Asperger's syndrome in adults: causes and symptoms, treatment

What is Asperger's syndrome?

Asperger syndrome (lat. Asperger syndrome) is an autism spectrum disorder.

Autism syndrome differs from ordinary autism in that the patient’s cognitive and even speech abilities are generally preserved.

“Related” diseases of the syndrome are:

atypical autism;
psychosis;
high functioning autism;
Rett syndrome and some others.

Patients are characterized by difficulties in communication, stereotypical behavior and limited interests. These disorders are of a deep nature, interfering with normal life activities.

It is noteworthy that the disease is congenital, which means it cannot appear as a result of the child’s development in the first years of life. However, upbringing and environment significantly influence the course of Asperger's syndrome.

There are different opinions about how often Asperger syndrome manifests itself in childhood. Statistics indicate 0.36 - 0.71 percent of cases, but experts give a completely different figure: in their opinion, children have symptoms in 30 or even 50 percent of cases.

Discovered only in the first half of the twentieth century, Asperger syndrome did not attract the attention of scientific and medical circles for a long time. “Strange” children were given various diagnoses, from atypical autism to childhood schizophrenia, and adults were considered simply ill-mannered people, chronic losers, unprincipled boors. The real reason for the strange behavior was revealed later.

Causes of Asperger's Syndrome

Asperger's syndrome has been studied since 1944, but during this time the causes of the syndrome have not been fully identified. Since the disease is congenital, opinions have been expressed about its genetic origin.

Researchers about the syndrome, relatives may also have signs characteristic of the disease, most often in a milder form - for example, some disturbances in communication. This was also pointed out by Hans Asperger himself, who studied not only his young patients, but also their families.

It has also been noted that autism spectrum disorders have a similar genetic nature.

Modern research has shown that the direct mechanism of the disease is a disruption of neural connections in the brain - because of this, the control of a person’s mental life differs from normal.

Other signs of SA in adults

Aspergers are characterized by an amazing passion for what they love. They immerse themselves in it, day and night, studying the object of their admiration. In a favorable situation, they become excellent masters of their craft and achieve great success.

Maria was passionate about languages: she was fluent in German and English, and spoke fluent French and Italian. When she decided to also learn Hindi, the teacher was skeptical. The group members had already studied all the grammar and were learning to read, while her knowledge was zero. But after a couple of weeks, she was ahead of her classmates by a wide margin, because she spent all her days and nights studying the language.

If Aspies do what they love, they give themselves completely to it. As a rule, their interests are very specific and narrowly focused.

Aspergers have an amazing attention to detail. They are meticulous and pedantic. Each item is strictly in its place. But this trait is not total - among them there are also those who pay little attention to minor details.

Often, high anxiety in people with AS causes them to develop OCD - obsessive-compulsive disorder. It manifests itself in the repeated repetition of actions that do not matter. Repetitive body movements, usually tapping fingers, twitching shoulders, swaying, fixating on an object, for example, toothpicks, pathological counting - counting steps.

Aspie people are incredibly conservative. It is difficult for them to move away from their usual daily routine. They plan their day carefully. Waking up in the morning and getting ready for work, they plot out the route they will follow. They are required to think through several options for different occasions and pay attention to what emotions they will experience on the road. They think through every upcoming event to the smallest detail. And they decide whether it is worth the effort that will have to be made to implement it.

Executive functioning difficulties are problems in the implementation of planning, organizational skills, etc. For example, a person with Asperger's syndrome may find it difficult to integrate individual parts into a coherent whole. Their concentration suffers and it can be difficult to direct their thoughts in the right direction.

Physically, Aspergers are not much different from ordinary people. But they are characterized by some clumsiness in their movements. Because of this, it becomes difficult for such people to master certain sports or writing; their posture and gait have a special pattern.

When communicating with those suffering from the syndrome, you may be wary of the nature of their speech. She is monotonous and slow, although she has a rich vocabulary. Their speech is delivered correctly, filled with terms and scientific concepts, but its imagery is incomprehensible to Aspergers. They do not understand the meaning of proverbs, sayings, irony and humor, are incapable of generalizations, and cannot apply one rule to several situations.

Since in most cases patients are not able to understand the feelings and emotions of another person, their entire conversation is directed towards themselves. More precisely, it is a monologue in which the Aspie talks about his hobbies, etc. When they are taught that in a conversation you should be interested in the life of your interlocutor, they can be discouraging with their questions. “What is it like to be an alcoholic?” they ask a person addicted to alcohol. Or: “How much do you keep in your bank account?” There are no unspoken rules of communication for them.

Their thinking is at a high level, they solve complex, specifically structured problems. However, it lacks flexibility and the ability to think creatively.

Symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome

There are many manifestations of Asperger's syndrome; Every life situation reveals its own “oddities.”

However, there are common symptoms that indicate the presence of this disease. Their appearance can be noted starting from 3 years of age. Until this moment, the child develops normally - in due time he learns to sit, walk, and talk.

