Dispelling the Myths about High Functioning Asperger Syndrome

Add caption

This is an area of study that is changing and advancing rapidly, but the public has not yet caught up to the general consensus within the psychiatric community. Today, we're going to clear up some of the broad, widely-held misconceptions about the disorder formerly known as high functioning Asperger’s Syndrome.

1.       Though certain patients with particular symptoms are often referred to as having high functioning Asperger, the condition was actually formally known as Asperger's Syndrome, named after an Austrian pediatrician named Hans Asperger who first identified the syndrome back in the 1940s. Now, let's fast forward to 2013, when the psychiatric community elected to remove Asperger's Syndrome from the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) because it is technically an affliction on the autism spectrum, and shouldn't necessarily be treated differently. However, Asperger's generally describes a less severe case that still allows individuals to autonomously work, maintain a social life, and support themselves within our society's framework without unreasonable accommodation. So from here forward, when this article refers to someone who displays the traits or symptoms of high functioning Asperger, we will do so by the current medical terminology: Autism.

2.       Here is a quick list of the most common symptoms found in patients suffering from a relatively mild autism spectrum disorder:

·         Difficulty noticing, interpreting, and responding to subtle social cues

·         Difficulty reading body language, starting or maintaining a conversation, or refraining from interrupting others who are speaking

·         Difficulty feeling or expressing empathy, especially in appropriate social situations

·         Difficulty understanding or expressing differences in people's tone, pitch, or accent (for instance, having trouble recognizing sarcasm)

·         Constant verbalization of internal thought process

·         Abnormal eye contact – either very little, or too much

·         Deep, intense interest in one or a few different subjects, about which they sometimes speak at great length (often carrying on a one-sided conversation) and which they have a multifaceted, extensive knowledge about.

3.       Many people who are searching for information about high functioning Asperger’s are actually searching for information on high functioning autism. Though they sound like they should be the same thing, the psychiatric community is still working to fold the previous diagnosis of Asperger's into the autism spectrum (on a scale of severity). High functioning autism used to mean patients who suffered from an autism spectrum disorder, and had an IQ of more than 70. High functioning autism, like high functioning Asperger, does not appear at all in the DSM-V. This is likely due to the psychiatric community's increasing reluctance to utilize IQ as an appropriate measure of intelligence, since both the concept and the method of testing have proven to be faulty in many areas.

NEUROFEEDBACK FOR HIGH FUNCTIONING ASPERGER'S