daunting challenges in their existence. These challenges affect their everyday lives particularly in interacting with people and coping with their emotions. Thus, the clinical features, treatments, and accommodations of Asperger’s syndrome impact the affected person’s pivotal aspects of social, communication and demeanour.

Asperger Syndrome is an unfortunate condition to acquire. Asperger’s is considered to be a pervasive developmental disorder. Pervasive developmental disorders are most commonly involved with slower than average learning of everyday skills. Individuals with Asperger Syndrome will experience many difficulties. These individuals express little and bizarre social interaction. Next, their speech is monotone and short. Unfortunately, people with Asperger Syndrome will also experience difficulty with nonverbal communication. Examples of nonverbal communication are facial expressions, hand gestures, and waving. Overall, Asperger victims are socially awkward. These are all the struggles and symptoms that an Asperger victim will experience daily.

Nevertheless, it would be easy to believe that half of our population can fit in a mental disorder because the DSM has become broader making continuum of disorder, thus if somebody is not entirely bipolar, he/she might fall into the depressive category. Similarly, it happens with Autism, Aspeger’s, and Pervasive Developmental disorders that have been integrated into a single Autism Spectrum Disorder. Now, the impact of a diagnosis can be more profound for a parent since the cause and the cure of autism are unknown. For a child that is high functioning, has good academic standing and has some social abilities, it is more hopeful to call him Asperger than to call him autistic. There are many stories of Asperger or PDD children that through ABA therapy have been able to succeed at school and create a richer social life. However, not many of these stories are told about low functioning autistic, so this could produce more negative emotions on parents than what the way it was

stereotypical about the children and adults affected by it. Most people with AS do not purposely decide to become loners. There is a tendency that as children develop toward adolescence into adulthood, there is a result in negativism, clinical depression, and sometimes hopelessness because of failure to make relationships (Klin & Volkmar, 1997). People with Asperger’s love seeing things from other people’s perspective. They can also have a difficult time understanding people’s thoughts and most of their feelings. This is when theory of mind comes into play because we, and they, have trouble understanding other people’s perspective (Barnhill, 2001).

Self-stigma is the prejudice which people with mental illness turn against themselves. Both public and self-stigma may be understood in terms of three components: stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.The most common mental illnesses in teenagers and young adults are: Anxiety Disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, ADD), Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depressive Illness), Coping with Traumatic Events, Depression, Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder, Eating Disorders (Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, and Bingeing). These disorders can have multiple effects on young minds. For instance, anxiety disorders present themselves in different ways; whether it be an overwhelming sense of disquietude or uncontrollable