Category: Aspergers Syndrome

Predictive models for subtypes of autism spectrum disorder based on single-nucleotide polymorphisms and magnetic resonance imaging.

Jiao Y, Chen R, Ke X, Cheng L, Chu K, Lu Z, Herskovits EH.Source

Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science, Southeast University, Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Abstract

Purpose: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, of which Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism are subtypes. Our goal is: 1) to determine whether a diagnostic model based on single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), brain regional thickness measurements, or brain regional volume measurements can distinguish Asperger syndrome from high-functioning autism; and 2) to compare the SNP, thickness, and volume-based diagnostic models.Material and Methods: Our study included 18 children with ASD: 13 subjects with high-functioning autism and 5 subjects with Asperger syndrome. For each child, we obtained 25 SNPs for 8 ASD-related genes; we also computed regional cortical thicknesses and volumes for 66 brain structures, based on structural magnetic resonance (MR) examination. To generate diagnostic models, we employed five machine-learning techniques: decision stump, alternating decision trees, multi-class alternating decision trees, logistic model trees, and support vector machines.Results: For SNP-based classification, three decision-tree-based models performed better than the other two machine-learning models. The performance metrics for three decision-tree-based models were similar: decision stump was modestly better than the other two methods, with accuracy

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Nov 20, 2011 No Comments » Posted in Aspergers Syndrome

Teens, Autism and Work: Build on Passions and Find Mentors

Building on strengths and finding mentors can create job opportunities. Published on November 1, 2011 by Chantal Sicile-Kira in The Autism Advocate

I do not understand the reason for having a boring job unless you are getting well paid. I think it is justly unrealistic to expect people with autism to work hard to learn skills to apply to a job they hate. Hopefully they are enjoying what they are doing. My mom tells me I am not realistic about hoping that all people will enjoy their work but I have to believe people must be working hard for something other than money. – Jeremy Sicile-Kira, A Full Life with Autism (Macmillan March 2012)

In my last post I wrote about the necessary life skills we need to be teaching teens on the spectrum (or any for that matter) and what employers look for when hiring. Another important area to consider is what your teen or student likes or is passionate (ie obsessed) about. Then figure out how that can help him earn money. In most cases, people on the spectrum can be difficult to motivate – unless it involves something they are really into. My son Jeremy has a really hard time with fine and gross motor skills and muscle initiation, and so learning new physical tasks requires a lot of work. Honestly, he is not going to work hard at learning new activities unless he is really interested in it, or he can be convinced that learning that skill is going to help him in an area of interest. For some on the spectrum, it is quite obvious what they are particularly interested in because they don’t let you forget. The trick is to figure out how to use that interest and turn it into a moneymaker, or to find a career field that can use that particular interest or talent. That’s where mentors come into play (more about that later).

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Nov 19, 2011 No Comments » Posted in Aspergers Syndrome

Aspergers Symptoms & Aspergers Diagnosis

Have you ever wondered what is needed to diagnose aspergers disorder? This informative report can give you an insight into everything you’ve ever wanted to know about aspergers disorder.

As there are no specific genetic or biological markers indicative of a person being afflicted with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Aspergers diagnosis is as a matter of necessity based on behavior. The Autism Spectrum Disorder (“ASD”) is used to describe a series of related disorders which can include Aspergers disease, autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (“PDD-NOS”) and is often displayed in conjunction with ADHD.

For those looking to identify Aspergers symptoms as a precursor to Aspergers diagnosis, there are three main areas of difficulty which are common to people with Aspergers. These are:

1.Impairment in social interaction

2.Impairment in communication

3.Restricted and/or repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests and activities

Not all sufferers will display each Aspergers symptoms and the severity and presence of each symptom may vary. However, Aspergers typically manifests in childhood, with onset and diagnosis being possible from approximately 3 years and over.

Social Interaction Impairment

Whilst Aspergers symptoms can be varied, they frequently include marked difficulties with nonverval behavior such as interpreting body language, eye contact, understanding or utilising appropriate facial expression, and other cues commonly associated with regulating social expression. Frequently this type of Aspergers symptom will impact upon a persons capacity to form relationships within their peer group, and can be accompanied by an apparent lack of social empathy or an inability to see the perspectives of others. In children, this extends beyond age appropriate egocentricity.

Difficulties With Communication

See how much you can learn about aspergers disorder when you take a little time to read a well-researched article? Don’t miss out on the rest of this great information.

Delayed development of linguistic abilities when accompanied with an inability to adopt an alternative strategy to communicate is one of the recognised Aspergers Symptoms. Whilst language development may appear normal, people with Aspergers will often utilize repetative speech patterns, and be delivered with an absence of varying tone or pitch.

