Aspergers syndrome is somtimes referred to as an Autism Spectrum Disorder because of it’s similarities to autism.  Aspergers was named after Dr Hans Asperger who first identified the syndrome.

Children (and adults) who have Aspergers syndrome tend to have difficulties in communicating with others and will often misunderstand others.  Although they can hear what is being said to them and they know what the words do mean, they still have difficulaty in understanding the full message.  They don’t really pick up the ‘non-verbal’ part of the communication.

It is hard for a person with Aspergers to understand feelings and in particular to understand how someone else is feeling.  Much of their world is based around their own feelings and they find it very hard to understand why things happen if they don’t happen according to how they are feeling.

This lack of ‘empathy’ makes it very difficult for a person with Aspergers to ‘fit in’ and make friends as they believe everything should work according to their feelings and their knowledge of how things should work.

 It is not known as to how a person gets Aspergers syndrome but it is believe to be hereditary.  You will often find that a child diagnosed with Aspergers may have an adult somewhere in the family that will show similar symptoms.

There is no blood test to diagnose Aspergers syndrome and often it is very hard to diagnose and may take some time before a definate diagnosis can be made.  Symptoms will vary from person to person also and although some children may experience very obvious symptoms which will help in a faster diagnosis, other children may have milder symptoms that may be misdiagnosed as just bad behavior.  A mothers intuition however will often know that there is something more than just the normal childhood bad behavior.

Although Aspergers is a syndrome that a person is born with, the symptoms may not start causing problems until a child is about school age and therefore most children are not diagnosed until they are around six or seven years old.

 Many children with Aspergers will be above average in intelligence but may be lacking in emotional and social issues.  There is no cure for Aspergers but there are techniques and diet’s that may assist in dealing with the syndrome.

Many children with Aspergers Syndrome may also have coexisting conditions such as:

• ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder)
• Social Anxiety Disorder
• Anxiety Disorder
• OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
• ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder)
• Depression

If your child has a coexisting disorder it is important to treat all disorders to get a good result.

Symptoms of Aspergers Syndrome
Strategies for helping with Aspergers Syndrome
Treatments for Aspergers