NTI / Landov

By Jordan Lite


Members of the Chesterman family in England knew they were a little odd. As a 5-year-old, Andrew’s speech was delayed and he threw tantrums. His older sister, Sarah, read obsessively and lacked friends. Their parents, Jayne and Malcolm, both struggle to look people in the eye.


They recently discovered that all four have Asperger’s Syndrome, a disorder that falls on the autism spectrum. “One of the reasons I'd sought help so quickly with Sarah was because she reminded me of myself at her age,” Jayne told Britain’s “Daily Mail.” “I'd also found making friendships hard, and often felt isolated and depressed. As the psychologist explained the symptoms -- disliking strange situations, preferring time alone -- I realized I had all of them.”


Asperger’s is sometimes considered a high-functioning form of autism. Patients typically develop normal cognitive and communication skills in early childhood, but symptoms show up near adolescence. They develop intense, sometimes obscure interest in a single topic, leading some to refer to them as “little professors.” They may engage in repetitive behaviors. Their social interactions may be awkward or inappropriate, and they may not be able to accurately read non-verbal cues.


It’s not entirely surprising for every member of a family to receive an Asperger’s diagnosis, says Marjorie Solomon, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at UC Davis School of Medicine. “Autism disorders are among the most heritable psychiatric disorders,” Solomon says, “so it’s definitely possible for multiple members to be diagnosed.”


An estimated 2 in 10,000 children have Asperger’s, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS ). While it’s unknown how many adults have the disorder, increasing numbers are receiving an Asperger’s diagnosis, the institute says. Since characteristics of the disorder last throughout a patient’s life, its prevalence is probably similar in adults, German researchers wrote in a paper published in January in the journal "Deutsches Arzteblatt International."


Though its cause is unknown, Asperger’s may be the result of mutations among a group of genes, according to NINDS. If one child in a family has Asperger’s, there’s a 25 percent chance another will have an autism-spectrum disorder, says Brenda Smith Myles, chief of programs at the Autism Society of America. Adults tend to be diagnosed after their children, though increasing attention to Asperger’s in the news also may prompt some adults to question whether the symptoms describe them, says Pat Schissel, president of the Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Association in New York.


Yet Asperger’s tends to be misdiagnosed or diagnosed later than autism, Smith Myles says. People with Asperger’s tend to be diagnosed between ages 9 and 11, compared to age 3 or 4 for autism; those who get an Asperger’s label have received an average of 3.5 diagnoses by middle school, she says.


Part of the reason is awareness. Asperger’s was only added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual -- the “bible” of mental-health practitioners -- in 1994. “We have a tremendous under-identification problem in adulthood and in childhood,” Smith Myles says. “In many cases, adults receive many diagnoses -- attention-deficit disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder -- and they receive treatments for those individual disorders because many professionals don’t understand Asperger’s Syndrome.”


Still, while an Asperger’s diagnosis can be useful to people who are more disabled or feel like they don’t fit in, it’s not always an asset to those who are functioning well, Solomon says. “To the degree you understand what’s causing the problem, you can help, but you don’t want to stigmatize the person by giving them a label,” she says. “But if you can help the person live a happier life, go for it.”


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Wow!


All of them are awesome in their own unique way




KS