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Psychiatric and Psychosocial Implications Associated With as/Hfa
What are the psychiatric and psychosocial implications associated with Asperger syndrome and high functioning autism?
Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism are two disorders that are overlapping and characterized by the impairment of social-communication and over-focused repetitive behaviors and interests. The two disorders are part of the autism spectrum, and the major difference is believed to be in language development. People with AS will not have suffered any delayed language development when they were young. According to Barbalat, Leboyer, and Zalla (2014) a person suffering from AS/HFA will demonstrate pedantic speech mostly with exaggerated or monotonous vocal intonation, motor clumsiness, and poor nonverbal communication. Though AS and classic autism belong to the same group of ASDs, people with AS mostly demonstrate a distinct pattern of social impairment, which seems milder than in classic autism. It has been hypothesized many times that the differences between classic autism and AS are both qualitative and quantitative. Clinicians and families are faced with challenges trying to manage the behavioral problems associated with autism spectrum disorders. The psychiatric disorders associated with this disorder could exacerbate the behavioral dyscontrol. Since individuals with AS and HFA have an impairment describing their feelings and emotions, it is not easy to recognize and detect other psychiatric disorders masked by the autistic symptoms.
Psychiatric disorders frequently associated with AS/HFA
Internalizing symptoms like bipolar disorders, depression, and anxiety have been associated with AS/HFA. Research has shown that there is a bidirectional...
In comparison to healthy control subjects, people with AS had more social anxiety symptoms in a controlled study. There have been documented associations with OCD, but this is difficult to determine if the obsessive-repetitive behaviors are expressions of other forms of OCD. Various studies have been carried out with an aim of establishing the association between OCD and autistic symptoms, but they have all had different results. There have been reported associations between AS/HFA with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Disruptive behavior and conduct behaviors are other externalizing behaviors associated with AS/HFA. Although it is not possible to perform a diagnosis of ADHD in terms of ASD according to DSM-IV criteria. However, in the DSM-V proposal the debate of ADHD comorbidity in ASDs is open.
The relationship between psychopathy and AS/HFA is controversial, but some studies have strongly suggested there is a relation by demonstrating the increased risk of crimes in AS. This suggestion is not clear because there have been contrasting results in different studies. It has been established that Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders are associated with AS (Wilson et al., 2014). It was established by a Swedish study that 20% of school-age children with AS fitted the full criteria for Tourette syndrome (TS). Other authors believe this comorbidity is a predictor of better outcome autistic symptoms. The data collected so far has not been sufficient to support this hypothesis.
Tools available for diagnosing psychiatric disorders in patients with AS/HFA
There are many challenges that clinicians will be faced with when trying to diagnose…
References
Barbalat, G., Leboyer, M., & Zalla, T. (2014). A specific impairment in cognitive control in individuals with high-functioning autism. J Psychiatr Res, 58, 26-35. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2014.07.013
Mattila, M.L., Hurtig, T., Haapsamo, H., Jussila, K., Kuusikko-Gauffin, S., Kielinen, M., . . . Moilanen, I. (2010). Comorbid psychiatric disorders associated with Asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism: a community- and clinic-based study. J Autism Dev Disord, 40(9), 1080-1093. doi: 10.1007/s10803-010-0958-2
Wilson, C.E., Happe, F., Wheelwright, S.J., Ecker, C., Lombardo, M.V., Johnston, P., . . . Murphy, D.G. (2014). The neuropsychology of male adults with high-functioning autism or asperger syndrome. Autism Res, 7(5), 568-581. doi: 10.1002/aur.1394
Asperger Syndrome (AS) and high functioning autism are oftentimes considered the same thing (or at least indistinguishable from each other) and the differences between the two are relatively minute. According to WEB MD (Autism, 2015) the revised Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) which was published in 2013, now lists Asperger's and autistic disorder as only one condition for diagnostic purposes, whereas previously they were listed separately. The
Asperger Syndrome: Symptoms, Causes and Effects Symptoms Symptoms at birth At Six to Eighteen Months At Three to Eleven Years At 12+ Years Causes of Asperger syndrome Treatments for Asperger Syndrome Students with Asperger Syndrome Adults with Asperger syndrome Violence in Asperger Syndrome Hang Asperger, a pediatrician, researched on Asperger syndrome but Lorna Wing, a psychiatrist and physician, was the one who familiarized the world with Asperger syndrome (Lyons, Fitzgerald, & Fitzgerald, 2005). In 1994, Asperger researched on four children who
Treatment Most forms of treatment for as individuals involve explicitly teaching them how to behave specific social situations in ways that others might take for granted. "While social skills instruction is an important strategy for promoting social success, some critics argue that it merely teaches individuals 'how to' act in specific social situations, but not how to generate any kind of 'social thinking' or problem-solving about how to act in novel
The AS person has often spent an inordinate amount of time fixated on one particular (often peculiar) topic, and when that person is in a social environment, he or she tends to ramble on about the topic and that one-sided rambling is more important to that AS person than any other activity in a social setting, Woodbury-Smith writes on page 4. According to Woodbury-Smith, as the AS person gets older,
Another important defining characteristic of AS is that people who seem to have it are often gifted intellectually, While only a small percentage of individuals with autism are considered to be high functioning (without mental retardation), all children with AS have average to above average intelligence. In fact, many with AS may be intellectually gifted, which may mask the many difficulties they experience from adults and peers alike (Wing, 1998).
ASPERGER SYNDROME) INCLUDING THE ABSTRACT PAGE. PLEASE READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY, ALSO PLEASE USE ONLY THE REFERENCES, I PROVIDED (6). The Case of Mark Individuals with Asperger Syndrome are typically unable to integrate society normally and persons that are in more critical situations actually need a lot of assistance in order to go through their daily lives without experiencing significant problems. The present essay discusses with regard to Mark, a four-year-old