An Introduction And Guide To Identifying Asperger Disorder 2

(1) Asperger’s Approach And Outlook.

(A)Dr. Hans Asperger very much stands apart from other psychiatrists, in as much as his emphasis was directed towards the analysis of thought-processing in his patients, measured via specialised intelligence testing. It was concluded the patients showed above average intelligence in associative thought-processing but required specialised education, as opposed to mainstream schooling. (B) Clinical diagnosis was not meant to be overly specific. It was recognised that core symptoms could exist in different degrees and interact differently one with another. Evaluation relied upon observation within a group and not via individual consultation with a psychologist.

(2)The Fundamental Root Of Asperger’s Pathology.
Asperger Disorder is a clinical condition and most definitely was recognised by Dr. Asperger as “autism”:

“The term arises from an understanding of autism as a psychological disorder, more severely expressed in patients who suffer Schizophrenia.” (Hans Asperger)

“While, under normal circumstances, a person finds himself in a process of continual interaction with his environment, continually reacting to it, in the case of autistics this interaction is significantly cut-off and constricted.” ( Hans Asperger)

Failure by psychologists to accurately diagnose Asperger’s Pathology (or, Asperger Syndrome), arose from misunderstandings over this key point. Let us now spell out, in clear terms, the fundamental root of this condition:

Individuals who suffer from this pathology experience a breakdown in (primarily) emotional, instinctive contact with other human beings. This includes parents and siblings. Normal people are able to sense, interpret and co-ordinate with the emotions of others in their environment. They are able to form friendships and integrate in communities. This allows them to absorb information via connection with the thoughts (and feelings) of other people. The Asperger children, however, experienced emotional disconnection from parents, family and other children. In order to detect the type of autism we refer to, certain visual symptoms may be noticed:

The autistic individual will show weak facial expression, when communicating with others, or the expression may be concentrated and tense. Eye-contact will be often absent, or the expression may be vacant or distracted. Attempts to take part in a conversation will be inadequate, drifting and non-synchronised. The vocal intonation, also in this case, will be “flat” and monotone, without rises in pitch. A person with Asperger Autism will stand out as being “different” and “awkward” in any group. This is why one-to-one psychology consultations are inadequate for diagnosing Asperger’s Pathology. Observation of group interaction is fundamental. In layman terms, we are looking at poor, awkward. social interaction, inability to “fit in” with groups of people, or even family.

The breakdown in emotional and instinctive connection with other human beings amounts to an information blockade, and is active from very early childhood. Normal children assimilate information and knowledge via emotionally based contact with parents, teachers and role-models. In cases where such emotional resonance and connection are cut-off, serious shortcomings in intellectual and social development will result. Children who suffer from Asperger Autism are considered “slow”, “stupid”, “disruptive” and “problematic”.

Despite all of this, Asperger noticed the children he was researching came from families that were predominantly intellectual. Some families had a history of poets, artists or engineers. It seemed odd to Asperger that such a rich genetic pool would produce such problematic offspring:

“Often we found among our children descendants of famous dynasties in science and art, but sometimes there was an impression that from all their greatness, only oddities and quirks remained in the child, which are often inherent in great scientists.” (Hans Asperger)

It was also noticed that the children, referred to, made efforts to educate themselves in isolation from any classroom. This not only indicated that the children were genuinely inquisitive but it showed they were also able to acquire knowledge by themselves, without reliance upon teachers. In certain cases, an autistic child would show signs of giftedness in the area of their specific interest. Asperger interpreted this as extreme individuality, applied to thought-processing. He was especially fascinated by the way cognitive processing might differ from normal perception, due to the lack of social, environmental bias in the case of autism:

“One gets the impression that for a normal person, distance and remoteness in relation to the outside world is a prerequisite for the ability to think abstractly.” (Hans Asperger)

So, in determining the core root of Asperger Autism, we should also note poor performance at school, or in group-based education, coupled with traits of inquisitiveness and ability to acquire information independently. For example, many autistics perform poorly in the classroom but may be prolific readers. They are far more motivated to acquire knowledge by themselves and focus upon what interests them, to the exclusion of everything else. They are unable to function well in any organized study-group, since this involves social interaction and the ability to “connect” with teachers:

“And here we come to an important conclusion. The complications that mechanised teaching causes to autists, the inability to think the same way adults teach, the difficulties that learning from them occasion, the desire to derive everything only from their own perception and thinking, – even among the smartest of them, in many cases has a negative effect.” (Hans Asperger)

Summarisation Of The Fundamentals Of Asperger Autism.
Recognition relies upon an overall, core pattern of developmental delay that is noticed in very early childhood (aged three, or less). Emotional, instinctive and social connection with other human beings is broken. The definition “broken” must be taken literally, since the consequences, in such cases, are severe and were carefully outlined by Asperger. These children suffered serious symptoms of disconnection from their immediate surroundings, withdrawel, poor social communication and intuition, inability to process information (on the basis of human contact) and resulting overall, developmental delay.

Despite the major breakdown in social communication, people affected by Asperger Autism may manifest high levels of associative intelligence, memory, musical ability, perspective and obsessive interest. The typical scenario is one of an isolated child, sitting alone and reading, oblivious to the world around. There is a marked resistance to participation in organised activities of any kind. Conflict within the immediate family is highly probable, as are tensions with teachers. Asperger drew attention to occasional violent confrontations with other children, exacerbated by a general conflict between the demands made upon the autistic person, and the inability to both process and satisfy such requirements.

It is worth bearing in mind the autism Asperger described appears not to be just one, broad pathology. The author has encountered people who performed far better at school than the Asperger children, but were clearly autistic and socially impaired. For this reason, it is important to emphasise information-processing testing above the attempt to fit unique people into a box. This latter approach was considered by Asperger to be somewhat unreliable. The diagnosis he outlined could serve only as an schematic but there will always be exceptions to concrete rules.
In the next part we will see how the core of this pathology creates a whole range of other symptoms we can identify.