Asperger’s Syndrome (ASD) is defined as a developmental disorder related to Autism and characterized by higher than average intellectual ability coupled with impaired social skills. People suffering from ASD can overcome this disease and live a normal productive life by learning basic life skills, effectively communicating with people, and the ability to make friends are essential to maintaining a productive life. These essential life skills are important to everyday life and need to be learned in order for these individuals to maintain a self-sustaining life. Without these skills, it is highly possible these individuals will be unable to leave home or even hold down meaningful employment. John Robison writes in his book “Look Me in the
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Normal communication techniques that are developed as children grow up are not always present in individuals suffering from ASD. The ability to hold a meaningful conversation is greatly reduced and is sometimes unable to change their communication based on the situation i.e. talking to family vs talking in a more formal setting. These communication issues can have a great impact on potential job opportunities. One of the ways communication is effected is by the inadvertent way ASD individuals may sound self-centered. As stated previous ASD individuals have a difficult time understanding all the words in a conversation and therefore react to only the ones they understand. When communicating with other people this causes ASD individuals to seem like they have no interest in whatever the topic of the conversation may be. This mixed with sometimes inability to maintain eye contact can lead to the miss-interpretation of self-centeredness. According to Susan stokes, Individuals with ASD have issues understanding the turn-taking aspect of communication and will frequently change topics in an unnatural way to something they want to talk about(1), further instilling the perceived ego-centric attitude. Another way in which communication is effected is in the inability for ASD individuals to pick-up on standard body language and tone of voice. In an article on …show more content…
The need for these individuals to be diagnosed and treated is paramount to their future success. The proper training and teaching skills need to be implemented early in their lives, in order to try and help them overcome this disability and function successfully. Strict structure is very important in the upbringing of individuals with ASD, this structure gives them consistency which is very important in being able to react to the world. With the recent changes in DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) the separation between autism and Asperger’s syndrome is being merged. In this new diagnosis tool, there will be no difference between the two mental disorders. Those that would have been diagnosed with Asperger’s will now fall into the Autism diagnosis. According to Jim Ball, a member of the Autism Society, “About 56% of people with autism graduate from high school, after high school about 18% were unemployed, 14% were in college.” (Walton "Living Life With Autism: Has Anything Really Changed?")(1) The ability for these individuals to learn basic skill, effective communication, and develop long lasting relationships will be the difference between getting out on their own as a successful member of society or living at home, not being able to hold down a steady
Normal communication techniques that are developed as children grow up are not always present in individuals suffering from ASD. The ability to hold a meaningful conversation is greatly reduced and is sometimes unable to change their communication based on the situation i.e. talking to family vs talking in a more formal setting. These communication issues can have a great impact on potential job opportunities. One of the ways communication is effected is by the inadvertent way ASD individuals may sound self-centered. As stated previous ASD individuals have a difficult time understanding all the words in a conversation and therefore react to only the ones they understand. When communicating with other people this causes ASD individuals to seem like they have no interest in whatever the topic of the conversation may be. This mixed with sometimes inability to maintain eye contact can lead to the miss-interpretation of self-centeredness. According to Susan stokes, Individuals with ASD have issues understanding the turn-taking aspect of communication and will frequently change topics in an unnatural way to something they want to talk about(1), further instilling the perceived ego-centric attitude. Another way in which communication is effected is in the inability for ASD individuals to pick-up on standard body language and tone of voice. In an article on …show more content…
The need for these individuals to be diagnosed and treated is paramount to their future success. The proper training and teaching skills need to be implemented early in their lives, in order to try and help them overcome this disability and function successfully. Strict structure is very important in the upbringing of individuals with ASD, this structure gives them consistency which is very important in being able to react to the world. With the recent changes in DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) the separation between autism and Asperger’s syndrome is being merged. In this new diagnosis tool, there will be no difference between the two mental disorders. Those that would have been diagnosed with Asperger’s will now fall into the Autism diagnosis. According to Jim Ball, a member of the Autism Society, “About 56% of people with autism graduate from high school, after high school about 18% were unemployed, 14% were in college.” (Walton "Living Life With Autism: Has Anything Really Changed?")(1) The ability for these individuals to learn basic skill, effective communication, and develop long lasting relationships will be the difference between getting out on their own as a successful member of society or living at home, not being able to hold down a steady