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Overview of Asperger Syndrome

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Many children are afflicted with neurological and learning disorders. Recently, there has been a large increase in the number of these neurological and learning diseases in society. Many a times, it is often difficult to communicate to adults and children about such diseases because of pre-existing fears, stereotypes, and false ideas. Regardless of that, information should be given to make parents and children aware of the different learning differences that many of the people they see or interact with on a daily basis suffer from. To do so, I’ve analyzed a specific learning disease and listed its causes, symptoms, statistics, and useful interventions in dealing with this learning disease. Asperger Syndrome is a developmental disorder that affects a person's ability to socialize and communicate effectively with others (Staff, 2010). This condition causes a delay in many of the basic developmental skills and is often times considered to be a milder form of autism. Despite the research being done, there is very little information on what causes an individual to get the disease. Some have thought that Asperger’s was attained through depression or emotional struggles. Others have theorized that the disease is obtained through brain abnormalities. Using advanced brain imaging techniques, scientists have revealed structural and functional differences in specific regions of the brains of normal children versus children with Asperger’s (NINDS, 2005). The results showed that crucially needed embryonic cells move around during the fetus’ development, and later affect the thought and behavior areas of the brain. Another also equally plausible theory for the cause of Asperger Syndrome is that is inherited genetically. There seems to be a hereditary component to Asperger Syndrome, and research indicates that in some cases Asperger Syndrome may be associated with other mental health disorders (KidsHealth, 1995-2012). Many sources suggest Asperger Syndrome to be genetic because it is often passed from parent to child and is usually dominant in the male members of families with either Asperger Syndrome or similar behavioral symptoms to Asperger Syndrome. However, no specific gene has been clinically proven to host or transmit Asperger Syndrome, leaving the true source of its cause unknown. Although the cause of Asperger Syndrome is unknown, many of the symptoms for the disease are well documented. One of the symptoms associated with detecting Asperger Syndrome in children includes a child’s obsessive interest in a single object or topic, so much so that they exclude any other (NINDS, 2005). For example, say a child with Asperger Syndrome was infatuated with cellular devices. He/she would research and remember a large amount of factual information about cellular devices and spend most of his time talkin

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