Small teachers

"Everything depends on the way you look at things. Once you understand how they think and how they see the world, what one day looks like a disability, another day can be a talent or a gift." Peter Szatmari, Canadian researcher specializing in Asperger's Syndrome (AS).

Asperger's syndrome was first described by the Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger in 1944. Today, it is recognized by the World Health Organization as a "Generalized Developmental Disorder of a chronic and severe nature that it is characterized by deviations or abnormalities in the capacities of relationship and social behavior "

Since this syndrome is relatively new, not much is known about its causes, as stated by Xurxo Mariño, Neuroscientist at the University of Coruña, "From the point of view of electrophysiological functioning and anatomical characteristics, almost nothing is known about This syndrome, for the time being, is the battlefield of psychiatrists and psychologists, who can only do behavioral descriptions and studies on the evolution and effect of some therapies. "

Some examples of famous entities that suffer from this syndrome would be: The founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, who despite being diagnosed with the syndrome, has not prevented him from creating an empire in technology or being a tireless philanthropist, in the world of cinema we have some personalities such as the famous actor Keanu Reeves, the well-known directors and producers Steven Spielberg and Tim Burton. In addition, it is speculated without confirming, that Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Amadeus Mozart, were also aspies.

People who have Asperger's Syndrome usually have a normal physical appearance, a normal intelligence or even higher than average, so it is a little difficult to recognize a person who has it, although it is important to note that the severity of the symptoms can vary in people, while in some it is evident that they have "something strange", other times the behavior of the aspies is relatively normal and go unnoticed by the people around them saying that it is only "a little weird" or different. "

What makes Asperger Syndrome enter the classification of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), is that people with this syndrome have difficulties in relating to others, have a deficit in non-verbal communication, an exaggerated dependence on the routines and a high intolerance to any type of change in the latter.

People with Asperger have a certain "emotional blindness", since it is difficult or difficult to interpret the body language and facial expressions of other people, there may even be cases in which the most severely affected people fail to recognize the meaning of a smile or no other facial gesture, although this depends on the degree of seriousness of the disorder. They also find eye contact overwhelming and, therefore, often avoid it, this can make it harder to interpret the emotions of others.

One of the most striking symptoms of the SA is the child's obsessive interest in a single object or subject to the exclusion of any other. Some children have become experts in astronomy, mathematics, anthropology, can be fascinated with flags, trains, vacuum cleaners, makes and models of cars, are obsessed with knowing everything about their subject of interest, so much so that they can spend hours in Internet or in a library acquiring all the possible knowledge and as they have a very developed memory it is easy for them to retain everything they read, hear or see.

Because of this phenomenon, Hans Asperger called his young patients "little teachers", because patients as young as thirteen knew their area of ​​interest with the professionalism of a university professor ".

Children with Asperger's are generally rejected because of their poor social skills, unusual interests, inappropriate or eccentric behavior, their self-centeredness, lack of empathy and poor sensitivity to others and their rejection of physical contact also hinders their interaction with children. people. The result of these rejections usually generate depression, anxiety, nervousness, resentment, anger, obsessive behavior, with consequent social isolation.

One thing that you have to be very clear about is that it is not a disease, it is often confused and it is not, it is not cured, you can improve the personal performance of each individual through therapies that help you develop your social skills, but it is something that they will always live with.

It is incredible how many people are unaware of this syndrome, or have little knowledge about it, so many times when they meet with individuals who have the social characteristics and behaviors of Asperger's Syndrome, they fail to recognize it, and what they do is discriminate or label them as "strange" or even "strange", even asocial, which is why many children and adolescents with Asperger usually suffer from bullying and marginalization, which can have serious repercussions in their adult life.

Asperger people find it difficult to relate and are very selective with their friends, but when they find a person with whom they feel comfortable or with whom they share some tastes, they are usually very loyal and honest, they also express what they feel with total honesty , for some this may be annoying because they make sincere, but inappropriate, comments about people or situations without thinking about how others might feel, but other people may come to appreciate this quality, as they will know that They will say everything with complete honesty.

At the moment of treating a person with asperger, we must bear in mind, that they do not understand the double meanings, the sarcasms, in general, interpret everything literally, so it is advisable to use as little as possible metaphors or phrases with double meaning to the time to talk to them, another thing that is important to know, is that they are very naive and credulous, they can come to believe anything they say no matter how crazy, so that people can take advantage of that to hurt them in some way or get a benefit from them.

Like a balance. It is true that they are not empathic, that they lack social skills, that they often do not understand the standard sense of humor and that they do not like physical contact, but perhaps, as a reward for their social disability, the aspies are considered geniuses. its field of interest, which may be mathematics, astronomy, anthropology, physics, chemistry or other sciences; and when they enter a work field that is related to this, they can stand out and stand out from others for their work because they are very perfectionist and detail in everything they do.

People with Asperger do feel. Asperger has been associated with high levels of alexithymia, which is a difficulty in identifying and describing one's emotions, along with the inability to identify and interpret the emotions of others, makes it appear that people with Asperger did not feel anything, but in reality they keep a world of feelings inside.