Aspergers Syndrome – Diagnosis and Therapies

Abstract

Asperger’s syndrome (also known as Asperger’s disorder, SA) was first described in 1944 by an Austrian pediatrician named Hans Asperger. He followed the behaviour of four young people with similar social problems over a longer period of time. Although their intelligence was normal, the children had no nonverbal communication skills and did not demonstrate empathy with their peers. Their way of expressing themselves was either dissociated or too formal, and their interests all within narrow subjects dominated their conversations. The children also shared a tendency towards being left-handed. Many professionals considered Asperger’s syndrome to be simply an easier form of autism and used the term “high functioning autism” to describe these people.