Asperger’s at UNI

1. Asperger’sat UNI

2. Paul M. Conditt, Psy.D. • Licensed Psychologist at Conditt Psychological Services • www.conditt.org • Started working with Asperger’sduring my internship at Texas Tech

3. Scene from Adam

4. History of Asperger’sSyndrome • Named by Lorna Wing (1981) British psychiatrist • Hans Asperger – Pediatrician in Nazi-occupied Vienna • Studied 4 children with cluster of symptoms • Bravely argued against a Nazi law introduced for “the prevention of offspring suffering from hereditary diseases”

5. History • His original article was not translated into English until 1991 • He considered it more of a personality disorder, although this view is no longer held

6. Prevalence • Studies vary widely • CDC estimates just under 1% have an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) • Tony Attwood, Ph.D., estimates 1/250 have Asperger’s Syndrome • Ratio of about 4:1 males:females

7. Salient Features • Delayed social maturity and social reasoning • Immature empathy • Difficulty making friends/teased • Difficulty with control and communication of emotions • Unusual language abilities that include advanced vocabulary and syntax, but delayed conversational skills, unusual prosody and a tendency to be pedantic

8. Salient Features • Fascination with topic that is unusual in intensity or focus • Unusual profile of learning abilities • Need for assistance with some self-help and organizational skills • Clumsiness in fine or gross motor skills • Over/under sensitivity to sounds, aromas, textures, or touch and movement

9. Other Common Features • Attend to details rather than the big picture • Take things literally • Poor eye contact • OCD tendencies • Trouble expressing emotions • Co-occurring ADHD, behavior or mood disorders • Need for order/predictability • Some have very poor hygiene

10. Strengths of Asperger’s • Tony Attwood and Carol Gray suggest we define Asperger’s according to strengths • A qualitative advantage in social interaction, as manifested by a majority of the following: • peer relationships characterized by absolute loyalty and impeccable dependability • free of sexist, "age-ist", or culturalist biases; ability to regard others at "face value" • speaking one’s mind irrespective of social context or adherence to personal beliefs

11. Strengths of Asperger’s • ability to pursue personal theory or perspective despite conflicting evidence • seeking an audience or friends capable of: enthusiasm for unique interests and topics; • consideration of details; spending time discussing a topic that may not be of primary interest • listening without continual judgement or assumption • interested primarily in significant contributions to conversation; preferring to avoid "ritualistic small talk" or socially trivial statements and superficial conversation • seeking sincere, positive, genuine friends with an unassuming sense of humor

12. Strengths of Asperger’s • Fluent in "Aspergerese", a social language characterized by at least three of the following: • a determination to seek the truth • conversation free of hidden meaning or agenda • advanced vocabulary and interest in words • fascination with word-based humor, such as puns • advanced use of pictorial metaphor

13. Strengths of Asperger’s • Cognitive skills characterized by at least four of the following: • strong preference for detail over gestalt • original, often unique perspective in problem solving • exceptional memory and/or recall of details often forgotten or disregarded by others, for example: names, dates, schedules, routines • avid perseverance in gathering and cataloguing information on a topic of interest • persistence of thought • encyclopaedic or "CD ROM" knowledge of one or more topics • knowledge of routines and a focused desire to maintain order and accuracy • clarity of values/decision making unaltered by political or financial factors

14. Strengths of Asperger’s • acute sensitivity to specific sensory experiences and stimuli, for example: hearing, touch, vision, and/or smell • strength in individual sports and games, particularly those involving endurance or visual accuracy, including rowing, swimming, bowling, chess • "social unsung hero" with trusting optimism: frequent victim of social weaknesses of others, while steadfast in the belief of the possibility of genuine friendship • increased probability over general population of attending university after high school

15. Aspie College Students • May need accommodations: • Typing rather than verbally explaining a concept of solution • Using a keyboard rather than having to hand-write • Solo projects instead of group projects • Quiet places to take tests

16. Professors with AS • Can use their deep and thorough knowledge to achieve PhD

17. Resources • The Complete Guide to Asperger’sSyndrome – Tony Attwood, Ph.D. (2007) • www.tonyattwood.com • Pretending to be Normal – Liane Holliday Willey (1999) • www.wrongplanet.net • www.aspergersyndrome.org • www.asperger-institute.com

18. Movies with Aspies • Mozart and the Whale – 2005 • Adam – 2009

19. Scene from Adam • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKLqBCXwvo4&feature=related • Start at 25 seconds