People with Asperger's syndrome, now diagnosed as a high-functioning form of autism spectrum disorder, are considered to have good cognitive and language skills. However, they still experience difficulties with communication and social interaction, and show repetitive behaviours.
Asperger's in adults typically causes issues with communication, emotion regulation and interpretation, social interactions, and behavior. People who have Asperger's may also experience other conditions, such as depression, anxiety, or OCD.
Symptoms of Asperger's syndrome
Craving repetition and routine (and not responding well to change). Missing social cues in play and conversation. Not making eye contact with peers and adults.
Individuals with ASDs commonly have a low frustration tolerance and significant irritability. They may report that they alternate from calm to extreme anger very quickly. There have been several studies that suggest individuals with ASDs have difficulty understanding and interpreting their own emotions.
Despite the problems in relationship skills experienced by many people with Asperger's syndrome, some adults can progress along the relationship continuum and are able to experience romantic and subsequently intimate personal relationships, even becoming a lifelong partner.
The Asperger's mind enjoys and focuses on details, while the normal mind is more skilled at assembling whole concepts from details. Some people with Asperger's are visual thinkers and others are math, music, or number thinkers, but all think in specifics.
Meltdowns tend to be triggered by sensory overload, communication issues, and/or social situations. People who experience meltdowns tend to describe them as a complete loss of control which, once they're able to reflect, was found to be triggered by a relatively minor stimulus.
A significant number of people with Asperger's Syndrome have been perceived to display either an over-sensitivity or an under-sensitivity to sensory stimuli. This includes all, or a combination of: touch, taste, smell, sound, sight and movement, as well as possible problems with motor co-ordination.
The partner with Aspergers can behave intrusively. The partner with Aspergers may “shut-down” if they don't know what to say or how to behave. They may disengage with partner or family indefinitely. The partner with Aspergers may have great difficulty cooperating with others or working as part of a team or unit.
They may manifest feelings less outwardly, or their facial expression might not match what the individual is feeling inside. People with Asperger profiles do have empathy, despite an unfortunate stigma that suggests otherwise.
Some of the frequent facial features of autism are a broader upper face, shorter middle face, wider eyes, bigger mouth, and the philtrum. One of the characteristic features of autism is the way individuals with autism process and respond to sensory information.
Autism Corner: Personality Types in Asperger's: Fixated, Disruptive, Approach and Avoidant. Fixated Personality–The fixated personality type can be characterized by a preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and the need to control one's environment (e.g., to have things in a particular order).
Partners have reported problems with sexual knowledge and intimacy. Adults with Asperger's syndrome tend to be at the extremes of sexual knowledge, having either remarkably little information on sexuality and few sexual experiences, or a great deal of knowledge from pornography or being sexually abused.
People with Asperger's also have strengths that make them wonderful partners. They tend to be honest, loyal, humorous, and champions of the underdog. Autistic people don't often get caught up in social constructs, so they can see right to the heart of what matters.
Meltdowns can look like any of these actions: withdrawal (where the person zones out, stares into space, and/or has body parts do repetitive movements) or outward distress (crying uncontrollably, screaming, stomping, curling up into a ball, growling, etc.).
Difficulty regulating emotions and anxiety, such as, being quick to anger, easily offended and upset, displaying tantrums and sulking. brooding and holding grudges over small incidents, often for extended periods.
Despite normal and sometimes superior intelligence, people with Asperger's have difficulty understanding social conventions and reading social cues. As a result, they often seem tactless or rude, and making friends can be hard for them.
Some of the effects of unaddressed or untreated Asperger's syndrome may include: Social isolation. Difficulty making and keeping friends. Challenges in finding and maintaining steady employment.
The cause of Asperger syndrome, like most ASDs, is not fully understood, but there is a strong genetic basis, which means it does tend to run in families. Multiple environmental factors are also thought to play an important role in the development of all ASDs.
When someone has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) such as Asperger's syndrome, they will experience far greater anxiety in their daily life than the vast majority of people.