Asperger is considered to be on the “high functioning” end of the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which makes the Asperger patients a little bit more sociable than a full autistic person.
In fact, what tells an Asperger disorder apart from autism are the less harsh symptoms and the lack of language delays. A patient with Asperger syndrome may seem like a normal person behaving differently. Unlike autistic patients, individuals with Asperger usually try to fit in society and interact with others but plainly do not know how to do it.
Asperger patients lack of some social skills; for example, they tend to take a joke literally, live with a certain set of unbreakable rules, have a strict routine daily, repetitive behaviors, obsessions and most do not like to be touched. These characteristics can be out of the ordinary in today’s society.
There is no cure for autism, or Asperger for that matter, but there are options that can be helpful in terms of social skills and being able to relate to others. Social skills trainings are known to be highly effective as an aid for people diagnosed with these disorders. They can learn to control their emotions, recurring behaviors, crazes and learn how to relate to others. These social programs generally teach normal proficiencies with highly structured activities. They follow steps to achieve and reinforce more adaptive behaviors and also provide complementary training for the rest of the family to follow up at home.
The social skills training’s main objective is to help patients identify the associations between harmful thinking patterns, disruptive behavior, and off-putting emotional responses in disturbing situations. Overall, the program demands active participation by the patient in the form of in-class exercises, as well as assignments to be completed at home in between sessions.
Conversation skills are reinforced with group or one on one session with a present therapist. Experts agree that the earlier the interference starts, the better the outcome. However, adults who get diagnosed at a later age make great advances with therapy.
To learn to cope with the symptoms and behaviors that are part of these disorders may seem difficult, but it can be done. First make sure to have patience, as children with Asperger will need that from you.
Even though social interactions might remain difficult after this type of training, with the self-awareness achieved in these therapies many affected patients have successfully excel in their jobs and made great contributions to society.
