Many professionals describe the symptoms of Asperger syndrome as constituting a ‘triad of social impairment’. The three impairments are in:

· The comprehension and use of communication, both verbal and non-verbal
· two-way social interaction,
· the true, flexible, imaginative activities, with the substitution of a narrow range of repetitive, stereotyped pursuits

What are the problems you may experience as an AS sufferer?

People with Asperger syndrome are aware from an early age that they do not fit in. They may be quite detached from other people at an early age, but this usually changes as the person realizes that he or she wants to have friends. Anxiety as an infant may lead to temper tantrums, or to withdrawal. In infant and primary school, it may be difficult for the child with Asperger syndrome to work out what is expected, and they may get a reputation for being difficult, or dreamy. Other children may involve a person with Asperger syndrome in their play, but the person very often remains on the outside. This becomes more serious as the child with Asperger syndrome gets older, when they may experience teasing or bullying. Fighting back, which the person with Asperger syndrome is often tempted to do, just makes the situation worse. Many people with Asperger syndrome start to lose confidence in themselves at this age. It is worse if there is no diagnosis, because parents and others may assume that their child is just being difficult or uncooperative.

As the person with Asperger syndrome gets older, they may brood more and more on the injustice of their situation. This may lead to explosions of anger or frustration. There is a temptation to withdraw into a special interest, like computer games, and to deal with people only over the net. Many people with Asperger syndrome have difficulty in empathizing with other people and this becomes a problem in adolescence and adulthood, when the person wants to have a sexual partner. Intimacy means knowing what your partner wants without them having to say, and this is very difficult for people with Asperger syndrome to do.

Links to AFAAS http://www.faaas.org/ and books by spouses or family members

How is this different from a neurotypical person?

The main difference between Asperger syndrome and a neurotypical person happens in the first few months of life, and is unnoticed. When a child is born, he or she is preadapted to look at other human beings, and to look where other human beings are looking. The child literally learns how other people see things, and what other people see. The evidence suggests that people with Asperger syndrome do not do this, because their brains are not wired in the right way to do this automatically as other children do. People with Asperger syndrome have to work the world out for themselves, without the benefit of this intuitive knowledge.

Is there a positive side to being an Asperger Syndrome sufferer?

There are some useful sites by people with Asperger syndrome on the Useful Links page. Further information is available at www.nas.org.uk/