Autism and Asperger Syndrome belong to a group of conditions called Pervasive Developmental disorder. They are described as neuro -developmental disorders because there is evidence to suggest that the central nervous system of the individual is affected, which in turn affects many aspects of the individual's early as well as later development.
Autism Spectrum condition (ASD) or more recently autism spectrum condition (ASC) is another term widely used when referring to Autism or Asperger Syndrome.
Autism was first identified in 1943 by Dr Leo Kanner. Although our understanding of Autism has greatly improved in the past 20 years, the definition of autistic condition , as it is now described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental conditions - Fourth Edition (DSS - IV), has only slightly changed since then.
Individuals who are diagnosed as having an autistic condition appear to have difficulties in three main areas
Individuals who are diagnosed as having an autistic condition appear to have difficulties in three main areas:
1) communication, i.e. difficulties in the production and/or understanding of language, as well as in understanding other non-verbal communicative cues (i.e. body language, facial expressions, etc)
2) social behaviour, i.e. lack of or unusual social interaction skills and preference of being alone
3) imagination, i.e. lack of flexible thinking, in some ways a difficulty in thinking outside of the 'here and now'.
Other diagnostic criteria might include resistance to change, i.e. insistence on sameness, unusual behaviours, i.e. motor behaviours (stereotypes) such as body rocking, toe walking, hand flapping, etc (Kanner, 1943).
The intellectual abilities of children and adults with autism are difficult to describe since their scores on IQ tests vary to a great degree. Generally, individuals with autism are good at tasks related to puzzles and patterns (visual-spatial ability) but show difficulties in language-related tasks. We now appreciate that around 30% of children and adults with autism function in the range of intellectual disability (as indicated by their IQ scores).
Fairly frequently (10% of the population with a diagnosis of autism), children and adults with autism have some unusual ability, for example, to draw, play music, memorise, calculate, etc. These abilities are usually isolated and these individuals are referred to as autistic savants.
Asperger Syndrome was first identified by Hans Asperger in 1944. However, this condition started to be officially diagnosed in the 1980s. Asperger Syndrome (AS) and Autism share some diagnostic features although the degree of severity of these features might vary. So for example, individuals diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome appear to have no difficulty in verbally expressing themselves, but do show some communication difficulties mainly related to the understanding of non-verbal communication cues (i.e. body language, facial expressions, etc).
'Social interactions' is the area that individuals with AS appear to struggle most in, since there is a difficulty in understanding social rules and boundaries. As a result, people with AS find it difficult to form friendships and relationships, which sometimes leads to isolation. Difficulties with imagination in AS mainly involve problems with planning and organisation, to the extent that some individuals might find it difficult to carry out everyday tasks.
As opposed to autism, the majority of individuals diagnosed with AS show no intellectual disability (or marked intellectual disability). Because of this, and also because of no obvious language difficulties, AS is difficult to diagnose early. Many individuals receive a diagnosis later in life as adults.
A single cause for autism spectrum condition has not yet been identified. However, there is strong evidence which suggests that autism is a genetic condition (Folstein & Rutter, 1977), but the specific genes involved are yet to be identified.
As for environmental causes, the evidence for this is very mixed and inconsistent. It is possible that some environmental factors might interact with specific genes and therefore might determine the severity and expression of the condition in some individuals.
Research is under way to identify both the genetic as well as the environmental factors that contribute to Autism Spectrum Conditions.
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