Difficulties begin at higher stages of mental development:

The child does not want to make contact with people around him. He does not communicate (or communicates poorly) with family members, with friends in kindergarten or at school. He does not take the initiative to make acquaintance or contact. If contact has taken place, then the patient with Asperger’s has difficulty understanding the emotions of the interlocutor, does not recognize shades of intonation, gestures and facial expressions; does not understand a joke - he takes speech addressed to him literally.

The patient's speech often does not contain emotions, words are pronounced monotonously. The child cannot find the right words to explain what he needs. Because of this, the child is considered stupid, at school they give a low grade due to the fact that he allegedly did not learn the lesson; in fact, the situation is the opposite - he can very quickly learn a topic (literally by heart), but communication disorders prevent him from reproducing what is necessary.
If a carrier of Asperger's syndrome begins to speak confidently, then, as a rule, he gets carried away with a long monologue. He does not understand how his interlocutors react to his speech, whether they are interested in it or not. The child often does not look the interlocutor in the eyes, he does not pause in his speech, which is necessary for the listeners to perceive his words. His monologue resembles a playback of a sound recording. The strange thing here is that the speaker is fully aware that he is communicating with another person.
The speech of “Aspergers” looks even more strange due to the almost complete absence of facial expressions and gestures. Even his gaze during a conversation is directed into emptiness. This unnatural pose is noted even in photographs.
Another fundamental symptom is the desire for order. The child tries to arrange things in an “ideal” way: arranges toys by color, shape, size, puts objects in strictly defined places. If he left a thing in one place, and then someone moved it to another, but very close, then upon his return the child may not find it at all. This often occurs in adults with Asperger's syndrome.

Other signs

People with Asperger's syndrome share some of the same characteristics as other forms of ASD.

For example, they really like to keep everything in order. This helps to find at least some understandable corner in a complex and messy world. Order concerns not only surrounding things, the apartment and the workplace, but also behavior. Adults and children try to establish their own rules everywhere: follow the same route to school and work, live according to a clearly established daily routine, and eat certain foods, observing clear rituals.

Also, people suffering from Asperger's syndrome may show a special passion for objects: they collect, have hobbies, or thoroughly study some area of knowledge. Sometimes they manage to connect their professional career with what they love, because their interests do not fade away throughout their lives.

Diagnostics

Identifying Asperger's syndrome is actually not an easy task. To do this, specialists from different fields are involved - psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists, geneticists. Various studies are needed because the manifestations of the syndrome are similar to the symptoms of other disorders.

Diagnostics of children

It is important to detect symptoms in children as early as possible because this makes treatment easier. To make a diagnosis, conversations are held with the child, including tests and games.

In addition, the specialist talks with the child’s parents to obtain information about his behavior in the family, at school, and during everyday activities. A conversation with parents will help identify manifestations of the syndrome in them.

Diagnosis of adults

Asperger syndrome is more difficult to identify in adults because symptoms of the disease change with age. However, there are a number of methods to diagnose the disorder in adults. These include, in particular, standard tests:

1.Test. Based on an analysis of the patient's perspective. The test is often carried out using a photo. As already mentioned, the gaze of a person suffering from the syndrome expresses nothing and is directed to nowhere.
2.Test. Determines the degree of empathy - the emotional development of the subject. Aspergers have lower scores on this test than healthy people.
3.Test. Shows the presence of ritual behavior, “obsession”.

Feelings without concealment

Undoubtedly, emotional immaturity brings its own inconveniences into the lives of people with Asperger syndrome. But it forces them to show those positive traits that sensual people can hide or modify to benefit the situation.

We are talking about such a trait as, for example, honesty. Needless to say, not every one of us is capable of 100% honesty. Sometimes we are shy, embarrassed to tell the whole truth face to face.

As for Aspies, such barriers do not exist for them. Without concealment or embarrassment, they will express everything that comes to their mind, without trying to hide details, soften or embellish. They are simply not capable of lying due to their characteristics, so it is very difficult to drag them into manipulations or scams with obvious benefit to them.

Such the highest honesty may be perceived by others as bad manners, narrow-mindedness or tactlessness. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this is the result of steadfastness and lack of maneuvering of thought.

These truth-tellers have no vanity or boasting. Giving an objective assessment of what is happening, rationally evaluating any actions, they openly and sincerely rejoice at the achievements of other people, without envy or malice. They neutrally perceive flattery and praise addressed to them, and insults and criticism do not cause emotional reactions in them.

For Aspergers, there are no social boundaries. They easily break the rules, without fear of appearing funny or bizarre in someone's eyes. They are driven by the desire for justice or to obtain information. They don’t care what status the person is in front of them. They are able to destroy all restrictions, no matter that the result may be a break in social ties.

The man went down to the hotel lobby almost completely naked, wearing only his underwear. And without a hint of embarrassment he asked those present where his pajamas were.

Treatment for Asperger's Syndrome

Since Asperger syndrome is a genetic disease of the “psychological” sphere, there are no methods of drug treatment for it.

However, there are drugs that can treat concomitant diseases - nervousness, depression, sleep disorders, inattention, and a tendency to self-harm. Some medications can even eliminate repetitive actions and behavioral patterns.

