Asperger’s Syndrome

Asperger’s syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder named after the Viennese pediatrician Hans Asperger. This entry first discusses the initial conceptualization of the disorder and more recent changes in how it is conceptualized. It then details the characteristics of the Asperger’s syndrome, the tendency of children with the disorder to be teased and bullied, and the outcomes for those with the disorder as adults.

In the late 1930s, Hans Asperger, a Viennese pediatrician, noticed that some of the children referred to his clinic had a distinct and unusual profile of abilities. Despite having intellectual ability within the normal range, the children had a limited ability to have a reciprocal social interaction with peers and adults, difficulty reading body language, and conspicuous delays in social reasoning, as well ...