User:Delaney555/Asperger syndrome

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Individuals with Asperger syndrome experience difficulties in basic elements of social interaction, which may include a failure to develop friendships or to seek shared enjoyments or achievements with others (e.g., showing others objects of interest); a lack of social or emotional reciprocity (social "games" give-and-take mechanic); and impaired nonverbal behaviors in areas such as eye contact, facial expression, posture, and gesture. Due to social disadvantages and their lack of social cues (fail to interpret social cues/show appropriate social behaviors) individuals with Aspergers syndrome may present as impolite. Adolescents with AS may exhibit ongoing difficulty with self-care or organization, and disturbances in social and romantic relationships. More likely than not, individuals with Aspergers Syndrome desire romantic relationships and tend to be more satisfied in them when their partner is also on the Autism spectrum. '''Those with ASD that want a romantic relationship can more successfully overcome all the hardships they face as long a they have support from the outside and both partners work together. '''

Education of families is critical in developing strategies for understanding strengths and weaknesses; helping the family to cope improves outcomes in children. Communication, consistency, and patience is key when caring for an individual with Aspergers Syndrome due to their social and emotional difficulties.

In 2013, DSM-5 eliminated AS as a separate diagnosis, folding it into the autism spectrum on a severity scale. '''The removal of AS from DSM was seen as very controversial and the level of controversy has been compared to the removal of homosexuality from DSM. The difference between these debated removals is AS was not demedicalised, but rather as mentioned before, just characterized under the broader term ASD.'''


 * Social communication intervention, which is specialized speech therapy to help with the pragmatics and give-and-take of normal conversation.
 * Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a treatment still in the experimental phase. rTMS wants to improve Theory of mind (ToM) and social functioning in adults with AS. The results thus far have been promising, but quite a large amount of trials still need to be conducted before this treatment is finalized as being safe and efficient.

Females with autism spectrum disorders may be underdiagnosed. '''Females with ASD tend to have more advanced social skills than males with ASD. Appropriate female diagnostic criteria needs to be further developed to help females be diagnosed. '''