Restricted Behavior, Interests & Activities

When considering whether an Aspergers diagnosis may be needed, one of the symptoms to be aware of is when an intense interest in one specific type of activity is prevalent. Such interests may be diverse, but tend towards a focus on a part rather than a whole. For example, it may be a fascination with spinning a wheel on a toy truck, or a pre-occupation with something as seemingly mundane as a fan motor. What is significant is that the interest consumes an unusual quantity of time and focus.

Similarly, two other Aspergers Symptoms are an inflexibility in changes in routine, and the associated distress with any such changes. When anxious, people with Aspergers disorder may be prone to repetative mannerisms which are indicative of hightened stress levels, such as finger flicking or hand motions.

Other Behavior Symptomatic Of Aspergers

In addition to the Asperger’s syndrome symptoms above, many professionals will include other behavior as part of their Aspergers diagnostic criterea. A hightened respose to sensory stimuli, latent gross motor skills, sleep disturbances and high pain tolerance are just some of the additional factors which may be attributable to a positive Aspergers diagnosis.

If you are concerned that a loved one or child may be suffering from Aspergers syndrome, there is a large body of information available to assist in taking the first positive steps towards diagnosis and management. Whilst the precise cause of Aspergers is not yet known, there are established methods of treatment, and early diagnosis of asperger’s syndrome in children can be instrumental in minimizing the impact Aspergers may have on the sufferer.

Want more information? Before spending thousands in consultancy fees, be ‘in the know’ by discovering insider tips about the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of Aspergers Syndrome Here

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tate_Anderson

Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above. The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what’s important about aspergers disorder.

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Oct 11, 2010 Comments Off Posted in Aspergers Syndrome

Finding What Works: Dealing with Autism

When dealing with autism, just as in most other disorders, you will be faced with a number of treatment options for yourself or your child. These include treatments that are educational, behavioral, biomedical, nutritional, and sensory. Unfortunately, for patients who are not affluent or who do not have good medical insurance, the cost of these treatments can be pricier than what they can afford. One way to ensure that you or your child receives the best possible treatment for autism is to carefully monitor the effects a treatment has over time. By finding out which treatments work and which do not, you can stop paying for the ineffective methods and put more of your money into those which are creating a positive difference.

First, evaluate the abilities of the autistic individual before treatment begins. To do this, many services and organizations, including the Autism Research Institute, provide a checklist of evaluation points that focus on behavior and illnesses associated with autism. Autistic individuals tend to have increasing functionality as they mature, so remember that some of the positive effects in his or her life are simply due to the natural growth process. However, after two months fill out the checklist once again and compare it to the first. Are there any sharp positive increases in behavior characteristics? If so, this is more likely due to the treatment.

It is important to begin only one treatment method at a time. If you try everything at once instead, good and bad effects may cancel one another out, or even if the effect is totally positive, you will not know which treatment method is causing it and which are not doing anything. Of course, past studies can help you choose which methods to use, but because autism is an extremely complicated and individual disorder, these studies are not always helpful. Also, some treatments are so new that the studies done are only on short-term effects, which is usually unhelpful. Instead, it is a process of trial and error. Two months is a good amount of time to study the differences within an autistic individual trying a new treatment. After two months, if you do not see positive improvement, you can discontinue your use of that particular method and better invest your money in treatment options that work.

Remember that you do not always have to wait two months to make choices about whether to continue or discontinue a treatment method. If the side effects of a medication, for example, are interfering with the patient’s life in an unbearable way, then you should discontinue the treatment. You can also make continual treatments based on immediate good reactions-just remember to continually monitor the various methods. Autistic individuals grow and mature just like everyone else, so treatments may stop working after time. Before trying anything new, consult your doctor to make sure you are being as safe and healthy as possible.

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Jul 01, 2010 Comments Off Posted in Aspergers Syndrome

diagnosing Asperger’s syndrome symptoms of Asperger syndrome

Do You Have These Asperger’s Signs? Read On Before It’s To Late Do you find yourself unable to socialize and engage in meaningful conversations with your colleagues? Would you rather stay home and play the organ or solve online math problems? Do you find it hard to look at the person you are talking to?

All of these may seem natural daily problems but they can also be Asperger’s signs or symptoms. This is what happens to you when you grow older without your parents detecting the early signs of Asperger’s. Diagnosing Asperger’s syndrome is difficult at times because they appear like natural reactions to stress and pressure. Educating yourself on the symptoms of Asperger syndrome is essential so you can institute precautionary and preventive methods that can alleviate your condition.

You have to know the Aspergers signs in order to help in diagnosing Asperger syndrome. Educating yourself on exactly what these signs are is the first step that is needed. If you have three or more of the symptoms of Asperger syndrome listed below, then you should start adapting preventive measures to minimize the progress of the condition. Prevention is key in developing normal behavior conditions.Here are Some Asperger signs and symptoms:

Your are unable to maintain a two-way conversation. You ramble and talk without allowing others to participate. Your own words become more important than what others might want to add.You dislike parties and outings and you prefer to stay home and play with your guitar or violin.Aspergers signs include many anti-social behaviors You are too shy to introduce yourself to new people, or even too timid to initiate conversation with old acquaintances.

