Family Background : Raymond Vasquez

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:

Some of the characteristics of those who have autism consist of repetitive thinking and compulsive attention in things like symbols, languages and numbers. The cause of autism is not yet known as of now, however, many people consider it a genetic disorder which takes place at birth. Christopher Boone has one specific form of autism known as Asperger’s syndrome, his disorder is reflected through his fascination with mathematics, detail, astronomy and colours; his thoughts on routine and violent hatred to interaction, even though it is not specified in the book. In 1943 Leo Kanner a psychiatrist published a paper surrounded around the research of 11 young patients that fit into a fine variety of diagnostic principles that he measured out to be autistic. During Kanner’s career he has seen fewer than 150 cases that go with the description he came up with of the syndrome, he theorised that autism was very unsupported and rare. Autism turned out to be a foundation of embarrassment and several of those who were diagnosed were certified; in the 1970s everything started to change (Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Simons Foundation, n.d.). Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner both used the word autism, in the 1940s when they were doing

Approximately 947,570 Americans have Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), however, it is not an easy disorder to explain (Bashe 19). With multiple conditions and characteristics in each case, AS is not an easy disorder to diagnose. Asperger’s Syndrome was named after Hans Asperger, an Austrian physician, who first described the disorder in 1944 after studying a group of children with similar, unusual characteristics. However, AS was not made an official disease until 1994. Consequently, Asperger disease is just now becoming published and popular so there is still research and questions being answered. Asperger’s Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, is noted by above-average

Asperger’s syndrome, which is also referred to as Asperger's disorder, is a type of Persuasive Developmental Disorder. Persuasive Developmental Disorder or PDD are a group of conditions that involve delays in the development of basic skills, the most recognizable of these skills is the ability to communicate and socialize with others as well as use their own imagination. Although Asperger's syndrome is similar in some ways to autism, there are important differences between the two. Children with Asperger's syndrome typically function higher than those children with autism. In addition to them being higher functioning; children with Asperger's syndrome generally have normal intelligence and slightly less than normal language development.

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).

Eugen Blueler, a psychiatrist, was the first to introduce the name "Autism" but he diagnosed this disease to a schizophrenic adult. Leo Kanner distinguished the two later in order to clarify the understanding of the disability. (Forty-six)

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).

Autism has undergone significant definition changes in the past. The term was first used in 1912 by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler from the Greek word for self—autos—in his description of patients with “schizophrenic thinking divorced from both logic and reality” (Rorvik 249). However, an established set of guidelines for diagnosis would not be established until 1943, when Leo Kanner, a German émigré to the United States, wrote “Autistic Disturbances of Affective Content”, a landmark essay in which he “described eleven children who, from infancy, had seemed to cut off from their parents…[and] existed in their own, often impenetrable world” (Pollak 250). The common features that he noticed in those eleven children were

The novel presents characters that represent the symptoms and complications of Autism and Asperger Syndrome. Behavior is dysfunctional, when it interferes with a person’s ability to function on a daily basis (Davis&Palladino, 2007). Some of the more common characteristics of Asperger Syndrome include difficulty in communication, problems expressing feelings, devotion to routine, and obsessive interests in one or more topics (Jaffe, 2010). John’s father, Mr. Tyree conveys indication of the psychological disorder in his behavior throughout the entire novel.

Raymond Babbitt’s world is very narrow because of his institutional upbringing and lack of social interaction. This man with autism is not employed and is extremely dependent on the individuals around him. He does not have the social skills or comprehension needed to hold down a job, nor does he have a strong grasp of reality and the complexity of society. It is stated by his doctor that Raymond does not have the capability to express his feelings; therefore, he is unable to relate and understand human life as the typically-developing person would. Raymond functions almost robotically, consistently needing a strict schedule. This being said, Raymond is extremely dependent on the caretakers at the institution for everything in his life, including his meals and bedtime schedule. He does receive professional aid from Doctor Bruner during his stay at the institute and psychologist, Doctor Marston, whom he sees after a psychotic break down.

It wasn’t until 1943 when the classification of autism was introduced by Dr. Leo Kanner. Dr. Kanner, a psychiatrist from John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, reported on eleven child patients

It did not receive its common name until Lorna Wing published several works on the disorder, calling it Asperger’s Syndrome. Dr. Asperger’s work, published in German, was not well known in English speaking countries until Wing’s writings in 1981 (“National Institutes of Health,” 2013). Today’s definition of AS is far different from that in 1944. Today, “Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) is a developmental disorder that is [a] severe and sustained impairment in social interaction and restricted, repetitive behavior, interest, and activity” (Myles, Lee, Smith, Tien, Chou, & Swanson, 2007). If one does not know the definition of Asperger’s, they often create many assumptions and misconceptions about people with the disorder.

Though never diagnosed, there are some famous people that we all know who was expected to have aspergers syndrome.

Kanner observed that the parent-child relationships in cases of children with autism appeared to be somewhat unusual. This suggestion fit with the tenor of the times, in which psychology and psychiatry were dominated by Freudian theories. They suggested that children developed the syndrome as a result of cold, abusive, or confusing home environments (references were made to “refrigerator mothers”), and early

The history of ASD; the word “Autism” was first used by a Swiss psychiatrist by the name of Eugen Bleuler. He began using the term to describe one group of symptoms for schizophrenia patients, (Wolff, 2004). “Autism” is a Greek word that comes from