The main methods of treating Asperger syndrome are cognitive behavioral therapy, occupational therapy, and social and communication skills training. Physical therapy is also used, which helps to correct coordination of movements and improve sensory skills.

Children are offered classes with a speech therapist; Its task is to develop the child’s skills in conveying emotions, to teach him to make speech bright and expressive. In addition, visits to a psychologist and a special education teacher are necessary, who will teach the child to navigate the world around him.

Ideally, therapy for the syndrome should be mixed: psychological, behavioral and cognitive methods should be combined with the use of supportive medications aimed at improving the patient’s well-being.

Treating Asperger's syndrome in adults, as well as diagnosing the disease, is much more difficult than in children. In particular, because adult carriers of the disease have already become established individuals, they are critical of treatment attempts and often do not consider their condition to be a disease.

Symptoms

Clinical signs of pathology:

Problems with nonverbal communicative behavior, lack of gestures, facial expressions, images, intonation;
Difficulties with the perception of the surrounding reality, creative and cognitive activity, disruption of interaction in society, misunderstanding of figurative expressions, lack of a sense of humor;
Unstable emotional background - excessive peace or extreme rage and anger, outbursts of negative emotions, hysteria in response to any criticism;
Insensitivity and indifference towards loved ones, ruthlessness, lack of compassion and sympathy for the grief of others, excessive severity in behavior, inability to find the right words, rudeness and tactlessness;
Increased suspiciousness, mistrust, suspicion, vigilance reaching the level of paranoia, depressive syndrome, constantly arising obsessive fears - phobias;
Impaired motor skills, incoordination of movements, curvature of the spine, unsteady gait, clumsiness, patterned behavior, splayed handwriting, problems with sensory-motor integration and sense of the position of parts of one's own body relative to each other, lack of sequence of movements;
Excessive pedantry - extreme precision and accuracy in actions, excessive tendency to comply with formal requirements and ordering, craving for perfectionism;
Patterned or stereotypical behavior, unconsciously repeating movements;
Patients concentrate on a specific activity, devote themselves completely to their hobby and succeed in what they love;
One-sided verbosity, eloquence, talkativeness, talkativeness, speech devoid of intonation variety, abrupt transition from one topic to another, rapid changes in rhythm, volume, accent, long and boring monologues, monotonous repetition of the same words, phrases, unnatural, mechanical speech;
The syndrome is characterized by selective mutism - talking with some familiar people and completely ignoring everyone else;
General clinical signs are hypersensitivity to sound, light, touch, insomnia or increased drowsiness, light sleep, food selectivity, decreased general resistance of the body and weakened immunity.

The syndrome is usually discovered in early childhood. Sometimes symptoms of pathology may be absent until exposure to a provoking factor.

The main character traits of patients with Asperger's syndrome are incorrectness, tactlessness, egocentrism, callousness, and emotional coldness. Sick people cannot be friends, empathize, sympathize. They will never support a friend in a difficult situation, will not be able to share his interests and discuss topics that are important to their friend. Patients, without thinking, express their point of view in relation to others, offending them in the process. Behaviors like these turn people off.

By intuitively copying the actions of others, patients gradually learn generally accepted norms of behavior. At the same time, they spend most of their time alone, experiencing isolation and alienation. All their lives they never find like-minded people, friends and girlfriends, their “soul mate.” After repeated and unsuccessful attempts to communicate, they try to avoid the people around them.

Sick individuals are often unable to interpret facial expressions and gestures, recognize the tone of voice, or understand the hidden meaning of a hint. They take everything literally and use a strict style in conversation. Many people look away when talking or fix it at one point.

Intellectually, individuals with this syndrome develop faster than their peers. Distinctive features of their mental sphere are good memory and deep knowledge of the world. The problem is that patients cannot use them and use them for their intended purpose. Aspergers children have one hobby that completely absorbs them. Thanks to the ability to concentrate on little things, patients achieve great success in the areas of science that interest them.

Despite problems with socialization and reluctance to communicate, people with Asperger's syndrome correctly express their thoughts, construct complex sentences, and speak correctly, but in a monotonous, stereotyped and unnatural manner. Such people express their thoughts better in writing than verbally. They have a rich imagination, but do not accept the opinions of others and cannot interpret their feelings and thoughts.

In children, the first signs of pathology appear closer to 4 years of age, gradually increasing, becoming more obvious every day. They are obsessed with order, their pedantry sometimes reaches an extreme degree. Such children do not suffer from loneliness. They cannot empathize with their comrades and rejoice in their successes. Most patients are uninitiative, inert, and passive.

Young children do not want to leave their parents and attend kindergarten, and schoolchildren deliberately ignore their peers. Children with Asperger's syndrome often suffer from infectious diseases. This further narrows their circle of contacts. A sick child prefers to communicate with adults than with his peers. In joint games, he imposes his own rules and does not compromise. Such a child is gradually rejected by society, his social isolation increases. The teenage period is very difficult for sick children. Because of loneliness, they become depressed, start drinking alcohol and often commit suicide.