What is Asperger syndrome?

What is Asperger syndrome?

Asperger syndrome is a developmental disorder and one type of autism spectrum disorder. Asperger syndrome develops in childhood and can ...more »

• Asperger syndrome: A neuropsychiatric disorder mainly involving the inability to understand and becoming involved in social interaction.
• Asperger syndrome: A childhood disorder predominately affecting boys and similar to autism (AUTISTIC DISORDER). It is characterized by severe, sustained, clinically significant impairment of social interaction, and restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior. In contrast to autism, there are no clinically significant delays in language or cognitive development. (From DSM-IV)
  Source - Diseases Database

Asperger syndrome is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Asperger syndrome, or a subtype of Asperger syndrome, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Ophanet, a consortium of European partners, currently defines a condition rare when it affects 1 person per 2,000. They list Asperger syndrome as a "rare disease".
Source - Orphanet

Asperger syndrome: Introduction

Types of Asperger syndrome:

Broader types of Asperger syndrome:

• Pervasive developmental disorders
• Brain conditions
• Mental illness
• Behavioral disorders
• Autistic conditions
• Intellectual or developmental disabilities
• Speech and communication conditions
• Child health conditions
• more types...»

Who gets Asperger syndrome?

Profile for Asperger syndrome: AS is commonly recognized after the age of 3. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Asperger Syndrome Information Page: NINDS)

Gender Ratio for Asperger syndrome: male predominance

How serious is Asperger syndrome?

Complications of Asperger syndrome: see complications of Asperger syndrome
Prognosis of Asperger syndrome: Children with AS have a better outlook than those with other forms of pervasive developmental disorders, and are much more likely to grow up to be independently functioning adults. Nonetheless, in most cases, these individuals will continue to demonstrate, to some extent, subtle disturbances in social interactions. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Asperger Syndrome Information Page: NINDS)

What causes Asperger syndrome?

Causes of Asperger syndrome: see causes of Asperger syndrome
Risk factors for Asperger syndrome: see risk factors for Asperger syndrome

What are the symptoms of Asperger syndrome?

Symptoms of Asperger syndrome: see symptoms of Asperger syndrome

Complications of Asperger syndrome: see complications of Asperger syndrome

Asperger syndrome: Testing

Diagnostic testing: see tests for Asperger syndrome.

Misdiagnosis: see misdiagnosis and Asperger syndrome.

How is it treated?

Doctors and Medical Specialists for Asperger syndrome: Pediatrician, Psychiatrist ; see also doctors and medical specialists for Asperger syndrome.
Treatments for Asperger syndrome: see treatments for Asperger syndrome
Research for Asperger syndrome: see research for Asperger syndrome

Society issues for Asperger syndrome

Hospitalization statistics for Asperger syndrome: The following are statistics from various sources about hospitalizations and Asperger syndrome:

• 0.002% (259) of hospital consultant episodes were for Asperger’s Syndrome in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 97% of hospital consultant episodes for Asperger’s Syndrome required hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 68% of hospital consultant episodes for Asperger’s Syndrome were for men in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 32% of hospital consultant episodes for Asperger’s Syndrome were for women in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• 19% of hospital consultant episodes for Asperger’s Syndrome required emergency hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
• more statistics...»

Organs Affected by Asperger syndrome:

Organs and body systems related to Asperger syndrome include:

• Mental
• Brain

Name and Aliases of Asperger syndrome

Main name of condition: Asperger syndrome

Class of Condition for Asperger syndrome: behavior

AS

Buttocks, Nates, Arse, Butt, Backside, Bum, Buns, Can, Fundament, Hindquarters, Hind end, Keister, Posterior, Prat, Rear, Rear end, Rump, Stern, Seat, Tail, Tail end, Tooshie, Tush, Bottom, Behind, Derriere, Fanny
Source - WordNet 2.1

HPS(Happy puppet syndrome), Happy puppet syndrome, Puppet children, Puppetlike syndrome, Angelman syndrome, Antisynthetase syndrome
Source - Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Asperger syndrome: Related Conditions

Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Asperger syndrome:

• Cognitive development
• Physical clumsiness
• Autism
• Behavioural therapy
• Pervasive developmental disoders
• Mental retardation

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