Asperger syndrome
Maybe you've heard about it or know someone with this syndrome, or maybe you yourself are reading this article on the other side of the screen, living with Asperger's syndrome.
Asperger syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder. However, it differs from typical autism through various investigations that are being done in this field. The most obvious difference has to do with the ability to be independent in adulthood, compared to people with more prototypical autism.
- Asperger's Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder *
It is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a genetic and hereditary basis, where there are brain structures that are damaged. But what are neurodevelopmental disorders?
Neurodevelopmental disorders are a heterogeneous group of neurological disorders that present alterations in different processes: cognition in communication, behavior and motor skills. These changes are caused by an atypical brain development.
In other words, the brain of people with Asperger works in many different ways than people who have not had changes in their neurological development. We are not talking about something bad or good, we are talking about a differentiated functioning in the way of processing and perceiving information.
People with Asperger perceive the world in a different way
In some way it is as if they had different codes to interpret the world and its environment. These different codes do not live in a way that some people find strange. But who never met people who sometimes act differently than expected? We ourselves, many times, perceive reality in a distorted way and that leads us to act in ways that others find strange.
Let's talk a little about the most typical characteristics of this syndrome:
The characteristics of Asperger's Syndrome
Some of the common characteristics of this syndrome are:
They are socially awkward and have difficulties in their relationship with other children and / or adults. They can be naive and gullible.
They tend to be aware of the feelings and intentions of others or do not understand these emotional reactions.
They have a lot of difficulty to drive and maintain the normal rhythm of a conversation. They can easily change with changes in their routine and transitions.
-Interpretam language and everything you hear from, literally. They do not understand the irony and the figures of language, for them everything is literal. For example, in the phrase "he has a heart that does not fit in his chest", for them the interpretation is literal and they understand that "his heart is so big that it does not fit in his chest".
They are very sensitive to loud sounds, colors, lights, smells or tastes.
They tend to develop a great interest (fixation) for an issue or issue and can become true experts. There are many children with Asperger who see a landscape for only a few seconds and are able to reproduce every detail of it with incredible accuracy.
They do not have motor skills, so they are not very good at sports.
Often, they can not make or keep friends their age. Basically, because they do not perceive the world in the same way and are frustrated; as with any of us, when we meet people with whom our ways of seeing the world and living are antagonistic. Something similar happens with them.
Do you know someone with Asperger? It is put in its place and you will understand it.
Therefore we have to be able to go beyond the disease. People with Asperger's syndrome often feel misunderstood. They feel strangers in a world that works with rules that sometimes clash with theirs. They do not understand the meaning of many of the behaviors that most people have.
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So we have to do a full job of empathy with them. We need to understand that their way of perceiving reality is different from ours. And that does not mean it's good or bad, it's just different.
We live in a wonderful world where, fortunately, we are all different and we learn from these differences. Differences that enrich relationships and help us to be more tolerant and discard most of the prejudices we carry in our emotional backpack.