People can scare you and cause you to stay away from them when there is nothing to provoke this reaction.You cannot grasp the whole picture and prefer to focus on specific details. Your surroundings, dates future and past, planned outings in the future and even your current surroundings. You have one or more interests in which you excel in, like solving Math problems, playing the piano; you know all the species of the grasshopper or building a collection of certain items, and similar cases. This is one of the Asperger’s signs that may mislead you. You are outstanding in one or two specific activities, but you are dumb in many others. You are unable to perform activities that need smooth muscle coordination. You stumble during a simple dance step and do not participate in sports well even at entry level activities.

You find it difficult to follow a simple hand and leg coordination movement. This is one of the classical Asperger’s signs that indicates symptoms of Asperger’s Syndrome .You dislike changes and going outside your daily routine. You would rather want things to be a humdrum daily activity that does not change from day to day.You cannot feel sympathy for your colleague who had lost his sister. Everyone cried at the showing of one heart-rending movie but you just stared right ahead and wondered why they were crying. Lack of sympathy is one of the Asperger’s signs.If you are experiencing three or more of these Asperger signs, then the doctor may be diagnosing Asperger syndrome. There may also be boys or girls with Asperger’s in your family aside from yourself. Knowing the symptoms will help you diminish the Asperger’s signs that could progress to psychosis or panic anxiety conditions.

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Jun 18, 2010 No Comments » Posted in Aspergers Syndrome

A guide to Understanding Asperger’s Behavior And The Reasons Behind It

If you are seeking to look for any physical symptoms and signs of Asperger’s syndrome, then you may find that this is not always possible. Somtimes you will find that clumsiness and awkwardness maybe a part of the condition.It is the norm for people with Asperger’s to look absolutly normal, it may well be that for certain Asperger’s behavior that you will notice once you start talking to them. This will be more so for those people who are diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, as it sometimes goes hand in hand with Asperger’s syndrome. Tourette’s syndrome, or tics as it is sometimes called, is the condition wherein a person has uncontrolled and repetitive actions such as blinking, coughing or twitching. Diagnosing Asperger’s syndrome is normally done while testing for ADHD. Although there have been instances where Doctors have mis-diagnosed Aspergers for ADHD as some experts believe the two are found together the problem being the symptoms are not closely similar.

An early indication of Asperger’s may include the lack of motor skills in a child. You may find that they have difficulty pedaling a push bike, catching a ball, and other play time activities that require motor skills.it is widely known that it is more often for boys to have Asperger’s than girls with Asperger’s

, as the symptoms displayed in girls as the symtems are to a much lesser degree and is often referred to as Mild Asperger’s. As this syndrome is a developmental disorder that affects social behavior, the most common Asperger’s behavior is the lack of social and communication skills. Patients diagnosed with such syndrome find it hard to fit in or blend in society and become irritated when presented with a large crowd. Most of the time, they cannot even understand a joke or recognize sarcasm and also would have difficulty understanding nonverbal communication.

There is a reason why others would nick name this syndrome the wrong planet syndrome, which is because of the lack of social and communication skills of patients with such syndrome. Interaction with more than one person at a time causes high stress level and nervous reactions that can, if left alone, lead to seemingly violent behavior that is brought on by the patients inability to cope. They also have the feeling that they are normal and are living in a world that is full of aliens because most of the time, they cannot understand other people very well. Others who do not know about their condition may find them rigid or cold, which is actually an effect of Asperger’s behavior. It is also normal for them to feel anxious most of the time because they can simply misunderstand the true meaning behind words.

It is also a normal Asperger’s behavior to have a set of preferred and non-preferred activities. This means that there is no in-between or so-so feeling about them when doing an activity. They would either love or like the activity or simply hate it. That’s just about the two choices they have. This is part of the Asperger’s behavior that is associated with their black-and-white thinking or mentality. So it would be sort of useless forcing an activity that they don’t like even if you reason with them; but that’s not to say that they won’t do it, they would do it sooner or later after they finish their preferred activity first.
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May 31, 2010 Comments Off Posted in Aspergers Syndrome

Welcome To Asperger’s Disorder Syndrome

Predictive models for subtypes of autism spectrum disorder based on single-nucleotide polymorphisms and magnetic resonance imaging.

Teens, Autism and Work: Build on Passions and Find Mentors

Aspergers Symptoms & Aspergers Diagnosis

Finding What Works: Dealing with Autism

diagnosing Asperger’s syndrome symptoms of Asperger syndrome

A guide to Understanding Asperger’s Behavior And The Reasons Behind It

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