Typical symptoms of Asperger Syndrome
Asperger Syndrome is a type of developmental disorder. Similar to high-functioning autism which is not accompanied with mental deficiency, it is categorized as a pervasive developmental disorder. Its characteristics, symptoms include lack of ability in communication.
Those with Asperger Syndrome typically do not have any issues with learning or development of motor skills. They can speak clearly and add and subtract without issues. They can run and jump just like a normal person.
However, while they can speak, they cannot speak while considering the flow of a communication. They have extreme difficulty in understanding people's feelings and being able to infer what is being asked of them in a conversation. Thus, conversations tend to become disjointed.
For example, by just being told to "be careful because it may rain", they cannot comprehend what to be careful of. By saying "If it rains, you may get wet. So bring an umbrella", it becomes clear and understandable.
As in the example, they cannot understand the meaning behind the words, thus they cannot infer what a person is hoping to happen or the instruction that a person is trying to communicate. Also, while they have no issues with motor skills, it is very difficult to be a part of a team in a sporting activity.
Other symptoms include not being able to anything that is not pre-scheduled and predict or forecast what may occur. Also, they lack social skills. They cannot comprehend or act on commonly known rules. For example, they may laugh in front of a person who just lost a family member.
On the other hand, they are very good at abiding by rules they make for themselves. They can continuously execute the same procedure over and over again. But, the flip side to this is they may not be receptive to any changes in the flow, since they may persist on following the same procedure.
Also, they are not good at picking out arbitrary sounds from a bunch of sounds. If multiple people are speaking at the same time, all of the voices enter the ear. They cannot concentrate on just some voice. This is also known as lack of selective attention.
As in the above examples, people with Asperger Syndrome have many issues in socializing with people at school, within the community or even family members. The degree of symptoms depends on the person, and if the symptoms happen to be light, they may become an adult without ever knowing they have Asperger Syndrome. The people that do not recognize they have Asperger Syndrome, wind up going through daily life with the feeling that they have a hard time getting along with others.