COUNSELING ADULTS WITH ASPERGER‟S - School of Health ...

Counseling Asperger‟s 18
individuals or individuals with conduct disorder, when someone with Asperger‟s commits a
crime, he or she is unlikely to attempt to hide or cover-up his or her actions or motivations, and
(c), violence and crime might not have anything to do with Asperger‟s but with an unrelated
undiagnosed psychiatric disorder, (e.g., a major depressive disorder could be the cause of an
attempt to hurt oneself or others) (Ghaziuddin, 2002).
Seizure Disorder
There is a relationship between autism and epilepsy; at least 30% of individuals with
autism experience seizures. However, the link between Asperger‟s and epilepsy, while likely, is
less clear (Ghaziuddin, 2002).
Sleep Disorders
Godbout, Bergeron, Limoges, Stip, and Mottron (2000) found that individuals with
Asperger‟s demonstrated a variety of sleep abnormalities, including decreased sleep time in the
first two thirds of the night, increased number of shifts into REM sleep, and evidence of REM-
sleep disruption. The authors suggested that there is a link between Asperger‟s and defective
sleep mechanisms.
Disordered Eating
Some studies suggest that individuals with Asperger‟s are often underweight and
experience disordered eating (Sobanski, Marcus, Hennighausen, Hebebrand, & Schmidt, 1999).
Psychosocial Rehabilitation
Psychosocial rehabilitation addresses the first and perhaps most debilitating symptom of
Asperger‟s: impairments in social interactions. At college, socializing is arguably as important
as education; at work, while employers do value an employee who can successfully perform the
functional aspects of the job, “failing coffee break” can lead to termination. Even individuals