A Large-Scale Study of the Characteristics of Asperger Syndrome

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TABLE 1 Summary of Family History of Related Diagnoses or Challenges Descriptors of Diagnoses or Challenges AS ADHD BD Behavior Bipolar LD Sch Speech TS Dep Anxiety OCD PD Total Family Member Father 9 (10) 13 (15) 3 (4) 8 (9) 4 (5) 4 (5) 0 (0) 1 (1) 1 (1) 3 (3) 2 (2) 1 (1) 1 (1) 50 Mother 3 (3) 17 (20) 1 (1) 3 (3) 4 (5) 3 (5) 0 (0) 1 (1) 0 (0) 5 (6) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 37 Paternal Grandfather 3 (3) 4 (5) 1 (1) 6 (7) 3 (3) 0 (0) 1 (1) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (1) 0 (0) 19 Paternal Grandmother 1 (1) 1 (1) 0 (0) 4 (5) 1 (1) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 4 (5) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 11 Maternal Grandfather 1 (1) 3 (3.49) 0 (0) 4 (5) 2 (2) 0 (0) 1 (1) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1) 15 Maternal Grandmother 0 (0) 3 (3.49) 1 (1) 4 (5) 0 (0) 4 (5) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 5 (6) 0 (0) 1 (1) 0 (0) 18 Total 17 (3) 41 (8) 6 (1) 29 (6) 14 (3) 11 (2) 2 (1) 2 (1) 1 (1) 18 (3) 3 (1) 4 (1) 2 (1) 150 Note. Based on a sample size of 86. Raw data are presented. Percentages appear in parentheses. Asperger syndrome (AS), Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Behavior Disorder (BD), General Issues with Behavior (B), Depression (Dep), Learning Disability (LD), Schizophrenia (Sch), Tourette Syndrome (TS), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Personality Disorder (PD). Characteristics of Asperger Syndrome / 451
TABLE 2 Summary of Siblings History of Related Diagnoses nosed with academic challenges (25%), followed by ADHD (13%) and AS (4%). Data on sibling order revealed that 27% of first-born and 26% of second-born siblings had exceptionalities. By comparison, 13% of third-born siblings had disabilities whereas no reported special needs were reported among fourthborn siblings (see Table 2). Cognitive Profiles Gender Descriptors of Diagnoses or Challenges Birth Order N M (%) F (%) AcD AS ADHD AU Bipolar LD MR Speech TS Total 1 st 2 nd 3 rd 4 th 73 1 31 (42) 41 (56) 20 (27) 4 (5) 13 (18) 0 (0) 1 (1) 1 (1) 0 (0) 1 (1) 0 (0) 40 (55) 38 26 (68) 12 (32) 10 (26) 1 (3) 4 (11) 1 (3) 1 (3) 1 (3) 1 (3) 0 (0) 1 (3) 20 (53) 16 6 (38) 10 (62) 3 (19) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (6) 1 (6) 1 (6) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 6 (38) 7 4 (57) 3 (43) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) Total 134 67 66 33 5 17 2 3 3 1 1 1 66 Note. Based on a sample size of 86. 1 Missing data on gender. Raw data are presented. Percentages are in parentheses. Academic Difficulties (AcD), Asperger Syndrome (AS), Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Autism (AU), Behavior Disorder (BD), Learning Disability (LD), Mental Retardation (MR), Non-verbal Learning Disability (NLD), Pervasive Development Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), Schizophrenia (Sch), Tourette Syndrome (TS). Intellectual skills. According to one of the primary diagnostic standards for AS, the DSM- IV-TR (APA, 2000), there is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development among individuals with AS. Participants with AS in the current study had a significantly higher Verbal Intellectual Quotient (VIQ) (M 109.28, SD 19.62) than Performance IQ (PIQ) (M 99.42, SD 19.78), t(59) 4.054, p .001 (.000). Both of these scores, as well as participants’ FSIQ (M 102.63, SD 22.25) fell in the Average range. Social cognitive skills. According to Baron- Cohen (2003), the primary difference between male and female brains is related to empathizing and systemizing. Empathizing, as a prominent feature of the female brain, is the drive to identify others’ emotions and thoughts, and to respond to these in socially appropriate ways. Thus, empathizing allows people to understand others and to predict the social world around them. Unlike empathizing, systemizing is the drive to analyze, explore, and construct a system in order to understand the basic principles and rules of the behavior system and control it (Baron- Cohen, Richler, Bisarya, Gurunathan, & Wheelwright, 2003). As reported by the adolescents in this study, no significant difference was found between the male and female groups, t(85) 1.149, p .05 (.151). Both groups’ scores (females: M 30.71, SD 13.82; males: M 25.55, SD 11.35) were categorized as “low” on the EQ scale. Similar to findings related to the EQ scale, no significant differences were noted between the systemizing skills of males (M 28.77, SD 11.84) and females (M 24.52, SD 11.25), both groups scoring in the Average range on the SQ scale. Finally, the relationship between scores on the EQ and SQ was also investigated. The EQ and the SQ of participants with AS were significantly positively correlated with each other (r .340, p .01). Adaptive Behavior 452 / Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities-December 2007 According to DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000), individuals with AS demonstrate no clinically significant delay in adaptive behavior other than in social interaction. In order to assess the adaptive behaviors of participants with AS, the
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A Large-Scale Study of the Characteristics of Asperger Syndrome

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