Asperger’s syndrome in adults creates an inconvenience of not knowing how to interact socially with other people. It is a condition wherein the individual often isolates himself from the crowd for the simple reason that he doesn’t know how to communicate with them or is scared of and unsure on how to interact. Upon conversing with another person, the individual with Asperger’s syndrome would have a difficulty in having eye contact and would often ponder too much about what to say or how to answer questions as simple as “how are you?”
Asperger’s syndrome in adults is difficult to detect because physically the individual would look normal, and mentally he/she is very capable of learning. It is a form of autism that disables the person to understand the social norms which would result to the impaired ability to associate with other people. The best way to deal or to talk to an individual with Asperger’s syndrome is to keep the conversation simple and concise.
Symptoms of Asperger’s Syndrome in Adults
Since Asperger’s syndrome in adults is quite tricky to identify, keen observation of the socialization skills of the person who might have this kind of condition should be done in order to help in the diagnosis. Below are the symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome in adults:
• Difficulties in communication– Individuals with Asperger’s syndrome have difficulty expressing themselves. This would result to a struggle in communicating with other people. They often misinterpret little things like hand gestures and facial expressions of the other person and they frequently feel intimidated. Adults affected with Asperger’s syndrome contribute very little to the conversation, thus making the exchange awkward. An individual with Asperger’s syndrome also has a difficulty in starting a conversation and also has a hard time ending it.
• Difficulty in associating with the crowd – Because of the lack of communication skills or interacting abilities, adults with this disorder would often try to stay away from crowds to avoid talking to them. They often want to just be left alone because crowds make them feel uncomfortable. Asperger’s syndrome in adults often results to individuals having few or no friends at all.
• Lack of social imagination – Asperger’s syndrome in adults would lead to the lack of interest in going to social gatherings or happenings. The thought of attending weddings, family gatherings and parties can be quite nerve wracking for them and they couldn’t even think of themselves attending one.
• Sticking to daily routines – Individuals with Asperger’s syndrome often like to stick to the simplicity of life. In order to do this, they often adhere to daily rituals like the time for waking up, the time to get ready for work and even the time to drink one’s coffee and read the daily newspaper. An alteration in their routine becomes a major inconvenience and would result to devastation on their part.
• Fascination to a certain hobby – Persons with Asperger’s syndrome tend to develop an intense fascination to certain pastimes like photography and landscaping. The individual becomes obsessed with his hobby that he would do everything to perfect it. Adults with Asperger’s syndrome usually have beautiful and amazing works that would lead them to be noticed for employment or even awards. Because of this, proper encouragement and simple praises should be given in order to develop their talents.
Relating with an Individual with Asperger’s Syndrome
If you live or work with an individual who might have Asperger’s syndrome, the key to having a harmonious relationship is to have understanding and patience. A person with Asperger’s syndrome is like any other normal human being who functions normally and gets a work done, that is, if he is left alone to do his own thing. Individuals with Asperger’s syndrome are often misunderstood to be snobby or weird, but they are just not comfortable being around large crowds. They should be treated as any other normal human being; however, upon conversing with them, the talk should be short and concise because complex, in-depth emotional talks intimidate them. If you want to help someone affected with Asperger’s syndrome, you should be patient enough and maybe someday, he or she would learn to trust you and just might open up and ask for your help.
Treatment of Asperger’s Syndrome in Adults
Asperger’s syndrome in adults is an incurable disorder as there are no medicines to alleviate this condition. However, there are plenty of therapies being offered today for Asperger’s syndrome in adults. The primary person to help the individual with Asperger’s syndrome is himself. Forcing the person with Asperger’s syndrome to seek medical attention is certainly not advisable. This only would cause the individual to draw back and not seek help at all. He, on his own will, should have the courage to see a highly trained and professional therapist or psychologist. The therapist would know how to explain in simple and understandable terms the condition. This way, the individual would understand himself more and would take steps in expressing and helping himself open up to other people.
However, therapies are not always successful. Some individuals would reject the help of therapists. Some, on the other hand, are more open and hopeful and would try harder to associate with the outside world. The most important thing to have when around adults with Asperger’s syndrome is patience. If in the long run the patient would agree, the next step is to undergo cognitive behavioral therapy. This is a very sensitive time for the individual as this therapy includes expressing oneself and talking to professionals in order to exercise social skills with others.
Asperger’s syndrome in adults is a tough condition to have. Those who have this always want to keep things simple and the mere thought of complexities baffles them a lot. Trust is a big thing to them as they don’t have that much friends because they prefer to stay alone. However, if the individual with Asperger’s syndrome develops trust and gains a friend, that friend should be patient and be optimistic and maybe in the long run, the person with Asperger’s syndrome would want to seek help and take the next step to treatment or therapy.
