What Asperger's syndrome is?

Asperger’s syndrome is a form of autism without cognitive impairment and intellectual disability. People with asperger syndrome are people with autism this means they will:
source NHS
  • Find difficult to interact with other people
  • Find difficult to understand what other people can feel and think
  • Find things like lights and / or sounds very stressful and harmful
  • Be anxious in particular circumstances like social events and unexpected situations
  • Take longer to process and understand the information
  • Do and / or think the same things continuously and for a long time

Asperger syndrome by DSM-IV (diagnostic manual) was part of that group of conditions related to autism onset in the development which are called neurodevelopment disorders. By DSM-5 (diagnostic manual), this syndrome has been excluded, and it is diagnosed as Autism spectrum disorder or Disorder of social pragmatic communication.

From DSM5: Individuals with a consolidated DSM-IV diagnosis of autistic disorder, asperger’s disorder or pervasive developmental disorder should receive the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Individuals who have severe social communication deficits, but whose symptoms do not meet the autism criteria should be evaluated for pragmatic social communication disorder.

To understand what Asperger’s syndrome is, you must first understand what autism is, more correct called Autism spectrum.

What autism is?

Autism is a neurogenetic differentiation of biological and environmental causes. It is not a disease, but a way of being, whom borns autistic remains so for life. Conditions and symptoms can vary from person to person from severe pathological variant to a normal variant where the quality of life is not significantly compromised.

Autism is a condition with symptoms that vary in intensity and quality and it has two specific deficit areas: social communication and stereotyped interests. The compromission of these areas are different from person to person.

To understand autism, we have to challenge the stereotypes we are used to. People with autism are not necessarily isolated people, people who do not speak or shut themselves in their world, they are not all geniuses in mathematics either. Many of the people with autism have a desire for sociality, but do not have the tools to express it in a socially understandable or adequate way.

Recent studies have shown that people with autism process information differently activating different areas of perception, this modifies their way to perceive the surrounding reality.
These findings can explain other conditions as personality disorders and schizophrenia, dismantling the idea of mental illness, supporting the importance of each individual’s relativity.

People with Asperger’s syndrome at a first glance seem to not have any kind of clinical diversity. Their way to be autistic is expressed in unusual behaviours generally interpreted as oddity, rudeness, selfishness or laziness.