Asperger's Syndrome: Emotional and Social Implications

Lesson Five: Additional Characteristics Sometimes Present

Aggression

Aggression may occur against others or against the self (in which case it is often called self-injurious behavior or SIB). Some children, when extremely agitated, may lash out physically at others by hitting, kicking or biting. Other children, more prone to SIB, may do such things as head bang or bite their hands.

Sensory Difficulties

Many people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome have unusual reactions to sensory experiences, i.e., experiences related to the senses of touch, hearing, vision, smell, and taste. According to Bernard Rimland²², "About 40 per cent of children with autism have some abnormality of sensory sensitivity." Tony Attwood has concluded that, "There is now evidence to suggest that the incidence may be the same for Asperger's Syndrome."² The senses of touch and hearing are most commonly affected; certain kinds of touch, especially light pressure, and certain sounds may be experienced as intolerable. This difficulty is known as sensory defensiveness. Interestingly, while people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome are usually hypersensitive to sensory input, at other times they may be under-reactive, particularly to pain and changes in temperature. It is not uncommon for over-reactivity and under-reactivity to co-exist in the same individual. The following examples illustrate these points.

One youngster became so agitated by the sound of the vacuum (over-reactive) that every time the house cleaners arrived, he attempted to push them out the door. Some people react to sounds others do not even perceive to be present (over-reactive); a common example of this is fluorescent lights which many individuals with Asperger's find extremely disturbing. Children have been known to sleep between the mattress and the box-spring (under-reactive), apparently craving the sensory input.

A number of adults with autism or Asperger's who speak and write about the nature of their own experience stress the overwhelming importance of sensory issues to their functioning. Temple Grandin, arguably the most famous person with autism in the world, holds a doctorate in animal studies and teaches at Colorado State University. She has developed a "squeeze machine", a kind of holding device that allows her to control the amount of pressure exerted on her body. She talks about the calming effect this device has on her when she feels stressed. ⁷

Similarly, many children with autism spectrum disorder crave swinging, apparently finding it soothing and organizing to their nervous systems.

Certain clinicians, for example, Stanley Greenspan, M.D., consider sensory difficulties of overriding importance in developmental disorders and believe a number of the symptoms occur in response to the underlying sensory issues. ⁹ For example, it is no wonder a young child withdraws if he is overwhelmed by the touch of his parents or if he finds loud noises unbearable.

Attentional Difficulties

There are several different kinds of attention, some of which tend to be impaired in individuals with Asperger's or autism.
In particular, there are often problems with shifting attention, the ability to shift attention in a flexible way from one subject to another. According to Judith M. Rumsey, "Autistic children may engage in over-focused, repetitive play for lengthy periods of time, underreacting to distractions in the environment... These observations suggest good sustained attention, but deficient flexibility in shifting attention"²³. Similarly, Hans Asperger referred to the distinction between active and passive (distractibility from outside) attention. In autism spectrum disorder, the problem tends to be more one of active attention. Asperger states, "Autistic children...are not interested in directing their attention to outside stimuli... They follow their own ideas, which are mostly far removed from ordinary concerns, and do not like to be distracted from their thoughts"¹. A related matter is that of relevance, the ability to judge where it is important to focus one's attention. Francesca G.E. Happe states, "Autistic individuals are unable to calculate what is relevant in the normal way, hence the observation that the focus of their attention seems peculiar"¹⁰. Thus, one could say they often cannot see the forest for the trees.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for students with Asperger’s to have considerable difficulty with schoolwork and homework, because of their attentional problems. This difficulty often exists despite superior intelligence. In one striking example, Jill, a fifteen year old with Asperger's, had an I.Q. in the superior range, but was failing almost all of her high school subjects. Her difficulties were not due to a lack of effort on her part. Unfortunately, almost every time she sat down to study or write, she became flooded with her own rather unique thoughts.

Sleep Problems

The incidence of sleep difficulties in this population seems to be extremely high. Many parents of children with autism or Asperger’s complain that this problem is one of the most serious they face. Unfortunately, when the children are unable to sleep, they do not usually remain quietly in bed. They are often up and out of bed, making noise, interfering with their parents’sleep and requiring adult supervision.

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