Description+of+Asperger's+Syndrome

=Medical Definitions of Asperger's Syndrome= Here are three different medical definition that explain what Asperger's Syndrome is:
 * 1) "a developmental disorder resembling autism that is characterized by impaired social interaction, by repetitive patterns of behavior and restricted interests, by normal language and cognitive development, and often by above average performance in a narrow field against general background of deficient functioning -- called also Asperger's disorder" (from MedlinePlus)
 * 2) "An autistic disorder most notable for the often great discrepancy between the intellectual and social abilities of those who have it. Asperger's syndrome is a pervasive developmental disorder that is characterized by an inability to understand how to interact socially" (from MedicineNet.com)
 * 3) "a developmental discorder characterized by severely impaired social skills, repetitive behaviors, and often, a narrow set of interests; now considered one of the autism Spectrum Disorders." "a form of autism in which the person affected has limited but obsessive interests, and has difficulty relating to other people." (from Dictionary.com)

**Distinctions between Autism and Asperger's Syndrome** Asperger's Syndrome is "a high-functioning or mild autism". from //Learning and Behavior Problems in Asperger Syndrome,// an edited volume by Margot Prior (p. 21-22) (for more info, see Annotated Bibliography page, Books section)
 * 1) While Autistic children may or may not have speech delays, there is an absence of speech delays in Asperger children.
 * 2) Autistic children may or may not have a clinically significant delay in cognitive development, while there is an absence of a clinically significant delay in cognitive development in Asperger children.

= Important Note = There is a "high variability of children with AS who also have a range of specific learning difficulties and information processing insufficiencies". In other words, AS children have different learning styles, as well as different strengths and weaknesses. from //Learning and Behavior Problems in Asperger Syndrome ,// an edited volume by Margot Prior (p. 81) (for more info, see Annotated Bibliography page, Books section)

=Characteristics of Asperger's Syndrome= table from //Life Journey Through Autisim: An Educator's Guide to Asperger's Syndrome// (p. 6) (for more info, see Annotated Bibliography page, Online Documents section)

**Effects of Success & Failure on AS Children** Children with AS are especially vulnerable to the extremes of success and failure. While the rewards of their success are abundant, the price of their failures is huge. As a result, we as educators need to take whatever time, energy, and resources are necessary to support the development of AS children. If we do not, then we are choosing to "support the consequences of our neglect."(p. 3) Children with AS __need__ safekeeping from interactions that punish. They also need "exposure to a wide range of experiences that motivate them to adapt to a social world that is intensely difficult for them to negotiate." (p. 3) Because the daily life of an AS child is already so filled with punishment, coming most especially from their social limitations, and as a result, how other may treat them, any further punishment would only lead to more distress or anxiety for the child. (p. 4) from Baker & Welkowitz's book //Asperger's Syndrome: Intervening in schools, clinics, and communities // (for more info, see Annotated Bibliography page, Books section)

=Cognitive Differences= Cognitive differences of an Asperger mind (these differences help “explain why some things are easier for people with AS to do or learn, and why some things are more difficult” (Jacobsen, 2005, p. 21)): from Jacobsen's // Understanding how Asperger children and adolescents think and learn: Creating manageable environments for AS students //(for more info, see Annotated Bibliography page, Books section)
 * **a theory of mind** (“a concept of another person’s mind” (Jacobsen, 2005, p. 21)) à “Children with Asperger Syndrome have a theory of mind as it relates to factual information that someone else has. They may learn (perhaps the way that they learn facts) what someone may feel in certain situations, but do not sense other people’s feelings or personal experience as it relates to the information. AS children often have strong feelings and reactions themselves. However, they __often do not recognize or understand someone else’s emotional experience__.” (Jacobsen, 2005, p. 24)
 * **empathy** à “It is often said that children with Asperger Syndrome do not have empathy. ... Many AS children do care about and can have a very strong attachment to people who accept them. Considering that they may not really understand why, it is impressive how much they are willing to do for their parents and others in their lives. Empathy requires understanding the mind //and// the experiences of another person. This is not really possible for those who understand as information what others understand by ‘feel’ and by identification. ... Asperger children can learn //about// others. These children sometimes study our minds and reactions, and find that cognitive understanding can help them as they cope with us. This is not the same as feeling or identifying with our experiences. They may try to understand, but __they often find our ways of thinking very strange and difficult to understand__.” (Jacobsen, 2005, p. 26-27)
 * **central coherence** (“the process of constructing a higher meaning from diverse information” (Jacobsen, 2005, p. 27)) à “AS children remember a lot of information. Some refer to them as ‘little professors’ when they share information in an area of interest. They __generally do not judge certain facts to be more important than others__. Knowing what is relatively more or less important to learn can be difficult or even impossible. They may already know more than the teacher knows, about a specific topic. Completing assignments can be overwhelming, if every detail might be as important as another. They may not know where to begin and where to end.” (Jacobsen, 2005, p. 27-28)
 * **executive functioning** (“the capacity to control our own attentional focus ... enables a person to do or to attend to more than one thing at a time. It enables us to recognize what is relevant and shift our attention, to remember and recall what is relevant. With strong executive functioning, we are not distracted by the irrelevant and can shift our focus to the relevant.” (Jacobson, 2005, p. 33)) à “Those with AS often have poor executive functioning. They may not be distractible in the way that others with attentional problems may be. In fact, i__t may be hard to get them to shift their attention__. ... It may be __difficult for AS children to attend to what others, such as their teachers, see as relevant__.” (Jacobsen, 2005, p. 33)
 * **executive functioning continued** à "The ability to see what is relevant, and shift attention to the relevant, contributes to organization. Those with AS have __difficulty with organization, with knowing, remembering, and attending to what is important to others or important in the bigger picture__ (rather than the details). They also have __difficulty ntoicing the similarity in two or more situations__ (generalizing)." (Jacobsen, 2005, p. 33)