Lifespan Issues in Asperger Syndrome
Lynda Geller, Ph.D.

Compared with how little was being written ten years ago, we are deluged, almost daily, by new books, publications, and news shows about Asperger Syndrome (AS). This has served to raise the consciousness of the public and has led to an increased awareness and understanding of the unique difficulties individuals with Asperger Syndrome face. An area still in need of greater investigation is the lifelong course of the disorder. Parents always ask us what they can expect for their child in the years to come. Truthfully, there have been no large-scale longitudinal studies to illuminate this question because the use of the diagnosis is so relatively new. However, there are studies that examine various issues at different stages of life, and among clinicians who work daily with this population, there is a store of knowledge and experience that can bring some light to bear on life cycle developments. The intent of this article is to examine typical problems across the lifespan that confront individuals with Asperger Syndrome and affect their family members.

Important issues that arise at different developmental points will be discussed with the hope of alerting families to decisions they may need to make at various junctures and points when advocacy is most needed.

Preschool Years
Many children with Asperger Syndrome are not diagnosed at an early age. This is because they seem so verbally advanced and mature in certain ways. Sometimes it is not until their social problems become more evident when they begin school that anyone has concern. In other cases, these children may show unusual temper outbursts, related to their rigidity or anxiety, which lead their parents to seek behavioral assistance. In both of these instances, proper diagnosis is important, yet often missed. We all now agree that early diagnosis is vital for children with more severe autism so that they can get early intervention services, but we also need to come to think of sociality as a learned "language" that is most naturally and effectively incorporated into the developing brain of children with AS at a young age. Like a foreign language, sociality is best acquired at a tender age so that it can be integrated with other important brain developments.

For the AS child experiencing excessive temper or other behavioral outbursts, proper diagnosis helps point the treating clinician away from placing blame on parents for inadequate discipline and back to investigating the variables that are having such a profound effect on the child. By identifying these issues (sensory sensitivity, poor modulation of mood, high anxiety over change, etc.) effective treatment, approaches can be initiated before these behaviors become inalterable patterns.

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