Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Definitions
- 3 Prevalence
- 4 Symptoms in childhood
- 5 Symptoms in adolescence
- 6 Associated psychiatric and social problems
- 7 Other problems
- 8 Strengths
- 9 Background factors
- 10 Cognitive neuropsychology
- 11 Diagnosis and work-up
- 12 Outcome in the longer term: adults with Asperger syndrome
- 13 Attitudes, interventions and treatment
- 14 Who can help?
- 15 What about all those famous geniuses?
- 16 Case vignettes
- Appendices
- Further reading
- Index
8 - Strengths
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Definitions
- 3 Prevalence
- 4 Symptoms in childhood
- 5 Symptoms in adolescence
- 6 Associated psychiatric and social problems
- 7 Other problems
- 8 Strengths
- 9 Background factors
- 10 Cognitive neuropsychology
- 11 Diagnosis and work-up
- 12 Outcome in the longer term: adults with Asperger syndrome
- 13 Attitudes, interventions and treatment
- 14 Who can help?
- 15 What about all those famous geniuses?
- 16 Case vignettes
- Appendices
- Further reading
- Index
Summary
Virtually all children, adolescents and adults with Asperger syndrome have strengths and abilities that tend to contradict the impression of a person with ‘impairment’. Some of these can actually be seen as aspects of the syndrome itself, whereas others are best understood in the context of each individual's unique personality. Many with the syndrome have good or even superior intelligence. However, it is not rare, even in such cases, to encounter cognitive difficulties that would not seem to fall into the social or behavioural domains. Special areas of expertise are quite common, which should come as no surprise given the symptom of narrow interest patterns that is part of Asperger syndrome. This interest may be so pervasive, and energy and motivation so strong as to lead to exceptional feats of work. Under such circumstances, productivity may occasionally be extreme. Rote memory is often very good, as is the ability to cover, and remember, large ‘chunks’ of written material. Some have eidetic (‘photographic’) memory. Perseverance and persistence may be pronounced personality characteristics that carry some very positive implications. Perfectionism is common, even though it is often limited to certain areas of functioning, and may well be coupled with a glaring lack of orderliness in other domains. I have had a clinical impression over the years that people with Asperger syndrome seem to age (physically) very slowly, at least in middle age: they very often look much younger than would be predicted by their chronological age.
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- Information
- A Guide to Asperger Syndrome , pp. 64 - 68Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2002