What is Asperger’s autism?
Someone on a forum just asked me to define Asperger’s autism. Here was my reply:
Asperger’s is one of the three major conditions generally classified as belonging to the autism spectrum. Classical (or Kanner’s) autism and PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified) being the other two. There are also other pervasive developmental disorders, such as Rett’s syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder, but they are not included by most researchers and clinicians in the autism spectrum itself.
Asperger’s autism (also called Asperger’s syndrome and Asperger’s disorder) is, like the other categories of autism, a neurological difference which results certain differences in cognition and perception from so-called neurotypical, or neurologically typical, persons. One of those differences makes it difficult for many Asperger’s autistics to read nonverbal cues and to have difficulty functioning according to usual expectations in social situations.
For instance, it is very common for Asperger’s autistics to want, as children, to have friends, but to simply not be able to obtain them. Many Asperger’s autistics, myself included, went through considerable bullying. Those of my generation were frequently diagnosed as having childhood schizophrenia – back when schizophrenia was the catch-all for any neurological differences which could not otherwise be classified. Although I never displayed schizophrenic symptoms, I was subjected to electroconvulsive threatments (at 11 years old) and neuroleptic drugs.
